O God of Light

This is a great text by Sarah Taylor, (1883-1954).  It was first introduced in Hymnal Supplement 98 and has appeared again in Lutheran Service Book.  It is set to the tune ATKINSON...a fine and strong tune but a challenging melodic line in the third musical phrase, which covers the whole lower and upper range and gets there by a series of jumps.   It keeps things interesting, that's for sure!

O God of light, Your Word, a lamp unfailing,

    Shall pierce the darkness of our earthbound way

And show Your grace, Your plan for us unveiling,

    And guide our footsteps to the perfect day.

From days of old, through blind and willful ages,

    Though we rebelled, You gently sought again

And spoke through saints, apostles, prophets, sages,

    Who wrote with eager or reluctant pen.

Undimmed by time, those words are still revealing

    To sinful hearts Your justice and Your grace;

And questing spirits, longing for Your healing,

    See Your compassion in the Savior’s face.

To all the world Your summons You are sending,

    Through all the earth, to ev’ry land and race,

That myriad tongues, in one great anthem blending,

    May praise and celebrate Your gift of grace.

The Holy Word of God Endures Forever

This text was commissioned by CPH for the release of The Lutheran Study Bible, a hymn on the Word of God for Reformation, 2009. Stanza 1, the power of God's Word to bring sight for those blind in sin.; stanza 2, the Gospel call goes out to all enemies of God, made such by their sin; stanza 3, the work of the Holy Spirit who makes spiritually dead people alive by the power of God's Word; stanza 4, God's Word as Law and Gospel, to cut (Law) and to heal (Gospel) with the result that our lives become Christ's letter to a fallen world. Jeffrey Blersch wrote a tune for this 11 10 11 10 D text and he named it CONCORDIA CINCINNATI.

1. The holy Word of God endures forever

With living truths the Spirit has revealed.

These are not myths conceived by authors clever;

They never fade like flowers of the field.

No Scripture came by human inspiration;

God breathed His life in each and ev'ry part,

So Christ, the Morning Star of our salvation,

Might dawn with sight for ev'ry blinded heart.

2. Christ Jesus is the content of this writing,

The banner of God's love for all unfurled,

For through the Word the Father is inviting:

"O wayward one, forsake your rebel world;

No greater gift I have than what I gave you--

My only Son for sin--that you might know

The distance that My grace stretched out to save you

And make your scarlet sins as white as snow."

3. O Spirit--calling, gathering, uniting--

Come, breathe Your life in all whose hope is lost

And in such lives with power come, igniting

The flames of faith first lit on Pentecost;

To those long dead, the victims of sin's vi'lence,

To all forgotten casualties of strife,

Now speak to driest bones and break the silence--

Where there is death, now raise enfleshed new life!

4. The holy Word of God endures forever!

It comes to hearts where sin remains concealed,

And like a two-edged sword, to pierce and sever,

It cuts the heart so that it might be healed.

With Gospel salve renew us, faith's Begetter;

Write living words, yet not with ink on stone,

But write upon our hearts, that as Christ's letter

We tell of how God saves by grace alone.

Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word

November 9th is set apart to commemorate the great orthodox Lutheran theologian, Martin Chemnitz, sometimes known as "the second Martin."  It has been said, "If the second Martin had not come, the first Martin would not have stood."  The writings of Martin Chemnitz helped rescue Lutheran theology, which after Luther was being undermined by both Calvinism and Roman Catholicism.  Under the tutelage of Phillip Melanchthon, Chemnitz accepted and defended Lutheran teaching, by both his lecturing and by his writings.  One of his best known books, Loci Theologici, was a commentary on Melanchthon's theology.  In it, Chemnitz strongly defends the doctrine of justification by faith alone.  In other writings, Chemnitz defended Luther's teaching on the Lord's Supper and the church's ancient teaching that Jesus is both man and God.  Another important work by Martin Chemnitz was his Examination of the Council of Trent.  At Trent, the Roman Catholics restated and clarified their doctrines.  Chemnitz replied to their claims with four volumes which were a strong Protestant answer to Roman Catholic claims.  For Lutherans, Chemnitz' most important contribution was his part in drafting the Formula of Concord.   This was an orthodox restatement of the Lutheran faith that was acceptable to different Lutheran factions.  Due in large part to his efforts, the Formula of Concord was adopted by the Lutherans of Saxony and Swabia.

Martin Luther's hymn,  "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word" seems like an appropriate commentary on the life of " the second Martin."

1.  Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word;

     Curb those who by deceit or sword

          Would wrest the kingdom from Your Son

          And bring to naught all He has done.

2.  Lord Jesus Christ, Your pow'r make known,

     For You are Lord of lords alone;

          Defend Your holy Church that we

          May sing Your praise eternally.

3.  O Comforter of priceless worth,

     Send peace and unity on earth;

          Support us in our final strife

          And lead us out of death to life.

God's Word Is Our Great Heritage

Whenever one sees a sculpture of Luther, it is with the Holy Bible.  Does anyone know of any other way he is ever depicted?  One of the three pillars of the Reformation, "Scripture alone," tells the world that Lutherans take their teaching from the Bible.  If it is revealed in Holy Scripture, we are bound to teach and confess it.  If it is not in Holy Scripture, but merely a human tradition, we are not bound by it.  If the tradition is salutary for use and not contrary to Holy Scripture, it may be retained.  To stand on "Scripture alone" is an unpopular (and certainly politically incorrect) posture these days.  How dare one speak against the mores of society!  Yet the Scripture-centered preacher is duty-bound to proclaim the full counsel of God.

   

God's Word is our great heritage

   And shall be ours forever;

To spread its light from age to age

   Shall be our chief endeavor.

      Through life it guides our way,

      In death it is our stay.

         Lord, grant while worlds endure,

         We keep its teachings pure

            Throughout all generations.

   

Preach You the Word

Martin H. Franzmann, scholar, seminary professor, and gifted hymnwriter, has many fine texts that bless our church body and the Church at large.  One that ties in beautifully with tomorrow's Gospel lesson from Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23, "The Parable of the Sower," is the hymn "Preach You the Word."

I love this hymn for many reasons.  First of all, as a pastor and preacher, I find great comfort in this hymn text.  Far and above all that seems important and enduring in this world is the Word of God.  That Word has been entrusted to pastors to preach faithfully...an awesome task!  And so, week after week, the preacher "scatters abroad the goodly seed" of God's Word intent that all may feast on the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the bread from heaven that all need. And as the pastor labors to preach the Word of God, he may see few results from his efforts. He may see the faithful slipping away as the Word of snatched or scorched or choked or matted flat.  All he can do is keep sowing..."Oh, what of that, Lord, what of that?"  But when the good seed of God's Word takes root in the human heart, the heart cleansed and made new by that good seed, and when a rich harvest is raised to the glory of God..."Ah, what of that, Lord, what of that!"  Yes, the preacher never faints because the faithful Harvest Lord watches and tends His planted Word. 

1.  Preach you the Word and plant it home

        To men who like or like it not,

     The Word that shall endure and stand

        When flow'rs and men shall be forgot.

2.  We know how hard, O Lord, the task

        Your servant bade us undertake:

     To preach Your Word and never ask

        What prideful profit it may make.

3.  The sower sows his reckless love

         Scatters abroad the goodly seed,

     Intent alone that all may have

        The wholesome loaves that all men need.

4.  Though some be snatched and some be scorched

         And some be choked and matted flat,

     The sower sows; his heart cries out,

        "Oh, what of that, and what of that?"

5.  Of all his scattered plenteousness

        One-fourth waves ripe on hill and flat,

     And bears a harvest hundredfold:

        "Ah, what of that, Lord, what of that!"

6.  Preach you the Word and plant it home

        And never faint; the Harvest Lord

     Who gave the sower seed to sow

        Will watch and tend His planted Word.

Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide

The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, commemorated on June 25th, recalls an event that was very important in the history of the Christian Church.  On June 25, 1530 in the city of Augsburg, the rulers and mayors of Saxon Germany confessed their faith in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Augsburg Confession was signed by laymen who endangered their own lives by signing the document.  John the Steadfast and other courageous laymen stood before the emperor and presented 28 doctrinal statements called articles; the first 21 dealt with the Christian faith as taught by Lutherans, the other 7 articles dealt with abuses in the medieval Roman Catholic church.  The Augsburg Confession was written by Philip Melanchthon, scholar and theologian.  (Luther could not appear at Augsburg due to the imperial ban that had been placed upon him, making Luther an outlaw who could be arrested or killed.)

One thinks of the many threats the Church of the Reformation faces in our own day and age.   We seek to remain faithful to the Word of God, the only source of Christian teaching, central among which is justification by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Melanchthon and Selnecker's hymn wonderfully expresses the believer's prayer: 

1.  Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide,

     For round us falls the eventide.

         O let Your Word, that saving light,

         Shine forth undimmed into the night.

2.  In these last days of great distress

     Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness

         That we keep pure till life is spent

         Your holy Word and Sacrament.

3.  To hope grown dim, to hearts turned cold

     Speak tongues of fire and make us bold

         To shine Your Word of saving grace

         Into each dark and loveless place.

4.  May glorious truths that we have heard,

     The bright sword of Your mighty Word,

          Spurn Satan, that Your Church be strong,

          Bold, unified in act and song.

5.  Restrain, O Lord, the human pride

     That seeks to thrust Your truth aside

         Or with some man-made thoughts or things

         Would dim the words Your Spirit sings.

6.  Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true;

     Preserve our faith our whole life through--

        Your Word alone our heart's defense,

         The Church's glorious confidence.