Angry Email Monday

Every now and again I get an email that chastises me for, well, just fill in the blank because it’s a long list. I’ve been accused of not being mission minded because I don’t want separate doctrine from the mission as if two could be separated. I’ve been called an antinomian because I’ve said I enjoy a glass of single malt scotch with a good horror movie. I’ve been called many things because not everybody understands my sarcastic sense of humor and just doesn’t get the joke. Fine and dandy I say, I can deal with it.

The last angry email I got regarding a post had two lines that caught my eye;

but one thing that concerns me is that I see so much reference in your writings to the hymnody, the liturgy, the creeds, the writings of the forefathers..I wish I saw more scripture.......

Let’s just deal with the hymnody issue in this post…

Really? You can’t see why I like the hymnody I do? I thought I was being clear why I like the hymns I do (hint, hint, it’s because of Scripture) but I guess my point is getting lost as I don’t always write in the vernacular and frequently interject my posts with what is perceived as nonsensical slang or “Frankisms”.

Let’s look at the last hymn I mentioned; "Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band"by Aurelius C. Prudentius (348-c. 413). In a post about a visit to a great congregation down in Texas I wrote the following:

“The hymns were solid and tied to our pericope (for my newer readers a pericope is a Scripture reading. We get the word from the Greek word περικοπή, meaning "a cutting-out"). We even sang “Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band” a great old hymn…”

Now, the reason I enjoyed singing “Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band” is that the hymn tied into the pericope, that is to say our Gospel reading, for that first Sunday of Christmas which was from Matthew 2:16-16 which recounts Herod’s slaughter of the innocent children of Bethlehem in hopes of killing the Christ child:

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

“ A voice was heard in Ramah,

Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted,

Because they are no more.”

Now, let’s take a look at the text of the hymn I extolled:

"Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band"

1. Sweet flowerets of the martyr band,

Plucked by the tyrant's ruthless hand

Upon the threshold of the morn,

Like rosebuds by a tempest torn;

2. First victims for the incarnate Lord,

A tender flock to feel the sword;

Beside the very altar gay,

With palm and crown,

ye seemed to play.

3. Ah, what availed King Herod's wrath?

He could not stop the Savior's path.

Alone, while others murdered lay,

In safety Christ is borne away.

4. 0 Lord, the Virgin-born, to Thee

Eternal praise and glory be,

Whom with the Father we adore

And Holy Ghost forevermore. Amen.

Hymn #273 The Lutheran Hymnal

I’ve said before that hymnody should be confessional in nature and what I’m saying is that the hymn should repeat back that Scripture gives us. This is precisely why I love the hymn “Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band”. All the hymn writer does is versify the Gospel account of Herod’s terrible deed. It sounds too simple to be true but this good hymn does confess our Gospel pericope and does it in spades.

The hymns that I’ve grown to love are filled with Scripture. Just because you may not be familiar with the hymn doesn’t make it a bad hymn that doesn’t confess God’s Holy Word. Just because the hymn isn’t getting airtime on the local Christian top 40 music station or wasn’t penned in the last five years since Rapturepalooza '04 doesn’t mean that the hymn is invalid and has nothing to offer the Church catholic.

I’m going to try and put the best possible construction on your email and presume you haven’t read this blog for very long. I’m hoping that you will go back and read what I’ve written concerning good historic hymnody. I’d also bet a paycheck that the hymnody which I’ve written about, and not all of the hymns I’ve written about are ancient, will outlast anything playing on the radio today. How can I say this? Aurelius C. Prudentius wrote hymns like "Sweet Flowerets of the Martyr Band" sixteen hundred years ago and it is still around and what was popular ten years ago in contemporary Christian circles is already being shoved out the door for the latest greatest newness. Time is a harsh mistress for the contemporary Christian music genre.

When I wrote that “The hymns were solid and tied to our pericope” in my previously mentioned post, it’s true that I didn’t include the pericope of day nor did I feel the need to have the text of the hymn printed either. I didn’t do this because I was giving an account of what was an enjoyable visit to a faithful parish and not giving an in depth class on hymnody. If you go back and look at all my posts on hymnody, particularly those sung during the seasons of Advent and Lent, you can get a better idea of what I mean when I refer to hymns as sung confessions.

Hopefully you will take the time, carefully read those posts, and see that Christ and Scripture are at the core of the hymns I love so much. If Christ and Scripture ain’t in a hymn, it’s just another song that will one day fade away.

Here’s a link to a few posts I’ve written tagged hymnody.

Lenten Hymnody, The Windsor Saucepan Of The Liturgical Church Year

If one looks in my profile they will find out that one of my interests is gourmet cooking. I’ve loved to cook ever since I struck out on my own after leaving the orphanarium for what seems like such a long time ago. I guess the thing that I’m the best at is deserts. My key lime pie is tops and my jalapeno truffles would blow your mind. My torts and cakes are all particularly good. But my baklava, well, that’s in a class all by itself. I could challenge anyone to attempt, to come remotely close to as good as a recipe as mine but it wouldn’t be fair of me. It just wouldn’t be fair, trust me.

But a good cook needs to be balanced and must prepare something other than pastries. Cooks need to know how to cook their duck breast, their tuna steak, as well as the usual cuts of meats, all without overcooking said meat, as so often happens, into inedible and dried out pieces of animal flesh that even raccoons wouldn’t pull out of trash can.

Now, the thing that separates the wannabe cooks from the good cooks are the sauces necessary to compliment the meat and for that matter the entire dinner. There really too many variations of sauces to go into here with this post so I’d like to just look at the most important tools for creating a great sauce, the Windsor saucepan.

The Windsor saucepan is a slanted or flare sided pan that allows for efficient reduction, due to the large surface area of the sauce, though evaporation. If you need a sauce reduced, this is your pan! The slanted sides make for easy whisking over medium to medium high heat for even the most delicate French sauce. While not an absolute necessity for cooking, the Windsor saucepan is a valuable tool for slack jawed yokels who think they can cook and true cooking connoisseurs alike.

But what does this have to do with the usual topic? It’s simple, Lenten hymnody is the Windsor saucepan of the historical Church year. Like the Windsor saucepan, Lenten hymns have a way of reducing hymnody to it’s consummate essence, the cross.

Lent is a time of the liturgical church year for penitential reflection. As Christ turns his face towards Jerusalem to complete His ministry and atone for mankind’s sinful nature, we journey with him. As we look to the cross we are reminded that it is us who deserve to be nailed to that cursed tree. As we look to the cross we see God’s entire wrath poured out upon the only person that did not deserve it. We look at the cross and we see mercy undeserved as our Lord offers himself up as the atoning sacrifice.

Good Lenten hymnody allows us to sing our confession of the suffering servant journeying on the way to His cross to finish his salvific work on earth. Let’s look at a few verses of some favorite Lenten hymns;

Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed by Isaac Watts
1.Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
2. Was it for crimes that I have done, he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
3. Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died for his own creature's sin.
4. Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
5. But drops of tears can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'tis all that I can do.

As well as;

O Dearest Jesus, What Law Have You Broken by Johann Heermann
1.O dearest Jesus, what law have you broken
That such sharp sentence should on you be spoken?
Of what great crime have you to make confession,
What dark transgression?
2.They crown your head with thorns, they smite, they scourge you;
With cruel mockings to the cross they urge you;
The give you gall to drink, they still decry you;
They crucify you.
3.What is the source of all your mortal anguish?
It is my sins for which you, Lord, must languish;
Yes, all the wrath, the woe that you inherit,
This I do merit.
4.How strange is this great paradox to ponder:
The shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander;
The master pays the debt his servants owe him,
Who would not know him.
5.The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
The sinful child of man may live in gladness;
We forfeited our lives yet are acquitted;
God is committed!
6.O wondrous love, whose depth no heart has sounded,
That brought you here, by foes and thieves surrounded,
Conquer my heart, make love its sole endeavor
Henceforth forever!
7.When, dearest Jesus, at your throne in heaven
To me the crown of joy at last is given,
Where sweetest hymns your saints forever raise you,
I too shall praise you!

Like a Windsor saucepan, Lenten hymnody reduces our songs to rich and bold confessions of the faithful elect. Through these sung confessions we journey through the pericopes of Scripture with our Lord to the blessed cross on Golgotha. Through the Lenten hymnody we sing joyfully and repeat back to the Lord the very words inspired by the Holy Spirit in God’s word.

Is it any wonder why Lent is one of my favorite times of the year?

Transfiguration Sunday Hymnody

I really wanted to get this up on Sunday but I’ve been sort of busy the last few days.

Last Monday I took some time to answer an email that where the writer complained among other things that I talked a lot about hymnody but never enough about Scripture. I guess this post is a continuation of my previous answer that looks at Transfiguration Sunday hymnody.

For those of us who follow a liturgical calendar this past Sunday we celebrated the Transfiguration of our Lord. Our gospel reading was from the gospel of St. Mark 9:2-9 :

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

As I’ve said before our hymnody should confess our faith and by that all I mean is that our hymnody should repeat back to God what He gives us in his Holy Word. Our opening hymn certainly repeated back what would be our Gospel reading for the day. We opened our Divine Service with a beautiful Latin hymn from page 413 of the Lutheran Service Book;

O Wondrous Type! O vision Fair

O wondrous type! O vision fair
of glory that the Church may share,
which Christ upon the mountain shows,
where brighter than the sun he glows!

The law and prophets there have place,
the chosen witnesses of grace;
the Father's voice from our the cloud
proclaims his only Son aloud.

With shining face and bright array,
Christ deigns to manifest today
what glory shall be theirs above
who joy in God with perfect love.

And faithful hearts are raised on high
by this great vision's mystery;
for which in joyful strains we raise
the voice of prayer, the hymns of praise.

O Father, with the eternal Son,
and Holy Spirit, ever One,
vouchsafe to bring us by thy grace
to see thy glory face to face.

With this as the opening we got a foretaste of what be our Gospel reading and gave us the chance to repeat back to God the account of Christ’s transfiguration on the mountain. Both our sermon hymn as our closing hymn both focused on the transfiguration as well but not as strong theologically as our first hymn.

I certainly don’t mean to say that there was anything wrong or bad with the sermon or closing hymn, not at all. What do criteria do I use to determine which hymns are stronger theologically? Three simple points that I look for when critiquing any hymn are; is the Crucified and Risen Christ Jesus the indispensable center of the hymn, is the hymn grounded on a clear, Scriptural text and does the hymn inspire in us a hunger and thirst for the things of Christ Jesus and His Kingdom that is coming?

If we can look at a hymn and can answer the questions above in the affirmative, we are no doubt looking at a hymn that is a good strong sung confession of the Christian faith. O Wondrous Type! O vision Fair meets this simple standard of a sung confession so it is one I will forward to singing again and again.

Lutherans Didn’t Invent Contemporary Worship And Comparing CCM To Psalms

In spite of this month being one of the busiest I’ve experienced in years, I took a friend up on her offer to participate in a discussion where a commenter on her site was trying to make the case that songs of the contemporary Christian music variety’s focus on the “personal relationship” was no different that that of the personal nature of the Palms. Wrote the commenter:

As for the “personal relationship” aspect of new hymns, read the psalms, the hymnbook in our bible, and it is so personal, you can’t escape the first person, personal expression, speaking out to God, crying out to God aspect of it. Three kinds of psalms – mad, glad or sad. All personal.
So many traditional Lutheran hymns are just loaded with secondary discourse – you can sing them and keep your distance and stay far away as you doze off, waiting for them to be done soon.

And later:

As for expediency, I just find it is way easier to reach people in worship using modern contemporary sounding music whether it is amazing grace with guitar, A Mighty Fortress on Guitar, or something being written today.
I’ve heard they have Luther’s original chart of A Mighty Fortress, arranged on… guitar. Lutherans broke the mold with indigenous contemporary worship but, for the most part, have let the evangelicals pave the way, the Lutherans sticking to what was familiar to them. We are not doing what Luther did. We stay comfortable rather than reach new people. We prefer insider language and music. Seems different to me than what Jesus would have done. Didn’t he leave everything to reach those far from God?
If contemporary worship music helps us reach new people, and traditional hymnody honestly just scares many people away, are we sticking with our traditions at the expense of the great commission?

Boy howdy, talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight! Those two hundred and thirty eight words have enough fodder for a month’s worth of posts!

First, the statement "Lutherans broke the mold with indigenous contemporary worship" is simply untrue even if it is repeated entirely too often. It was many, many years before the reformers even moved the Divine Service from Latin to the vernacular German. In the Augsburg Confession (ACXXIV) the Lutheran reformers went so far as to confess that they preserved the order of the mass, save the parts sung in Latin and the hymns which were in German to “to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ].” Again, what was that about teaching being “secondary”? No sir, teaching in traditional Lutheran hymnody was always a primary function of these hymns and not something “secondary” or something to “doze off” to.

The most elementary look at church history would find that singing by the congregations had almost disappeared by the time of the reformation. By the sixteenth century most of the singing was entrusted only to professional choirs or musicians. It was the reformers who brought back sung confessions of the church catholic to the laity in the Greek, Latin, and yes, German hymnody (and by Greek and Latin I mean the style of the hymns and not the languages) so that these hymns would strengthen Christ’s church.

To think that the hymns of saints whom have fallen asleep no longer have anything to offer us today is as theologically uninformed as it is arrogant. Traditional Lutherans sing the hymns they do because of their theological depth and their clear confession of Christ and His work and not because they are trying to use “insider language and music” and keep to themselves. A singing, confessing church is a proclaiming church and in doing so she is in fact carrying out the Great Commission. A singing, confessing church uses her hymnody to make disciples by teaching all that her Lord has given her in song as well as by the Word.

But what of the Psalms? Do they show us that we need to follow the contemporary Christian music’s trend to make the “personal relationship” the material principle of our sung confession and not follow the reformation tradition of hymn as a catechetical device?

I take issue with the Psalms being perceived as personalized in the same way that the majority of modern Christian music accomplishes its personalization. The easiest way to test contemporary Christian music is to simply look at the grammar: scrutinizing who the song about by looking at who is the subject of the verbs. If we, or our feelings, or our works, or our actions are the subject of the song, it is about us and is not about us the work and person of Jesus. Using the Psalms as a baseline is actually a pretty good idea in that our hymnody should at least measure up to the various psalmists in both proclamation as well as theological content. When put side by side with the Psalms, the vast majority of contemporary Christian music simply doesn’t measure up as it’s clichéd and vapid with it’s banality guaranteeing it’s proper place in the pile of forgotten one hit wonders currently playing on K-LOVE.

Yep, I’ll be happy to use the Psalms as a “traditional” benchmark any day of the week!

How Should Hymnody Be Judged? A Simple Guide

I was having a “friendly discussion” with a friend of mine concerning what goes on during worship on a Sunday morning recently on Facebook. After much back and forth about the Divine Service versus praise and worship as a mere preference (it’s not a matter of personal preference for confessional Lutherans but that is a whole other can of worms and another post to be written for a later discussion…) I was asked who, in my ever so humble opinion, should test the hymnody. Should that responsibility fall to the pastor or maybe it should be the music minister. I was also asked how my church handles a situation where “the called staff find a song acceptable and you personally do not, how does your church handle that?”

The first thing that I think would be helpful is to establish a standard so that we remove our personal preferences from the equation. I may like the old Greek and Latin hymnody (I’m referring to the style of hymns and not the Latin or Greek language) but just because I like a certain era’s hymns doesn’t mean that anyone else will. By setting up some guidelines the thorny issue of a hymn’s aesthetic value as a personal preference will be greatly diminished.

A few years ago I posted a simple list which I thought was an excellent guide as to how we can evaluate hymnody so that the matter of personal preference or subjectivity could be pushed to the back burner and a more objective standard could be set forth as a means to judge what we sing on a Sunday morning:

1) Is the Crucified and Risen Christ Jesus the indispensable center of the hymn?
2) Does the hymn clearly proclaim Christ’s vicarious satisfaction as the sinner’s salvation?
3) Is the hymn grounded on a clear, Scriptural text?
4) Does the hymn point us clearly to the Church’s ministry of word and Sacrament as the place where we surely receive Christ’s gifts?
5) Does the hymn make clear that it is entirely Christ’s work alone that saves us without works, responses, or proper feelings of our own?
6) Does the hymn make clear that the faith which alone justifies is not a human work, but a free gift given by God’s choosing of us (not our choosing of Him), in Christ Jesus, through Word and Sacrament?
7) If the hymn speaks of the Christians response to Christ’s gifts, does it make clear that it is what Christ does for us and not what we do for Him that is the center of the Church’s life and mission? Does it make clear that sanctification is as much by faith alone as is justification?
8) Has the hymn been properly tested and tried by the Lutheran Church?
9) Does the hymn inspire in us a hunger and thirst for the things of Christ Jesus and His Kingdom that is coming?
10) Does the hymn drive you clearly, unerringly to the sound doctrine of Christ Jesus rather than merely let you free associate it’s words with sound teaching?
11) Does the tune bear repeated singing? That is, could you sing it twenty times in a row and not feel sick to your stomach?
12) Is it a hymn that the congregation knows or can sing with some choir support?

If we used the criteria listed above to apply a modicum of discernment for what we sing on a Sunday morning, we would have far fewer disagreements on theological matters than currently plague our beloved synod. Why do I say that? It’s simple: because we would singing our one clear confession of faith and with one clear voice and not with as many confessions as there are voices as there are personal preferences.

And, so ya’ll don’t think I’m just picking on the music led by your praise bands and such, this criteria works just fine with choirs leading our sung confession as well! Don’t think that just because a congregation employs a choir that they are immune to singing goofy songs that should never be sung within the walls of a Lutheran sanctuary. The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of consultant provided guides being used in Lutheran circles that recommend that we use pop culture songs to make the unchurched seeker more comfortable in the name of evangelism. I know we paid some consultants a good penny or two for evangelism advice but chances are that if the song was popular on top 40 radio it ain’t gonna pass even one of the criteria listed above and doesn't need to sung from the balcony by our choirs or the pews by the congregations. The same thing goes for last week’s top ten list over at K-Love which takes vapid and adds a dash of the eww that’s kinda creepy factor with songs that seem to favor effeminate or romantic language that is more appropriate with ones spouse than the risen Christ! Nope, nonsense like that fails our simple evaluation big time and is best left off the rotation of regular hymns.

As to the question of who should test the hymns, the pastor with the input of a layperson with some theological training on staff or who has volunteered to run the music program works nicely. It’s important that both the pastor and the congregation work together in picking hymns to be sung within the Divine Service. The laity should rely on the pastor’s theological knowledge to ensure that no errors are present in the hymns and that the hymn is appropriate or a particular Sunday’s pericope as well as hold that pastor to account should he err (and he will err from time to time as he is a poor miserable sinner like the rest of us) and choose hymns that do not meet the a standard we all should hope for. It should never be an either or situation that has the pastor or laity subservient to the other as we are all slaves to Christ.

I hope that answers your questions.

Why Would You Sing That Hymn?

One more post on why I love the hymnody of Advent.

One of the reasons I love the hymnody of Advent is that hymns are so confessional. What do I mean when I say this? A confession of faith in hymnody is nothing more than repeating back, in a musical setting, the Gospel which God has given us in Scripture.

Our Gospel reading for Sunday was read from the first chapter of Saint John’s Gospel beginning with the sixth verse;

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
He said: “I am‘ The voice of one crying in the wilderness:“ Make straight the way of the LORD,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

After our Gospel reading we sang the Latin hymn Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding; found on page 345 in the Lutheran Service Book;

Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding!"
Christ is near," we hear it say."
Cast away the works of darkness,
All you children of the day!"

Startled at the solemn warning,
Let the earthbound soul arise;
Christ, its sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.

See, the Lamb, so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heav'n.
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all, to be forgiv'n.

So, when next he comes in glory
And the world is wrapped in fear,
He will shield us with his mercy
And with words of love draw near.

Honor, glory, might, dominion
To the Father and the Son
With the everliving Spirit
While eternal ages run!

As John prepares Israel for the coming (which is what Advent means, a coming) of the Messiah first promised back in the third chapter of Genesis we prepare for Christ’s return, the parousia or second advent. The hymn could have certainly been sung before the first advent and it indeed a joy to sing it before the second. As John announced the coming of Jesus to all who would hear so do we now in our sung confession with this great Advent hymn.

Thoughts On The Musical Settings Of Palm Sunday Hymnody

What the heck is with the peppy musical settings of Palm Sunday hymnody?

Great hymns like Ride On, Ride On in Majesty certainly reflect the pericope or Scripture reading of the day (which is one of the tests with which we measure our hymnody here at POTF) but is such an upbeat musical setting really appropriate? Here is our Gospel reading for the day:

Mark 11:1-10

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”

So they went their way, and found the[b] colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”

And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“ Hosanna!

‘ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!”

And here is the text of our opening hymn All Glory, Laud, and Honor found in the LSB on page 442:

Refrain:
All glory, laud, and honor,
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.

1. Thou art the King of Israel,
thou David's royal Son,
who in the Lord's name comest,
the King and Blessed One.
(Refrain)

2. The company of angels
are praising thee on high,
and we with all creation
in chorus make reply.
(Refrain)

3. The people of the Hebrews
with psalms before thee went;
our prayer and praise and anthems
before thee we present.
(Refrain)

4. To thee, before thy passion,
they sang their hymns of praise;
to thee, now high exalted,
our melody we raise.
(Refrain)

5. Thou didst accept their praises;
accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest,
thou good and gracious King.
(Refrain)


Yes the hymn is repeating back (confessing) the Gospel story that is going to be read but what is with the almost joyful musical setting? Don’t these people know how the story turns out? Don’t the people who write the music for these hymns know that in less than a week these same people cheering for Jesus are going to be the same ones calling for his crucifixion? Don’t they know the ending of the story? Don’t they know that in a few short days, that on Good Friday, Jesus is going be beaten, stripped naked, and nailed to a piece of wood to die? Again, what is with this almost cheerful music? Why, when it is sung, does it sound like a victory parade if we know it ends with death?

Simply put, it’s a victory parade because it ends in death.

In Christ’s work on the cross, we are given victory over sin, death, and the devil himself. In Christ’s work on the cross, all our sins are placed on Him who committed no sin and an atonement; a reconciliation, between God and man is made. In Christ’s work on the cross, we see the magnitude of God’s love; sending His Son as a propitiation for the very creatures who rebelled against him.

The music is joyful precisely because we do know the ending of the story. We know that our story begins and ends at the cross and we sing accordingly. Thanks be to God that we know our Lord and our King rides into Jerusalem to redeem the fallen human race. Thanks be to God that we have great hymns to sing of all the glory, laud, and honor our Savior earned and won at Calvary.

Lenten Thoughts: Not A Dark Place But A Place Of Joy

An evangelical friend of mine, who I had not talked with for some time, called me Saturday evening on her way home. She said that since it was such a long drive she thought she would give me and the missus a shout as she had a few hours to burn.

When she asked me “guess what I did this morning?” I gave my usual random off the wall quirky answer “uh, you killed yerself a couple of possums?” Usually when people ask me a question to which I know I’m not going to even be in the right ballpark I’ll throw out the color blue as the reply and just wait for the look of muted confusion. I get that a lot even when I don’t try goofy words or phrases for some reason… I wonder why?

Anyhoo, the appropriate answer to my friend’s question was that she had used the Lutheran Service Book that I sent to her a few years back. I sent her a copy so that if I was ever asked lead a morning devotion, as I’ve been asked to do on occasion, I would have a copy of the Order of Matins to start us off. For what it’s worth, if I’m not attending a morning service that offers the Eucharist I would much rather follow the Order of Matins instead of one of our regular Divine Services whether it’s setting I or III as is the norm in my congregation.

My friend told me she followed the morning prayers, jumped around a little bit and ended up meditating on the one my favorite hymns: O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken by Johann Heermann. She stated that it was “a dark hymn but sometimes we’ve got to go there”. And that got me thinking…

For those of us that follow the historical church’s liturgical calendar we are now almost through the season of Lent. Lent traditionally is viewed as a more somber or penitential season of the Church year which has the hymnody and the passages of Scripture focusing intently on Jesus’ turning His face toward Jerusalem and ultimately His cross to atone for the sins of all the world.

While the most popular voices of Americanized Christianity have eliminated any talk of the cross and Christ’s suffering on that cursed tree in our stead for a false assurance relying of their own good works and intentions as well as changing the world with visioned purpose, Lent for the more liturgically minded is a time of looking to the cross with confidence and through the eyes of faith; seeing God’s love on full display in that all the Father’s wrath has been propitiated through the sacrifice of the Son.

Lent for me has never really been a somber time of the year. It has however been a chance to stop (or at least turn down a bit) my own sinful narcissism and look, as we are called to do, to Jesus and what He did and continues to do for us each and every day. This is especially pertinent when we gather together in His name to hear the Word preached faithfully and receive the Sacraments rightfully administered.

Any season, week, or day of the liturgical church year that is able to focus our eyes back on the Crucified and Risen Savior is not a somber occasion but rather a joyous one. Yes, the depths of our sins become more apparent as the blameless one takes all our sins upon Himself at Golgotha to reconcile us with the God the Father but that is the tremendous depth of our Lord’s grace and love for His wayward children. The wonderful thing about Lenten hymnody, whether it’s from the pen of Heermann, Gerhardt, or any of a multitude of fine church musicians, is that what at first glance appears to be dark or somber, when seen through the eyes of faith, is really a proper understanding of how far a merciful Lord will go to redeem those who He loves. That salvific love hidden in the form of a cross is joy to Christian, even in the season of Lent.

Lenten Hymnody From The Treasury of Daily Prayer

From the awesome Treasury of Daily Prayer:

Lord, ‘tis not that I did choose Thee;
That, I know, could never be;
For this heart would still refuse Thee
had Thy grace not chosen me.
Thou hast from the sin that stained me
Washed and cleansed and set me free
And unto this end ordained me,
That I ever live to Thee

- Lord, ‘Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee
Lutheran Service Book 573:1

I’m continually amazed as I travel though the historic Church year with the Treasury of Daily Prayer at how much the editors crammed in this book. What a true blessing this devotional resource is in it’s use of Psalms, Old and New Scripture readings as well as selected writings from church fathers and hymnody.

I wonder if anyone thought of doing an audio version of something like the TDP?

What I Learned At An Evangelical Wake

Les’s wake was held last night. There where some rough parts with family members angry about who might be included in the receiving line. But the evening ended about as well as it possibly could.

The one odd thing that struck me occurred after the viewing was over and only Anne, the kids and their wives or girlfriends, two or three members of Anne’s church, and myself remained. Their Pastor read a little bit of scripture and led the bunch of us in a prayer that was longer than most Lutheran sermons these days.

And then, the odd thingy, they broke out singing their favorite hymnody. And not just singing the melody but these folks were singing harmony as well. And unlike what I usually hear in many Lutheran churches today, they sang joyfully. I swear the ten of them sang louder and clearer and with more joy than even my own congregation is capable of at a midweek service.

I believe that most Lutherans would be put to shame if asked to sing ten entire hymns without their hymnals and sing them well or even in parts. With such a rich tradition in hymnody it would stand to reason that most Lutherans should at least be able to keep up with ten evangelicals, but that just sadly isn’t the case.

We certainly differ theologically with most evangelicals in America today, but one thing I think is clear, they love Jesus and are better about communicating that than most of us.

Hymn Review On Issues, Etc.: Praise The One Who Breaks the Darkness

I’m a few days behind on listening to my podcasts so it took me a few days to get to…

The Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr. of Concordia Theological Seminary was a guest last Friday on Issues, Etc. and had the opportunity to look at a relativity new hymn that offers both catechesis and proper praise of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.

Too often folks like myself are accused, yes accused, of not appreciating or even tolerating any hymnody that isn’t from the sixteenth or prior centuries. This simply isn’t the case at all. What people like myself require of our hymnody is that the hymn be a sung confession that speaks both what Jesus did for us and continues to do for us today.

Praise The One Who Breaks the Darkness is one of those hymns that speaks beautifully of the salvific work of Jesus who breaks into our world of sin and darkness and rescues his fallen creatures by offering up Himself as a sacrifice. This simple yet sublime hymn was written by Rusty Edwards only a few years ago and I’m sure will stand the same test of time that the church catholic has put to many of the Greek, Latin, and reformation era hymns that we joyfully sing today.

In the embedded clip, Dr. Just walks us through this wonderful hymn and discusses the Biblical themes of salvation that our Lord so graciously offers. Here is the text of this great hymn:

Praise the one who breaks the darkness
with a liberating light.
Praise the one who frees the prisoners,
turning blindness into sight.
Praise the one who preached the Gospel,
healing every dread disease,
calming storms and feeding thousands
with the very bread of peace.

Praise the one who blessed the children
with a strong yet gentle word.
Praise the one who drove out demons
with a piercing two-edged sword.
Praise the one who brings cool water
to the desert's burning sand.
From this well comes living water,
quenching thirst in every land.

Praise the one true love incarnate:
Christ who suffered in our place.
Jesus died and rose for many
that we may know God by grace.
Let us sing for joy and gladness,
seeing what our God has done.
Praise the one redeeming glory,
praise the One who makes us one.

Unexpected Phone Calls, Sorrow, And The Comfort Of Lenten Hymnody

My morning started off very, very badly. About fifteen minutes before I was to leave for church I received a phone call from my oldest friend, Anne. She was calling me to request my presence when her husband comes home from the hospital to die. Anne’s husband Les has been on dialysis for kidney failure for many years now and he’s well past the average time that most people with his condition survive. Simply put, Les is at the point where the dialysis no longer does what it is supposed to. In six days he will come home for the last time to die with his family. Anne and Les consider me to be the not so sane younger brother, their three children all call me Uncle Frank, and for this reason, because I’m considered family, I too will be there at his passing.

This is not the way I expected my Sunday to start. Who knew? Not me I assure you. So needless to say I went off to church not in the right frame of mind. Fortunately, God’s gifts through His promised means of grace are not dependent on me being in the right frame of mind. The preached Word does what it does in spite of my emotional state whether it be distressed and cheerless or joyful, it makes no difference. Thankfully the Word of the Lord is not subjective but rather objective and alive and active. The comfort of God’s undeserved gift of grace through faith in Christ preached purely did what it was intended to, it comforted me.

And the closing hymn comforted me as well. I’ve written at length about my love of Lenten hymnody because of the focus on Christ’s passion and his journey to Jerusalem to offer Himself up as a sacrifice for all poor miserable sinners, like me and the rest of the planet. Our closing hymn was My Song Is Love Unknown by Samuel Crossman, written in 1664 was found on page 430 of our hymnal, LSB.

My song is love unknown,
 My Savior’s love to me;
 Love to the loveless shown,
 That they might lovely be.
 O who am I, that for my sake
 My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

He came from His blest throne
 Salvation to bestow;
 But men made strange, and none
 The longed-for Christ would know:
 But O! my Friend, my Friend indeed,
 Who at my need His life did spend!

Sometimes they strew His way,
 And His sweet praises sing;
 Resounding all the day
 Hosannas to their King:
 Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,
 And for His death they thirst and cry.

Why, what hath my Lord done?
 What makes this rage and spite? 
He made the lame to run,
 He gave the blind their sight,
 Sweet injuries! Yet they at these
 Themselves displease, and ’gainst Him rise.

They rise and needs will have 
My dear Lord made away; 
A murderer they save,
 The Prince of life they slay,
 Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
 That He His foes from thence might free.

In life, no house, no home
 My Lord on earth might have;
 In death no friendly tomb 
But what a stranger gave.
 What may I say? Heav’n was His home; 
But mine the tomb wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,
 No story so divine; 
Never was love, dear King!
 Never was grief like Thine. 
This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise 
I all my days could gladly spend.

What a beautiful confession it is that repeats back in song the very story that is the good news for a fallen world. This Lenten hymn comforted me every bit as much as the reading of this morning's Scripture readings. I pray that I’m in some way able to share that same comfort that I sung this morning very soon with those I love dearly.

Please keep Anne and Les, my oldest friends, in your prayers.

“You’re A Bad Influence”

Here’s how the conversation went down:

I don’t like this hymn, it doesn’t even mention Christ.

Yeah it does (with me pointing to the sixth verse), He’s right there.

No… He’s not, that’s Christ’s followers not Christ.

It’s talking about the Christ’s Church, it’s a decent hymn.

Well, it’s not going to be one of my favorites.

Fine.

It’s all your fault, now I look for Christ in the hymns as well as the sermons. You’re a bad influence.

That was my missus telling me that she’s judging her hymnody using the same criteria that she uses to judge whether or not a sermon is any good. In a nutshell, she was using the Wilken Diagnostic. What’s that you ask? The Wilken Diagnostic is a very simple way of evaluating sermons that is used by Pastor Todd Wilken; the host for my favorite radio program Issues, Etc:

1. How often is Jesus mentioned?
2. Is Jesus the subject of the verbs? Is Jesus the one who acts, or are you?
3. What are the verbs? What has Jesus done and what is He doing?

It seems that my missus is now using that same standard to evaluate all things in church, even hymnody. Oh yeah!

Now to be fair, the reformation era hymn wasn’t a bad one, it did speak of Christ’s triumphant church. It was the kind of hymn that you would expect to sing if the New Testament reading was from the book of Revelation, you know, with all the left behindy people are all realizing that they are…left behind looking up at the new Jerusalem wondering “What… the … deuce?”. There’s nothing wrong with a triumphant church hymn even if this one might not be the strongest one out there. It really wasn’t a bad hymn, just not the best one.

What I just find so very, very cool is that my missus is becoming quite the theologian in her own right. She who claims that she is no theologian at all has more than once stepped up spontaneously and given a defense of the one true faith. Strong in the faith this one is and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

A Christmas Card

A joyful Advent to everyone! My apologies to all for the lack of posts during the Advent season. My vocation has kept me busy during one of my favorite times of the Church year. I really had intended to do at least a couple of posts on the beautiful hymnody sung, and thereby confessed, during Advent. But vocation being what it is, got in the way of my working on posts. Again, my apologies.

So, instead of a serious post on hymnody, I’ll end the Advent season with a Christmas card. And not just any Christmas card, a Christmas card from my beloved district to yours truly.
I received the card on Monday that read:

The heavens are ablaze as a great company of the heavenly host appear praising God and saying. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all”
This heavenly announcement sent the shepherds off to see and worship the Savior. And then…they returned to share the Good News.
It is our prayer that as you celebrate these days of God’s coming, you will be blessed with opportunities for worship and sharing. Praise God that He comes to us.
Blessed Christmas,
The Staff

Yes, this little card made my day. The above text is exactly what I received, no edits and no deletions, save my removing which district actually sent it. Notice anything odd?

Easter Hymn For Cantate

Our hymn of the day this past Sunday was a seventeenth century hymn At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing as translated by Bohemian Brethren and sung to the tune Sonne Der Gerechtigkeit. This is considered an Easter hymn because of the numerous references to Christ’s sacrifice of His body and blood at the cross. It could easily be sung as a Eucharistic hymn for exactly the same reason.

I’ve said before in previous posts, (here and here), hymnody should always be confessional. And by this sung confession, the hymn becomes a proclamation of the Gospel. The text of the hymn is drawing inspiration from Revelation 5:11-13 (NKJV) which reads

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“ Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

While the hymn does state what our response is to our crucified Lord, the subject of the hymn is Christ and not our emotional response to Christ. A good number of enthusiasts prefer hymnody that focuses on us and our responses. This would make us the subject of the verbs and that would be, of course, wrong. When the subject of a hymn is not Christ, it is not proclamation and therefore is not a hymn but rather a song. Songs have no place within the walls of our sanctuaries. Songs belong on the radio or around a campfire, not in Church.

One of the things that I love about this particular hymn is the Eucharistic language that celebrates Christ’s victory on the cross. The first verse confesses that it is Christ’s blood that makes us righteous before God. The second verse confesses that Christ as our High Priest willingly gives up his own body and blood to become our paschal lamb. Verse four confesses that even today we can physically grasp that same Host which was nailed to a tree. Today, it is that same body that hung on a cross that we eat at the Holy Supper. It is that same blood that cleanses us that we drink in the Cup. It is in the Sacrament of the Eucharist that we get a taste, of that eternal heavenly feast that waits for us on the other side of eternity.

And to top things off, this beautiful hymn ends with a doxological verse confessing the Trinity. The word doxological comes from the Greek word doxologia meaning praise and laudation from the root word doxa, and word, speech, and speaking from the root word logos. So the final verse ends with a Trinitarian confession to which my congregation stands as if it was hearing the Gospel itself.

Here is our hymn of the day for your enjoyment.

At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing Praise to our victorious king,
Who has washed us in the tide Flowing from his pierced side. Alleluia!

Praise we him, whose love divine Gives his sacred blood for wine,
Gives his body for the feast Christ the victim, Christ the priest. Alleluia!

Where the paschal blood is poured, Death’s dread angel sheathes the sword;
Israel’s hosts triumphant go Through the wave that drowns the foe. Alleluia!

Praise we Christ, whose blood was shed, Paschal victim, paschal bread;
With sincerity and love Eat we manna from above. Alleluia!

Mighty Victim from the sky, Hell’s fierce powers beneath you lie;
You have conquered in the fight You have brought us life and light. Alleluia!

Now no more can death appall, Now no more the grave enthrall;
You have opened paradise, And your saints in you shall rise. Alleluia!

Easter triumph, Easter joy! This alone can sin destroy;
From sin’s power, Lord, set us free, Newborn souls in you to be. Alleluia!

Father, who the crown shall give, Savior, by whose death we live,
Spirit, guide through all our days; Three in One, Your name we praise. Alleluia!

Lenten Hymns

Boy, I’m going to miss Lent. I say this every single year. And I mean it, every single year after year after year. Lent is really my favorite time of the Church year.

One of the reasons is that we seem to sing more of my favorite hymns during Lent. Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed by Isaac Watts and O Dearest Jesus, What Law Have You Broken by Johann Heermann are two hymns I could sing throughout the year over and over. And if there is a better hymn to sing during Lent than Paul Gerhard’s translation of Bernard of Clairvaux’s O Sacred Head Now Wounded, then I’m just not aware of it.

The reason I love these hymns so much is that they are confessional. By confessional I mean that these hymns repeat back the very Scripture that God gives to feed us. And by confessing God’s Word, the hymns become the proclamation of God’s Word. During the season of Lent we focus on our Lord as he turns His face towards Jerusalem to complete His ministry. Our Lenten hymnody reflects these portions of Scripture. Put to music are the very doctrines and teachings of the Church catholic for us to sing.

This is not to say that there is any lack of good hymnody throughout the rest of the Church year. It’s just that I appreciate the Lenten hymns a little more.

Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed by Isaac Watts
1.Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
2. Was it for crimes that I have done, he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
3. Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died for his own creature's sin.
4. Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
5. But drops of tears can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'tis all that I can do.

O Dearest Jesus, What Law Have You Broken by Johann Heermann
1.O dearest Jesus, what law have you broken
That such sharp sentence should on you be spoken?
Of what great crime have you to make confession,
What dark transgression?
2.They crown your head with thorns, they smite, they scourge you;
With cruel mockings to the cross they urge you;
The give you gall to drink, they still decry you;
They crucify you.
3.What is the source of all your mortal anguish?
It is my sins for which you, Lord, must languish;
Yes, all the wrath, the woe that you inherit,
This I do merit.
4.How strange is this great paradox to ponder:
The shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander;
The master pays the debt his servants owe him,
Who would not know him.
5.The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
The sinful child of man may live in gladness;
We forfeited our lives yet are acquitted;
God is committed!
6.O wondrous love, whose depth no heart has sounded,
That brought you here, by foes and thieves surrounded,
Conquer my heart, make love its sole endeavor
Henceforth forever!
7.When, dearest Jesus, at your throne in heaven
To me the crown of joy at last is given,
Where sweetest hymns your saints forever raise you,
I too shall praise you!

Song Review: What A Friend I've Found

In a comment on a recent post I was asked by someone new to POTF to give my thoughts on a particular song. I think this song would qualify as a praise song as I’ve heard similar lyrics sung in Sunday worship services of friends of mine who do not share my traditional Lutheran sensibilities. I’ve always taken requests here at POTF so there was no reason at all to not accepted the challenge.

Since “What a friend I've found” isn’t a traditional hymn I’ll be using a shorter but succinct method that I use to judge not only hymnody but sermons as well: the Wilken Diagnostic. The Wilken Diagnostic is a three step evaluation popularized on my favorite radio program Issues, Etc. by host Pr. Todd Wilken that goes like this:

1. How often is Jesus mentioned?

2. Is Jesus the subject of the verbs? Is Jesus the one who acts, or are you?

3. What are the verbs? What has Jesus done and what is He doing?

Now, keeping the Wilken Diagnostic in the back of our minds as we read “What a friend I've found” written by Martin Smith; here’s the lyrics:

What a friend I've found, Closer than a brother

I have felt your touch, More intimate than lovers

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, friend forever

What a hope I've found, More faithful than a mother

It would break my heart, To ever lose each other

chorus repeat until end

So, using the Wilken Diagnostic, let’s start answering the questions.

1. How often is Jesus mentioned? Well, Jesus does get mentioned in the chorus and that’s a lot more than some songs I’ve heard that purport to be Christian. It’s true that Jesus is our friend and that will indeed last an eternity but He’s a bit more than that, isn’t He. I just think “Jesus, friend forever” leaves out nearly everything about who Jesus is and what he does which is a nice segue into our next diagnostic question.

2. Is Jesus the subject of the verbs? Is Jesus the one who acts, or are you? This question is a crucial one because if Jesus isn’t doing the doing, He’s not doing anything at all. The first line the song seems to fail this particular test. Do we as poor sinful creatures really find Jesus? Are we capable of coming to know anything about Jesus on our own? Let’s see what Scripture says about our own ability; let’s look at what St. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-8;

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

So, we are indeed dead in our sins and can only receive faith as a gift from God. In the above text, who is running the verbs? It’s God ain’t it? Yep, and thanks be to God that by grace He does this even though we don’t deserve it. The Lord looks at us and sees, not fallen creatures, but His only begotten Son’s blood drenched robes and declares us righteous on the account of Christ. All that sin that we carry with us is atoned for at Calvary. If we are to be honest about it, we could say we had a part only in the fact that it was our sin that caused Him to be nailed to the cursed tree.

Now let’s also look at the words of Jesus in John 15:1-6;

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

The key phrase here is Jesus saying “for apart from me you can do nothing.” Here Jesus reminds us that everything is dependent on God’s grace, even the good works that bear fruit are gifts from the Spirit! All the doing is God doing the doing. All our lives, whether we talk of faith or works it is God running the verbs.

So can we “find” Jesus? Not on our own we can’t. To say or even think that we run the verbs goes against what Scripture proclaims! The song “What a friend I've found” doesn’t have Jesus doing the doing but rather it has us and what we do and what we think and what we feel as the subject of the verbs.

This brings to our last question;

3. What are the verbs? What has Jesus done and what is He doing? If Jesus isn’t the subject of the verbs, this question must simply be left blank. Not much more to say than that other than to lament the fact that the song fails to mention what Jesus did out of love for all His poor miserable creature! The story of Jesus’ work at the cross is called good news for a reason! If I’m gonna sing about Jesus, I sorta want to sing about the evangel, the good news. If that wonderful story isn’t at the center of your song… I really don’t feel comfortable singing it because it doesn't say anything that offers me any hope for the sin which infects all of us to core; Jesus’ atonement on the cross which allows me, through no work of my own, be declared righteous before the Lord God almighty.

Lastly, while this thought doesn’t fall under the Wilken Diagnostic, I still feel it needs to be said; I would be really uncomfortable singing the first stanza with a line like “I have felt your touch, More intimate than lovers” in any setting. We often speak of Christ as the Bridegroom and His Church as the bride but in the last few years there has been an explosion of songs that seem to use erotic language when referring to our Lord. I fail to see how Christ’s Church is edified with such language.

It’s true that the Song of Songs has some imagery that describes a very intimate relationship (this book of Scripture in particular is often sited as an excuses for the sexualization of both hymnody and preaching) but texts of this sort do not give us license to turn our songs into soft core porn ditties that resemble hits(?) sung by so many over sexualized pop stars seen on stations that still play music videos. Sorry, but I still get creeped out every time I hear a song that requires me to constantly remind myself it supposed to be about our Lord!

Ask yourself this; if you scratched out the name Jesus and wrote in either the name Andy or Andrea into the chorus, does the song still work if you sing it as a love song to your respective boyfriend or girlfriend? If you answer in the affirmative, I fail to see how anybody can enjoy singing such a song.

I’m afraid I can’t give my approval to the song “What a friend I've found”. With so many good hymns out there, both ancient and modern, that are able to speak of Christ’s salvific work and even our response, why sing a song that falls so short of confessing how God expresses love and our response?

Russia WILL Be Abaze!

From my inbox this morning;

December 6, 2007 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 82
World Mission sponsors tour to Russia
LCMS World Mission is sponsoring April 22-May 5 an Ablaze! tour to Russia and the Baltics, where the collapse of European communism brought the Synod in touch -- and in partnership -- with fellow Lutherans who remained steadfast in their faith through decades of persecution.
Hosting the tour will be LCMS World Mission Executive Director Robert Roegner and his wife, Kristi; LCMS First Vice President William Diekelman and his wife, Carol; and LCMS World Mission Regional Director for Eurasia Brent Smith and his wife, Jennie.
The tour includes visits with partner-church representatives and LCMS missionaries, a first-hand look at their Gospel ministries, and stops at historic and other sites in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia; Riga, Latvia; and Vilnius, Lithuania.
Cost of the trip, including round-trip airfare, is $3,779. The price also covers lodging, breakfast and dinner daily, tour guides, intra-European travel, all gratuities, taxes, and the Russia visa fee.

I would love to be a fly on the wall when our folks speak to the Russian churches and tell them that although they have a long liturgical tradition, and although their hymnody is clearly one that the church has always sung, they will need to implement something more dynamic to attract the over 50 crowd.

I would love to be there when folks from our synod walk in and declare that their churches not inviting enough because they don’t pass out jars of jelly as welcome gifts.

Yeah, I would almost like to go on this little trip, you know, schadenfreude and all.

Concordia Irvine Offers New Worship Drama Degree

In the inbox this morning was a story in the Reporter, the official LCMS newspaper that Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., has approved a minor in worship arts leadership. From the story;

The minor includes courses in music, theology, song selection, how to put a service together, and how to select a worship team. It is designed to provide training in various worship styles, the use of technology and media in worship, service planning, and the use of drama and visual arts.

I thought I remember President Kieschnick saying sometime last year that we were a united bunch. Didn’t I read that somewhere? I’m sure I did, somewhere...

Now at first I thought President Kieschnick was just holding to the Lutheran confessions which I know he holds most dear which state in Article XXIV: Of the Mass.

Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ].

But after reading President Kieschnick’s piece I now realize that he meant that we are unified not by our confession of what Scripture teaches, (he later said we do indeed have “disagreements”) or our worship but rather we are unified by the passing of the synod’s marketing campaign in convention and election of synodical bureaurocrats. Sorry, I’m really getting off topic here (although the two issues are joined at the hip), anyhoo...

So, to further buttress our stated unity the Concordia system is now offering courses on how to create new worship services? Really? Do we now need to modify ACXXIV to say we have indeed abolished the Divine Service for some new fangled thing(s) that we trained people to create so as to be relevant? Do we also need to say that we no longer sing the historic hymnody that has been sung and confessed for millennia instead we look for songs to sing and that we no longer consider a pastor as an undershepherd who leads us in worship but rather that we now use teams to lead us? Are we so incompetent at preaching Christ and Him crucified that we need to resort to drama teams to entertain us on a Sunday morning?

Yes sirree buddy, all we need in the LCMS is more drama…

Get Out Of Church

From the December “Evangelgram” a monthly E-publication highlighting outreach efforts in LCMS Congregations:

So, how can a church reach out to the unchurched families of its neighborhood at Christmas? The list, of course, is long. But in our little Storm Lake church we like to create a big event. Here’s what we did last year.
First of all, we put together our ideas for a big Christmas program/party. We prepare dramas, choirs, special music, games, gifts, and food. We try to have something of interest for all age groups. Considering our goal, we feel free to com­bine the sacred and the secular. We make sure the Gospel message is repeatedly pro­claimed during the event.
Second, we rent a neutral space, a place where the unchurched feel comfort­able in attending. This year, we are renting the big lobby area of our middle school. Here we have lots of space for all of our program activities.

Ok, I’m going to put the best possible construction on the first point and say that combining of “the sacred and the secular” is the inclusion of Santa Clause. Not my thing, but I do understand that some people insist on including make believe characters into church functions for the benefit of our ragamuffins.

But the second point… that needs a little scrutiny. Every time a district or synod official walks into my congregation, we have to listen to how we could just reach more unchurched if we start looking more contemporary in liturgy and hymnody.

So with that train of thought, more and more of our congregations are implementing blended, praise and contemporary styles to attract new potential members. It must be noted that a “little” bump in the road for those who want to throw out the historical liturgy has been the overwhelming success of a real live hymnal, Lutheran Service Book. LSB flies in the face of the popular notions that congregations just want everything printed in a bulletin and therefore have no use for hymnals. But that subject is another post and I need to get back on topic.

With my sitting on mission boards I've heard over and over and over that we need to not scare away the unchurched and that we need to “meet them where they are at”. Now with so many of our beloved synod’s congregations going the way of church growth, one would think that the unchurched might start wandering in. That clearly hasn’t been the case.

So what is now being put forth as evangelism? Why, just move your church function to a “neutral space”! I guess we are now expected to believe that if we take the church out of Church, maybe then our headcount will go up. Yeah, right. It only makes sense that the same folks that are in charge of what is being promoted as missions would recommend that we should move our venues to the high school glee club’s digs that we’ve being trying to emulate for years.