Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord

LSB 497

study by Charles Gustafson

Introduction

Billy Graham once said, “Many people have come to Christ as a result of my participation in presenting the Gospel to them. It’s all the work of the Holy Spirit” (azquotes.com/quotes/topics/holy-spirit.html). Conversion is one work of the Holy Spirit, and perhaps it is the work of the Holy Spirit. But there is so much more the Spirit accomplishes within the Church and the world.

❚ Can you list some of the things the Holy Spirit accomplishes in and through the Church?
❚ Have any of the items you have listed happened to you? Do you recall when they did?

Exploring the Scriptures

Pentecost is a day where all eyes are focused on the work of the Holy Spirit and on the bestowing of the Spirit upon the followers of Christ Jesus. The Old Testament Lesson appointed for the day shows humans aiming at a unity not given by God. It seems, to prevent a false unity from distracting from the true one He aims Himself to give, God disperses them over the face of the earth. Yet in time, God sends the Spirit to change the human situation.

Read Gen. 11:1–9; Acts 2:1–21; and John 14:23–31.

❚ In what way can the Pentecost experience in the Acts of the Apostles be a reversal of the Tower of Babel experience?
❚ What did the Holy Spirit cause the apostles to do, and what did the Holy Spirit bring about through this in their hearers?
❚ What is the central miracle, or powerful working of God, at Pentecost? Where does it continue? See Mark 16:15–16 and Rom. 1:16.
❚ How does the Spirit work to unify the people of the world in Christ? See Eph. 4:1–16. St. John writes that when the Holy Spirit was poured out, He would teach all things and bring to the remembrance of the disciples all that Jesus had taught them.
❚ What role did the Holy Spirit play in the disciples’ telling of the life of Jesus and His words as they went to fulfill the Great Commission?
❚ What are some of the things (events, people, emotions, etc.) the Spirit helped the disciples to remember?

Exploring the Hymn

Background

The hymn “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord” was originally a Latin chant from the 11th century used at the Vespers of the Vigil of Pentecost. Martin Luther was familiar with a German version of it and was so moved by its content and tune that he remarked that the hymn must have been written by the Spirit Himself. Luther added two stanzas to the one of the chant, the total of which made for a core hymn of the Reformation.
As part of his reformation work, Luther wrote the Small Catechism to assist in the Christian education of children through the family itself. According to the meaning given in the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, Luther states, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him” (LSB, p. 323).

❚ Why is such a statement important for us to acknowledge?
❚ What does this statement tell us about our own free will and our personal ability to know Jesus Christ or believe in Him?
❚ Is this lack of knowing on our part any different from the disciples’ lack of remembering Christ, His teachings and the meaning of the same? Why or why not?

Yet Luther continues, “But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. “In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”

❚ Where and when does the Holy Spirit work in such a manner today? How do we know this is true, even before we see any “results”?

❚ How does He do this, and what are some of the evidences of this truth in our world today?
❚ Is the care of the poor and needy by church members and agencies evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit? Is your attendance at worship? Your teaching in Sunday school? Your praying with your family?

Text

The Holy Spirit is confessed as the third person of the Holy Trinity.

❚How does the first verse of the hymn establish this fact? What does it mean that the Spirit is God? That He is Lord?

As God and Lord, the Spirit has authority and power. He uses this power, freely employing “graces” with purpose in mind.

❚ What, according to the first verse, are the purposes for bestowing grace?

Stanza 2 picks up on an image already cast in stanza 1. The Holy Spirit is called “holy Light.” St. John in his Gospel reminds us, as does Isaiah the prophet, that our world is a place of darkness.

❚ How does this stanza describe the Spirit as one whose work is to shine through the darkness? What does it mean that the Spirit teaches us to know our God aright? (Note the way we are to address Him.)
❚ What errors might the Spirit’s light point out in us or make us aware of?

The Holy Spirit illuminates not only the person of Jesus as “master,” but the way one is to abide in Him as such.

❚ What things from God’s Word has His light pointed out to you that you may abide?

As noted, Luther states that the Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth.

❚ As you consider stanza 3, how might this truth bring you “comfort true”?
❚ Is it any relief to you to know that your faith, and its expression, is not a work dependent upon your will, but upon the gracious expression of God’s burning fire (“holy Fire”) within you?

Luther writes that the Holy Spirit sanctifies the whole Christian Church and keeps it in the one true faith.

❚ What does “sanctify” mean to you in the context of Luther’s meaning?
❚ What is the “service” in stanza 3 we are “to abide” in as individuals and as a corporate body?

Abiding in the Spirit’s service can be complicated by daily trials that confront us and by our own inabilities and weaknesses.

❚ Can you recognize your trials and weaknesses and list them?
❚ How has the Spirit prepared you to confront them and overcome them?

Making the Connection

This Lutheran hymn seems to be a three-stanza prayer. It is a prayer inviting the Holy Spirit, as God and Lord, to come and fulfill His role as sanctifier.

❚ Have you ever asked the Spirit to come and help you for some reason? How is that request the work of sanctification?
❚ How are the events of Baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination and burial times to invoke the Holy Spirit? Why?
❚ Do you think that the Holy Spirit’s gifts to you and His power working through you are means and ways to show the unity of the Church? If so, how is this work an answer to Jesus’ prayer of John 17:21 “that they may all be one”?

In Closing

In a sermon given on Pentecost, Luther states that “the two names, ‘Comforter’ and ‘Spirit of Truth,’ are very affectionate and consoling names” (godrules.net/library/luther/129luther_c20.htm).

❚ Create a list of other descriptive images or names for the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures or of your own making.
❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 497.

Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, You fulfilled Your promise by sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to unite disciples of all nations in the cross and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the Gospel spread this gift to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen (Collect for Pentecost Tuesday).

Christ Is the World’s Redeemer

LSB 539

study by Christopher I. Thoma

Introduction

In the Christian Church, using the word “Redeemer” is as common as breathing. It happens a lot. Its usage comes quite naturally and often goes on around us without an examination of the life-sustaining details. The process of inhaling and exhaling is actually very precise and purposeful. Breathing provides for cellular respiration. It takes in the beneficial gas oxygen and expels the toxic gas carbon dioxide, all the while utilizing the nose, the bronchioles, the lungs, the diaphragm, the alveoli and the like. There really is quite a lot happening when we breathe. In the same way, there is a lot packed into the word “Redeemer,” and the hymn before us offers the opportunity for us to hear and learn the wonderful details, giving us a memorable image of just what it means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Redeemer of the world. This builds confidence that indeed full redemption has been won!

❚ What does it mean to “redeem” something?
❚ What kinds of things are redeemed, and why?
❚ The title of the hymn relates that the world has been redeemed. When the Lord redeemed the world, how much of it did He redeem, and from what did He redeem it?

Exploring the Scriptures

The Gospel Readings appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter in the Three-Year Lectionary are taken from John 17:1–26. In each of its parts, this text reveals the words of Jesus in prayer and the purity of assurance He has in the unfolding of the Father’s will for redemption. 

In the One-Year Lectionary, the Gospel Reading is John 15:26—16:4. This reading carries the Lord’s words to the disciples on the night He was betrayed. Here it is that the Lord prepares them for the approaching struggles and calls for them to
look to Him.

❚ The Time of Easter is that glorious time when the Church looks back upon the Lenten battle and is refreshed to know the certainty of salvation as seen and proven in the victory of the empty tomb and Christ’s ascension. Why is this hymn appropriate for the Season of Easter?
❚ Why is this hymn appointed for Easter 7, the Sunday immediately following Ascension Day, and not Easter 2 or 3?

Exploring the Hymn

Background

St. Columba (521–97), the author of this ancient hymn, is known in history as a man born of Irish royalty who later became a monk with a great passion for mission work. He established several monasteries throughout Ireland and Scotland as well as a school for missionary training on the Isle of Iona, Scotland. He is remembered for truly practicing what he preached by evangelizing within each of the Druid communities with which he came into contact.

The hymn itself, in tune and text, bears witness to the confidence and eagerness St. Columba had for spreading the good news of the Redeemer to the people around him. He was not fearful of rejection, but certain of the Lord’s once-and-for-all Gospel work to save the world. St. Columba uses colorful language to thoroughly describe the very real battleground of sin and death and the mighty dominion of Christ by His life, death and resurrection for sinful man.

❚ What is the tenor of the portrait painted by St. Columba in the hymn? Are the words carried by a tune that is somber? Joyful? Triumphant? Majestic?
❚ Scan the full text of the hymn. How do his choices of imagery reveal his familiarity with royalty? Persecution? Life-and-death issues of the day?

Text

It is easy to see that this hymn is written in a way that emphasizes the Redeemer as the one who must do battle to win back what is His. The price will be costly and the warfare great. The reader is carried along by this theme and prepared to see the details of the battle unfold in the Passion of Jesus, a passion which must include the shedding of His precious blood.

❚ Consider Is. 13:11 and John 15:18. How does God feel about the sinful world? How does the sinful world feel about God?

Stanza 1 marches into the field by speaking of purity, font, trust, hope, security, armor, soldiers, earth, sky, health, life and death. Consider each of these individually. 

Read Phil. 2:5–11; Acts 2:21–36; and Rom. 8:28–39.

❚ How is Christ connected to each in the hymn?
❚ Christ is called the “lover of the pure.” Read 1 John 1:7; 3:1–3; and Heb. 9:11–15. How does the word “pure” draw your attention to Holy Baptism?
❚ Read Rom. 6:3–11. What is happening in Holy Baptism, and how is it connected to Christ’s redemptive work?

Stanza 2 builds upon the foundation of stanza 1, directing the reader’s attention to the decisive moment in the battle, Christ’s lifting up on the cross, which secured the victory.

❚ Read Heb. 12:1–3 and Rev. 7:9–17. To whom is stanza 2 referring, and what is their role in the battle? In these texts, how are we brought back to Baptism?
❚ Of what event do the words “Who wave their palms in triumph” remind you? Where was that event leading?
❚ Read Heb. 12:18, 22–24. It is said that heaven and earth come together in the Divine Service. What are the implications of this? Where and in what context is this theology mentioned specifically in the Divine Service?

As stanza 3 unfolds, Christ’s redemptive actions on our behalf continue. Read 1 Peter 3:18–22.

❚ “Down through the realm of darkness / He strode in victory” is a poetic retelling of 1 Peter 3:19. What is the hymn’s confident interpretation of Christ’s reason for descending into hell?
❚ Almost immediately, the hymn turns to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. How are these connected to Baptism?

It may be surmised that this hymn is a lyrical summary of the redemption earned by Christ and articulated clearly by the three ecumenical creeds. (See the Second Article of the Creed and its meaning [LSB, p. 322]). Therefore, like the creeds, which are confessions of and in the name of the Triune God, this hymn rightly concludes with “Amen.”

❚ See the Conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer in Luther’s Small Catechism (LSB, p. 325). Why is it good to end the hymn with the word “Amen”?
❚ In your opinion, does the word “Amen” serve to build reverent timidity or holy confidence?

Making the Connection

This hymn is one of confident faith in the face of this world’s struggles. St. Columba, being the missionary that he was, most likely found himself in situations that brought about doubt and fear. Consider your own life and its difficulties and troubles. How might the following lines serve to stir the confidence of faith in Christ for you when the hour is dark?

❚ “The font of heav’nly wisdom, / Our trust and hope secure” (st. 1).
❚ “The armor of His soldiers” (st. 1).
❚ “Our health while we are living, / Our life when we shall die” (st. 1).
❚ “Christ has our host surrounded / With clouds of martyrs bright, / Who wave their palms in triumph / And fire us for the fight” (st. 2).

In Closing

Just as breathing is composed of many intricate particulars, so also does Jesus Christ accomplish all that is required of Him as the Redeemer, in order that we might be His redeemed people. His life, death and resurrection are the currency in the redeeming act. As the Redeemer, He buys us back, pays the ransom, purchases us from sin, death and the power of the devil. By the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Redeemer, we are strengthened to live our lives in this world. And we have the confidence to know that whether we live or whether we die, we are His. He loves us and proved it.

❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 539.

Prayer
O King of glory, Lord of hosts, uplifted in triumph far above all heavens, leave us not without consolation but send us the Spirit of truth whom You promised from the Father; for You live and reign with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen (Collect for the Seventh Sunday of Easter).

Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels

LSB 491

study by Allen D. Lunneberg

Introduction

For 40 days after His resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples. Then came the day of His ascension, when He would no longer be appearing and disappearing as He had. The disciples gradually learned that He was with them whether they could see Him or not. It is possibly because the Ascension of Our Lord, the 40th day of Easter, always falls on a Thursday that, though this is a major festival, it has become more poorly attended through the years, if celebrated at all. Consider the number of Ascension hymns in our hymnals over past years:

• The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), 12 hymns;
• Service Book and Hymnal (1958), seven hymns;
• Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), four hymns;
• Lutheran Worship (1982), six hymns; and
• Lutheran Service Book (2006), five hymns.

Still, the Ascension of Our Lord marks a major step forward in God’s plan of salvation and, as such, needs to be preached, heard, believed and celebrated.

❚ Does your congregation celebrate this festival of Ascension Thursday? How is attendance compared to Sunday?
❚ How is the ascension a major step in God’s plan of salvation?

Exploring the Scriptures

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples at least the 11 times we have recorded in the New Testament. Compare His appearance to the disciples at Emmaus (Luke 24:13–32) and His final appearance at His ascension (Acts
1:3–9).

❚ How did Jesus leave the disciples at Emmaus?
❚ How was His departure at the ascension different?

On the Thursday of Holy Week in the Upper Room, Jesus prepared His disciples for their future ministry and summarized
His entire mission.

❚ Which words in John 16:28 speak of Jesus’ identity? His incarnation and birth? His ascension?
❚ Why is Jesus’ ascension necessary, according to John 16:5–7?

There are two accounts of the ascension, both recorded by St. Luke: once at the end of his Gospel (Luke 24:44–53) and then in Acts 1:3–9. Read both accounts.

❚ What does Jesus say His disciples will be doing in the future, according to Luke 24:47?
❚ In Luke 24:48 and Acts 1:8, what word does Jesus use that describes the difference between an “apostle” and a “disciple”? According to Rom. 10:9, what is a more accurate word to describe what a disciple does? What did the ascension of Jesus look like from heaven?

Read Rev. 12:7–10. Consider the following commentary by Dr. Louis A. Brighton:

As a result of Christ’s victory on the cross and his public vindication over the dragon at his ascension and exaltation, there was no longer any room in heaven for the accuser. The dragon had to be thrown out of heaven, for Christ’s vicarious atonement and justification of the saints made Satan’s accusations false … Once Christ was elevated and enthroned, the slanderer was held in contempt of God’s court and “was thrown out” (12:9), never again to appear before God’s heavenly presence…. When did this war, this expulsion of the dragon and his evil host, take place? According to 12:5, it happened when the “Child was snatched up to God and to his throne,” that is, at the ascension of Christ.

Apparently before Christ’s victory and ascension, the devil could at will stand before God and bring accusations against God’s saints…. But at Christ’s enthronement at the right of God, Satan was forever banished from God’s presence and his place in the heavenly court was taken from him…. This war in heaven in Rev 12:7 is not the original rebellion of the devil against God, which took place before the fall of Adam and the woman (Gen 3:1). The war and expulsion described in Revelation 12 happened as a result of Christ’s victory and elevation.
(Revelation [CPH, 1999], 335–6)

Exploring the Hymn

Background

Jaroslav J. Vajda (Vai-dah) (1919–2008) is the author of six hymns and translator of four more in LSB. This ascension text was commissioned by Augsburg Publishing House in 1973. He said he had attempted to gather the implications of our Lord’s ascension to His followers, both those who originally witnessed the event and all since then who await His promised return. Those “implications” include the completion of Jesus’ work of redemption, the new confidence of His joyous disciples, Christ’s eternal intercession for us before the Father, His comfort and direction of believers as we await His return, and the faithful longing for our final deliverance in the resurrection. In our exploration of the Scriptures, we have noted, of course, even more “implications.”

❚ List some of what you think are implications of Jesus’ ascension, what it means or how it affects your faith and life.

Text

Originally, the author was requested to change the first word of the hymn from “up” to “there,” in order “to avoid the three-tiered universe imagery,” meaning the earth lying between heaven (up) and hell (down). This request appears to be of the spirit of the times, when science, philosophy and the historical-critical method of Bible interpretation questioned nearly everything in the Bible. Nevertheless, the Bible uses such imagery.

❚ What words are used in the following passages to describe earth, heaven and hell: Ps. 139:8; Gen. 15:5; Luke 24:51; and Acts 1:9?
❚ We know of archangels, cherubim and seraphim. How does Col. 1:16 describe the “endless ranks of angels”?
The words of stanza 2 look to Jesus as our intercessor and advocate as a result of His victorious earthly ministry.
❚ How and for whom does Jesus intercede before the Father? See 1 John 2:1; Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:14–16; and 7:25.

Stanza 3 is a prayer for guidance by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–18; 16:13) through the Word of God (Matt. 28:20) and comfort in our trials until Christ returns to receive us to Himself (John 14:3).

❚ How is your life one of “wanton wandering”?
❚ In what ways does God guide and comfort us?

By the little triangle symbol, LSB suggests standing for stanza 4 as the three persons of the Holy Trinity are mentioned. While Trinitarian in form, however, the final stanza is more a confession of faith and expression of longing than it is a doxology or praise. It is the “eschatological” (last things) longing to finally arrive and be in the very physical presence of God.

❚ Which three words in this stanza describe the real, physical qualities of the day of our resurrection?
❚ To “breathe the Spirit’s grace” recalls what detail from our creation in Gen. 2:7?
❚ To “see the Father’s face” will reverse what former law, according to Ex. 33:20?
❚ To “feel the Son’s embrace” will be possible because of what reality? See Luke 1:31 and Luke 24:40–43.

Making the Connection

This hymn does more than just tell the story of Jesus’ ascension. It describes the benefits and the hope available because Jesus is now living and reigning at the right hand of God.

❚ How helpful is this hymn and the celebration of the ascension on the 40th day of Easter to the individual Christian?

In Closing

❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 491.

Prayer

Almighty God, as Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens, so may we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Rogate

Our Father, Who from Heaven Above

LSB 766

Introduction

Dad walks into the house at the end of the day. His daughter runs across the room, jumps into her father’s lap and exclaims, “Daddy, Daddy, listen to what happened to me today! Oh, but first would you help me, Daddy, ’cause I can’t ride my bike by myself. I need you. And Daddy, I heard that a bad man attacked a little girl yesterday, so I’m scared. But I’m not scared when you’re with me. Thank you for being here for me.”

From the Small Catechism, read the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer and its meaning (LSB, p. 323).

❚ How does the story above help you understand what prayer is? In what ways might the story be inadequate to explain fully the privilege of prayer?
❚ What is your earliest memory of praying the Lord’s Prayer? Who taught you to pray it?

Exploring the Scriptures

Read Luke 11:1–4.

❚ What request do the disciples make that leads Jesus to teach them — and us — the Lord’s Prayer?
❚ What differences are there between the words here and the words of the Lord’s Prayer that you learned? Are any of the differences significant?

Now read Luke 11:5–11.

Jesus’ story isn’t teaching us to pester God until He gives us what we want. Instead, His point is that if an ordinary man will give even to an “impudent” begging neighbor, how much more is our loving Father willing to give to us, His dear children, everything that we need. So, ask away!

❚ How might the promise in verses 9–10 affect how you pray?

Read Luke 11:11–13.

❚ Do even not-so-wise parents try to do what is bad for their children? Then what does Jesus’ story teach us?
❚ What does Jesus call us in verse 13? Why? For what might that truth lead you to pray?
❚ Our Father not only wants what is best for His children, but, unlike the rest of us parents, He also knows what is best for His children and always does what is best for us. How might that certainty affect the way you pray?
❚ Why might Jesus particularly teach us to ask God for the Holy Spirit in verse 13? 

The catechism’s explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed (LSB, p. 323) may provide some hints.

Exploring the Hymn

Background

Martin Luther (1483–1546) wrote “Our Father, Who from Heaven Above” to help us understand the Lord’s Prayer. He also wrote hymns to teach other parts of the catechism: the Commandments (LSB 581), the Creed (LSB 954), Baptism (LSB 406) and the Sacrament of the Altar (LSB 617).

Stanzas 2–8 of “Our Father” each explain the meaning of a different petition of the Lord’s Prayer. So, singing this hymn is like singing the catechism! Luther and the reformers often used hymns to help plant the truths of Scripture into the hearts of the people.

❚ Educators say that we retain information that we sing better than information we speak. Why do you think that might be? How do you think that should affect the way we teach young Christians?

❚ Most of us agree that it is important for sermons to be doctrinally pure. Since we retain what we hear sung longer than we retain what we hear spoken, is it even more important for what we sing in worship — and for what our children sing in Sunday school — to teach nothing but the truth? Explain your answer.

Text
In your LSB, place ribbons at page 323 (the Lord’s Prayer section of the catechism) and hymn 766, so that you can turn back and forth. Then read the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer and stanza 1 of the hymn. Notice that the catechism
emphasizes that God is our Father, while the hymn emphasizes that He is our Father, that is, it focuses on our unity as one family.

❚ In what ways are each of those emphases important?

❚ How might each of those emphases influence your prayers?

Read Rom. 8:14–17. It says the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are God’s children and heirs.

❚ How does your Baptism make it possible for you to call God “Abba,” that is, “Daddy”? What does He give you as an inheritance?
❚ How might understanding God as “Daddy” alter the way we pray?

Now read the meaning of the First and Second Petitions and stanzas 2–3 of the hymn.

❚ Can we make God’s name holy? What are some ways you can treat His name as holy?
❚ What connection is there between the First Petition and the Second Commandment (LSB, p. 321)?
❚ What is God’s kingdom?
❚ How are you made a citizen of God’s kingdom? Look at Luke 12:32 and Rom. 10:17.
❚ What is God’s will for you and all people? See 1 Tim. 2:3–6. How does God accomplish His will in our lives?

Read stanza 5 and the Fourth Petition, where Jesus teaches us to ask God to supply our earthly needs.

❚ Look at everything the catechism and hymn call “daily bread.” How might you be prevented from eating a slice of bread if God didn’t provide all those gifts? Consider everything necessary to permit a farmer’s grain of wheat to grow and then be harvested, milled, processed, baked, distributed and bought so that you can eat that bread.
❚ In what ways can you express your thanks to God for supplying your daily bread?

Now read stanzas 6–7 and the Fifth and Sixth Petitions.

❚ What would happen to our prayers if Christ had not given His life for the forgiveness of our sins?
❚ What does the Fifth Petition teach us to do when it is difficult for us to forgive someone?
❚ Why do we need to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”? What are we asking God to do?
❚ How does our Lord rescue us when we are tempted? (For examples, see 1 Cor. 10:13 and Eph. 6:13–20.)

Read the Seventh Petition and stanza 8 of the hymn.

❚ In what way can this petition be called a summary of the entire Lord’s Prayer?
❚ Why might Luther teach us that “a blessed end” is the ultimate way God delivers us from evil? How does 2 Tim. 4:18, which was probably written by Paul from the equivalent of death row, assure you as you pray and as you live?

Finally, read stanza 9 and the Conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer.

❚ What does “amen” mean?
❚ How are Jesus’ death and resurrection essential for you to be able to say “amen” with confidence?
❚ How can you be sure that your prayers are pleasing to God and that He will answer them?

Making the Connection

The Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer, that is, Jesus uses it to teach us to pray (Luke 11:1–4). So, for each petition of the Lord’s Prayer, write at least three things for which the petition prompts you to pray. For instance, “Our Father” might cause you to thank God for your Baptism, “Thy kingdom come” could lead you to ask that God protect missionaries as they speak Christ’s kingdom-expanding Gospel, and “lead us not into temptation” might prompt you to ask for help with a specific temptation in your life.

In Closing

❚ Look back at the story of the father and daughter at the beginning of this study. In order to better teach what prayer is, how might you change the story? How could the story better show how important Jesus’ death and resurrection are to your prayers?
❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 766.

Prayer
O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Cantate

Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice

LSB 556

Introduction

How does it feel listening to someone talk about himself or herself? Yeah, I know. It can get old fast. Somebody else’s vacation pictures. Details of his surgery. Even personal testimony of what Jesus has done in her life. Borrrrrrring! Or worse. Believe me — I know! I remember once when I had to listen to…
On the other hand, there are times when “I” and “me” and “my” are anything but dull — and not at all self-centered. What makes the difference? Let’s talk about that (yes, let us talk about that) as we study Martin Luther’s “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice.”

❚ What is it about another person’s personal story that may become tiresome for us?
❚ Can you think of examples of other peoples’ first-person accounts that you found quite engaging?

Exploring the Scriptures

The Season of Easter carries us from the joy of the resurrection morn, through those 40 days Jesus showed Himself alive to His disciples, toward the Ascension of Our Lord, and finally to Pentecost. Thus, the last couple of Sundays before Ascension Day develop two major motifs, both of which show up in our Hymn of the Day.

First, as we near Jesus’ visible departure to heaven, it’s a moment to look back on the events of our salvation He has now nearly completed. Psalm 66 invites us to hear about these great events. 

Read Ps. 66:16.

❚ One problem: Do we really want to hear the psalmist talk about what God has done for his soul?
❚ What do you hope the psalmist really means? Now read Psalm 67. Notice especially verse 3.
❚ What could cause “all the peoples,” rather than just the psalmist, to praise God?
❚ Any hints you see in the psalm of what God has done for everyone?

Read Ps. 98:1–3.

❚ Think of the events of Jesus’ time on earth. What are some of the “marvelous things” the psalmist might have foreseen Jesus doing? For whom did the psalmist see Him doing these?

The second major motif for these late Sundays of Easter is preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel
Readings for these Sundays all come from Jesus’ last discourse to the disciples before His arrest.

Read John 14:15–21; 15:9–17; 16:5–15; and 16:23–33.

❚ What activities of the Holy Spirit does Jesus promise?
❚ What special names does Jesus use for the Holy Spirit? If your group has different translations, compare how they render one of these names (14:16; 16:7). How does each different rendering express a unique blessing He brings? How precious will these blessings be in light of 16:32–33?

Now look again more closely at 16:13–15.

❚ What particular activity of the Spirit is described here? Does the Holy Spirit talk about Himself? About whom does He speak? 

See also John 15:26.

❚ What sorts of things does the Spirit say about Jesus? Consider, for example, John 15:13. How does He speak about Jesus today?

Exploring the Hymn

Background
“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” was probably the first hymn Luther wrote specifically for singing by a congregation
in worship.

❚ What makes a truly congregational hymn, one to be sung together by dozens or hundreds of worshipers? Should a congregational hymn be one person talking about himself? Why not?
❚ The original title of “Dear Christians” was “A Christian hymn of Dr. Martin Luther, setting forth the unspeakable grace of God and the true faith.” Does that sound congregational? Why or why not?

Text
The congregational character of this hymn is immediately evident in stanza 1. Read it, and remember the psalms you studied a few minutes ago.

❚ How, apparently, will the hymn summon up the call of Ps. 67:3?
❚ here do you see Ps. 98:1 paraphrased?

OK, but what about Ps. 66:16? Well, perhaps surprisingly, this hymn is all about what God has done for “my soul.” Read stanzas 2–3.

❚ How many uses of “I” and “me” and “my” can you count? Pool your knowledge of the life of Luther to discuss how well these stanzas fit his story.
❚ So, is this hymn all about Luther? If so, singing it could mean our congregations are idolizing him.
❚ Who else fits this description? Read Rom. 3:9–20. Read, too, something Luther wrote in the Small Catechism: “Which are these [sins we should confess]?” (LSB, p. 326). Whoever we are, whatever our station in life, we are this one sinner Luther describes!
❚ Is this what makes a first-person account compelling — that it in fact applies to every individual?
What, then, has God done for my soul — for every soul? Read stanza 4.
❚ Imagine that! God had me in mind even before He created the world! See 2 Tim. 1:9. We can all say that!
❚ How precious am I to Him? What did He give for me?

Everything God has done for me is now laid out in stanzas 5–9. Read through the familiar story — but notice the very personal way it’s told.

❚ Where do you see each of these passages reflected in the stanzas: 2 Tim. 1:10; Gal. 4:4–5; Phil. 2:5–8; Ps. 46:1, 7, 11; John 15:13; 17:6, 10, 21; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:24–28?
❚ Which words in these stanzas are especially sweet to you? Consider “compassion”; “my brother”; “A servant’s form, like mine”; “To lead the devil captive”; “close to Me”; “rock and castle”; “Your ransom I Myself will be”; “For I am yours, and you are Mine”; “The foe shall not divide us”; “for your good”; “My innocence shall bear your sin.” What others are special to you?
❚ Is this first-person story self-centered?

And now, like these Sundays of the Church Year, we reach the end of Christ’s story. Or do we? Read stanzas 9–10.

❚ Which of those functions of the Holy Spirit does the hymn recall? Remember John 16:13–14, 33. Of whom, again, does the Spirit speak?
❚ How does the Spirit see to it that Christ’s story continues? For whom is His personal story now?

Making the Connection

So, Luther’s story is our story. More important, Christ’s story is our story.

❚ No need to talk about yourself out loud right now, but take a moment to talk to God silently about who you are and what you’ve done under the Ten Commandments, as Luther reminded in stanzas 2–3.
❚ Then — and this you surely will want to do aloud together — talk about why all of us dear Christians can rejoice at hearing Christ tell again what He has done for us. As you discuss, consider silently what it means that the sins known only to you and God have been forgiven by Christ.

In Closing

Hearing someone else talk about himself can indeed be thrilling if his story is one in which we also see ourselves. A hymn is properly congregational if it vocalizes the experience of all the worshipers. Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice! And rejoice to sing! Because what Christ has done personally, individually, for Luther, He has done personally, individually, for you!

❚ Sing or read aloud together all 10 stanzas of LSB 556 — with joy!

Prayer
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, because of Your tender love toward us sinners You have given us Your Son that, believing in Him, we might have everlasting life. Continue to grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may remain steadfast in this faith to the end and finally come to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen (For steadfast faith, LSB, p. 311).

Jubilate

With High Delight Let Us Unite

LSB 483

Introduction
One of the characteristics of good hymnody is the rich use of imagery. In today’s hymn, we have jarring and powerful phrases to describe the most jarring and powerful truth of Christianity: Jesus Christ, the true Son of God in human flesh, died to kill death and rose to bestow eternal life. Pick out some of the most compelling phrases of this hymn. Guess when this text was written.

❚ Were you surprised?
❚ Did you expect such stirring phrases in an old hymn?
❚ This hymn was translated from the German by a hymn writer known for his own poetic skill. Does this surprise you, or does it seem appropriate?

Exploring the Scriptures
Writing to the Corinthian church, St. Paul insists that the whole faith rests upon the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is hardly hyperbole. The prophets spoke in promise of the day God would reign over all His enemies.

Read over Is. 52:7–10.

❚ What is the cause of the great joy?
❚ See how the prophet ties together the comfort of the Lord, His redemption of Jerusalem, how He has laid bare His holy arm and revealed His salvation to all the ends of the earth. How does Jesus’ resurrection do all of this?

St. Paul contends that Christ died, was buried, was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and showed Himself to more than 500 witnesses. First Corinthians 15:20–23 insists that our hope is inseparably tied to the fact of Christ’s resurrection.

❚ If Christ is not raised, what is left? (See vv. 17–18.)
❚ If Christ is raised, what has not changed? (See vv. 22 and 26.)
❚ In contrast to the way some speak of a friendly or natural death, St. Paul insists death is the final enemy that must be overcome. Has the way many have come to speak of death reduced the importance and the joy of Christ’s resurrection and our own joyful resurrection in Him?

Hebrews 2:14–15 insists that Christ became incarnate so that through death He might destroy the power of death. “His death has been death’s undoing” (st. 2). This is the Gospel. This is what we proclaim to a world still captive to sin and its death.

❚ We sing it in the Alleluia and Verse of Divine Service, Setting One (LSB, p. 156): “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” How does this characterize the message we tell the world?
❚ Is there any joy or consolation that does not come from Christ’s death to end death and His life that bestows everlasting life?

Exploring the Hymn
Background
Georg Vetter (1536–99) was a priest of the Unity of Brethren who composed this hymn sometime in the mid-1500s. It first appeared in a hymnal of the Bohemian Brethren in 1566. It was forgotten until Martin Franzmann (1907–76) translated it and it appeared in Worship Supplement 1969. Originally 13 stanzas, we have the first two and the final stanza. This is an exuberant example of a well-written hymn translated to preserve the vitality and richness of its original text. Even without the missing 10 stanzas, the hymn compels God’s people to witness in song the Christ who set us free, subduing all our enemies and bestowing upon us His victory over death and the grave.

❚ Read through the text as we have it and imagine the missing stanzas. What other themes might you have included in a hymn of praise to the risen and ascended Christ?
❚ How difficult is the job of the translator to preserve the poetic structure of the text, the rhyme scheme of the hymn and the richness of imagery?

Text
Notice how in stanza 1 the hymn not only says what we should sing, but how: “With high delight.” Also in stanza 1, the singers are described as “Ye pure in heart.”

❚ Who are the pure in heart? How are we made pure in heart? Read Ps. 51:10–12. What is the duty of the pure in heart? Read Ps. 51:13.
❚ Note the economy of words employed by the text. In but a few words, “Is ris’n and sends / To all earth’s ends,” the hymn encompasses the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18–20 and Mark 16:15. What is the “Good news to save ev’ry nation”?

The second stanza reads like the Creed. We sing of Jesus as “True God.” How does the resurrection of Jesus connect to His claims to be God incarnate? The stanza is brimming with words that jump right off the page. Christ “burst” from death, subduing all things, leaving the tattered remains of death behind.

❚ What does it mean that “His death has been death’s undoing”?
❚ Notice the quotation marks around “And yours shall be / Like victory / O’er death and grave.” The hymn makes Jesus’ resurrection the prototype of our own. How does this make Easter also about us?
❚ Read Col. 1:15–20, especially verse 18. Jesus is firstborn of creation and the “firstborn from the dead.” Does this change how you see the Easter message?
❚ “His life for us” is the constant theme of this stanza and of Scripture itself. Is there any hope apart from Christ?
The third stanza exhorts, “Let praises ring; / Give thanks, and bring / To Christ our Lord adoration.” This is then our duty as well as our privilege and our delight.
❚ Look at the location of our hope. “So shall His love / Give us above … .” What does this mean? Is our hope in a better or easier today, or is it in the eternal tomorrow Christ has prepared for us?
❚ First Corinthians 13:9–10 speaks of what we now know only in part but shall then know fully. How is this echoed in the last lines of this hymn?
❚ “All joy and full consolation.” In Rev. 7:13–17, we see our heavenly consolation and joy. Imagine the scarred and wounded hand of Christ wiping away the tears from our eyes. How does Easter point us to this victory? How does the character of Christian life shape us for this eternal victory?

Making the Connection
It is often said that what the Church fails to preach and to sing, she will forget to believe. The translator of this hymn, Martin Franzmann, made the same point by saying, “Theology must sing.” Though Easter is a season of the Church Year, the queen of seasons, it is also the ground and hope of our own resurrection and eternal life. We are constantly reminded that Christ is author and pioneer, Alpha and Omega, who has gone before that we might follow.
In this respect, we are like the children of Israel, bound for the Promised Land that only God can give, but not quite there yet. It is too easy for us to look backward and for our journey to become an aimless wandering in the wilderness. The resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, aims us toward the future beyond imagination that Christ has prepared for those who love Him. It also reminds us that the message we share with the world is this Gospel — Jesus Christ crucified for our sins, dead and buried to end death’s reign, and risen to bestow upon us and all believers eternal life.

❚ How does this hymn ground us in this Easter faith and direct us toward our own Easter hope?
❚ It is too easy for us to be content with a spiritual victory alone. God has given us much more — the hope for a resurrection of the body/flesh and the full renewal of our lost lives. To the world this may seem like a fairy-tale hope. Think of Thomas and his doubts in John 20:24–29. Is this hope real? Why can we trust Jesus? What is our resurrection hope?

In Closing
Easter joy is inexpressible but not unsingable, and the richest imagery of the poet helps us sing our hope before the world

❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 483.

Prayer
O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen..

Misericordias Domini

The King of Love My Shepherd LSB 709

study by Marion Lars Hendrickson

Introduction
Whom do you trust? What are the voices that call you? A mother calls to her children to get ready for bed. A teacher calls students to come in from the playground to get ready for class. A police officer commands, “Stop!” A doctor says to a patient, “We must talk.” A young man on bended knee asks his beloved, “Will you marry me?” We hear and trust many voices.
Yet, there are other voices that call. The voice of advertising says, “You cannot live without this product.” The voice of temptation says, “You owe it to yourself.” The devil asks, "Did God really say…?” We hear and doubt many voices.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life” (John 10:27–28).

❚ How do you decide whether or not to trust what someone says?
❚ Is it possible to ever fully trust anyone?

Exploring the Scriptures

Read Ps. 23:1. This verse states the theme of the entire psalm: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

❚ What is the comfort in this confession of trust?
❚ What challenges in your own life put this confession of trust to the test?

Read Ps. 23:2–3.

❚ What four actions does the shepherd undertake?
❚ Give examples of His actions from your own life.

Read Ps. 23:4.

❚ According to this verse, is suffering a given in life?

Read John 10:11–18. Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd and says, “I lay down my life for the sheep” (v. 15).

❚ In what ways does Jesus fulfill the trust expressed in Ps. 23:4?

The shepherd’s rod was a short club used as a weapon to defend the flock from predators. The staff was a long stick for guiding the flock and retrieving strays.

❚ How is the cross of Jesus both a rod to protect the flock of the Good Shepherd and also the staff that sustains the flock?

Read Ps. 23:5–6. The scene changes from the open fields to a setting of hospitality.

❚ As sheep of the Good Shepherd’s flock, what table does He set for us?
❚ What is the “goodness and mercy” from that table that follows us all the days of our lives?

Exploring the Hymn

Background

Henry W. Baker (1821–77) was an Anglican priest of the high church tradition who served a parish in Herefordshire, England. Even today this county is a popular tourist destination for sightseers in search of the “real” England of unspoiled,
green and rolling countryside. This scenic domain was coupled with Baker’s own rich vision of the Christian life, a life thoroughly shaped by the Gospel and Sacraments within the living traditions of the ancient Church. Baker was a strong advocate of the views expressed within the Oxford Movement.

This rich resource of images and allusions drawn from the Church and from the land found deep expression in Baker’s hymn paraphrase of Psalm 23. Although Baker asked John Dykes to compose a tune, different from the Irish melody in LSB, the wedding of text and tune (whether Dykes’ tune or “St. Columba”) wraps the singer in the atmosphere of the psalm, a decidedly idyllic atmosphere that breathes the air of the English shire and the Irish glen.

❚ Name two or three other hymns in which both text and tune are so wedded together as to be inseparable.
❚ Like Martin Luther, Baker held that music could “preach” the text. What does this mean?

This hymn paraphrase of Psalm 23 is set to the tune of the Irish folk melody “St. Columba.”

❚ How does the Celtic melody color the images of this text?
❚ What is gained by the text with the musical associations of this melody? Is anything lost?

Text

Stanza 1 quickly reveals that “trust” is not an abstract feeling. It is grounded on a firm foundation. “I am His / And He is mine forever.

❚ What specific actions has Jesus taken toward us that we may have the confident trust to sing, “I am His / And He is mine”?

In stanza 2, the text proclaims, “Where streams of living water flow, / My ransomed soul He leadeth.”

❚ In what ways is the phrase “streams of living water” an allusion to Holy Baptism? To the Holy Spirit?
❚ From what you have learned about Holy Baptism from the Small Catechism, how does our Good Shepherd “lead us” by this Sacrament?

This second stanza closes with the words, “With food celestial feedeth.” This image is tied together with the “transport of delight” flowing “From Thy pure chalice” in stanza 5.

❚ Can this be an allusion to the Lord’s Supper? Why or why not?
❚ Explain what it means that by the bread and cup of the Sacrament, “I am [Christ’s] / And He is mine.”
❚ In what ways does the participation in Christ’s body and blood nourish our trust in Him?

The poet, Henry Baker, had the words of stanza 3 on his lips as he died in 1877. In this he echoed Martin Luther’s dying words, “We are beggars; this is true.” Regardless of our condition, “in love” Christ seeks us. Stanza 4 goes on to show the full extent of Christ’s love.

❚ Find phrases throughout the hymn text that show that Christ’s love is an active love.
❚ What is the height of Christ’s love? What action of His love is alluded to in stanza 4?
❚ In the mystery of the crucifixion, Jesus Himself cries out, “Why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). What effect does this cry have on our trust in Christ? What effect does it have on our trust in God’s goodness and mercy?

The closing two stanzas sing of a life of trust that flows from Christ’s cross in the new life that is revealed in His resurrection.

❚ Do you read any allusions to Easter in this hymn text? If so, what words suggest this?
❚ It is the resurrection of Jesus that reveals the basis of our trust in singing, “Thy goodness faileth never” (st. 6). In what ways is our trust in Christ tested and strengthened when the promise of Easter is hidden under the experiences of Christ’s cross that we share?

Making the Connection

“Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise…!” Not every person has lived in an agrarian setting where sheep are common. Some who sing this hymn may always have lived in an urban setting, having no personal familiarity with the image of a shepherd and a flock of sheep.

❚ What elements of the text transcend the pastoral imagery of Psalm 23?
❚ What do you think it is about Psalm 23 that makes this psalm so immensely popular in so many human settings?

In Closing
After the Christian has been following his Good Shepherd for a long time, a voice may ask, “Have you lacked for anything?” The answer given by faith is “Nothing.”

❚ Sing or read aloud together LSB 709

Prayer
Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen (Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the Three-Year Lectionary).