Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

In the liturgical churches within the western Christian tradition, we’re still only in the first week of Easter. I feel sad for folks in congregations that practice an Easter that is over and done as you head out the door to a tasty Easter brunch.

Easter, in the narrowest sense, is that Sunday Christians celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from death. But in the fuller sense Easter is a season that stretches from that holiest day up to the Day of Pentecost. Starting the count with Easter Sunday itself, that makes 7 Sundays in the Easter season. That’s a lot of “Hallelujahs” and a lot of “He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!”

And that’s the kind of Easter I grew up with. That’s the kind of Easter in which we sang the hymns I’ve been posting this week, and many others I’ve skipped over. They’re good hymns with biblical texts and strong spiritual theology, paired with stirring tunes. Singing these hymns year after year after year was a richly upbuilding experience. You might say I sang the truths into my heart. The truths, yes, but also the reassurances of forgiveness, the declarations of grace, the promises of my own resurrection.

Look back over this week’s posts if you dare and re-read the hymn texts. Let God’s love wash over you again. Know and feel the peace that passes all understanding. And allow yourself to continue your Easter celebration through the next 6 Sundays.

(We may talk later about how each and every Sunday is best viewed as a kind of ‘little Easter.’)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who one was dead;
He lives, my ever-living head.

He lives to silence all my fears;
He lives to wipe away all my tears;
He lives to calm my troubled heart;
He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind, wise, heav’nly friend;
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while He lives, I’ll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath;
He lives, and I shall conquer death;
He lives my mansion to prepare;
He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same;
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives;
I know that my Redeemer lives!

(“I Know That My Redeemer Lives” stanzas 1,5,6,7, and 8; a hymn text by Samuel Medley in the 18th century; hymn 461 in “Lutheran Service Book,” a 2006 hymnal from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

The day of resurrection!
Earth tell it out abroad,
The passover of gladness,
The passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
From sin’s dominion free,
Our Christ has brought us over
With hymns of victory.

Let hearts be purged of evil
That we might see aright
The Lord in rays eternal
Of resurrection light
And, list’ning to His accents,
May hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and hearing,
May raise the victor strain.

Now let the heav’ns be joyful,
Let earth its song begin,
Let all the world keep triumph
And all that is therein.
Let all things, seen and unseen,
Their notes of gladness blend;
For Christ the Lord has risen,
Our joy that has no end.

(“The Day of Resurrection” stanzas 1,2, and 3; a hymn text by John of Damascus in the 8th century, translated by John Mason Neale in the 19th century; hymn 478 in “Lutheran Service Book,” a 2006 hymnal from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

Awake, my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now, after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious Sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When to the realms of light
Our spirit wings its flight.

The foe in triumph shouted
When Christ lay in the tomb;
But, lo, he now is routed,
His boast has turned to gloom.
For Christ again is free;
In glorious victory
He who is strong to save
Has triumphed o’er the grave.

To halls of heavenly splendor
With Him I penetrate;
And trouble ne’er may hinder
Nor make me hesitate.
Let tempests rage at will,
My Savior shields me still;
He grants abiding peace
And bids all tumult cease.

He brings me to the portal
That leads to bliss untold,
Whereon this rime immortal
Is found in script of gold:
“Who there my cross hath shared
Finds here a crown prepared;
Who there with Me hath died
Shall here be glorified.”

(“Awake, My Heart, with Gladness” stanzas 1,2,7 and 8; a 17th century hymn text by the great Paul Gerhardt, translated by John Kelly in the mid 19th century; hymn 192 in “The Lutheran Hymnal,” a 1941 hymnal from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the Victor’s triumph won;
Now be the song of praise begun.
Alleluia!

Death’s mightiest powers have done their worst,
And Jesus hath His foes dispersed;
Let shouts of praise and joy outburst.
Alleluia!

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell.
Let songs of praise His triumph tell.
Alleluia!

(“The Strife is O’er, the Battle Done” stanzas 1,2, and 4; a 17th century anonymous hymn text translated by Francis Pott in the mid 19th century; hymn 210 in “The Lutheran Hymnal,” a 1941 hymnal from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand he stands
And brings us life from Heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

(“Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands” stanza 1; a 16th century hymn text by Martin Luther translated by Richard Massie in the 19th century; hymn 134 in “Lutheran Book of Worship,” a 1978 hymnal from Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, and the Board of Publication, Lutheran Church in America, Philadelphia)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter

Easter triumph, Easter joy!
This alone can sin destroy;
From sin’s pow’r, Lord, set us free,
Newborn souls in you to be.
Alleluia!

(“At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” stanza 7; a 17th century text translated by Robert Campbell in the 19th century; hymn 126 in “Lutheran Worship,” a 1982 hymnal from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO)

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a couple collects for today

Merciful and everlasting God, who hast not spared Thine only Son, but delivered Him up for us all that he might bear our sins upon the cross, grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. (from The Lutheran Hymnal. St Louis: Concordia, 1941)

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so may we await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life, who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (from The Book of Common Prayer. New York: Seabury Press, 1979)

All powerful and ever-living God, your only Son went down among the dead and rose again in glory. In your goodness raise up your faithful people, buried with him in baptism, to be one with him in the eternal life of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (from The Liturgy of the Hours, volume II. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1976)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

faith on Good Friday

Note:
One of the mysteries of the Good Friday events is the apparent split among Jesus’s followers. Of the inner circle who had been following him, only his mother and John were present at the foot of the cross to witness his death, according to the Gospels. But Luke 23:49 also notes that “all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.” That makes it sound like the rest of the disciples were there, but back a ways; although I don’t believe Luke elsewhere uses the word acquaintances to describe the Twelve. Were the acquaintances people like Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, and others whose names we never learn? Others weren’t present at all, probably for a variety of reasons.

Faith is a funny thing. On the first Good Friday the faithful were overcome with shock and mostly silent. After Pentecost the disciples were as bold as you you ask for. At the cross one of the thieves came to the faith; and a centurion, for goodness sake, apparently also comes to faith witnessing the way Jesus died. In the afternoon faith moves Joseph of Arimathea to go on record asking for the dead body to be released to his custody. How many other witnesses to these events also secretly came to faith that day?

I’m not exactly sure what Luther was getting at here by saying that faith can be granted in secret. Is it that we can’t always tell who has faith? Or that sometimes people who are not public members of the Church are in reality members of Christ? Is he speaking of ‘anonymous Christians’? Certainly, faith is not always practiced openly, but what he’s getting at here seems different. And today, at least, I’m connecting it with the eyewitnesses of the crucifixion, some of whom became secret believers that day.

Quote:
“What we said about suffering also applies here, namely, that sometimes faith is granted openly, sometimes in secret.”  (page 13)

Source: Luther, Martin. “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

false confidence

Note:
Luther says that relying on external acts to gain forgiveness of sins is a false confidence. He isn’t saying that good works are bad or should be avoided. It’s the misplaced confidence and the belittling of Christ’s work that makes our works something to be disdained. Absent that attitude, the good works and penance would be welcomed.

Here at the climax of Holy Week especially, we dare not belittle Christ’s work on our behalves.

Quote:
“Beware, lest you do as those perverse people who torture their hearts with their sins and strive to do the impossible, namely, get rid of their sins by running from one good work or penance to another, or by working their way out of this by means of indulgences. Unfortunately such false confidence in penance and pilgrimages is widespread.”  (page 12)

Source: Luther, Martin. “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.