Another Great Gerhardt Christmas Hymn

"We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
TLH 108

1. We sing, Immanuel, Thy praise,
Thou Prince of Life and Fount of grace,
Thou Flower of heaven and Star of morn,
Thou Lord of lords, Thou Virgin-born.
Hallelujah!

2. For Thee, since first the world was made,
So many hearts have watched and prayed;
The patriarchs' and prophets' throng
For Thee have hoped and waited long.
Hallelujah!

3. Now art Thou here, Thou Ever-blest!
In lowly manger dost Thou rest.
Thou, making all things great, art small;
So poor art Thou, yet clothest all.
Hallelujah!

4. From Thee above all gladness flows,
Yet Thou must bear such bitter woes;
The Gentiles' Light and Hope Thou art,
Yet findest none to soothe Thine heart.
Hallelujah!

5. But I, Thy servant, Lord, today
Confess my love and freely say,
I love Thee truly, but I would
That I might love Thee as I should.
Hallelujah!

6. I have the will, the power is weak;
Yet, Lord, my humble offering take
And graciously the love receive
Which my poor heart to Thee can give.
Hallelujah!

7. Had I no load of sin to bear,
Thy grace, O Lord, I could not share;
In vain hadst Thou been born for me
If form God's wrath I had been free.
Hallelujah!

8. Thus will I sing Thy praises here
With joyful spirit year by year;
And when we reckon years no more,
May I in heaven Thy name adore!
Hallelujah!

Every time that I sing this, stanza 5 strikes me deeply and brings me to my knees with tears of inexpressible and humble joy.



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Tis the Season?Some Fascinating Music Videos

Here are some music videos and their accompanying links:




Christmas Flash Mob by Journey of Faith at South Bay Galleria - official video





Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See! - YouTube


It seems that this is the one time of year when such things are counted as permissible, perhaps even to be encouraged.

But then, tradition is nearly always counted as valuable and acceptable, especially if it helps to foster merriment and good cheer so that people are thinking of “giving,” which translates to purchasing.

Yet the heart does rejoice to hear that the Gospel is proclaimed, even if only for a brief season and often with tradition and marketing as the motivation.  The Gospel is nevertheless briefly broadcast to fall upon the various kinds of soil, where perhaps it will sprout and take root and flourish for a precious few souls.




Joy to the World Christmas Food Court Flash Mob! - Must See!


How many people notice that this common use of this hymn or carol is truncated to omit the third stanza?  How many people even know the third stanza?  Though this video is offered by Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, they make no mention of the stanza that explains the reason for this marvelous “Joy to the World.”

Here is the entire hymn:

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
 Let earth receive her King;
 Let every heart prepare Him room
 And heaven and nature sing.

 2. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
 Let men their songs employ,
 While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
 Repeat the sounding joy.

 3. No more let sins and sorrows grow
 Nor thorns infest the ground;
 He comes to make His blessings flow
 Far as the curse is found.

 4. He rules the world with truth and grace
 And makes the nations prove
 The glories of His righteousness
 And wonders of His love.

Why is there cause for this wondrous Joy to the World?  It is because in Christ there is no more sin, the cause for sorrow and the curse that God placed upon the ground for Man’s sake.  In Christ, the Lamb who takes the sin of the world has come.  In Christ the curse, while still evident to remind us of the need for the repentance that the Holy Spirit works, no longer has power to bring us low and make us sad.  For in Christ we have redemption and justification and sanctification.

But people prefer to omit this stanza because apart from Christ there is no true Joy to the World because apart from Christ the curse still rules.  And so they embrace only the notion of the hope for joy, joy that is a fleeting emotion that must be conjured up through hyperbolic emotional facades.  Singing of carols without thought as to their meaning; bright lights on trees and the eves of the houses; flying reindeer and fat jolly old men in red suits farcically saying “Ho! Ho! Ho!” while the cameras flash and little children are urged into deeper delusions of self-gratification and lust for toys and other gifts of mammon, all these are promoted for the sake of fleeting moments of feeling happy without considering the cause of unhappiness in the world for which the Christ is come into the world to remove.

Perhaps the saddest realization of all is that this is done also in the churches, where the pure Gospel is supposed to be preached with the true Joy to the World that is realized only through the change of heart and mind that we commonly call repentance.

So, for those who know the true source of Joy to the World it is indeed proper to

Repeat the sounding joy:

 No more let sins and sorrows grow
 Nor thorns infest the ground;
 He comes to make His blessings flow
 Far as the curse is found.
 Far as the curse is found.
 Far as, far as, the curse is found.

After all, this is what the world most needs to hear, is it not, so that this joy may indeed be made known to the world?





Musical Interruption - Carol Of The Bells - Must See Christmas Video!


Wikipedia has a brief history of Carol of the Bells.


At Lyrics Carol of the Bells the full text of this very popular and merry song are available.  This again is fleeting hyperbole, but it does indeed move the heart, mind and spirit to momentary feelings of joy.


Certainly even such shallow songs can be of benefit in lifting the spirits of souls that are in need of upliftment.  But if this is all that people embrace, the emotional drop that occurs after the hype has ended can be devastating.  Such hyperbole has to be pursued continually and in the end has no real power to overcome the curse, only presenting a delusional momentary sense of escape.

In awareness of this some have taken songs like this one and have rewritten them to try to Christianize them and give them a more sanctified appearance.

One example is this one sung by the Ray Conniff Singers:

Ring, Christmas bells, Merrily ring,
Tell all the world Jesus is King!
Loudly proclaim
With one accord,
The happy tale;

Welcome the Lord!
Ring, Christmas bells,
Sound far and near,
The birth day of Jesus is here.
Herald the news
To old and young,
Tell it to all
In ev'ry tongue.
Ring, Christmas bells,
Toll loud and long,
Your message sweet
Peel and prolong.
Come, all ye people,
Join in the singing,
Repeat the story
Told by the ringing. Ring!
Christmas bells, Ring,
Christmas bells.
Loudly proclaim Ring!
Christmas bells. Ring!
With one accord,
The happy tale;
Welcome the Lord!
Ring, Christmas bells,
Ring, Christmas bells,
Merrily ring,
Tell all the world Jesus is King!

Another example is Michael W. Smith - Christmastime :

This lovely sounding song is yet another attempt to make Christmas merry through music.  The lyrics at Christmastime Lyrics - Michael W. Smith are nevertheless lacking in any real substance concerning the cause for Christmastime to be merry.  Apart from the real reason for the birth of Jesus to the world, His rule as King is a terrifying thing.  People turn to Jesus as King with the false notion that they are able to make Him King in their hearts and lives.  And so they find themselves trapped in charismatic hyperbole that they seek after all their lives.  They find a sense of peace for as long as they are able to convince themselves that they actually do honor Jesus as their King and Lord.  However, their own awareness of their sinfulness cannot be forever suppressed.  This leads to despair, sometimes even suicide.

But Jesus comes as a very different King than people choose to make Him.  He comes not with bright lights and flashy glory.  He comes not in hyperbolic singing.  He comes not through the giving of toys and presents from Santa under a glistening tree.  Neither does He come with demands to be worshiped.

Rather, Jesus comes as the King who gives Himself for us.  He comes through the humble vessel of a bloody womb, blood from which He Himself had to be cleansed and purified, the blood of Mary’s sin that she inherited from Adam, the same sin that inheres in our flesh.  He comes at the end of His ministry among the Jews humbly riding on an ass, even the foal of an ass, being carried as the King who is the final sacrifice for the sin of the world.

Today He comes to those who gather to receive Him according to His promise to give His very body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.  There He comes under the true Christ Mass gifts of bread and wine that we bring to His Table and He blesses with His gift of Himself in His true body and blood of our salvation and regenerated life in His Holy Communion.

Here is encountered the King of Glory offering us His gifts under the tree of salvation, a tree where the garland is a crown of thorns beaten deeply into  His bleeding scalp, a tree where the only light shining is the light of His love for sinful mankind and the glint that shines from His bright blood flowing down the trunk of the cross, blood shining with His own life that flows for the life of all who will be baptized into Him.

This King comes not to demand that we make Him King of our hearts and lives, but to enter into us through His means of grace to make His home our hearts, not by our choice and not by our commitment to Him, but by His choice and His commitment to us.  He pours Himself out to us and into us and as He creates faith in us, He begins to rule our hearts and minds through the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.  Then we finally know the Joy to the World that He comes to bring.  Then we realize that the curse is but God’s gracious call to stop seeking to make Jesus Lord so that we may receive Him as He comes to us as the one who truly is Lord of all.  Then our Joy no longer is something that we must produce through hyperbole, but the heavenly gift of Jesus who comes to us and produces in us what we cannot produce for ourselves.

Then our emotions are not the cause of our joy but merely reflections of the Joy who is come to the world to redeem the world and save the world from the curse of sin in the world.

Thus this season of Advent is a truly wonderful time of preparation for the celebration of the Christ Mass and these Advent hymns proclaim that for which we expectantly await:

"Come, Thou Precious Ransom, Come"

1. Come, Thou precious Ransom, come,
Only Hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world!
Open are to Thee all portals.
Come, Thy beauty let us see;
Anxiously we wait for Thee.

2. Enter now my waiting heart,
Glorious King and Lord most holy.
Dwell in me and ne'er depart,
Though I am but poor and lowly.
Ah, what riches will be mine
When Thou art my Guest Divine!

3. My hosannas and my palms
Graciously receive, I pray Thee;
Evermore, as best I can,
Savior, I will homage pay Thee,
And in faith I will embrace,
Lord, Thy merit through Thy grace.

4. Hail, hosanna, David's Son!
Help, Lord, hear our supplication!
Let Thy kingdom, scepter, crown,
Bring us blessing and salvation,
That forever we may sing:
Hail, hosanna! to our King.

"Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel"

1. Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

2. Oh, come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

3. Oh, come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

4. Oh, come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home:
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

"Once He Came in Blessing"

1. Once He came in blessing,
All our ills redressing;
Came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us,
Hope and freedom gave us.

2. Still He comes within us,
Still His voice would win us
From the sins that hurt us;
Would to Truth convert us
From our foolish errors
Ere He comes in terrors.

3. Thus, if thou hast known Him,
Not ashamed to own Him,
But wilt trust Him boldly
Nor dost love Him coldly,
He will then receive thee,
Heal thee, and forgive thee.

4. He who thus endureth
Bright reward secureth.
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us;
Let us here confess Thee
Till in heaven we bless Thee.

Yes, indeed!  Tis the Season!

God bless us every one!

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Leaning on Emotions

This evening I heard on the radio a song/hymn and its authors being praised. The song is “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” It has as a Scriptural basis: “The eternal God is your Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

The song turns my stomach. I’ve heard it in a couple of movies before. It causes me to realize why so many people think that Christians are emotional boobs.

This song, while promoted as Gospel and comfort is 100 percent Law, without a word of the Gospel even suggested. I won’t post it here, but if you want to examine it, click here. But be warned, the music plays and it is the kind of sickly tune that refuses to leave one’s head.

The Gospel is not empty emotionalism. The Gospel tells us where this eternal God is found and how He is available. The Gospel tells us of the means of grace, through which this merciful God fills the emptiness that we feel.

This song purportedly was written to give comfort to two men whose wives died and left them grieving. If the text from Deuteronomy had actually been applied as it stands written, it would have been comfort of the greatest kind, rather than teaching that people should lean emotionally on imaginary arms that do nothing and cannot be felt or seen except as fantasy.

The text of Deuteronomy 33:27 is one portion of the great blessing that Moses pronounced upon the people of God to carry them forward in faith as they entered into the land of promise, the land where they would live in the safety of the true worship established by the Lord until the promised Seed would be born of woman to save them and all the world from sin and all of the consequences of sin, most especially everlasting death. Such words of blessing provide real and substantial comfort.

The entire Thirty-third chapter should be read and pondered, but even the last four verses are marvelous:

     There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

These arms do not require one to lean upon them. They actually go before and defeat the enemy who would destroy through deception and false worship. These arms prepare the way for God’s people to sojourn in safety. And these last verses, spoken specifically to the tribe of Asher, are given in connection with the entire communion of the people of God. Special words are spoken to each tribe regarding their portion in the promised inheritance that would keep them united until the Messiah would come. It is all based upon the Lord’s faithfulness as it was displayed in delivering the people from their bondage in Egypt and in the giving of the Torah or Law upon Mount Sinai.

The patriarchs died in the comfort of these promises. In remembrance of these promises the Lord brought the people out of their bondage and to this land of promise. He provided for them through their journey, even after they disobeyed. He brought them safely to the border of the new land and now Moses proclaimed to them these final words of blessing. After leading them for forty years, he now blessed them one final time to prepare them for the new life that awaited them.

The centuries of waiting have been fulfilled. The promised King and Savior has come. He has gone forth and has carried our troubles and infirmities in His own body. He has faced death for us and has risen victorious over sin and death and the devil. He has ascended to the throne of God and rules on our behalf. And He has given us not only words to comfort us, but He has given us the Sacrament of water and Spirit through which He lifts us up from our sin death and joins us into His everlasting kingdom. He has given us the Sacrament of His body and blood through which He actually comes to us and gives us Himself to strengthen us and keep us united in Him throughout all our days and even unto everlasting life. When we face the death of our loved ones who have been washed into His Holy Communion of blessedness and life, we need not imagine some fictitious arms on which to lean in our minds, for we know that our loved ones are safe with Him and that we remain in His protection in His body, the Church, until our time of blessed departure comes.

Don’t sing any hyped up emotional nonsense to me. Give me the solid Law and Gospel by which I will stand unmoved upon the Rock. Sing to me “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and “The Church’s One Foundation” and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives”! Sing to me “The Kyrie Eleison” and “The Sanctus” and “The Agnus Dei” and “The Nunc Dimittis”! Then I shall be truly comforted and you will have shown yourself a true friend.

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Rain, Rain

Today it is raining so that I cannot safely do my work. The forecast for tomorrow is snow!

Farmers of crops, especially here in Kansas where the annual rainfall is precious, are known to say, “We never complain about moisture. We always need moisture.” There are, of course, variations to this saying.

Indeed the rain is cause for giving thanks, yet my sinful shortsightedness is not always thinking thus. Moreover, my flesh thinks back to this past summer when we desperately needed rain and the Lord withheld it. I have found myself praying, “O great, Lord! Why did you not send this when we really needed it?!”

Thankfully, the Lord has trained me for many years through His Scriptures and through the prayer that He gave to us and through the General Prayer of the Church. Through these He has taught me to hear His answer to my complaints. Through these He directs my heart to trust His wisdom and graciousness even when my perception cannot see this.

If I am willing to hear this, there are many things that accompany the rain for which to give thanks as well. My old body receives another day or two of rest from harsh labor. I have time to study and to call the repairman for our refrigerator that quit working. I could actually go on throughout the rest of the day listing all that is good that the Lord is working through today’s weather.

With this view St. Paul says that speaking to one another psalms and hymns and spiritual chants we will find ourselves giving thanks always, over all things, in the name of the Lord of us Jesus Christ to the God and Father. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

I continue to marvel at the Church’s liturgy as it has been handed down to us. How blessed we are to have the psalms and hymns and spiritual chants organized for us to utilize in this way.

So, let it rain. Let it snow. Let the sun bake the earth. We have the divinely ordained refuge of the holy Liturgy of the divine service, through which the Lord serves us what we need most and satisfies our souls and bodies together.

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Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

How many more times will this be played or sung? Argh!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Lyrics

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He's making a list,
He's checking it twice,
He's gonna find out
who's naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake.
He knows when you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

So...You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Little tin horns,
Little toy drums.
Rudy-toot-toot
and rummy tum tums.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Little toy dolls
that cuddle and coo,
Elephants, boats
and Kiddie cars too.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

The kids in Girl and Boy Land
will have a jubilee.
They're gonna build a toyland town
all around the Christmas tree.

Oh....You better watch out,
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why.

Santa Claus is comin'
Santa Claus is comin'
Santa Claus is comin'
To town.

I hate this song. It teaches the exact opposite of the spirit of Christmas. Rather than the comfort and joy of God’s grace it teaches that one must make oneself righteous. Moreover, because all children know that what it demands is impossible, it teaches that holiness is but an illusion.

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town!

This makes me angry when I hear it. This is not what Saint Nicolas taught at all. He taught God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

This song teaches the exact opposite of what the season of Advent and then Christmas teaches. Advent and Christmas teach us that Jesus came in answer to our cries and our pouting. Because of sin, we have genuine reason for our tears and our sorrow. Jesus came to be born as the Savior from Sin and all the consequences of sin.

The Lord does not command that we not cry. Rather, He commands that our crying be directed to Him with the assurance that He has heard our cries and has answered them, even before we feel the need to cry. His answer is from eternity. It is part of His everlasting love toward us.

Moreover, Jesus did not merely come as a baby. He continues to come to us today through the ordained means of grace. He continues to urge us to cry out to Him and to look for Him in the manger of the altar where He gives His body and blood for our comfort and relief.

Here is a hymn that expresses the true spirit of Advent and Christmas. When the other garbage spews forth from the radio in the car or the speakers in the store, here is a hymn that will give comfort and peace and assurance instead:

"Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel"

Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Oh, come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Oh, come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Oh, come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home:
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Here we are taught to cry out in accord with the promises of God. He wants us to hear Him and respond with cries for His mercy and salvation. He wants us to cry to Him in expectation that He will indeed give us relief.

Moreover, beyond trusting Him so as to cry to Him as He has commanded us, what does He demand? Even the faith by which we trust Him He gives to us as a gift! He has established His Church on earth for us so that we have a safe haven into which we may gather even as He calls us to do. He is present for us eager to bestow His grace upon us. This is the message of Christmas. This is the God of Christmas. Immanuel, “With Us God.”

So, now, as you watch out,
Lift up your sad eyes,
Stand with me and shout,
With all of your cries,

Jesus Christ is coming to town!

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Refrigerator Art-Scribblings

How many refrigerators are covered with the scribbling of little children displayed as precious works of art? Grandparents, uncles and aunts, and parents alike receive the illegible writings and the muddled scribbling of beloved children and post them on every inch of refrigerator case.

Why? Is it because of the quality of the work? Or is it because of the value that love pours over everything done by the beloved?

Yet as much attention as love gives to the scribbling and smudges, the family does not make these mutated attempts at art stand as representative of the family. If the child should demand that these “masterpieces” be made the foundation of the family’s life, the answer would be a very firm, “No.”

It is the same within the family of God. He receives our prayers and our praises and our works and glows with fatherly love, praising our sickly efforts. But He has truly beautiful things planned for the life of the family. He has wondrous prayers that have been carefully crafted, even preserved in Holy Scriptures by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Rich and magnificent hymns have been composed and passed on through the generations. The divine liturgy goes back to the temple and even the tabernacle in the wilderness.

Yet how often do impetuous people imagine that their spontaneous responses are equal to or even superior to these majestic works that embrace the ancient sages of the Church who spent lifetimes in the service of the Lord and composed hymns and music that still leave the heart in awe of God’s glory and mercy and grace? They want to get up on a stage and trash the chancel, bringing electric guitars and drums and dancers and bar stools to replace the altar and paraments and even the very paten and chalice.

No. This is not what a faithful father/pastor will permit. Yes, around a campfire at a youth lakeside sing-along some of these things may at times be appropriate. But not as the foundation for the life of the family. Yes, at the basketball or football or soccer game a spontaneous prayer is a wonderful thing, but in the divine service God has called us together for a specific purpose. What flows from the heart at a youth water ski party on the lake is planted in the heart in the divine service where the entire family is gathered for the Holy Supper of unity and life through the body and blood of our God and Savior. The things that carry us through in times of spontaneity are the things of substance that we receive together through the careful preparations of devoted pastors who pull together in the sermon what they have received through intense study of the Scriptures and of the lofty writings of the Church fathers.

Yes, the muddled artwork of children has a place on the refrigerator door, but it is not included as page one of the blue print for the house. Much less are our muddled prayers and praises used for the blueprint of the everlasting house that the Lord establishes for His family.


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Change?

As I remember things, McDonald's had an advertisement in the past where they emphasized that they would give us change. Give them a dollar and they would give us change.

It occurred to me this evening, that this is what Obama really meant in his campaign mantra. He (and the FED and Congress) would take our dollars and give us mere change. At least McDonald's gave us greasy food and sugar with our change.

Of course, Obama and Company have given us other change, too. We now have sky-rocketing prices on almost everything, beginning with the price of fuel, extending to every other form of necessary goods and services. With this the national debt has grown to incalculable figures. McDonald's gave us change and fat bodies. The governmental leaders and bankers have given us fat government and banking institutions.

Then, also, where we once had at least the illusion of privacy, now the government and the bankers and the corporations know more about us than we do. While that may not be a change, the fact that we now are aware that they know more about us than we do is a change.

While I thought of this as a humorous thought to share when I first pondered it, having written it, I'm not laughing. I'm not even amused.

I guess I had better pull out the catechism and the hymnal and hear something to lift my spirit again.

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Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm 98:4

This morning I sang TLH Hymn # 196, “I Am Content! My Jesus Liveth Still”. We sang this hymn in the divine service Sunday and I needed to receive its blessed comfort again today. It truly is a marvelous hymn.

As I went outside to water some of the garden plants, I continued singing and humming this wondrous hymn. Then I began whistling it.

I was surprised by the birdies. Four mourning doves flew nearby and half a dozen finches landed in the little tree beside me and began chirping with me. Some of them were actually looking at me the entire time. I walked over and sat down and continued whistling the hymn and they continued in the tree chirping with me. When I stopped whistling they all flew away.

Did they come to join me in this hymn of comfort and praise to the God of mercy? Did God send them to be a source of encouragement and joy?

I certainly enjoyed the experience and was uplifted in my spirit regarding the wonders of God’s grace, mercy, and peace. I was reminded of what Moses writes concerning the creation and what the Scriptures say of the new heavens and the new earth that the Lord has prepared for His saints.

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Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This first stanza of a very popular Christmas hymn certainly serves a person well to remember.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing.

This week here in Wichita we had several truly beautiful days preceding the return to winter weather that we are experiencing today. Christmas is observed during the winter. Yet, because of the gift of God’s Son to the world, truly it is a time of joy.

Yesterday the little birdies were singing with all their strength. It made me wonder whether perhaps they knew that it was the last day of that unseasonably warm and gentle and friendly weather. I repeated to my wife what I believed that they were telling us.

Oh, it is a beautiful day! It is a glorious day! Sing! Rejoice! Give thanks to God! It is a wonderful day. Come out with us and give thanks to God! Today is the last of these days for a while. Waste it not! Enjoy this wonderful gift from God. Rejoice in His goodness!

It made me think of the last portion of the stanza above. It also stood as a reminder that Christmas is not limited to the season of the Church year in which we specifically observe it. As the divine service blessedly reminds us in “The Gloria in Excelsis,” the announcement of the angels to the shepherds is a never ending message.

”Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The joy of the Christ Mass is ours every Lord’s Day, as we are fed the gift of the divinely ordained Supper of forgiveness and life and communion with God and His saints. This serves us as sustenance for every day living so that every day is a day for rejoicing in God’s goodness to us in Christ Jesus.

Earlier this week as I went to make a deposit at the credit union, one of the familiar tellers greeted me and asked how I was doing. I responded that I was surviving. “Only surviving?” she queried with puzzlement. ”Can one really be only surviving on such a beautiful day?” “The weather is not the only thing that people endure,” I gently replied. But she went on to tell me how she had the day off from school and spent time outside before coming to work and how that invigorated her. I smiled and responded, “It is an absolutely lovely day.”

That humble admission was quite powerful in its effect. For in being humbled to look beyond the things that were troubling me and robbing me of the joy of the day, my attitude was transformed. That simple admission turned me from my stubborn refusal to give thanks to God like the little birdies and to rejoice in the richness of His blessings. My spirit was revived and my heart did rejoice.

If the little birdies can see it, how much more am I able to see it, having been baptized into the Kingdom of God on earth so as to be carried to the Holy Supper where God pours out to me with the blood of Jesus the things by which true happiness and peace are mine forevermore. It is truly foolish of me to rob myself of such endless joy on account of stubbornness.

Praying with Hearts that Hear

The Collect of the Day for this past Sunday teaches us to pray with amazing boldness what can only be prayed from the most absolute humility.

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, and reigneth, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

Does anyone really pray this way anymore? How many churches even use this prayer in their worship anymore? Of those that do, do they actually believe that God gives what is besought in this prayer?

Does anyone today really believe that God enables those who are His children and who gather in the name of Jesus to serve or worship Him with pure minds?

Do people even understand anymore what it means that we should worship with pure minds?

More and more what is said or professed by people as their belief is that the perfect Church cannot be found or exist on earth. More and more what people confess rather than the holy catholic Church is that the Church cannot be holy because it is made up of imperfect people, sinners. More and more the belief that the Church is the gathering of those whom God has purified into the name of Jesus through Baptism to believe and confess with the same mind and mouth the one true faith by which He keeps us united with Jesus Christ through the means of grace is set aside and discarded, except perhaps in their so-called “quia” subscription to their official book of doctrine. But do they still believe that God grants that we may be enabled (by Him alone) to serve Him with pure minds?

It is amazing how many do quote the Psalms regarding “singing a new song.”

This would be truly wonderful if these folk had any clue as to what this means. They imagine the “new song” to be one that they produce and sing. But the new song that the Psalms teach is the new song that God has given, the new song of the new man. This song is new to the Old Adam, but is actually the original song given to Adam in Creation. This new song is the renewed song that is written for us in Holy Scriptures. This is why the New Testament admonition is as in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16:

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

This is the new song that the Old Adam and our sinful flesh resist and reject. According to our own reasoning we imagine that the original song is worn out and weak. We do not realize that the real strength for happiness and true exuberance comes from the original song of Creation that is established forevermore as the New Song of Regeneration. This song is called the new song because it takes lifeless and corrupt fleshly people and makes them new again in Christ.

This can only happen when we are made to serve or worship God in the unity of the pure mind that God renews to each of us in Baptism and preserves in us through His Holy Communion.

It is interesting that in the prayer that the Lord Jesus gives us to pray that there is absolutely nothing new from what has already been fore-written in the Scriptures. Everything that He teaches us to pray is what the Lord God has already declared to be His holy and gracious will for us. He teaches us the meaning of being made to be a new creature again, new as God ordained from the beginning and even from eternity.

God does indeed cause us to serve Him with pure minds, when the minds with which we serve Him are the minds that He renews in us through His pure and unchanged means of grace. When our services are purely the gathering to receive from Him the service that He has ordained, we do receive the pure minds for which we pray, the pure minds that He gives in place of the corrupt minds that we bring to Him. In true humility we pray and even expect to receive what only He can give. What we pray with the humility of expectant faith, He grants with His own mighty AMEN!

With What Shall I Be Filled?

Today I observed happening a thing that the Lord often works in my daily activities. Suddenly a hymn entered into my awareness and I began humming and whistling it, and then another. Two things additionally occurred:

First, I thought: “Wow! Why am I so happy?” I was running late. I was preparing for a long day of hard work, switching from my pickup to my chipper truck, transferring tools, etc. The sky was overcast and gray and gloomy. Yet these hymns filled my heart and mind and spirit and I was inexplicably happy.

Secondly, having started the truck, the radio was on, and the songs from the radio began playing. I immediately switched off the radio, thinking, “Argh, I don’t want that stuff in my head!” That is the way it works. Whatever stupid, often even unholy, junk that plays on the radio becomes embedded in me so that I cannot make it go away. I did not want that stuff to supplant what the Spirit had given me to fill me.

My wife rarely turns on her radio. She often listens to tapes of hymns, instead. Wise woman!

St. Paul affirms this practice, saying:

     Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

     And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

I made one statement above that is only partially true. I said that once the worldly junk becomes embedded in me that I cannot make it go away. This is true. However, if I begin singing one of the powerful hymns that I have memorized, the Lord removes the junk for me. His gracious words and the tune of the hymn shove the rest of the junk back out where it belongs and I am filled with His grace, mercy, and peace again. A good and solid hymn has to power to clear my head of anything that does not belong. Even frustration and anger must give way to the rich hymns.

The music to which we listen is very powerful in its effect.