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Catechesis

No sola goes Alone

by The Rev. George Borghardt

<“Sola” means “alone.” Solus Christus. Sola gratia. Sola fide. Sola scriptura. Christ alone, Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone.

But no sola ever goes alone. Together they sum up the teachings of the Reformation. Christ’s death alone saves you by grace alone – that is, gift alone. All that He did for you on the Cross is received by faith alone. And it is certain because it flows from Scripture alone.

All together. No sola by itself. They are always together! Pull them apart and everything goes wrong! Seriously wrong – as in life and death wrong.

You’d think solus Christus could stand on it’s own, right? But you’d be wrong! Without sola gratia, sola fide, and sola scriptura, Christ doesn’t do you any good. If Christ is not delivered to you by grace alone, if He is not received for you by faith alone, then you are lost. And His Cross does us no good unless the Word is put into our ears.

“Grace alone” all by itself is no good either! Without the other solas we are left with an uncertain religion that says God is merciful to us apart from Christ and His Cross. It’s called “universalism.” You may not know the name, but you know the game. Universalism is the false belief that God – whatever “God” there is – is like an old grandpa who loves you just because you are you. He knows you do bad stuff, but still… He just can’t help loving you.

You know better. The truth about your sins troubles you. You know there is nothing save-able about you – nothing that God would find lovable. There is no comfort in grace alone apart from Christ, faith, and the Word. Grace all by itself isn’t grace at all – it’s slavery and uncertainty.

Sola fide all by itself is a nightmare called “fideism.” It’s believing in your believing. All you need is faith – just a bit. Muster it up, and you can move mountains. But do you have enough faith to save yourself? You don’t. You know it. I know it. Your faith in your believing won’t save you.

Have you ever heard the expression, “The Bible says it, I believe it and that’s it?” No, that is not it. Scripture all by itself is “fundamentalism.” Apart from grace alone and faith alone – apart from Christ – the Scriptures are nothing but a closed book. There may be interesting history and a good guide to living, but you won’t find comfort, peace, or eternal life. No, the Scriptures testify of solely of Christ (St. John 5:39).

Of course, we can deceive ourselves and think that God is like grandpa, or that our believing is enough, or that by obeying every last rule of the Scriptures, that God will love us and then save us. People will pay, pray, or do anything to get heaven. Who wouldn’t? Churches have been built on less.

The true Church, the one that the gates of Hades will not overcome, is built on Christ alone (grace alone) who saves us not by what we do or how much we believe but by faith alone. You can depend on that, you can die for that, cause it’s built on the Scriptures alone.

But you don’t have to die Christ already died for you. His death for your sins. His life for your eternal life. He saves you not because you deserve it, but despite what you have done. Not by good or bad works, but by the antithesis of all your works – He saves you sola gratia. Too good to be true? Can’t bring yourself to believe it? That’s why salvation is sola fide.

That’s the Gospel. Salvation is by the Cross alone, that’s grace alone, through faith alone. This is certain because it flows from Scripture alone. solo Christo. sola gratia. sola fide. sola scriptura. No sola goes alone.

 

Categories
Catechesis

Baptized: Ready to Die

Rev. Aaron Fenker

If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. (Romans 6:5 NKJV)

You’re baptized. So, you’re ready to die! Not so sure? Well, you’ve already died! You died with Christ in the waters of Holy Baptism. And you not only died there, but you have been raised there. So, you’re baptized. That means, you’re ready to rise from the dead!

There’s no reason fear death. Christ Jesus has already redeemed you from death “with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death” (SC II). When death swallowed Him, it bit off more than it could chew! He burst forth alive on the third day. Death has been undone and defeated in God’s death for you. Death is just a shadow and toothless, old, weak lion. It can’t really devour you. Jesus’ resurrection proves it.

That’s what you’ve been baptized into: God’s crucifixion and death–God’s resurrection. Those are now your crucifixion and death–your resurrection. They can’t be taken from you. There’s nothing that the world, the devil, or even your own conscience can say to take that from you. There’s nothing–absolutely nothing–you can do to make Christ’s Baptism promise null and void. You’d have to unresurrect Him, uncrucify Him! He’s already died and raised from the dead. He’s baptized you into that. You’ve already died and been raised in Him.

You’re baptized. So, you’re ready to die. There’s no reason to be afraid of dying. Your body will die, but “God the Father, who created this body, God the Son, who by His blood redeemed this body, and God the Holy Spirit, who by Holy Baptism sanctified this body to be His temple,” will keep your remains until the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. We can have boldness and confidence–even in the face of death–because of our Baptism.

Polycarp was the bishop of a city named Smyrna, which is in modern day Turkey. When he was 86 years old, Polycarp was led to an arena and was given a choice: to renounce his faith or face martyrdom. One of the last things He said was this: “For 86 years I’ve served Him, and He’s done nothing wrong to me. How, then, can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” He was baptized. He was ready to die. He was baptized. He was ready to rise from the dead.

So also you. You can have boldness and confidence in the face of death and the grave. You’re ready to die. “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” has already died for you. Not only that, He is risen from the dead. You will rise from the dead, too. In fact, you already have. You died and rose at the font. Now death is just a nap. Once it’s done, and the Last Day is here, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will raise your body from the grave. You will see Him then with your own eyes–face to face–and you will live with Him in righteousness and purity forever.

Are you ready to die? Are you ready to rise? Of course you are! You’re baptized!

Rev. Aaron Fenker serves as pastor of Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Bremen, Kansas.

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Higher Homilies

Impress Me!

Rev. David Kind

I Corinthians 2:1-5

Grace, Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

For several years now folks from my church have gotten together on the 4th of July to have a cook out and watch the fireworks in Minneapolis. We always have a pretty good time together. But this year the fireworks were, well, just not that impressive. The display lasted about 15 minutes total. And the grand finale, and it is a stretch to say it was grand at all, lasted all of about 30 seconds. And there really wasn’t anything special about the fireworks that were shot off. And most disappointing to me, there were hardly any of those ones that make the big boom that you can feel in your chest. So I said to my wife afterward: “That was pretty lame. Next year we need to go somewhere else.” I want to be impressed, after all.

We all like to be impressed. And that’s the way people think about church a lot of times. Sometimes the church service doesn’t seem all that impressive. We go and sing the same old hymns, chant the ancient liturgy, and listen to the same preacher. And though your pastor is pretty well educated, he may not be the most impressive person around. Perhaps he’s a little nerdy, or over weight, or balding. Maybe his sermons aren’t the most riveting things you’ve ever heard. Perhaps his preaching style is a little dry. And then you hear that there is this great preacher at your friend’s church that really speaks to people like you, and that their worship services are dynamic and exciting and designed to impress you. And every Sunday there are like thousands of people there. And once in a while they may even give away a big screen TV. And you think about going, because you want to be impressed for a change.

Or maybe what’s really impressive is not another preacher, but someone speaking at the local mosque, or a professor wowing people with scientific or philosophical wisdom in the lecture hall at the University, or an atheist poet at the local coffee house. So why waste your time and attention on something that doesn’t seem all that impressive. Why continue to listen to your pastor and go to your church?

Tradition tells us that St. Paul was not a very impressive preacher, that he had a kind of irritating high-pitched voice, and that he was long winded. Now I know that I’m not the most interesting of preachers, but I can say that I never put anyone into such a deep sleep that they fell out of a window and died during any of my sermons. But St. Paul did. And yet we know that he was one of the greatest apostles and saints that the Church has known and that the spread of Christianity into the Roman empire was due in large part to his preaching.

But what does St. Paul say about all of this himself? He says: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom… And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom…” Paul admits it! He wasn’t that impressive. But what else does Paul say? He came not with human strength, but with the power of God, not with words of human wisdom neatly fitted together into an impressive message, but with the Holy Spirit, not with lofty speech, but preaching Christ crucified.

And why? Because your faith must not be in men, must not be in human wisdom or philosophy, must not be in what impresses for the moment, but in the power of God, that is, in Jesus Christ and in Him crucified. All other impressive things fall apart in the end. And so Paul contrasts the plausible speech of men to the mysteries of God, which are above human explanation. He contrasts the wisdom of human beings, even the most intelligent of them, with the power of God which is active in the simple Word of Christ that is preached. He contrasts the lofty well crafted rhetoric of the unbeliever with the seeming foolishness of Christ.

But what is truly impressive? An exciting, well rehearsed, preacher? A passionate imam? An erudite and articulate college professor? Or Christ Himself, the Son of God come down from heaven to be crucified for you? In Him is the power of faith and life. In His death and resurrection is forgiveness and salvation. He alone is truly impressive. And because of Christ, your pastor, however funny he looks, whatever foibles he might have, however boring his speech, is impressive too. For he speaks and acts for Christ. His Word, by the power of Christ, forgives. And the supper he serves you from Christ’s table gives eternal life. So don’t look too closely at the messenger who faithfully preaches Christ and His Word. Don’t let his lack of impressiveness fool you. For the Word that is faithfully preached is the power and glory of God, and Christ is heard and given in it. And that is truly impressive. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, to life everlasting.

Categories
Catechesis

The Purpose of Hymns during the Reformation: Part 4

By Monica Berndt

The Purpose of Hymns for the Reformation: Part 4

Hymns worked well in the primarily oral culture of Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Europe. Because spoken word, not written word, was the primary way that people accessed information, hymns were not too revolutionary a technique for spreading information.1 The best kind of propaganda is the one that fits perfectly into the culture, and Luther’s hymns were able to do exactly that. There are seven characteristics of oral culture that help knowledge become cemented in the minds of people and hymns have all seven characteristics.1 They generally had familiar melodies, or simple, straightforward melodies, and these tunes made the text easier to remember, which in turn aided in teaching hymns to large congregations. Tunes were learned by rote and given titles that people could recognize, which allowed publishers to print the text for hymns with the name of the tune, without needing to set up type for musical notation.1 Common people did not need to purchase a complicated book of theology to learn the things they needed to know about Luther’s doctrines because they had relatively easy access to the new texts, and tunes that were already in their memory. Luther understood how easy it would be to spread their idea through this medium, so he created hymns that articulated his beliefs in a simple, understandable way, creating propaganda for the Lutheran Church.

Catholic clergy bemoaned the fact that hymns contained so much doctrine and bitterly remarked that Luther “destroyed more souls with his hymns than with all his writing and preaching.”2 This was because hymns were more pervasive than books or sermons could ever be. They could be sung both publicly in the church, and privately at home, at work, or in schools. An individual in Luther’s day could potentially sing the same hymn several different times a day and even use them to teach their children. While the spoken words of Scripture were still valued highly by Luther, “music added even to a Scriptural text a force beyond that of the words alone.”2 In a world where the Bible had not been translated into the vernacular until Luther’s time, hymns opened a door into not just church doctrine, but also to the words of Scripture. The everyday church goer now had access to Luther’s teachings through hymns and could decide for themselves whether to join Luther’s movement or to stay in the Catholic Church. Given the success and lasting effects of the Reformation, it seems that many people were drawn to a church that could talk to them in their own language and let them learn theology, instead of keeping them from it. This is why hymns were influential during the Reformation: they brought hundreds of people to the knowledge of salvation in Christ.

Sources:
1 Oettinger, Rebecca Wagner. Music as Propaganda in the German Reformation. Aldershot, Hants, England ; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2001.

2 Brown, Christopher Boyd. Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005.

Monica Berndt is the music director at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle, WA and studies music and history at the University of Washington. This is the first part of a paper written for her Medieval Music History course last spring. She can be reached at acinomtdnreb@gmail.com.

Categories
Higher History

Concord #1: Augsburg Confession (Preface)

The Book of Concord cover
"The Augustana"

Preface

“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 12:8-9 ESV). Man is by nature a spiritual beast. Unlike the other creatures, we contemplate right and wrong, good and bad. We think on spiritual questions. The problem is that our sinful, fallen, corrupted natures cannot by nature comprehend who God is or what He is like or what He wills for us. So we resort to doing what’s right in our own eyes, thinking what’s right in our own minds, and believing what’s right in our own hearts. It makes for as many religions as there are people.

How does anyone come to an agreement on what to believe? Put a bunch of people in a room and ask them agree about something. In business or other civil matters, people can sometimes come to an agreement—perhaps even a win/win solution. But drop a spiritual question and soon you’ll find that everyone has his own opinion and no one wants to budge even an inch. Agreement over spiritual questions, over matters of faith, can never be produced by human endeavor. Concord is not reached by debate or rhetoric or persuasive speech. It can only be received as a gift from God.

So agreement over spiritual matters must be primarily an agreement with what God says. This is what a confession is. To confess means to say the same thing as someone else. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32 NKJV). “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10 ESV).

The confessions of the Lutheran Church are found in the Book of Concord. Concord means, “with one heart.” With one heart, the Lutheran Confessions say the same thing that God says and provide the basis for agreement concerning matters of faith. “We indeed (to repeat in conclusion what we have mentioned several times above) have wished, in this work of concord, in no way to devise what is new, or to depart from the truth of the heavenly doctrine which our ancestors, renowned for their piety, as well as we ourselves, have acknowledged and professed” (Preface to the Christian Book of Concord).

Concord begins with the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the sole source and norm of everything we believe and teach. And we confess with the ancient ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian); the Augsburg Confession and its Apology; the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope; the Small and Large Catechisms; and the Formula of Concord because they say the same thing that God says in Holy Scripture. This is our confession. This is our concord.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.

Categories
Lectionary Meditations

Different Daughters, Same Jesus – a Meditation on Matthew 9:18-26

“Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus heals two women, two daughters in this lesson – and they are quite different. One is a young girl, the other an adult. One lives in a loving house, the other has been isolated and cut off from everyone because of her illness. One is dead and can’t do anything, the other sneaks on up to Jesus while trying not to bother Him.

Jesus loves and cares for them both. Both are healed. The girl lives, the woman’s flow of blood is stopped. Both these daughters are given life and restored by Jesus. And it’s important to note that Jesus is the One who does this.

We can mishear what Jesus says when He says, “your faith has made you well.” We hear the word “faith” and think it’s a description of us – how strongly or firmly we believe. Jesus is not saying, “because you really, really, really believed.” Rather, Jesus is pointing out that He Himself, the One she had faith IN has saved her.

Both these daughters are healed. And as different as they are, they both have Jesus in common. The girl is dead, she hadn’t been doing anything strongly at all when Jesus healed her. And the woman was shy and timid – wouldn’t even be bold enough to speak to Jesus. She just snuck up on Him. It’s not about how great either of these daughters are – it is how great Jesus is.

Likewise, the question isn’t how “strong” your faith is, or how bold you are, or anything else about “you”. You’re a sinful human being; when you look at yourself you’ll find sin. But Christ Jesus has died for you, He has risen for you, and He has declared that you are forgiven and will rise to everlasting life. He has saved you as well. It’s all about Him.

Categories
Lectionary Meditations

Blessed? – A Meditation on Matthew 5:1-11

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We forget how utterly insane the Beatitudes are. We have nerfed them into pious platitudes about how things might be nice some day. That’s not what’s going on. Consider to whom Jesus is speaking that day. The crowds Jesus saw in Matthew chapter 5 were desperate. They were a conquered people, oppressed by the Romans, facing terrible poverty. But when Jesus looks over this crowd, He does something that is utterly strange.

Jesus doesn’t tell them how to fix things. He doesn’t Dave Ramsey them into better economic advice. Jesus doesn’t start a community organization project or blame the 1 percent or the Colonizing powers of Rome. Jesus doesn’t tell them how to fix anything.

Instead, Jesus says something utterly profound. You are blessed. 9 times. Blessed are the fill in the blank. Do you realize how utterly insane that sounds to the desperate world? Blessed are the poor in spirit – think on that, if you are beat down and crushed by life in this world, if you are downtrodden and spit upon and at the end of your rope – Jesus says that you are blessed. Why? Not because he’s got the three easy steps to turn things around, not because the bad people are going to be punished, not because the new rulers will finally be the right rulers. No – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Is. Right now. Right now the Kingdom of heaven is yours… and it’s still yours if next year goes better or if it goes worse. It is yours if there is sickness or health, richer or poorer, all those variations. None of them change the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. You belong to Christ Jesus, and He has given you the Kingdom of Heaven – He has baptized you. You are an heir of heaven, it is yours – and there’s not a thing in this world that can take that away from you. Christ Jesus has given Himself to you, He has shed His blood for you to rescue you from sin and from death and the devil, and His Kingdom is yours. You actually are blessed.

And the rest of the beatitudes run the exact same way. It is wondrous to behold.

Categories
Life Issues

I Kissed a Girl

I Kissed a Girl
by Katy Perry

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It’s not what, I’m used to
Just wanna try you on
I’m curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

No, I don’t even know your name
It doesn’t matter
You’re my experimental game
Just human nature
It’s not what, good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain’t no big deal, it’s innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

It takes a lot to disturb me.  I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is what it is.  I have been disturbed.  And of all things, by a song I heard on the Top 20 station on my radio* between random errands the other day.  I normally just listen to the news or the 70’s station, but I was actually trying to get an idea of what teens are listening to these days.  Did I get an earful!

Just to make sure I wasn’t imagining what I heard, I asked my youth group about it this week.  Before I even finished asking my question, they named the song, the artist, and were singing the lyrics.  Against their will, they say.  They all hate the song, but its catchy tune has burned it into their memories.  (If only I could get them to learn the catechism so quickly! Somehow I don’t think Katy Perry will be on board with that plan.)

We have become such a hedonistic and disposable culture that it’s perfectly normal – the stuff of Top 20 pop music charts – for a young lady (and I use the term loosely here) to get drunk and make out with another young lady (and I use the term loosely here too).   She hopes her boyfriend doesn’t mind, but every girl today knows that making out with another girl is a great way to get a guy’s attention and “safely” be a tease.

Now I know that a lot of people these days, even Christians, are cool with sexual experimentation, many of them even promote it.  How else are you going to know if you’re “compatible” for a long term relationship or marriage if you don’t try things out ahead of time?  (Don’t get me started on the plug and socket speech…)  Not only is there the usual boy-girl experimentation going on, but now we have pop music promoting same-sex experimentation too.  It’s not enough for us to teach against and try to prevent “purpling”, but apparently “pinking” and “bluing” is more common than ever.

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature…”  (Romans 1:22-26)

The interesting thing about this song is that Miss Perry knows what she is doing is wrong.  She’s struggling internally with the decision.  It demonstrates how, even though it is against our conscience, we are encouraged to overcome that voice and satiate our curiosity.  Separate intimate actions from intimate relationships.  It’s all about random feelings and following our basest of urges.  Even the personal interaction of a kiss has been depersonalized.  This girl Miss Perry kissed may as well have been a light post for all the human interaction that was involved.

This just further goes to show the depth of sin in this world we live in, in our relationships with one another and even our “relationships” with ourselves.  This is not the way God created things for us, not the way He wants them to be for us.  He has given us His Son to be our Bridegroom, to be the One who tends to us, loves us, gives Himself for us, puts us first, does not treat our bodies merely as objects of lust for his own pleasure and experimentation.  How could He?  He died to save us from this twisted world we live in, where our young ladies are encouraged to try out homosexuality on the radio.  Come quickly, Lord!

* XM radio is REALLY cool – it’s like cable TV for the radio!

by Sandra Ostapowich

Categories
Higher Homilies

The Festival of the Reformation

by the Rev. Mark Buetow

Martin Luther had to be set free. He was a slave to his sins. He had become a monk so that he could spend every hour of every day living a holy life and make God happy with him. But the problem was that instead of a holy life, he just had more time to think about his sins. He spent hour after hour and day after day wondering how he could ever get on the Lord’s good side. After all, Jesus was the righteous Judge and Luther was a moldy worm sack! He would go to Confession and then go and scrub the floor and then have to run back to his Father Confessor because he remembered some sins he had left out. Finally his Father Confessor, Father Staupitz, told him, “Martin! Stop already! Believe and trust in Jesus who has taken away your sins! I’ll tell you what. You have too much time around here to think about your sins all day. You’re not busy enough. You’re going to go to Wittenberg and teach the Bible.” So off Martin Luther went. And he immersed himself in the Old Testament as he lectured. He drunk deeply of the Scriptures until at last the Holy Spirit brought the Word of God clear to Martin Luther. God’s justice and righteousness are found in Jesus and Jesus forgives our sins by grace. We receive this forgiveness by faith through the Word and Sacraments. Luther finally learned, from God’s own Word, that Jesus was not the Judge of sinners but their Savior; that salvation wasn’t something earned but given; that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life were not rewards but gifts. The Word of God showed Martin Luther the Truth. And the Truth, that is, Jesus, set him free. Free from sin, death, devil, hell, the curse of the Law, guilt, misery and despair. Luther was a free man in Christ!

As Luther learned the Gospel more and more and as he preached and taught and wrote, he was constantly fighting against two kinds of false doctrine. These are the same temptations to false belief that swarm around us today. On the one hand was the teaching of the Roman church that just by doing whatever the church said, you would be saved. As long as you went to Confession, went to Mass, acknowledged that Pope was always right, and did other good works, you would be saved. Furthermore, if you just gave enough money, you could have your sins forgiven completely and avoid any time in Purgatory. In other words, by mixing your faith with your good works, you could be certain of God’s favor. On the other hand, the other “Protestants” taught that God is experienced directly, in your heart. Never mind preaching and the Sacraments. Never mind the external Word of God. We are to look for Jesus in our hearts and in our changed lives. All of these ideas are alive and well today! That if we just do some things like show up in church, we’re automatically in. Also, that being a Christian is all about MY faith and what’s going on in my heart; my decision and choices; that we don’t have to receive God’s grace in the Word and Sacraments but just have some “personal relationship” with Jesus, whatever that means. Brothers and sisters flee such preaching! Flee such teaching which directs you to trust in what you’ve done or what you have chosen or how you live. Flee such instruction which does not lead you by faith to Jesus Christ but one way or the other has you put your trust in yourself and what you have done. Such a faith can never save! Only Jesus the Son sets us free by giving us His Word to save us.

Against the first false notion of earning grace by works we put the works and merit and life and death and resurrection of Jesus. What Martin Luther learned is what Jesus taught the Jews: “If you remain in my Word then you are truly my disciples and you will know the Truth and the Truth will make you free.” The Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, the teaching and preaching in the church all give us Jesus. Everything in our Christian life is about Him. All that He has done, He has done for you. All that He still does, He does for you. He is the eternal Son of God, begotten of the Father. He is man, born of the flesh of His mother, the Virgin Mary. As a man, Jesus placed Himself under the obligations and demands of the Law. He sinlessly kept all the commandments for you, loving His Father above all things and His neighbor as Himself. Jesus was baptized with sinners, tempted by the devil, accused and condemned by men. He carried our sins to the cross of Calvary and, nailed there, shed His blood for the sins of the world, for your sins and my sins. On that cross, Jesus drank in death and breathed His last, declaring that all things for our salvation and bringing us back to God are finished. He declared that victory triumphantly to the Devil and the powers of Hell. He rose again on the Third Day. He ascended in triumph and then sent the Spirit upon His preachers so that the Word would go forth to save sinners all over the world. All glory, honor, work, accomplishment, belongs to Jesus! The Jews didn’t recognize that Jesus was the center of salvation. The Roman Church and other Protestants speak of Christ while subtly putting the focus on ourselves. But the Holy Scriptures deliver Jesus to us for our salvation.

Now, against the other notion, that we can only be sure of Jesus when we look into our hearts, or in how well we live, against that notion Luther preached and taught plainly that the Lord does not come to us or deal with us or save us in any other way than in His external Word. What do we mean by that? We mean the Gospel and the Sacraments. The four “holies” as they  are called: the Holy Gospel which preaches and teaches what Christ has done for us. Holy Baptism in which God’s Word is joined to water to wash away our sins! Just like Alayna today! At the font, the Name of God is put upon us! Holy Absolution in which the called minister of Christ pronounces forgiveness in the stead and by the command of Jesus. Holy Communion in which our crucified and risen Lord’s body and blood are put into our mouths so that we have forgiveness, life and salvation. Dear Christian, believe this, trust it, that Jesus comes to us in no other way than through His Word and Sacraments. The Jews of Jesus day were proud to be in the family tree of Abraham. But that didn’t save them. Many so called Christians today are convinced that by their own feeling of faith in their hearts or by some way of living, they prove they are Christians. Such ways of thinking leave us no comfort. The Gospel and Sacraments, however, are all the comfort in the world. They show us exactly where Jesus is and teach us to be absolutely confident and certain that our sins are forgiven and the Lord is no longer our enemy but our Savior. He is no longer the Judge who will condemn but the Lord who has brought us into His kingdom of righteousness. Through the Gospel and the Sacraments, you can be certain that you are Jesus’ disciples and that He has set you free from sin and death. So be in church! Not because showing up makes you holy. But because Jesus’ church t is the only place you can be certain that your sins are forgiven and you have a heavenly Father in Jesus.

Finally, now that the Gospel has come clear in the church, now that we understand that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift of God, accomplished by Jesus and delivered in the Gospel and Sacraments, we can have a right view of God’s Law and Commandments. Now, instead of thinking the Law is just rules to keep to avoid hell, we can learn and believe that the Law teaches us how best to love and care for our neighbor. Martin Luther became a monk because he wanted to avoid hell. He left the world where he could serve his neighbor so he could try to save himself by his life cut off from the world. What joy that he learned later on to come back into the world and work hard to preach faithfully to his congregation, to be married and so care for his wife and children. You, dear Christian, have been set free from the Law and its judgment against your sins. Now, learn from the Commandments what your neighbor needs you to do: to love your husband or wife; to care for and teach your children; to work honestly at your job; to help those in any kind of need. Because you are no longer slaves of sin! You have been set free by the Son to be a servant to your neighbor.

Martin Luther became a free man in Christ by the power of the Holy Gospel. In that Gospel, God’s righteousness was revealed through the faith of Jesus Christ. It’s all about Jesus and His work to save sinners. Now you are set free. Set free from thinking your works can earn you God’s smile. Jesus has done this by His life, death and resurrection. Now you are set free from looking in your heart or life or other strange places to find Jesus. He comes to you clearly and for certain from the font, altar and pulpit. Now you are set free from using the Law as a ladder to get up to God. Rather, the Law becomes your guide in knowing what holy and good works your neighbor needs you to do for them. Remain in this Word, dear Christians, and you are truly His disciples. Because His Word makes it so. His Word gives you Jesus Himself. And Jesus has set you free from sin and death. Go in peace. Happy Reformation! Amen.

 

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Catechesis

The Purpose of Hymns during the Reformation: Part 3

By Monica Berndt

The Purpose of Hymns for the Reformation: Part 3

Luther believed that “music was an ideal means to come to know and proclaim the mystery of God.”1 By placing hymns that the congregation could sing within the set structure of the Mass, he changed its purpose so that it educated the common people instead of making them mere spectators.2 Luther began by drawing on the Psalms for inspiration when composing hymns, because he believed that the Psalmists also understood the connection between God’s Word, music, and their ability to affect and teach humans.1 They helped draw people to the promises of God and were the earliest hymns of the church. Since singing Psalms was acceptable during the Mass, songs about God’s Word and the teachings of Christianity were equally as acceptable in Luther’s eyes. He progressed from writing hymns based solely on Biblical texts to hymns like Vater Unser im Himmelreich which taught doctrine as well. He believed that everyone could and should have access to music during the services because music was created by God for all people to enjoy.3 This justified the use of hymns in the church service, and more importantly, justified the ability of people outside the clergy to participate in the service as more than just observers. By allowing the congregation to participate in worship, Luther’s music became propaganda for spreading the Gospel across Europe.

The use of the vernacular was key to propagating doctrine. Luther emphasized that worship should be understood by the people participating in it, which meant that when he and other composers of his time composed hymns for their German speaking churches, they composed them in German.4 Luther’s German hymns brought people to him because they wanted to learn about the things they had been told to believe. Vater Unser im Himmelreich taught people the meaning of prayer, something they had been told to do without really understanding why it was important. Many of Luther’s other hymns outlined other parts of the Small Catechism, and others, such as Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott, simply taught people about the attributes of God. Luther did not believe that Biblical teachings were too complicated for ordinary people to understand. In fact, it was because common people did not understand the Bible that the church had been able to teach doctrines that Luther argued were Biblically false. The end of the second stanza of Vater Unser im Himmelreich translates to “let no false doctrines us pervert; all poor, deluded souls convert.”3 The main focus of these hymns was to teach people, and Luther’s concern that people receive proper teaching fueled his desire to spread this doctrine though the medium he felt best served both God and the people.

Sources:

1 Loewe, J. Andreas. “Why Do Lutherans Sing? Lutherans, Music, and the Gospel in the First Century of the Reformation.” Church History, vol 82, no. 1. (2013): 69–89. Accessed April 16, 2017.

2 Herl, Joseph. Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

3 Leaver, Robin A.. Luther’s Liturgical Music: Principles and Implications. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007.

4 Schalk, Carl. Music in Early Lutheranism. Saint Louis: Concordia Academic Press, 2001.

Monica Berndt is the music director at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle, WA and studies music and history at the University of Washington. This is the first part of a paper written for her Medieval Music History course last spring. She can be reached at acinomtdnreb@gmail.com.