Hymns and The Hymn of the Day

God’s people have been encouraged to sing their prayers, praise, and thanksgiving to God. Why do we sing? Psalm 98 gives us the reason.

Psalm 98:1
Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.

The Word of God not only creates faith but teaches us, His children, His gracious will toward us. God has freely given us His own righteousness. In our hymns we respond to this Good News with singing, reciting back to Him the great acts of our salvation in thanksgiving and praise.

University Lutheran Chapel, University of Minnesota

Taking cues from Scripture’s own songbook, the Psalms, the Church’s hymns give us a variety of ways to thank, praise, and proclaim the God who has done all good things for us. In the Divine Service, our singing is related to the readings from Scripture. Hymns enable everyone to join together in proclaiming the scriptural truths read at the lecturn, preached from the pulpit, and spoken before the altar.

Within the Divine Service, congregational hymnody relates to the Scripture appointed for each Sunday. The Hymn of the Day is the principle hymn of the Divine Sercice and relates to, and reflects on the theme of the day, most often set by the Holy Gospel.

The Sermon

Our Lord sent His apostles into the world to preach that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are found through Him. In the preaching of the Sermon, that apostolic Word is proclaimed among us today.

sermon: The pastor’s proclamation, usually based on the Scripture readings for the day.

Scriptural and Christ-centered

The Sermon is dependent on all that has gone before it in the Divine Service—the liturgy, the hymns, and the readings. Therefore the message of the Sermon is the fullest expression of the theme of the day. The Sermon is the pinnacle of the Service of the Word. It is the Word studied, explained, and expounded through the pastor, the one called by the congregation to preach.

In the Sermon the pastor speaks God’s words of judgment and grace to the current situation. In this way, the Sermon also prepares the hearer for the celebration of the Service of the Sacrament. Like the Absolution, the Sermon delivers the forgiveness of sins earned by Christ on the cross. The Divine Service, then, becomes for us grace upon grace (John 1:16).

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is . . . the power of God.

Lutherans believe and confess that preaching from the Word of God is a means of grace. That is, that the power of God to forgive sins is available and received through the Word of God proclaimed by the preacher. The sermon is placed in the service of the cross, and as in the Absolution and the Sacraments, the hearer is engaged in a person encounter with the living God who is strong to save.

means of grace: The means by which God gives us the forgiveness life, and salvation won by the death and resurrection of Christ: God’s Word, Absolution, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

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Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Wherever God’s Word is, there our Lord has promised to be (Matthew 18:20).

Our service follows a simple pattern for the hearing of God’s Word then responding with thanksgiving and praise. Typically the readings for the Divine Service are one from the Old Testament, one from an apostolic letter (Epistle), and one from a Gospel. In a real sense, the readings from the Old Testament and an Epistle lead to and find their fulfillment in the Gospel. In this way, the first two readings function like John the Baptist preparing us to hear in repentance and faith the gracious voice of Christ. Origen, an early Christian, called the Holy Gospel the “crown of all Holy Scripture.”

The Word of God comes to us through His Scriptures with power to deliver what He promises. They do this by not only telling us about Jesus but also by giving us Jesus, who was crucified for our sins and raised to life for our justification. Through the reading and the preaching of His Scripture, God is at work creating faith, bestowing His peace in the forgiveness of sins, strengthening His people in their struggle against sin, and nurturing the hope of everlasting life.

As Jesus came to us in the lowliness of our flesh in His incarnation, so now He comes to us in human words. Through these words, God himself is at work to “make [us] wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). The Word of God is the Word of life.

Old Testament Reading and Epistle

Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

The first reading is typically from the Old Testament. Through the recorded history of Israel and the words of the prophets, we are taught God’s work of salvation in the Old Testament. There we hear the prophecies of the Messiah who would come to men that all people might once again be brought back to God. The Old Testament Reading prepares us to hear the Holy Gospel, which is the fulfillment of the prophecies and promises made in the Old Testament.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Hearing the Word of God, the people respond with words of praise. The Gradual is a portion of a psalm or other Scripture passage that provides a response after the Old Testament Reading. It is a proper selected to help the hearer reflect on the reading in context with the theme of the day or the season of the Church Year. It also serves as a bridge between the first reading and the Epistle that follows.

2 Timothy 3:16–17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

The Epistle,  a reading from a New Testament letter, gives us God’s counsel on how His gracious Word is applied to the hearer and the Church. Often in this reading we hear how God’s Word accomplishes what it says—creating faith, bestowing forgiveness, strengthening God’s people in their struggles against sin, and enlivening in them the hope of eternal life.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Holy Gospel

The Holy Evangelists

Like the Gradual, the Alleluia and Verseprovide a transition between the readings. The word alleluia is Hebrew for “praise the Lord.” The Verse prepares us to meet the Christ of God in His Word, hearing of His life, ministry, death, and resurrection for the salvation of all.

Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia.

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered [Jesus], “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

The Holy Gospel according to St. ___________, the ________chapter.

Glory to You, O Lord.

The Holy Gospel always contains the very words or deeds of Jesus. This makes the reading of the Holy Gospel the summit of the Service of the Word, and we recognize this by surrounding our Savior’s words with songs of glory and praise and by standing to receive His gracious words.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, O Christ.

The Holy Gospel is seen as the summit of the Service of the Word, and that fact is acknowledged with the acclamation of glory and praise. Often, the congregation will stand during the reading of the Gospel in honor of the gracious Word of Christ that is being proclaimed before it. In His speaking in and through the Scripture, God is serving His people. From His words we receive life and we receive salvation.

John 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

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The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Salutation is a special greeting between the congregation and its pastor. Originally the pastor would have spoken “Peace be with you,” purposefully repeating our Lord’s post-resurrection greeting to His fearful disciples gathered together in the upper room on that first Easter evening. The present wording of the Salutation is inexorably tied to His incarnation (Luke 1:28) and with His promise to be with His church (Matthew 28:20). In the Divine Service the announcement of the Lord’s peace heralds His coming to us in the readings that follow and makes us aware that important things are about to happen.

Salutation. Special greeting between pastor and people: “The Lord be with you,” followed by the response “And also with you” or “And with your spirit.”

Prayer and The Collect of the Day

Prayer is how the Christian acknowledges the gifts of the Gospel. “Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise (Lutheran Worship, pg. 6). In the Scriptures God speaks to human beings, but in prayer, human beings speak to God. Prayer is the life of faith in active communion or conversation with object of our faith–God. Prayer is the evidence of the relationship we have with the Father because of the redemption won for us by the Son. It shows our childlike trust and confidence in the One who does for us all that we need and more.

Let us pray.

The Collect of the Day “collects” in a concise and beautiful manner the Gospel message for the day to implore God, by His grace and through His mercy, to manifest His love in and through our thoughts, words, and deeds. We pray these things to remember Him who always provides for us, and to receive these gifts with godly thanksgiving. Most of these prayers have been in continuous use in the Church for more than 1,500 years. In praying the Collect, we join with the great body of believers, the communion of saints, and with the generations yet to come.

 Amen. Declaration that what has been said is true and affirming its trust in the Lord’s Gospel promise; “yes, yes, this is most certainly true.”

A special advantage of using the collects, both ancient and modern, is that they keep the fundamental needs of salvation and the great objective facts of divine grace in clear focus, and they align us with the revealed will of God which will soon be proclaimed in the reading of Scripture. The congregation makes the Collect its own with its “amen,”

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Matthew 11:12-19

photo by Teo's photo on Flickr

Go to any farmer’s market, open-air craft fair, or urban street bazaar, and you can get a reasonable idea of the market Jesus is speaking about in our Gospel. The merchants arrive and set out their wares for the day, and soon the customers come looking for the best deals. And while this is going on, And kids will be kids, whether in ancient Palestine, or 21^stcentury America. Playing happily one minute, the next minute the children are looking about for something to do. And then comes one of the most maddening, tedious conversations ever you will hear from child or adult:

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” “What do you want to do?”

“We could do this.”

“Nah, I don’t want to do that.”

“Oh, okay.” “How about this?”

“I really don’t want to do that either.”

“Huh.”“Yeah. I guess there’s nothing to do.”

Suggesting things to do, but the other person not only wants to do none of them, but neither do they offer an idea of what they might want to do. There are times when people are more focused on having a problem, than on finding a solution for the problem. Jesus presents a situation as a metaphor. There were kids that went to the marketplace, the gathering place, looking for something to do. But when some suggested they play wedding games, the other mates weren’t interested in doing that, they weren’t in the mood to dance and be happy; so they counter with the idea of a playing funeral games, but their mates don’t want to do that either, they weren’t in the mood to be mournful. They just weren’t in the mind for a solution.

I.

But Jesus isn’t talking about games around the marketplace. He’s talking about how his hearers regard salvation. They want a Savior; they just don’t want a savior like he is. They don’t want the message he proclaims, in fact, they would like him to change the message to suit them.

We can better understand what Jesus is talking about if we look back a few verses. The few brief verses of Gospel read earlier are part of a larger section in the Gospel of Matthew in which John the Baptist, then sitting in jail, has sent to Christ two of his disciples, with a question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3) When the messengers had gone back, Christ begins to teach the crowds concerning John. Part of that teaching is before us.

When John the Baptist preached he had a pretty austere lifestyle. Some today, if they were being charitable, might call him a minimalist. He lived in the wilderness eating locust and wild honey. He was the second Elijah pointing to the coming of the Messiah. John didn’t take a drink now and then, you didn’t find him at feasts; he was all about the business of being the messenger appointed by God. And his rugged ‘no frills’ lifestyle accentuated the message to repent, for the kingdom of God was at hand. Many went out to hear him preach, and as a result, many were baptized in the Jordan River. While many believed, many didn’t like what they heard. John’s message declared that man couldn’t find favor with God on his own; that his works count for nothing.

Now while they didn’t like what they heard, they had a hard time disputing what John said, because John’s preaching was in fact Scriptural. They needed another reason to justify why they would turn away from John. If you can’t impeach the message, impeach the messenger. So they took out after John’s lifestyle; any guy who lives out in the wilderness and wears camel’s hair, well he has to be a bit nuts, they even said that John might be demon-possessed. The implication is that surely you don’t want to be getting your spiritual advise from a lunatic, a demon-possessed lunatic, do you?

Then along comes Jesus, just as John had foretold. In fact, one day John outed Jesus from the crowd declaring, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And although Jesus was the sacrificial lamb on the way to the cross, he did not live the austere lifestyle of John. Jesus travels from town to town, accepting and participating in the hospitality offered by others, eating and drinking what is wholesomely set before him. Christ first recorded miracle is while he is attending a wedding feast with his mother, and turns water into wine for the celebration.

Christ came to bring good news to the poor; to bind up the brokenhearted, 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, to comfort all who mourn; 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. (Isaiah 61:1-3). And freely eating and drinking, and participating in the pleasant things of life, were in harmony with the message of Christ.

Both John and Jesus were preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In the terms of the children in the market place there were two games in town from which you could choose. If you didn’t like the ‘funeral dirge’ lifestyle of John, then chances are you would like the happier, freer lifestyle of Jesus. Yet while many did believe Jesus, the same people who rejected John rejected Jesus. The same ones who would say “don’t listen to John because he is so austere he must be demon possessed,” were the ones who said, “don’t listen to Jesus because he eats and drinks wine, so he must be a glutton and a drunk, and he eats with sinners and tax collectors; and we think he’s demon possessed too.”

How could they reject both John and Jesus for the opposite ways of life? If you are pleased with poverty, why did John displease you? If wealth pleases you, why did the Jesus displease you? They could reject both, because both preached the same message. Both preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Both proclaimed that man couldn’t save himself by his own works. Both proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the Savior, foretold by prophets, who would sacrifice himself for the sins of the world. That is a message that the enemies of the Gospel cannot take, because is it is a message that requires them to deny themselves, confess their sins, and trust in Christ.

So the strategy is clear, if you can’t impeach the message, impeach the messenger. Jesus came as the savior of all, and those who opposed him attacked his character by branding him a glutton and a drunk. And then they went on to say that, just as John had a demon, so too Jesus has a demon. In Mark 3 we hear how the Jewish scribes, declared that Jesus “ ‘is possessed by Beelzebub’ and ‘by the prince of demons he casts out demons’ “ (Mark 3:22).  And later in this Gospel, Matthew records how the Pharisees announced that “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that he casts out demons” (Matthew 12:24).

But that wasn’t enough. The sinful nature cannot stand the Gospel, because it knows that Gospel is the death of sin and death. And it is not enough to just turn from the Gospel, or even to bad-mouth it. Don’t underestimate sin’s hatred of grace. But because sin and sinners are so offended by it, those who reject it must get rid of the Gospel. What happened to John? His preaching against Herod’s open sin of adultery got him beheaded. And what of Jesus? You know. The chief priest and the Pharisees gathered false witnesses, staged a trial, and convinced Pilate to authorize his crucifixion. Sin would rather take life, even yours, rather than have you hear the Gospel. But sin did not shutter the Gospel, not by John’s death, not even by Jesus’ death.

The text takes us back to the greatest days this world has ever seen, when the Kingdom of Heaven came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ, when in John the Baptist the Old Testament reached its most radiant climax and the New Testament dawned.

In his commentary on Matthew, Dr. Jeffery Gibbs reminds us that our God is a God of history; that is he is “always engaged in his creation by coming into it with deeds—deeds of judgment and deeds of salvation.” Overall, there is a movement toward salvation, and moments come when God does something new. In his teaching about John, Jesus is laying it out plainly that in the ministry of John, God was doing a new thing. And if Jesus’ hearers failed to recognize what God was doing through John, then they would miss what God was doing through Jesus.

Let’s get back to our Lord’s teaching about the children. Those children who are sitting in the marketplace are the ones of whom the prophet Isaiah speaks: “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” (Isaiah 8:18). And also the psalm: “the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). And elsewhere: “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2).

So those children who are signs to Israel sat in the marketplace, and because the Jews did not want to listen, the children not only spoke but shouted to them, at the top of their voices: “we played the flute for you, but you did not dance.” That is, we challenged you to do good deeds at the sound of our song and to dance to our flute, just as David danced before the ark of the Lord, and you did not want to. The children go on to say, “We sang a lament, but you did not mourn.” that is we challenged you to seek repentance, and the Jews did not want to do even this.

The children’s two invitations, that is the Lord’s dual path to salvation was equally rejected since the Jewish leadership scorned both poverty and wealth alike. One was called a man with a demon, the other a glutton and a drunkard. Therefore, because you did not want to accept either teaching, then the teaching of God is that“ wisdom is justified from her own deeds.” Jesus certainly said about himself. For Jesus is Wisdom itself. According to St. Jerome, Jesus, who is the glory of God and the wisdom of God, has been acknowledged to have acted justly by his sons, those who preach and teach rightly about the kingdom of God, those to whom the Father unveiled what he had hidden from wise, experienced people (adapted from Jerome’s Commentary on Matthew 2.11.16).

Beginning his teaching with the term “this generation,” Jesus is certainly speaking directly of his contemporaries in Palestine. And yet, as long as there remain those who war-against the kingdom of God, there remains a theological significance to the Lord’s words for all generations. Many today do not want to be called sinners, do not want to be called out as being in need of repentance. Many today want to party on their own terms rather than to rejoice on the terms of grace set out by Jesus. Christ’s unconditional grace strips us of all our own supposed righteousness, all our claims, and declares us instead to be needy beggars who have nothing to offer but can only receive.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, by human wisdom alone, this gift of grace is a gift that we too would despise. If we find ourselves regularly acknowledging our sin, living lives of repentance, and rejoicing in the gracious Messiahs’ love and forgiveness—to God be the glory, for these are the only gifts offered by God to save his people from their sin through his Son, Jesus Christ.

II.

Today we are gathered to celebrate the Festival Reformation. Normally our festival days celebrate events that happen in the Bible. But today we celebrate a series of events that happened nearly fifteen centuries after the Ascension of Jesus. The first commemorations of the Reformation were annual thanksgiving services for the translation of the Bible into the German language or to commemorate the introduction of the Reformation. Luther’s Pastor, Johnnes Bugenhagen already provided for such a celebration as early as 1528. In 1543—still three years before the Reformer’s death, as part of the church orders for the churches in Brunswich (1543), Bugenhagen set the date for the annual thanksgiving as St. Martin’s Day, in memory of Luther’s birth on St. Martin’s Eve. Later, some church orders appointed the service to be held on the Sunday after the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24), since the Augsburg Confession was presented on June 25. After the Thirty Years’ War (1618—1648) the Elector of Saxony appointed October 31 as the day of thanksgiving.

But it is still an important day. So much so, that some have stated that Martin Luther was as essential to the Church in his time as John the Baptist was to the church in the opening days of the New Testament. So now you understand why this Gospel from Matthew 11 is appointed for Reformation.

Another tradition that ties the readings for this Festival Day to our reformer is the suggestion that the angel in our First Reading from Revelation 14 (:7), is none other than Martin Luther, messenger of God in what is certainly the Last Days of the Church. 18^th century Lutheran theologian Christoph Starke comments on Revelation 14: 6-7:This shows that the teacher would emerge in the Church, go forth, and be seen and heard by everyone in the Church. This sermon has true repentance as its goal. It indicates the words of the eternal Gospel clear enough. This eternal Gospel is also the central point of all divine wisdom and doctrine, as the angel few in the midst of heaven. . . Those who see this as being fulfilled explain it thus: It applies to a specific teacher that is supposed to reform and purify the Church under the Antichrist. Thus it refers to Luther with his helpers who began the Reformation.

C.F.W Walther himself, and others in the LCMS, understand this verse as foretelling typologically Luther’s work as the reformer. That is why Walther picked Revelation 14:7 as the verse for the fledgling Synods theological and news publication: Der Lutheraner, and why the angel of Revelation 14:7 flew on its masthead.

Whether St. John saw and recorded a revelation or prophecy of Luther we cannot say for sure. But we dare not downplay that the Lord used Luther, according to his will, to preach the Gospel to all nations. The Gospel had been all but lost by 1500’s. The Church had slowly replaced the teaching of God’s mercy and grace for the forgiveness of sins, with the teaching that the only way to salvation was to do good works and meritorious living in quantitates sufficient to out-weigh the sin in one’s life.

This was the church and the teaching that Luther grew up in. He grew to hate God, for as he was taught, he believed that God required him to keep a law he couldn’t keep in order to be saved. Thanks be to God that this despair did not drive Luther from the Church. Instead, what Luther rediscovered in the Scriptures rocked his world—and the whole world, as a result. While certainly Luther deserved God’s judgment and condemnation for not keeping God’s law, it was also true that Jesus Christ had died as the perfect sacrifice upon the cross for his sin. And the forgiveness that Christ secured on the cross was given as a free gift to all, along with the faith to believe it. The Reformation that was thus begun was the result of Luther, working within his calling as a pastor and doctor of the church, notifying the church of the truth, and calling for the church to abandon its teaching of salvation by works and returning the Bible’s teaching that by Christ’s death, salvation had been won for the sins of the world. Luther preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

What was the Church’s response? They refuted his teachings. Those in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church called him a glutton and a drunk, a wild boar, and servant of Satan. But that wasn’t enough. It is not enough to just turn from the Gospel, or even to bad-mouth it. Again, don’t underestimate sin’s hatred of grace, and those who reject it must get rid of the Gospel. Luther was declared a heretic, and in that day, a heretic was also an enemy of the state—it was a capital crime; they declared open season on Luther making it legal to kill him, if they could catch him. They wanted him gone because Luther’s teaching that salvation was free for sake of Jesus is the death of any teaching of salvation earned by good works. But the Lord preserved Luther’s life for many more years so he could further the work of the Reformation

Since the days of John the Baptist until even now, the church has suffered violence, and the violent seek to take it by force. But Wisdom is justified by her deeds. The Wisdom of God is that the Gospel will be preached until he returns in glory—the ultimate Day of Judgment revealed to John and recorded for us in the last book of the Bible. You and I don’t live in times, or locations, where violence is directed at us for speaking the Gospel. But there are plenty of Christians around the world who suffer violence, even death, for speaking the truth of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ to others. It is good for us to pray for those who are persecuted for the faith around the world. And it is good for us to give thanks for the rare and historic privilege of gathering together in worship in peace, without persecution or violent mobs surrounding us. All in all, here in this country, we have it pretty easy for the moment

However, we must remain vigilant, for it is exactly at the times of peace or prosperity that we are most in danger of loosing the Gospel. It makes sense. When death is a daily threat, you want to cling to the eternal life that Christ has won. In times of peace and prosperity, salvation seems less important, and Christians tend to get distracted. The proclamation is not as sweet when death shadow and God’s wrath don’t feel so close at hand. And that is when the church starts to stray to make the faith about improving and enjoying life here, or to compromise and call sin and false teaching okay. The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh are happy to nudge us along this path because they hate the Gospel and like nothing better than to see it overthrown, in big ways certainly, but no more so than on individual basis. It is only when we truly understand the consequences of our sin and the reality of death, that we are thirsty for the Gospel.

So remember Jesus’ words that He spoke about himself: “Wisdom is justified by her works.“ Only Christ, and Him crucified, is the Wisdom of God. And only Christ our crucified and risen Lord has grace and forgiveness for you. Don’t judge this Wisdom by it’s reputation in the world. The world will always declare the Church, at best, useless, or the source of all evil, as long as it proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ. Don’t measure the Wisdom of God by the preacher. Preachers come and preachers go. Some might eat locust, some might spend time eating with sinners; but the measure of the messenger is the message. The measure of the preacher is whether he preaches the Word of God. Don’t measure the Wisdom of God by the congregation. Congregations will vary in size, appearance, and energy levels. But the measure of a congregation is it’s confession of faith—what it believes; what it declares. If it declares the Wisdom of God: that you are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ’s righteousness alone, that is the place to be. That wisdom is justified by its works because it works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all those who believe.

You have been rescued from a generation that did not want to confess Jesus is Lord. Several generations, in fact. In truth, every generation. Wherever the sinful flesh exists, there you will find enemies of the Gospel. It is easy on such a day as this, to point to the Reformation  or to the Saxon immigration even the founding of our own Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as the days of deliverance of the Church. But then we would overlook the faithful work of congregations in every age that have faithfully proclaimed the Gospel, even yours now in this age. And by the grace of God, in those congregations you hear the Gospel and believe what it says. You hear that Christ has died for your sins, that he has made you his own in your baptism and that he gives you everything that you need for your body and life, including feeding you with his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

In a world darkened by sin, the Lord has made you wise unto salvation, counts you among his redeemed and beloved children. From countless altars in faithful congregations, the Lord shines the light of His salvation through the Means of Grace to you. “The Word forever shall remain, No thanks to foes, who fear it; He’s by our side, upon the plain, With weapons of the Spirit,” namely, His means of Grace, so that for the sake of Jesus you are forgiven all your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thanks for ideas and content to Pastor Timothy Pauls, Jerome, Christoph Starke, Hilary, Herbert Lindemann, Oskar Pank, Pastor Chad Kendall, and Dr. Jeffery Gibbs.

It almost hurt to look at him.

After sitting by the fountain for most of the afternoon, I suffered my spouse’s scorn, and put out a small plate of cat kibble. To the children’s surprise he wasn’t much interested. They brought the dish back in and I added some milk to the dry kibble and popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. Warm milk and softened food, and our little visitor was eating. Some, but not all. And then he didn’t leave.

He’s not the only stray cat in our neighborhood. So over the next few days we have had opportunity to talk with the children about pet ownership and the responsibility we take on when we take a companion pet into the family. We talked about how it is really unfair to a cat or dog or whatever—an animal that has been meant and trained to be our companion—to take away our care and turn it out to live on it’s own, or care so little about it, that the pet has to try and live in a way it was never intended. These abandoned pets, these former companions, often don’t have the skills they need to find food, stay warm, or be safe. They may ‘survive’ for a while, but they seldom thrive.

Our visitor didn’t ever get too far from the fountain. Only one evening over the past few says did the kids not find him somewhere in the garden. Most days he took over the black Welcome mat at the back door, sunning himself most of the morning. We had fewer squirrels and birds in the yard last week. They evidently found a different place to get a drink instead of take a chance on the cat. I don’t think he had the interest the give chase, but they didn’t need to know that.

I threw an old towel down under the bush that became his favorite napping spot. He took a lot of naps, the kids tell me.

This morning the kids had been up, and after feeding our indoor cats, a bowel of milk and kibble was prepared for the visitor. When I came down after my shower, there they stood; the granddaughter even had her toddler-brother in her arms—I think more for the comfort than anything else. “Grandpa, Sandy didn’t move this morning.”

Yeah, we named him.

I knew this day was coming. I went outside and donned my leather garden gloves. There were three small faces at the back window. Their Mom and Grandma were there too. Living in the City we’re pretty ruthless when it comes to disposal of dead squirrels and birds in the yard (a couple of dumb birds tend to drown in the fountain each season). But the cat, Sandy, I knew would be different for them.

I pulled a few branches aside, “See,” I hear over my shoulder. “I tried to see if he was breathing (hands going up and down to make his point), but he’s not.” I hadn’t heard the grandson come out but I shooed him back in the house. Our visitor clearly died in his sleep. I am sure not too many strays get to do that, under a favored bush, in the yard of a family who showed him some kindness. I gently removed the stiff form from our garden and put him in the bin for the City to take care of.

After I returned from the grim task of such an undignified disposal, I put away the gloves and went into the house. The granddaughter needed a hug; tears glistened in her eyes. As I held her tight for a moment, we consoled each other that while death comes to all our pets eventually, we thank God that he provides us with such wonderful companions. And tonight in our devotions we’ll say a prayer of thanks to God for Mona our Great Pyrenees, for Klondike and Merci the cats in our home, and for Bailey and Denali, Pepper and Raven, and the other several pets who have occupied our home and our hearts over the years.

There are all kinds of lessons we teach our children along the way. Some of most important lessons are unplanned. This one walked in on four paws and gave us opportunity to show kindness and care. And taught us a lesson on how to say good-bye.

The Morning of the Resurrection, 1882, Edward Coley Burne-Jones

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

(from the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom,
pastor of Constntinople ca. AD 400)

O almighty and eternal God through the death of Your Son You have destroyed death, and by His rising to life again you have restored innocence and everlasting life. Being delivered from the power of the devil, grant that I might live under You in Your kingdom and that I may be forever comforted by true faith in the resurrection of Your dear Son. Do not let the thought of death fill my heart with terror, but give me the blessed assurance that, just as You have with Christ, I will not remain in the grave but will rise again at the End of Days. And when, by Your grace I have finished my course let Your resurrection be for me a sure pledge that an inheritance that does not fade is reserved for me in heaven. While I live, guide me with Your holy counsel; and when I die give me the crown of life, that with all the holy angels and the elect I may praise and glorify You, world without end. Amen.

Eternal is the gift He brings,
Therefore our heart with rapture sings:
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!”
Now still He comes to give us life
And by His presence stills all strife.
Christ has triumphed! He is living!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

-Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds, stz. 2, Paul Z. Strodach

Descent from the Cross

Heavenly Father, I am silenced at the grave of Your Son. In justice You called for Him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us. Yet You permitted Your Son to die in innocence. In love He came to us but He was rejected by hate. He taught us obedience but men rebelled against Him.

I confess that a great mystery confronts me at this tomb of sin and death. He was buried behind the great seal of my sin and my death. By faith I know also that He who died is the One who unlocked the great secret of Your love. His tomb is my tomb. He carried with Him to the grave my sin and my death that He might break their hold on me.

Trusting in the Lord’s promise that He would rise again on the third day, I come not to mourn Him but to confess the sin that He would leave buried. Have mercy on me O God! Have mercy on me. Amen.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.
–Ah, Holy Jesus, Johann Heermann (1585-1647)

Agnus Dei

O Christ, Lamb of God, slain for the sin of the whole world, with penitent heart I come to Your Cross, pleading for mercy and forgiveness. My sins—and they are many—have added to the burden of Your suffering and have nailed You to the accursed tree. For me You tasted the agony of the utter darkness that I might not perish, but have everlasting life. Have mercy upon me.

O Christ, Lamb of God, embrace me with Your love, and forgive me all my sins. Your death brings healing to my soul, peace to my mind, cleansing to my heart. If You would mark iniquity, I could not come; for my hands are unclean, my lips are sullied, and my heart is blackened by sin. But beholding You bleeding, despised, forsaken, dying, pierced for my sake, I come to be cleansed and forgiven.

O Christ, Lamb of God, grant that I may hate sin and wickedness more and more as I behold You in Your great agony. My grateful heart today finds hope in Your words, comfort in Your promises, and salvation in Your finished work on the Cross, by which You have overcome sin, Satan, and death.

O Christ, have mercy. O Christ, have mercy. O Lord, hear my prayer. Amen.

There for me the Savior stands,
shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.
–Depth of Mercy, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Lord's Supper

Eternal Savior, how can my heart show its appreciation of Your love? How can I serve You best, who has loved me and given Your life for me? You has sealed to me the forgiveness of all my sins and offered me reconciliation and peace in the blessed Sacrament which You institute on this day. You have promised to give me with the bread and the cup Your body and blood for the remission of all my sins. Oh, what amazing love! What riches of divine wisdom! In awe and wonderment I ponder this gracious gift. May I ever appreciate this blessed Sacrament that You have bidden me to use as a memorial of Your death and a monument of Your redemptive love. May I come worthily each time I approach Your altar.

O Savior cast me not away from Your presence. Let not my sins remain with me because of impenitence of heart or because I doubt Your Word and promises. Let me become one with You and all Your saints as I receive with them this blessed Sacrament. Make me Yours, and give me strength to amend my sinful life and walk closer to You.

Preserve in Your Church this blessed Sacrament given on this sacred day. Let all who partake of it receive worthily forgiveness, peace, and salvation. Grant to me and all those that are Yours to be faithful to Your Word and Sacraments, that Your name be glorified, Your will be done, and we at last live with You in Your eternal kingdom forevermore. Amen.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
–Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed, Isaac Watts (1674-1748

Each year we purchase CPH’s downloadable Church calendar resource (i.e. 2010-2011 Church Year Calendar-Series A”). Our altar guild uses this for the colors of the altar paraments. Holy Thursday is listed for the color White. The CPH book “Lutheran Worship History And Practice” lists scarlet or purple. I know that LSB also has white as an option but shouldn’t the color default to purple on the calendar?
thanks.

The Last Supper

When we set the calendars in our various resources I was in contact with the Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and worked closely with them. As that commission no longer exists. I can certainly tell you why we have made the choices we have at CPH, but as for the intricacies of rationale behind what appears in the Church Year calendar of Lutheran Service Book, I could only suggest that you may want to make contact with the former members of the Lectionary Committee, Lutheran Service Book Project. They are: James Brauer, Arthur Just (chairman), Daniel Reuning, D. Richard Stuckwisch, and Gregory Wismar.

When working with the Church Year and the LSB lectionary there are often options offered. When bringing these options into CPH products, it often means that I, as the editor, have choices to make. After some trial and error, and extended discussions with Commission directors and members, it has been agreed that when an option is presented, CPH will consistently offer the first option. The Commission’s point of view was that the first option offered was the majority or preferred text or practice. So for Holy Week, starting with the LSB calendar in 2006, the options are S/V, scarlet/violet. Scarlet being stated first shows the Commission’s decision that it is the preferred color for observations during that week, with violet the alternate option. It should be noted that in LSB for the first time I am aware of, the Thursday in Holy Week is differentiated between Holy Thursday and  Maundy Thursday in an LCMS calendar. During the day of Thursday in Holy Week the preferred color is scarlet. All prayer offices and worship services held during the day would be observed using scarlet paraments.

Now, Pastor, some of what follows is from my own understanding and study, so should not be totally attributed to the Commission; where I err or am unclear, the fault is mine. There has been, since at least the ’90s, a increased interest in, and practice of, the ancient Triduum among Missouri Synod Lutherans. The three services of the Triduum—Divine Service on Holy Thursday, the chief service on Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil—comprise a single unit. The Thursday in Holy Week becomes a day of transition, with the Triduum observed, there is a ‘break’ that happens at sunset between Lent preparation and commemorating Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Sunset (the traditional—liturgical—beginning of the new day) on Holy Thursday, is the vigil for Good Friday and begins the Triduum (cf. the General Notes on page 506 of the LSB Altar Book).

When the Divine Service is celebrated on the Thursday in Holy Week (technically, when it is celebrated in the evening as the vigil of Good Friday), it is observed as a feast of Christ. I suspect this came about when the ILCW introduced the three-year lectionary and the traditional John 13 Gospel (TLH and the common lectionary) was replaced by the institution narratives in the respective A, B, and C Gospels. As a feast of Christ , it is consistent to use white paraments. With the LW calendar, white was the optional color to violet. Because the Triduum has been raised as the preferred practice in LSB lectionary and resources, our CPH resources designate white as the color for the day because for most congregations, the Divine Service of the Thursday in Holy Week is the chief service of the day.

Incidentally, you may have also picked up in this response why the lectionary committee  moved from designating the Thursday in Holy Week as Maundy Thursday to Holy Thursday; for with the shift from John 13 to the institutional narratives as the appointed Gospel, the mandatum of Maundy Thursday is without context.

Well, as you rush off to celebrate your Holy (Maundy) Thursday, what are your thoughts and insights? Maybe there is a Commission member or former director lurking about that can authenticate or correct what I have offered. I’m all ears. Like you, I love this stuff.