An excellent sermon for the Reformation of the Church, preached by Pastor Matthew Harrison, President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

We Pray

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

We meditate on Holy Scripture
Revelation 14:6-7
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36

A Meditation on the Festival of the Reformation

The movie “Luther” sparked renewed interest in the life and work of Martin Luther. The fact that Concordia Publishing House’s movie companion book, Luther: Biography of a Reformer was received so enthusiastically indicates that, if only given a chance, people are eager to learn about Martin Luther and what it means to be and remain genuinely Lutheran. There seem to be three types of responses to the question, “Does being Lutheran matter?” One is, “Are you kidding me? You better believe that it matters! Let me tell you why!” Another response is a sort of “mental shrug” to the question, “Well, of course we want to be and remain Lutheran, that goes without saying, there’s no real need to talk much about it though.” And then, sadly, there is this response, “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is being a Christian. We need to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.” As I watch and analyze events and trends in Christianity and Lutheranism, both in this country and around the world, I am more convinced than ever before of two things. First, being and remaining genuinely Lutheran matters more then ever, and second, the reasons why this is so are unclear at best to many people.

To be Lutheran is to be a person who says, “This is what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches. This and nothing else is true and correct. This understanding and teaching and confession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most accurate and most faithful to God’s Word. This and none other. Nothing more, and nothing less, will do, for this is the truth.” In our day and age these sorts of bold assertions are often met with angry responses, such as, “How dare you insist that Lutheranism is actually the true teaching of God’s Word. How can you think you have the truth? All that matters is if a person is sincere about their faith in God.” We live in a time when truth is viewed as something relative, impossible to know for sure. The attitude common today is reflected when we hear things like this, “I have my truth. You have your truth. As long as we respect our differences, that is all that matters.” It seems today that the most important “truth” for many people is their profound doubt that truth can be known, and equally strong conviction that those who claim to know the truth are wrong.

Before we go further we need to clear up a common misconception. While insisting on the truth of Lutheranism, we can never allow ourselves to do so in an arrogant, haughty or self-righteous manner. People who are passionate about the truth of Biblical Lutheranism know that the Bible teaches often and clearly that we are all sinful human beings in need of God’s constant mercy, which He so lavishly gives in Christ. To be truly Lutheran is to receive the gifts of God with humility, repentantly recognizing our great need. It is tempting for Lutherans to be proud and arrogant of their great heritage, but this is a terrible evil! To be Lutheran is to be always mindful of our great sin and our great need for a Savior. To be a Lutheran is to be a sinner calling out to fellow sinners, “Come and see!” Furthermore, we would never want anyone to think that we Lutherans are saying, “We, and we alone, are the only ones who will be in heaven. In fact, you can’t be a Christian unless you are a Lutheran.” Not so! Not at all. We realize that the Word of God is powerful and active, wherever and whenever it is heard, read or meditated on. There are many Christians in other denominations and churches. They are not Christians because of the errors in their churches, but in spite of those errors. Let’s then have none say, “You Lutherans think you alone are Christians.” We have never said that, we have never believed it, and we never will. The reason we insist on Lutheranism for everyone who will listen is we believe so passionately that it truly is the most correct and most accurate understanding of the Word of God.

Read more…

Purgatory is a complete, and total, false doctrine, and a potentially damning error of faith. Join the Reformation!

Please read the transcript below the video very carefully and you will see the horrendous heresy and apostasy that is inherent in Rome’s doctrine of purgatory. This is very, very serious stuff, folks, and precisely why the Church of Rome and the Pope is, in deed, the very Antichrist at work to this day.

Here is the transcript of the video. Please read this carefully.

October 30, 2011. (Romereports.com) According to recent reports, there are roughly 1.18 billion Catholics worldwide. But, some consider the number to be even higher. The Catholic Church, here on earth is also know as the ‘Church Militant.’ But there are two other categories as well. The first is ‘Church Triumphant,’ which refers to those who died and went to heaven. The second, is ‘Church Expectant,’ which includes souls in the purgatory.

Fr. Marcello Stanzione
Author, ’365 giorni con le anime del Purgatorio’
“Souls suffering in the purgatory need our prayers. When these souls go to heaven, they will remember our prayers.”

According to Catholic doctrine, the purgatory, just like heaven or hell, is not a physical place, but rather a state of the soul. To go to heaven, sins have to be forgiven, to purify the soul.

Fr. Marcello Stanzione
Author, ’365 giorni con le anime del Purgatorio’
“Those souls in the purgatory are Christians who have died in the grace of God. But during their life on earth they weren’t atoned for their sins, therefore they can’t enter paradise, because only those with completely cleansed souls can enter.”

Italian priest Marcello Stanzione published a book, which translates to “365 days with the souls of the Purgatory.”It includes daily prayers from saints, popes and theologians that reflect on the souls of the purgatory.

Fr. Marcello Stanzione
Author, ’365 giorni con le anime del Purgatorio’
“For every day of the year I collected thoughts of saints such as St. Catherine of Genoa and St. Faustina Kowalska. Also reflections of popes, especially from their encyclicals. In addition there are also traditional Catholic reflections.”

So now this book paves the way, so that people can remember and pray for the souls of the purgatory, every day of the year.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the quality of the preaching in the pulpits of our church and I am growing increasingly concerned that we are moving further and further away from the unique strengths of Lutheran preaching as we have received it from generations previous to ours. I’m going to frame my concerns by referring to temptations preachers face. I’m coming at this, of course, from my perspective and convictions as a confessing, orthodox Lutheran, committed to the Sacred Scriptures, having vowed to preach and teach the Word of God in conformity with the Lutheran Confessions as contained in the Book of Concord. As you’ll see, this is no mere finger pointing exercise, this is also a chance for me to reflect on how these temptations impact me when I preach.

The Therapeutic Temptation
The “Therapeutic Temptation” is one that would have preachers use their sermons to give what amounts to little more than a pep talk, often in the context of cute, touching, emotional or an otherwise manipulative story, either real, or made up. I’m referring to the infamous, “There was once a little boy who…” or the, “There was a man who said/did…” These sermons will be marked by a preaching of Law that is soft and squidgy around the edges, it’s not a preaching of God’s holy, righteous wrath against sin and a warning against it and a rebuking of sin and sinners. It is Law preached in such a way that bad things, bad people or bad situations are lamented in doleful tones. It sounds often like this, “Isn’t it sad when….” or “Have you ever…..” and the tone is one of sounding “oh, so sorry about that” and “shouldn’t we all feel bad” about this problem. Then the sermon goes on to offer encouragement and support for getting out of our bad and negative feelings and circumstances. The Law is soft, the Gospel therefore comes across as antidote to feeling sad and bad. I face this temptation when I preach. I want so much to make people feel better, to feel good, to leave feeling positive. That can get in the way of good Law/Gospel preaching. I would say this is what I’m hearing more and more in pulpits. Law becomes simply lament. Gospel becomes simply encouragement and reassurance.

The Entertainment Temptation
Public speaking, once becomes fairly good at it, is a place where one’s personal ego can really get in the way of God’s Word. It is so tempting to get wrapped up in the moment and begin to feel a need to amuse, delight and entertain the listeners. Now, granted, the use of the classic art of rhetoric is important, but it is tempting for preachers to work very hard to elicit a laugh, a chuckle, to amuse, to entertain. They mistake audience reaction with effective preaching and they mistake emotionally manipulating the congregation with preaching God’s Word effectively. The problem with the entertainment temptation is that often the effort to entertain and elicit a positive emotional reaction from the congregation causes the preacher to neglect the doctrine in the text he is preaching on, to neglect, frankly, the Scriptures, and to spend an inordinate amount of time developing his story that he just knows will get the kind of response he is looking for. Public speaking is heady stuff. I have been tempted to go for the cheap line, the little quip, the comment I know will get chuckle and spend too much time on that, than on preaching God’s Word. And here again, in this context, Law is neglected, or ignored, because, after all, the Law is not “upbeat” it is not “entertaining.” It will not delight and amuse people to hear that they, by nature, are poor, miserable sinners who have nothing but wicked, evil deeds to offer to the holy and righteous God. And when the Law is neglected, the Gospel then loses the force of its power to convert and regeneration. In such a context, the Gospel is watered down to be part of an entertaining experience for the listeners.

The Hurry It Up Temptation
This is quite an insidious temptation that I think we all have fallen into, nearly totally. For many centuries, and even millennia, in the church’s history, sermons, where they were taken seriously, were thirty, forty or even sixty minutes long. The sermon was the opportunity for the pastor to preach and teach God’s Word carefully and thoroughly, from Sunday to Sunday, but then, and here I’m speaking only of my own church body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, sermons that were forty-five minutes long, became only thirty minutes, then they dropped to twenty minutes, and now it is often the case that sermons now are only twelve, or ten or even eight minutes long. Simply put, these are no longer sermons, they have become rather formulaic quick devotional thoughts. There is not enough time carefully to delve into the text, and open it up to hearers. A text become more a pretext for the sharing of what becomes quite repetitive themes: some talk of something bad (Law), some talk of Jesus taking care of it all for us (Gospel) and then reference to the Sacrament. I’m tempted to do this when I know that there is a full service with communion. It is tempting to skip lightly over the text and instead use the short time I have to make a couple devotional points and then get on to the Sacrament. For all I love the Sacrament of the Altar and love that we are celebrating it more often, the Sacrament of the Altar must never become an excuse to make our sermons shorter and less substantial. We are the church of Word and Sacrament, not word AND SACRAMENT. I think that we are forgetting this.

The Grind My Axe Temptation
This temptation is characterized by a preacher managing to “find” in any Biblical text, a pretext for him to yet, once more, grind his axe on his hobby-horse issue, or subject, or theme, no matter what it might be. The hobby-horse might be quite correct and what the preacher says about it is quite true, but it is a temptation preachers face to turn nearly every sermon they give into an opportunity once more to repeat the same issues, over and over again. Perhaps he will be wanting to talk always about the liturgical practices in the parish, to turn every sermon into a little discourse on some point of church history, or to keep referring to some particular event or trend in society. Every sermon manages to include a reference to the issue that is really “bugging” the preacher and it comes out in his sermon. I am tempted to do this when I find myself wanting to warn people against the “feel good/health and wealth” prosperity preachers. I find that I can easily find myself bashing this error in every sermon. And while I’m perfectly correct in my warning, it is not appropriate for me to hijack every sermon on every Biblical text, to interject my own particular agenda. The lectionary is a good corrective, and if the preacher resolves actually to preach on the subjects, issues and topics that flow naturally from the lectionary readings, there is much less of a chance that the preacher will fall victim to the “Grind My Axe” temptation.

Do you have more temptations to add to this list?

First “I’ll take it” either via e-mail, comment, or response to my Facebook post, gets it. $225, free shipping, USA addresses only.

Here are some pics.

We Pray

Almighty God, You chose Your servants Simon and Jude to be numbered among the glorious company of the apostles. As they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so may we with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

We Meditate on Scripture

Jeremiah 26:1-16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 15:17-21

Biographical Sketch

Simon was a simple Galilean, a brother of Jesus, as the ancients called one’s close relatives — aunts, uncles, first cousins; he was one of Our Lord’s four first cousins, with James the Less, Jude and Joseph, all sons of Mary, the wife of Alpheus, or Cleophas, either name being a derivative of the Aramaic Chalphai. The latter was the brother of Saint Joseph, according to tradition. All the sons of this family were raised at Nazareth near the Holy Family. (See the Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:53-58) Simon, Jude and James were called by Our Lord to be Apostles, pillars of His Church, and Joseph the Just was His loyal disciple.

Saint Simon the Zealot or the Zealous, was the name this Apostle bore among the twelve. He preached in Egypt, Mauritania (Spain), and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they labored and died together. At first they were respected by the king, for they had manifested power over two ferocious tigers who had terrorized the land. With the king, sixty thousand Persians became Christians, and churches rose over the ruins of the idolatrous temples.

But the ancient enemy, who never sleeps, rose up, and when the two went elsewhere the pagans commanded them to sacrifice to the sun. Both Apostles, just before that time, had seen Our Lord amid His Angels. Simon said to Jude, “One of the Angels said to me, I will take you out of the temple and bring the building down upon their heads. I answered him, Let it not be so; perhaps some of them will be converted.” They prayed for mercy for the people and offered their lives to God. Saint Simon told the crowd that their gods were only demons, and ordered them to come out of the statues, which they did, revealing themselves under hideous forms. But the idolaters fell on the Apostles and massacred them, while they blessed God and prayed for their murderers.Saint Jude has left us a short but powerful epistle, written after the death of his brother James, bishop of Jerusalem, and addressed to the new Christians being tempted by false brethren and heretics. ”

- translated from “Lives of the Saints for Everyday” by Abbe Jaud.

It is true that of all the church bodies which have left the papacy, it is precisely the Lutheran Church which is accused of retaining many papal abuses and of having been the least successful in cleansing itself. It is pointed out, for example, that in our church priestly clothing, church ornamentation, pictures, altar, crucifixes, candles, confession, the sign of the cross, and the like are still apparent. But, my friends, whoever regards these innocent things as vestiges of the papacy knows neither what the papacy is, nor what the Bible teaches. The very fact that the Lutheran Reformation was not aimed at indifferent adiaphora, but retained those things which were in harmony with God’s Word, shows that it was not a disorderly revolution, but a Biblical reformation.

— C. F. W. Walther

This poignant quote from Dr. C.F.W. Walther should be etched on the walls of every Lutheran Church, in some convenient location, so that we never forget that being Lutheran is simply being a Christian in the Western Catholic tradition, and, understood correctly, it is true that we Lutherans are “evangelical” catholics, nothing more, nor certainly nothing less.

Here, again, is my annual Reformation reprint of an article I wrote a number of years ago that has been well received. I routinely receive requests for a copy of it. Feel free to pass it along.

Fifteen Minutes that Changed the World Forever
A number of years ago, I attended a conference on the doctrine of justification in Wittenberg, Germany. There were pastors, presidents and bishops from Lutheran churches throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Eastern and Central Europe, Africa, and various countries in the land of the former Soviet Union. These servants of Christ know what it means to be distinctly Lutheran, often under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances. In many cases, they are walking through fiery trials suffering various forms of persecution for their commitment to Christ and His Word. It was humbling to be with them and discuss the chief article of the faith.

It was also quite a thrill to spend four days in Wittenberg and walk where Luther walked. On the last day of the conference I decided to time how long it would have taken Martin Luther to walk from the door of his Augustinian monastery to the Castle Church to post the ninety-five theses. Another LCMS pastor attending the conference, Bob Zagore, came with me and he counted the steps. Bob counted 2,000 steps. I counted fifteen minutes.As Luther left his monastery on October 31, 1517, turned left, and walked to the Castle Church on the west side of town, I doubt he had any idea just what he was setting motion. Four years later, Pope Leo’s representative, Aleander reported, “All of Germany is an uproar! Ninety-percent of the people are shouting, “Luther!” and the other ten percent—if they don’t care about Luther—at least have “Death to the Roman court!” as their slogan.” (Martin Brecht, Martin Luther The Road to Reformation, Fortress Press: 1:439).Father Martin, parish pastor, was outraged by the Roman system of indulgences and what it was doing to the precious souls he cared for at the city church of St. Mary as confessor and preacher. He was deeply angered when one after another member of his congregation told him about the indulgence that they had walked all day to buy from John Tetzel in the little town of Jütebog, just over the border of Electoral Saxony. They thought they had assurance of grace and comfort, for themselves, or for loved ones who had died. They clung to their indulgence receipt, instead of the crucified Lord. They believed that with their act of penance and contribution to the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome, God would smile on them and make things easier for them after their death.Luther could not remain silent. And so he spoke, and wrote, and preached, and taught, and debated. He posted his theses and he mailed a copy of them on the same day to the Archbishop of Mainz, protesting the indulgences that were being sold within his diocese. In so doing, Luther set an axe at the root of the Papal tree. Enormous sources of revenue were at stake. Papal and imperial politics were involved beyond what Luther fully realized. Luther said after the controversy was under way:

“I never wanted to fight, either with the strongest or the weakest. My single intention was to stay hidden in the corner. But now that I have been, as it were, grasped by the ear, and dragged into the public eye by a single debate placard, I believe that this has happened according to God’s will. . . . I will fear neither the strong nor the loud. . . neither will I despise weak or any other completely unlearned man. Then I would be a truly miserable Luther . . . if I would not fight entirely in the faith of the God who alone works in me.” [Brecht, 1:387]

The uproar caused by Luther’s “debate placard” caused him intense anguish, stress and strain. We catch a glimpse of his inner struggle in these words:

“My heart is so affected that I hope I have begun it in God’s name. But I am not so bold as to pass judgment on it and loudly proclaim that is surely must be so. I do not want to suffer God’s judgment for it. Instead, I crawl to His grace and hope that He has let it be started in His name. And, since I am a sinful man of flesh and blood, if something unclean has mingled with it, I hope He may graciously forgive me and not deal severely with me in His judgment.” [Brecht, 1:378].

The promise and power of the Word of God was Luther’s constant source of strength, hope and confidence. And so for us today. Luther acknowledged his failings, but pointed to the source of His strength, in words that should, and must, continue to fill the heart of all those who want to be, and remain, genuinely Lutheran, that is, who wish to be fully faithful to God’s Word.

“Let anyone who wants to, slander, curse and judge my person and my life—it is already forgiven him. But let no one expect grace or patience from me when he wants to make liars out of the Holy Spirit and my Lord Christ, whom I preach. I am not concerned about myself. I shall defend Christ’s word with a joyful heart and renewed courage, without regard to anyone. To this end God has given me a joyful and fearless spirit, which I trust they shall not harm in all eternity.” [Brecht: 1: 346].

How does the Lutheran Reformation fare in our day? There are those throughout the world who claim the name Lutheran but continue to barter away their Biblical Lutheran birthright through all manner of ecumenical compromises and agreements. What could not be forced on Luther and his courageous allies and defenders, even upon threat of death, is eagerly embraced by world federations and organizations that claim to be Lutheran. What a tragedy!

But what of our own lack of zeal and boldness when it comes to defending, upholding and boldly extending a clear Lutheran identity, which is nothing more or less than holding forth the truth and purity of the Word of God? Read more…

I’m happy to tell you that the third volume in the commentary series on Luther’s catechisms is now available. The translation is extremely well done and these volumes are a delight to read. Dr. Albrecht Peters offers insights into the meaning of Luther’s comments in his Small and Large Catechisms, drawing from a nearly encyclopedic familiarity with Luther’s works. You will really enjoy digging into the information, which is written in a way, and translated in such a way, that the information is accessible to all: pastor and layman alike. You can order this volume now, from our web site, or by calling 800-325-3040. If you are a pastor, in any church body, makes no difference, or a rostered professional church worker in any church body, you will receive a 20% church worker discount when you buy this book.

Here’s a sample from the book you can download.

You might also like to know that the Peters commentary on the Creed is available also in Kindle format now, and the Lord’s Prayer soon will be as well.

By the way: I very, very…very…strongly recommend that everyone reading this go to CPH.ORG and set up an account there with us. Ordering our resources from our web site is the fastest and easiest way to place an order. The order literally goes instantaneously to our completely computer controlled order fulfillment system and right to the distribution center, we we are able to get nearly 100% of every order placed on a given day, into the mail stream, on that very day.

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Thanks to my colleague, Rev. Benjamin Mayes, for his fine translating work. This is a statement that Paul Gerhardt wrote on the occasion of his 70th birthday. It has been referrred to as his “testament” for lack of a better word to describe what this is. It is quite moving and powerful. He addressed it to his son. This, once again, amply destroys the myth that Paul Gerhardt was some sort of Pietist yearning to run free of the shackles of Lutheran Orthodoxy, a very, very common myth, sadly, even among a number of Lutherans, who really should know better. He offers absolutely wonderful advice here that we all do well to heed. For instance, when anger wells up in us, then we do well to say nothing but to pray the Ten Commandments and the Creed.

The So-Called “Testament” of Paul Gerhardt for His Son (Early 1676)

Now that I have reached the 70th year of my life and also have the joyful hope that my dear, holy God will soon rescue me out of this world and lead me into a better life than I have had until now on earth, I thank Him especially for all His kindness and faithfulness which, from my mother’s womb until the present hour, He has shown me in body and soul and in all that He has given me. Besides this, I ask Him from the bottom of my heart that when my hour comes He would grant me a happy departure, take my soul into His fatherly hands, and give my body a peaceful rest in the ground until the dear Last Day, when I, with all of my [family] who have been before me and also may remain after me, will reawake and behold my dear Lord Jesus Christ face to face, in whom I have believed but have not yet seen. To my only son whom I am leaving behind I leave few earthly goods, but with them I leave him an honorable name of which he will not have to be ashamed.

My son knows that from his tender childhood I have given him to the Lord my God as His possession, that he is to become a servant and preacher of His holy Word. He is to remain now in this and not turn away from it, even if he has only few good days in it. For the good Lord knows how to handle it and how sufficiently to replace external troubles with internal happiness of the heart and joy of the spirit.

Study holy theologiam [“theology”] in pure schools and at unfalsified universities and beware of the syncretists [those who mix religions or confessions], for they seek what is temporal and are faithful to neither God nor men. In your common life do not follow evil company but rather the will and command of your God. Especially: (1) Do nothing evil in the hope that it will remain secret, for nothing is spun so small that it is not seen in the light of day. (2) Outside of your office and vocation do not become angry. If you notice that anger has heated you up, remain still and speak not so much as a word until you have first prayed the Ten Commandments and the Christian Creed silently. (3) Be ashamed of the lusts of the flesh, and when you one day come to the years in which you can marry, then marry with God and with the good advice of pious, faithful, and sensible people. (4) Do good to people even if they have nothing with which to repay you, for the Creator of heaven and earth has long since repaid what humans cannot repay: when He created you, when He gave you His beloved Son, and when He accepted you in Holy Baptism as His child and heir. (5) Flee from greed as from hell. Be satisfied with what you have earned with honor and a good conscience, even if it is not all too much. But if the good Lord gives you something more, ask Him to preserve you from the burdensome misuse of temporal goods.

In summary: Pray diligently, study something honorable, live peacefully, serve honestly, and remain unmoved in your faith and confessing. If you do this, you too will one day die and depart from this world willingly, joyfully, and blessedly. Amen.

[Translated by Benjamin T. G. Mayes, 5/4/2007]

In this humble servant and devoted and faithful pastor, God gave our Lutheran Zion a gifted poet and theologian. He wrote many hymns, and we are fortunate to have a number of them in English translation. Project Wittenberg offers a number of them on their web site.

I was not aware of this hymn before Lutheran Service Book [Hymn 421]. What a powerful hymn it is! Jesus Grant that Balm and Healing is even more meaningful when you get to know its author: Johann Heermann.  Here is what I found on Pastor Heermann from Pollack’s Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal (CPH: 1942, p. 520):

Johann Heermann (1585-1647) was born on October 11, 1585, son of Johannes Heermann, a furrier at Raudten, Silesia, and was the fifth and only surviving child of his parents. He passed through a severe illness in his childhood, during which his mother vowed that if he woudl recover, she would educate him for the ministry, even though she had to beg for the necessary money.

Read more…

I just received this from Pastor Mark Wangerin of Milwaukee. Many thanks Mark!

It is a German film on the life of Paul Gerhardt, but it is in English!

Note: This video is available in 1080 HD, and if you choose that resolution in which to view it, I recommend you let it load entirely, then hit play.

Shot with the iPhone 4S and processed with iMovie on a desktop Macintosh.

We Pray

Almighty God, the apostle Paul taught us to praise You in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We thank You this day for those who have given to Your Church great hymns, especially Your servants Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, and Paul Gerhardt. May Your Church never lack hymnwriters who through their words and music give You praise. Fill us with the desire to praise and thank You for Your great goodness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Philipp Nicolai (1556–1608) was a pastor in Germany during the Great Plague, which took the lives of 1,300 of his parishioners during a sixth-month period. In addition to his heroic pastoral ministry during that time of stress and sorrow, he wrote the texts for “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying” and “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright,” known, respectively, as the king and queen of the Lutheran chorales. Johann Heermann (1585–1647), also a German pastor, suffered from poor health as well as from the ravages of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). His hymn texts are noted for their tenderness and depth of feeling. Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676) was another Lutheran pastor who endured the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War. By 1668 he lost his pastoral position in Berlin (for refusing to compromise his Lutheran convictions), and endured the death of four of his five children and his wife. He nevertheless managed to write 133 hymns, all of which reflect his firm faith. Along with Martin Luther he is regarded as one of Lutheranism’s finest hymn writers.

Why is it that some pastors are so impatient with their church body, yet so patient with members of their own congregation? Here’s what I mean. I sometimes take a look at the parish statistics of some of those making the most strident demands for discipline in the Synod, and I notice that often the greater majority of the members in these pastors’ congregations are unfaithful in regular worship attendance. Apparently, therefore, these pastors are very patient in their dealings with the people in their congregation who are regularly sinning against the Third Commandment, and this has been the case for many years in their own congregation. Why then do they demand quick action from others in other situations beyond their congregation? It gives one furiously to think, no?

The situation reminds me of what Dr. Hermann Sasse said years ago. I think we forget this, to our detriment.

“The sect cannot wait, for it must have everything at once, for it has no future. The church can wait, for it does have a future. We Lutherans should think of that.” – Hermann Sasse

This is the book Pastor Harrison is talking about, by the way, and I happen to know where you can get a copy of the best English translation/edition ever produced of Law and Gospel. Click on the picture below to get a copy: