“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this Christmas Eve is from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from Matthew chapter one. Dear friends in Christ, I love the movie ‘The Nativity Story.’ Very well done and full of beautiful imagery, this movie puts a human face on the story we read about in the Scriptures. Despite a few changes to the story- the wise men did not come on Christmas Eve- I thought it was very accurate as well. One of its most important contributions, in my opinion, is the portrayal of Joseph. While in most tellings of the Christmas story Joseph is an incidental character, ‘The Nativity Story’ really makes his struggles come alive for us. This is much like Matthew in our text for tonight. While Luke rightfully shines the spotlight on Mary, Matthew takes a look at Joseph. And what we see is very encouraging. God knew what He was doing when He selected the parents of our Lord and Savior. They both were faithful and obedient to God, and as we will see, they trusted the promises given to them.
Matthew describes Joseph as a ‘just’ man, using a word that we often have translated as ‘righteous.’ He was a good Jew, practicing obedience to the Law and following God’s instructions in the Old Testament. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” Can you imagine what that was like? Joseph was a good man, a righteous man, a hard working carpenter who only wanted to build a family in Nazareth. He was one of the ‘good guys’ that in our world does not seem to get any breaks. He had selected what seemed to be a wonderful wife, followed all the proper customs to become betrothed to her, and was awaiting the day that she would be his wife. When it became apparent that she was pregnant, I think we can all imagine what Joseph felt like. He felt betrayed, deceived, sinned against. The woman whom he had pledged his life to had been unfaithful even before they were married!
But Joseph did not react out of anger. “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” Here another definition of just or righteous is revealed. Joseph was willing to show mercy to someone who seemingly did not deserve it. Isn’t this amazing?! His love for her remained strong even after he discovered her secret! If he revealed her unfaithfulness, she would have faced public shame at the least and perhaps death by stoning at the worst. Joseph showed grace and mercy to his betrothed- his plan were motivated by love. But the plans of men are not the plans of God. Isn’t that the way it is with all of our plans? So often we mean well, but we simply do not know all that our Lord does. We make plans for a comfortable life, a new car, a bigger home, grand vacations, and a comfortable lifestyle, but God so often says that He has different plans. Especially in this world, we are encouraged to set things up so that we achieve all that we can at each stage, working toward a comfortable retirement in the sun. But the sin of this world, the challenges sent our way, can derail each and every plan. At every turn, God is achieving His own plans through good and ill, plans that will ultimately bring forth good, though we often can’t see the end.
Joseph was about to do the wrong thing for the right reasons, but it was the plans of men that led this world into sin in the first place- our plans made the mess that God sought to clean up. We wanted to be like God in the Garden of Eden, and if you think about it, that is what many of our plans ultimately come down to. We often mean well, as Joseph did, but our own sin, caused by the misguided plans of Adam and Eve, colors every plan that we make. The plans of our sinful nature include only us and our own needs. Our sin turns us in on ourselves and focuses our plans squarely on ‘what’s in it for me.’ Man’s desires and schemes have led to wars and destruction throughout history, they have caused families and friendships to break apart. Left to ourselves and our plans, we may have a grand time here on earth, but our plans would have no place for God.
God stops the plan of Joseph right in its tracks: “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” God’s plans, as they do so often in our lives, override our plans. We had fallen into sin, left to ourselves and our devices we simply made things worse, as we fell deeper and deeper into sin and justly earned the wrath of God. But God had His own plans. His love for us was so complete, so total, that He was willing to deal with our sin, to reclaim humanity for His own. And so Joseph’s plans, as kind and loving as they were, needed to be thwarted. But Joseph did not complain. In his trusting submission of his own plans to those of God, Joseph gives us all a pattern of looking at our own plans. “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a Son. And he called His name Jesus.”
For this child was no ordinary child. The angel told Joseph in the dream, “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Today, names are simply labels, we pick them for aesthetic reasons or because a name has special meaning for us, most of the time (unless we receive one of those fancy bookmarks) we don’t even know what they mean. But in the Scriptures, names mean something, they have incredible significance, especially when they are given directly from God. They describe a person’s identity as well as what they are to do. They are a one-word prophecy, and here, the name of Mary’s Son is incredibly significant. For this Child is to be named Jesus, the Old Testament name Joshua. And in order that Joseph and the rest of us don’t miss its significance, the angel translates: “for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves!’ This child was to be the instrument, the tool which Yahweh would use to save all people from their sin, to save us all from the punishment we deserve for those sins. For the rest of His life, the very name Jesus will evoke the purpose for which He came, to save sinners.
But this Jesus was more than simply a instrument of Yahweh. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).” Once again, the name describes identity and purpose. This child is truly God, a concept that we can only believe, we can never completely understand. It is a miracle, it is a mystery, it is the truth, and it is the only way by which we could be saved. For only as a man could the Son of God stand in our place. God was present amongst His people in the tabernacle in the desert and the temple in Jerusalem, but in a still distant way. In Christ He is present as one of us, as our Brother, in an intimate relationship with us, those who by no means deserve it. But more than that, He is not present simply for the sake of being present, He is present among us to save.
And as Yahweh come to save, as God with us in the flesh, this Child embarked on a mission to fulfill all those names prophesied. For the one born this night in a stable in Bethlehem would be the one to open wide once again the gates to paradise, and He could only do that by means of His death. Our sin deserved death, and in order to fulfill His name, Jesus had to pay the price we owed. On this night we look toward the manger, but only because the one born on this quiet night would be the one who would save you and me from sin by dying on the cross. Without the cross, Christmas is a neat story, perhaps good movie material, but of little worth to us. Christ dealt with our ultimate need, that of salvation, a need that is present whether we realize it or not. He did this by living a life in obedience to the Law, just like His parents, and then taking all of our sin, your sin, my sin, and the sin of the entire world, to the cross. There His shed blood washed it all away. Christ is God’s greatest gift because He bled and died for us! On this Christmas Eve, we look toward Good Friday and Easter, not to be sorrowful, but to be reminded once again that this miracle, God becoming man, had a purpose, a plan that involved your salvation. We no longer have to fear death, we no longer have to fear the punishment for our sins- Christ’s shed blood and victorious resurrection has delivered us!
This salvation delivers us in both body and soul. That is the great miracle of the Incarnation. When Jesus took on human flesh and was born of Mary that first Christmas night, He declared that His salvation was for our corrupted bodies as well. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day, we look forward to the restoration of our entire selves, body and soul, on that day. That is the Christian’s ultimate hope.
Joseph was about to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. As we heard earlier, this is an example of how the plans of our sinful nature are not always those of God. Christ came to deliver us from the sinful results of humanity’s plans, from the mess that we made of our world through our own scheming and sinful planning. But yet, this Christmas Eve we still find much to commend in Joseph. In fact, Jesus followed in Joseph’s footsteps. Like father, like adopted Son, we might say. Jesus showed mercy to we who were unworthy, all of us who were infected by sin, and His mercy washed those sins away. Joseph’s love for Mary is only a poor picture of Christ’s love for you, a love that sustains us each and every day. May this love, the love which led Jesus to become man, the love that led Him to the cross, fill you this Christmas Eve, Amen.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
A programming note...
For those who do read this blog on a regular basis, I threw a lot out there today- newsletter articles for both church and school, a sermon (Advent 3) and two newspaper articles. The newspaper articles need a little explanation:
Since October I have been running a monthly article in Eagle Newspapers of Madison County New York. Just this month, I have begun running the same articles (with congregation-specific changes) in the Owego area. The hope is to have these articles also in Binghampton newspapers. My intention is to speak about the Christian faith from the perspective of my trip to South Africa this past spring. My hope and prayer is that these articles will educate members and non-members about Christianity, as well as provide an opportunity to inform members of the community of service and bible study times, etc. for all three congregations.
Since October I have been running a monthly article in Eagle Newspapers of Madison County New York. Just this month, I have begun running the same articles (with congregation-specific changes) in the Owego area. The hope is to have these articles also in Binghampton newspapers. My intention is to speak about the Christian faith from the perspective of my trip to South Africa this past spring. My hope and prayer is that these articles will educate members and non-members about Christianity, as well as provide an opportunity to inform members of the community of service and bible study times, etc. for all three congregations.
December newspaper article
Greetings in Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. As you read this, we are in the midst of the holiday season, a time of joy and celebration. One of the things we most look forward to during this time is seeing family and friends again. I was fortunate enough to grow up with my family very close around me, we were able to get together for birthdays and other celebrations, not to mention the ‘big’ holidays. One of the most important parts of Christmas was family.
In my first column in October, I told you a little bit about the sacrifices the Lutheran seminary students in Pretoria, South Africa, make in order to study. Today I would like to tell you about my roommate, Bongani. Bongani has left a wife and two children behind at his home near the Swaziland border. Campus life in Pretoria does have breaks, but like many of the students he cannot afford to go home during those breaks. He left his family behind to come to the city and study at the seminary. During my three weeks in Africa, I was able to share in his life as a seminary student. Bongani started out very quiet and thoughtful, but while we were together he opened up another side that included soccer and an incomprehensible card game. While he seemed to be enjoying his time at seminary, every day I walked by a picture of his wife and children, waiting for him back home.
The question running through my mind as we lived among those men was, ‘Why do they do this?’ The answer is quite simple, really. They sacrifice so much to attend seminary so they may learn how to tell people about Jesus. They give up Christmases with their families to have the opportunity at future Christmases to speak of the real reason for Christmas. They have a burning desire to preach how on the first Christmas, God sent His Son as a little baby to save humanity from eternal punishment. They want to preach how this little baby grew up to die on the cross for each and every one of "you." That is why they sacrifice so much, so they can teach about Jesus Christ, who became man for you. During the Christmas season, they are missing their families, but their focus is on Jesus, who was born as the Savior to "all" mankind in a stable in Bethlehem.
We invite you to come celebrate this Christmas joy 4p.m. at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church every Sunday (we meet at Trinity Episcopal Church in Canastota). We also have several bible studies: before church at 3 p.m., Whitman Road above Clockville on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 2:00 p.m., Camden on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., and 1st and 2nd Tuesdays in Oneida on N. Lake St at 6:30 p.m. Call 315-245-0415 for specific directions and further information. Come visit us and share in the birth of our Savior!
In my first column in October, I told you a little bit about the sacrifices the Lutheran seminary students in Pretoria, South Africa, make in order to study. Today I would like to tell you about my roommate, Bongani. Bongani has left a wife and two children behind at his home near the Swaziland border. Campus life in Pretoria does have breaks, but like many of the students he cannot afford to go home during those breaks. He left his family behind to come to the city and study at the seminary. During my three weeks in Africa, I was able to share in his life as a seminary student. Bongani started out very quiet and thoughtful, but while we were together he opened up another side that included soccer and an incomprehensible card game. While he seemed to be enjoying his time at seminary, every day I walked by a picture of his wife and children, waiting for him back home.
The question running through my mind as we lived among those men was, ‘Why do they do this?’ The answer is quite simple, really. They sacrifice so much to attend seminary so they may learn how to tell people about Jesus. They give up Christmases with their families to have the opportunity at future Christmases to speak of the real reason for Christmas. They have a burning desire to preach how on the first Christmas, God sent His Son as a little baby to save humanity from eternal punishment. They want to preach how this little baby grew up to die on the cross for each and every one of "you." That is why they sacrifice so much, so they can teach about Jesus Christ, who became man for you. During the Christmas season, they are missing their families, but their focus is on Jesus, who was born as the Savior to "all" mankind in a stable in Bethlehem.
We invite you to come celebrate this Christmas joy 4p.m. at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church every Sunday (we meet at Trinity Episcopal Church in Canastota). We also have several bible studies: before church at 3 p.m., Whitman Road above Clockville on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 2:00 p.m., Camden on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., and 1st and 2nd Tuesdays in Oneida on N. Lake St at 6:30 p.m. Call 315-245-0415 for specific directions and further information. Come visit us and share in the birth of our Savior!
November newspaper article
Greetings in Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. If you remember from last month, my name is Vicar Christopher Maronde, and I am serving three Lutheran Churches in upstate New York, including Redeemer Evangelical in Canastota. In my previous article, I introduced a recent trip I took to South Africa. During that trip, I had the opportunity to go to church in a variety of settings. In a later article, I hope to tell you about worship in Africa. But today, I wish to speak to you about something that happened at the English speaking church that meets on the Seminary campus. On the second Sunday of our trip, our very last day in South Africa, we witnessed a baptism.
What we observed didn’t ‘seem’ very special. The German missionary gathered the family around a bowl of water and then poured water on the head of a one or two year old boy while speaking these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Then the child was given back to his parents and the service continued. Not too impressive, if you judge on appearances. But there was more than meets the eye. God Himself was working within that water to give a little baby life, to claim him as His very own child. That child was born in sin (as we all are), he was born facing the penalty of eternal death (which we all deserve), but in Baptism God gave to him life, He forgave that little child of all his sins. It wasn’t that the water was special or ‘magic,’ much the opposite, in fact. That water was quite ordinary, but it was being used for an extraordinary purpose. God joined His name to that water, He was working through that baptism to give that child eternal life. God wants to give these gifts to each and every one of you.
The amazing thing about Baptism is that God would work through simple water to give His gifts. Whether in South Africa or in Central New York, God gives the same gifts to hurting people. Baptism is not something you do for God, it is something that He wants to do for you. He offers this gift to you, He is yearning for you to be His child. In South Africa, we saw a little boy become a child of God, a miracle that happens in so many churches throughout the world every Sunday.
To learn more about God’s gifts in Baptism, we invite you to come to Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church every Sunday at 4 pm (we meet at Trinity Episcopal Church in Canastota). We also have several bible studies: before church at 3 pm, at Whitman Road above Clockville on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 2:00 pm, at North Bay on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. Call 315-245-0415 for specific directions and further information. Come visit us!
What we observed didn’t ‘seem’ very special. The German missionary gathered the family around a bowl of water and then poured water on the head of a one or two year old boy while speaking these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Then the child was given back to his parents and the service continued. Not too impressive, if you judge on appearances. But there was more than meets the eye. God Himself was working within that water to give a little baby life, to claim him as His very own child. That child was born in sin (as we all are), he was born facing the penalty of eternal death (which we all deserve), but in Baptism God gave to him life, He forgave that little child of all his sins. It wasn’t that the water was special or ‘magic,’ much the opposite, in fact. That water was quite ordinary, but it was being used for an extraordinary purpose. God joined His name to that water, He was working through that baptism to give that child eternal life. God wants to give these gifts to each and every one of you.
The amazing thing about Baptism is that God would work through simple water to give His gifts. Whether in South Africa or in Central New York, God gives the same gifts to hurting people. Baptism is not something you do for God, it is something that He wants to do for you. He offers this gift to you, He is yearning for you to be His child. In South Africa, we saw a little boy become a child of God, a miracle that happens in so many churches throughout the world every Sunday.
To learn more about God’s gifts in Baptism, we invite you to come to Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church every Sunday at 4 pm (we meet at Trinity Episcopal Church in Canastota). We also have several bible studies: before church at 3 pm, at Whitman Road above Clockville on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 2:00 pm, at North Bay on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. Call 315-245-0415 for specific directions and further information. Come visit us!
December school newsletter article
From the Vicar,
This summer, Mrs. Roseboom approached me and asked if I had any ideas for mission projects that the children could support. One idea that came to mind was Deaconess Pat Nuffer, who serves in Sudan. Her husband, Professor Nuffer, runs the vicarage program at the seminary I attend. Several years ago, Professor Nuffer was part of a group of American Lutheran pastors who traveled to Sudan in Eastern Africa. This trip started a connection between Mrs. Nuffer and the Lutheran Church there. Sudan is a deeply troubled country on the dividing line between Muslim Africa and Christian Africa, and being on the border can be very dangerous and hard.
Deaconess Nuffer’s primary goal in Sudan is to provide mercy. She has done this by establishing a training center in Yambio in southern Sudan for people with disabilities. In Sudan, there is no support for those with physical or developmental disabilities, and so this center exists to serve them both with the Gospel and training that helps these people provide for themselves. The skills they learn and the products they make help to support both the center itself and the people it serves. But this is not just a social program- each day begins with bible study and teaching. In addition, this center in Yambio acts as a distribution point for a variety of materials that support the people and church of Sudan. She gives out kits to school children and materials to Sudan’s pastors. I had the opportunity to send my old laptop to Sudan last year, where it is hopefully helping a pastor to serve the Church. Several full-time employees run the center, while Deaconess Nuffer supports its work from the U.S. and travels to Sudan several times a year, bringing these goods to the people there.
Now that you have heard about the wonderful work that Deaconess Nuffer is doing for the people of Sudan, how can you help? Well, the children at Zion Lutheran School have an opportunity for you! They are collecting materials to put into ‘hygiene kits’ that will be distributed to people in need. In the past couple newsletters we have had a list of what she is collecting- I think you will find that a lot of the items are things that you can easily give away. We are also accepting monetary donations to support her work. Mrs. Nuffer’s greatest expense is shipping all the materials that she collects here in the U.S. to Sudan, where it can be used. For more information, ask me or go to Deaconess Nuffer’s website: www.handsofmercymission.org God’s blessings on your week!
In Christ,
Vicar Maronde
This summer, Mrs. Roseboom approached me and asked if I had any ideas for mission projects that the children could support. One idea that came to mind was Deaconess Pat Nuffer, who serves in Sudan. Her husband, Professor Nuffer, runs the vicarage program at the seminary I attend. Several years ago, Professor Nuffer was part of a group of American Lutheran pastors who traveled to Sudan in Eastern Africa. This trip started a connection between Mrs. Nuffer and the Lutheran Church there. Sudan is a deeply troubled country on the dividing line between Muslim Africa and Christian Africa, and being on the border can be very dangerous and hard.
Deaconess Nuffer’s primary goal in Sudan is to provide mercy. She has done this by establishing a training center in Yambio in southern Sudan for people with disabilities. In Sudan, there is no support for those with physical or developmental disabilities, and so this center exists to serve them both with the Gospel and training that helps these people provide for themselves. The skills they learn and the products they make help to support both the center itself and the people it serves. But this is not just a social program- each day begins with bible study and teaching. In addition, this center in Yambio acts as a distribution point for a variety of materials that support the people and church of Sudan. She gives out kits to school children and materials to Sudan’s pastors. I had the opportunity to send my old laptop to Sudan last year, where it is hopefully helping a pastor to serve the Church. Several full-time employees run the center, while Deaconess Nuffer supports its work from the U.S. and travels to Sudan several times a year, bringing these goods to the people there.
Now that you have heard about the wonderful work that Deaconess Nuffer is doing for the people of Sudan, how can you help? Well, the children at Zion Lutheran School have an opportunity for you! They are collecting materials to put into ‘hygiene kits’ that will be distributed to people in need. In the past couple newsletters we have had a list of what she is collecting- I think you will find that a lot of the items are things that you can easily give away. We are also accepting monetary donations to support her work. Mrs. Nuffer’s greatest expense is shipping all the materials that she collects here in the U.S. to Sudan, where it can be used. For more information, ask me or go to Deaconess Nuffer’s website: www.handsofmercymission.org God’s blessings on your week!
In Christ,
Vicar Maronde
December church newsletter article
From the Vicar,
The Lutheran Church has always been known as the singing church. Today, that often does not seem to be saying much. We can attend a variety of other churches around us and hear singing, some better, and some worse. Beautiful Roman Catholic cathedrals and money-hungry televangelists have singing, just like your own Lutheran church. But yet there is a difference, a Lutheran difference, which makes singing in the Lutheran church unique amongst all other branches of Christ’s Church. This difference goes much deeper than which hymns we choose to sing, though the hymns we select are the most important result. Why are Lutherans different when it comes to the song of the Church? The answer lies in both the historical and theological realms.
When you look around the Christian landscape today, singing is simply a part of what Christians do in worship. However, this was not always the case. Several times in its history, the Christian Church has abandoned music for the congregation, making it the exclusive property of the priests and monks. The Early Church struggled with heresies (as does the Church in all ages), heresies that often spread their theology through music. In response, many clergy began to condemn popular singing in the churches, and instead gave music to choirs, clergy, and monks. Popes and bishops wanted to control music within the Church, and not give it free reign to spread falsehood. Popular hymnody was shut down for centuries, but music still thrived in the monasteries, where many hymns we find in our hymnals today were written. Therefore, with only a few exceptions, the congregation was generally not able to sing until the time of the Reformation. And even in that period the Church’s song suffered. Reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin looked down on singing any songs but those found in Scripture, sung in a very simple way.
In direct contrast with these outlooks, Martin Luther gave the Church’s song back to the people. He saw music not as something frivolous, but as a good gift of God to be used in His service. Music was not the sole possession of the clergy, but belonged to all Christians. Music served to bring people into the liturgy, where God gives His good gifts. Finally, unlike Zwingli and Calvin, Luther also gladly accepted the music of the Church throughout history, bringing the hymns hidden in the monasteries for centuries to the people. Therefore, the Lutheran difference is first of all that Lutherans, in contrast to Church history and contemporary trends, celebrated music as a good gift of God to be given to the congregation in the Divine Service.
The theological side of the Lutheran difference can best be illustrated through the example of one man, Johann Sebastian Bach. Most people know of Bach as a great composer, one of the most talented that ever lived. But very few know about or appreciate his theological background. In fact, many Lutherans (including myself until I attended the seminary) do not even realize that Bach is ‘one of us,’ a Lutheran musician strongly motivated by his orthodox Lutheran theology. This is quite simply because most attempt to understand Bach apart from his theology. Few musical textbooks or television programs even consider this an area to explore, and so we are left with a deficient picture of this great man. These sources see Bach’s music as disconnected from his theology, a contention that he himself would find utterly false.
Bach was a kantor in the Lutheran Church, an office that combined theological and musical training, so he did not think solely in musical terms. For Bach, as for all Lutherans, doctrine and practice (theology and music) could not be separated. This is the most important part of the Lutheran difference. We do not only sing, but we sing with a purpose, we sing what we believe. Hymns must preach. If a hymn does not express what we confess as a church, then we do not sing it. Therefore, Lutherans require much more of their hymns than do other denominations, and many hymns found in Lutheran hymnals do not have a place anywhere else. This principle seems quite simple, even obvious, but in actual practice this Lutheran difference is maintained only by pastors, musicians, and laity who are conscious of what they sing and why.
The office of kantor has fallen out of use since the first centuries of the Lutheran Church, but it is so emblematic of the Lutheran difference that it could use a revival. Lutherans have historically expected their musicians to have a firm grounding and understanding of theology. If theology and practice are so intertwined together, then a musician with no concept of theology simply cannot lead the Church’s song. In the same way, a pastor cannot be ignorant of music in the Church. He must have a firm understanding of both the role and practice of music. In addition, the Lutheran difference not only influences who leads the Church’s song, but most importantly what is to be sung. If Lutherans want their music to confess what they believe, then the texts must clearly and honestly proclaim Christ and the theology of the cross. The music must be wedded to the text in such a way that it does not obscure what the text says or give a different message. To accomplish this, the Lutheran Church has had both theologians who could write and compose, such as Martin Luther, and combinations of theologians and composers that could work together to wed text and tune, such as Johann Gerhard and Johann Ebeling.
Lutherans are not called the singing church because we sound so much better than everyone else. In fact, some of our singing leaves much to be improved and we who are in the church that bears this title should be active in enhancing the congregation’s song. Instead, we are called the singing church historically because Lutherans brought hymns back to the people and theologically because we view the Church’s song very highly as a sung confession of faith. Lutherans should have high standards for what is sung in the Divine Service because what we sing does matter, it says something to us and it says something about us.
In Christ,
Vicar Maronde
The Lutheran Church has always been known as the singing church. Today, that often does not seem to be saying much. We can attend a variety of other churches around us and hear singing, some better, and some worse. Beautiful Roman Catholic cathedrals and money-hungry televangelists have singing, just like your own Lutheran church. But yet there is a difference, a Lutheran difference, which makes singing in the Lutheran church unique amongst all other branches of Christ’s Church. This difference goes much deeper than which hymns we choose to sing, though the hymns we select are the most important result. Why are Lutherans different when it comes to the song of the Church? The answer lies in both the historical and theological realms.
When you look around the Christian landscape today, singing is simply a part of what Christians do in worship. However, this was not always the case. Several times in its history, the Christian Church has abandoned music for the congregation, making it the exclusive property of the priests and monks. The Early Church struggled with heresies (as does the Church in all ages), heresies that often spread their theology through music. In response, many clergy began to condemn popular singing in the churches, and instead gave music to choirs, clergy, and monks. Popes and bishops wanted to control music within the Church, and not give it free reign to spread falsehood. Popular hymnody was shut down for centuries, but music still thrived in the monasteries, where many hymns we find in our hymnals today were written. Therefore, with only a few exceptions, the congregation was generally not able to sing until the time of the Reformation. And even in that period the Church’s song suffered. Reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin looked down on singing any songs but those found in Scripture, sung in a very simple way.
In direct contrast with these outlooks, Martin Luther gave the Church’s song back to the people. He saw music not as something frivolous, but as a good gift of God to be used in His service. Music was not the sole possession of the clergy, but belonged to all Christians. Music served to bring people into the liturgy, where God gives His good gifts. Finally, unlike Zwingli and Calvin, Luther also gladly accepted the music of the Church throughout history, bringing the hymns hidden in the monasteries for centuries to the people. Therefore, the Lutheran difference is first of all that Lutherans, in contrast to Church history and contemporary trends, celebrated music as a good gift of God to be given to the congregation in the Divine Service.
The theological side of the Lutheran difference can best be illustrated through the example of one man, Johann Sebastian Bach. Most people know of Bach as a great composer, one of the most talented that ever lived. But very few know about or appreciate his theological background. In fact, many Lutherans (including myself until I attended the seminary) do not even realize that Bach is ‘one of us,’ a Lutheran musician strongly motivated by his orthodox Lutheran theology. This is quite simply because most attempt to understand Bach apart from his theology. Few musical textbooks or television programs even consider this an area to explore, and so we are left with a deficient picture of this great man. These sources see Bach’s music as disconnected from his theology, a contention that he himself would find utterly false.
Bach was a kantor in the Lutheran Church, an office that combined theological and musical training, so he did not think solely in musical terms. For Bach, as for all Lutherans, doctrine and practice (theology and music) could not be separated. This is the most important part of the Lutheran difference. We do not only sing, but we sing with a purpose, we sing what we believe. Hymns must preach. If a hymn does not express what we confess as a church, then we do not sing it. Therefore, Lutherans require much more of their hymns than do other denominations, and many hymns found in Lutheran hymnals do not have a place anywhere else. This principle seems quite simple, even obvious, but in actual practice this Lutheran difference is maintained only by pastors, musicians, and laity who are conscious of what they sing and why.
The office of kantor has fallen out of use since the first centuries of the Lutheran Church, but it is so emblematic of the Lutheran difference that it could use a revival. Lutherans have historically expected their musicians to have a firm grounding and understanding of theology. If theology and practice are so intertwined together, then a musician with no concept of theology simply cannot lead the Church’s song. In the same way, a pastor cannot be ignorant of music in the Church. He must have a firm understanding of both the role and practice of music. In addition, the Lutheran difference not only influences who leads the Church’s song, but most importantly what is to be sung. If Lutherans want their music to confess what they believe, then the texts must clearly and honestly proclaim Christ and the theology of the cross. The music must be wedded to the text in such a way that it does not obscure what the text says or give a different message. To accomplish this, the Lutheran Church has had both theologians who could write and compose, such as Martin Luther, and combinations of theologians and composers that could work together to wed text and tune, such as Johann Gerhard and Johann Ebeling.
Lutherans are not called the singing church because we sound so much better than everyone else. In fact, some of our singing leaves much to be improved and we who are in the church that bears this title should be active in enhancing the congregation’s song. Instead, we are called the singing church historically because Lutherans brought hymns back to the people and theologically because we view the Church’s song very highly as a sung confession of faith. Lutherans should have high standards for what is sung in the Divine Service because what we sing does matter, it says something to us and it says something about us.
In Christ,
Vicar Maronde
Advent 3 of Series B (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11)
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this the third Sunday in Advent is from the Old Testament lesson read a few moments ago from the prophet Isaiah the sixty-first chapter. Dear friends in Christ, “there was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” God did not send our Savior into a vacuum, but instead prepared the way, just as He promised. John the Baptist was a man of the wilderness, a man hardened by Judea’s harsh deserts. He came to call all Israel, indeed all people, you and me, to repentance. The day of salvation was drawing near, and his job was to prepare the way. “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’” John preached and baptized, but not to gain fame and a following for himself, instead his job was simply to point to another: “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
God also did not send John into a vacuum. He sent the witness to the Light into a world, our world, which was devastated and filled with mourning. The consequence of the first sin of Adam and Eve was that of death, and in every generation since, humanity has been in a constant state of mourning. We are sinful, and therefore must die, as Paul says in Romans “the wages of sin is death.” This is made graphically demonstrated again to us every time that we lose a loved one, every time that we hear of another tragedy, and every time that someone we have looked up to who has died. When the casket sits at the front of the church, or when we walk through a cemetery, we need no one to tell us of the consequence of sin. A person does not die because of specific sins, but instead they die because of the infection of sin that fills us all, that has consumed us since the earliest days of creation. We screwed up God’s perfect world, and through humanity death came into the world, and it has not left. Humanity is therefore condemned to mourning throughout our days. We are condemned to fear death because of our sin, because deep down our human conscience knows what we deserve for our sin. The wages of sin is death, but that phrase does not only describe temporal death. The wages of sin is eternal death, death forever in hell.
That is what humanity’s sin deserves after death, but even in this world sin wreaks havoc. Every one of you could tell me a different story of how sin has invaded your lives, or the lives of your parents, or the lives of your children. Sin destroys lives, it destroys marriages, it destroys families. Humanity’s sin has left us the legacy of devastated lives, lives in ruin, lives that may never be the same. Our sin, this infection that clings to our very bones, leaves us in this situation. But there is even more than this. Our sin causes us to only look at our own problems, our own legacy. However, humanity’s guilt extends far beyond our own lives. The sin that fills us from conception, the sin that has been passed down to all who are children of Adam and Eve, has left a devastated world, a world in ruin. It may be hard to comprehend, but the simple fact is that humanity’s sin, your sin and my sin, has created a world filled with death, a world that is in shambles, a world that is in decay.
It was into this world, our world of death and mourning, desolation and despair, that God sent His anointed One. The Messiah declares in our Old Testament lesson for today: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” This Advent season we greet God’s Anointed One, the one appointed from all eternity to preach the good news to all who mourn and all whose lives are devastated. A little baby born in a stable in a dusty town called Bethlehem was this Anointed One, He was the one who was to proclaim this good news. When this same Jesus Christ stepped into the Jordan’s muddy waters to be baptized by the desert preacher, He began His mission of restoring and reversing all that our sin had so completely and utterly corrupted. As He says in our text, His mission was “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” In the Old Testament, God established a Year of Jubilee for His people, a time when slaves were liberated, debts were forgiven, and people returned to their homes. But this Year of Jubilee was not only for the people of Israel, it was a prophecy of what God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, would do.
As our text says, Jesus was anointed to “bring good news to the poor.” His proclamation was the proclamation of Advent, the proclamation of Christmas- the Messiah has come, and He has come in the most unexpected way. He has come as God in the flesh, true man yet true God, a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem, yet the Lord of heaven and earth. He has come to the poor of this world, all who have been beaten down by sin, all who have spent their days in mourning, all who have seen their lives and their world devastated by sin. He came to “bind up the brokenhearted,” you and me, all who are burdened with the loss of loved ones, who fear the consequences and the just punishment for our sin. He came to us to bind up our wounds, to heal and make new all that had been ruined by the rule of sin.
Jesus Christ was on a rescue mission. He was anointed to release all that were in the bonds of fear, the shackles of sin and death. He declares the He was sent “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound.” The word here used for ‘liberate’ is only used in the context of Year of Jubilee, when the nation of Israel freed all of her slaves and cancelled all debts. Those who had been bound were now truly free, but they remained in bondage to sin. The Year of Jubilee had no power over sin and death. Only Jesus could deal with those slavemasters, and He could only do this by allowing Himself to be bound, by giving Himself up to sinful men, to the very ones He had come to liberate. And so He was seized by a mob, God in the flesh bound and delivered to death. Jesus Christ refused to exercise His heavenly power, He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross, because it was only through the blood flowing from His forehead, His hands, and His feet that all mankind could be saved. He who was free was bound for you, for me, and for all who languished in the bondage of sin. There He died, and was bound once again, this time sealed into a tomb. But the bonds of death, the supposed triumph of sin and Satan, did not keep Him there. Jesus broke those bonds for you and when He did, He broke your bonds as well. His message of liberty and freedom was fulfilled that Easter Sunday, and it was fulfilled for you!
His shed blood on the cross and victorious resurrection reverses all the consequences of sin, all the mourning and desolation that has filled our lives and this world. Because of His death and resurrection, Jesus comes “to grant to those who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” This proclamation is for you! We have been delivered from the dominion of death, our deaths no longer are a doorway to hell, but instead are the beautiful gateway to heaven! We still mourn, we still miss those who have gone before us, but now our mourning is mixed with rejoicing, the oil of gladness and the garment of praise now cover us. We rejoice because they now taste eternal glory, they are at the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, we rejoice because we too will join them someday. Moreover, we know that the devastation of this sinful, corrupted world will be renewed. As our text says: “They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” On the Last Day, all will be made new and perfect, the dominion of sin in this world will be ended, and we will live in the new heavens and the new earth.
Until that Day, God promises us: “I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.” Because Jesus Christ came to us as a little baby, as the Anointed One come to save, because He set us free through His death and resurrection, reversing the mourning and desolation that fills this world, we are given an everlasting covenant. The nation of Israel has fulfilled its purpose in bringing forth the Messiah, and now it gives way for the new Israel, the Church, which is in the midst of the people, the offspring that the Lord has blessed. We can say triumphantly with those in our text: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” The garments of salvation were placed on us in our Baptism, they cover us like a white robe with Christ’s very own righteousness, when God looks at us He sees His children, those redeemed by His Son. We are covered in Christ’s blood, we are clothed with the garments He won for us, and for that reason we rejoice.
“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” The Gospel, the good news that the Anointed One proclaims, makes us righteous and motivates our praise. As those who have been liberated by Christ, what else can we do but praise Him? But as our text says, this is not something we do, it is the work of God in us, He is the actor in bringing forth righteousness and praise. God is working within us so that the concluding benediction of our Epistle lesson will be fulfilled: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” Amen.
God also did not send John into a vacuum. He sent the witness to the Light into a world, our world, which was devastated and filled with mourning. The consequence of the first sin of Adam and Eve was that of death, and in every generation since, humanity has been in a constant state of mourning. We are sinful, and therefore must die, as Paul says in Romans “the wages of sin is death.” This is made graphically demonstrated again to us every time that we lose a loved one, every time that we hear of another tragedy, and every time that someone we have looked up to who has died. When the casket sits at the front of the church, or when we walk through a cemetery, we need no one to tell us of the consequence of sin. A person does not die because of specific sins, but instead they die because of the infection of sin that fills us all, that has consumed us since the earliest days of creation. We screwed up God’s perfect world, and through humanity death came into the world, and it has not left. Humanity is therefore condemned to mourning throughout our days. We are condemned to fear death because of our sin, because deep down our human conscience knows what we deserve for our sin. The wages of sin is death, but that phrase does not only describe temporal death. The wages of sin is eternal death, death forever in hell.
That is what humanity’s sin deserves after death, but even in this world sin wreaks havoc. Every one of you could tell me a different story of how sin has invaded your lives, or the lives of your parents, or the lives of your children. Sin destroys lives, it destroys marriages, it destroys families. Humanity’s sin has left us the legacy of devastated lives, lives in ruin, lives that may never be the same. Our sin, this infection that clings to our very bones, leaves us in this situation. But there is even more than this. Our sin causes us to only look at our own problems, our own legacy. However, humanity’s guilt extends far beyond our own lives. The sin that fills us from conception, the sin that has been passed down to all who are children of Adam and Eve, has left a devastated world, a world in ruin. It may be hard to comprehend, but the simple fact is that humanity’s sin, your sin and my sin, has created a world filled with death, a world that is in shambles, a world that is in decay.
It was into this world, our world of death and mourning, desolation and despair, that God sent His anointed One. The Messiah declares in our Old Testament lesson for today: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” This Advent season we greet God’s Anointed One, the one appointed from all eternity to preach the good news to all who mourn and all whose lives are devastated. A little baby born in a stable in a dusty town called Bethlehem was this Anointed One, He was the one who was to proclaim this good news. When this same Jesus Christ stepped into the Jordan’s muddy waters to be baptized by the desert preacher, He began His mission of restoring and reversing all that our sin had so completely and utterly corrupted. As He says in our text, His mission was “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” In the Old Testament, God established a Year of Jubilee for His people, a time when slaves were liberated, debts were forgiven, and people returned to their homes. But this Year of Jubilee was not only for the people of Israel, it was a prophecy of what God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, would do.
As our text says, Jesus was anointed to “bring good news to the poor.” His proclamation was the proclamation of Advent, the proclamation of Christmas- the Messiah has come, and He has come in the most unexpected way. He has come as God in the flesh, true man yet true God, a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem, yet the Lord of heaven and earth. He has come to the poor of this world, all who have been beaten down by sin, all who have spent their days in mourning, all who have seen their lives and their world devastated by sin. He came to “bind up the brokenhearted,” you and me, all who are burdened with the loss of loved ones, who fear the consequences and the just punishment for our sin. He came to us to bind up our wounds, to heal and make new all that had been ruined by the rule of sin.
Jesus Christ was on a rescue mission. He was anointed to release all that were in the bonds of fear, the shackles of sin and death. He declares the He was sent “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound.” The word here used for ‘liberate’ is only used in the context of Year of Jubilee, when the nation of Israel freed all of her slaves and cancelled all debts. Those who had been bound were now truly free, but they remained in bondage to sin. The Year of Jubilee had no power over sin and death. Only Jesus could deal with those slavemasters, and He could only do this by allowing Himself to be bound, by giving Himself up to sinful men, to the very ones He had come to liberate. And so He was seized by a mob, God in the flesh bound and delivered to death. Jesus Christ refused to exercise His heavenly power, He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross, because it was only through the blood flowing from His forehead, His hands, and His feet that all mankind could be saved. He who was free was bound for you, for me, and for all who languished in the bondage of sin. There He died, and was bound once again, this time sealed into a tomb. But the bonds of death, the supposed triumph of sin and Satan, did not keep Him there. Jesus broke those bonds for you and when He did, He broke your bonds as well. His message of liberty and freedom was fulfilled that Easter Sunday, and it was fulfilled for you!
His shed blood on the cross and victorious resurrection reverses all the consequences of sin, all the mourning and desolation that has filled our lives and this world. Because of His death and resurrection, Jesus comes “to grant to those who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” This proclamation is for you! We have been delivered from the dominion of death, our deaths no longer are a doorway to hell, but instead are the beautiful gateway to heaven! We still mourn, we still miss those who have gone before us, but now our mourning is mixed with rejoicing, the oil of gladness and the garment of praise now cover us. We rejoice because they now taste eternal glory, they are at the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, we rejoice because we too will join them someday. Moreover, we know that the devastation of this sinful, corrupted world will be renewed. As our text says: “They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” On the Last Day, all will be made new and perfect, the dominion of sin in this world will be ended, and we will live in the new heavens and the new earth.
Until that Day, God promises us: “I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.” Because Jesus Christ came to us as a little baby, as the Anointed One come to save, because He set us free through His death and resurrection, reversing the mourning and desolation that fills this world, we are given an everlasting covenant. The nation of Israel has fulfilled its purpose in bringing forth the Messiah, and now it gives way for the new Israel, the Church, which is in the midst of the people, the offspring that the Lord has blessed. We can say triumphantly with those in our text: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” The garments of salvation were placed on us in our Baptism, they cover us like a white robe with Christ’s very own righteousness, when God looks at us He sees His children, those redeemed by His Son. We are covered in Christ’s blood, we are clothed with the garments He won for us, and for that reason we rejoice.
“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” The Gospel, the good news that the Anointed One proclaims, makes us righteous and motivates our praise. As those who have been liberated by Christ, what else can we do but praise Him? But as our text says, this is not something we do, it is the work of God in us, He is the actor in bringing forth righteousness and praise. God is working within us so that the concluding benediction of our Epistle lesson will be fulfilled: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” Amen.
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