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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaertner Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany “The Gathering of God’s People” 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Today we have dedicated to the Lord’s use the Lutheran Service Book. The introduction of a new hymnal into the life of a congregation is not as simple as unpacking the boxes and placing the books in the pews. This is an opportunity for excitement but also some fear and worry. I believe that certain parts of this hymnal will be well received. For instance the layout is probably the best seen in any hymnal. The pages look clean with a proper amount of open space so the pages do not seem cluttered. The headings and instructions are not too numerous to cause confusion but sufficient to guide a person through a service. With only one set of numbers for the entire book, it is very difficult to turn to the wrong place. Although some of us will still find a way to end up on the wrong page. Everybody get a hymnal in your hands. [PAUSE] Open up the hymnal and notice that the first few sheets of paper have small Roman numerals. Now turn to Psalm 1. It is the first numbered page. Move onto Psalm 150 and notice how the page that follows is Divine Service, Setting One, page 151. Page through the services and now turn to the last page of the Small Catechism, page 330. The first hymn in the Lutheran Service Book is not numbered #1, but just happens to be 331! Not everything in the Lutheran Service Book will receive equal use in our congregation. It simply is not possibly for a congregation to know and sing every hymn. I know in the past I have picked some real clunkers for hymns. Honestly I did not do it on purpose. I looked at the words and thought the hymn would help us discover the Scripture readings or theme for that particular day. But not being able to play a piano I fumbled on knowing if the hymn was singable for our congregation. An interesting resource provided with the Lutheran Service Book is a piece of software called Lutheran Service Builder. This piece of software allows me in my office to play the melody of any hymn. Hopefully this will reduce the chance of me fumbling and picking a hymn that is not appropriate for our congregation. The introduction of a new hymnal is an opportunity for divisions and obstacles to float to the surface of a congregation. Neither this new hymnal nor the old hymnals defines us as the body of Christ. I pray that the Lord of the church will richly bless us as we discover the treasures in Lutheran Service Book. But chiefly I pray that this book is used by us to proclaim Christ and all his benefits. A hymnal, a worship style, these are benefits to us as we find it possible to proclaim Christ and all his benefits. We gather as a congregation not because we are united by what color of hymnal we like. We gather because God’s Word and Sacraments are found here. The gathering of God’s people occurs where God’s Word is present and the Sacraments are administered. Our Christian life is a rhythm section of beats. The down beat, from heaven above our salvation comes down to us. The beat that gives pace to our march is God bringing the good news of forgiveness and salvation. Having been called, gathered, and enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit we respond to God’s gifts with the upbeat of our thankfulness and praise. With psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, our upbeat is a declaration of all that God has done for us. Our song joins the song of the saints from every age. Hymnwriter Carl Schalk, wrote about the place of a hymnal in the life of the church saying, “Wherever and whenever God’s people have gathered to hear his Word and celebrate the sacraments they have sung songs, songs of death and rebirth, songs of sin and salvation, songs of repentance, renewal, and new life. In Christian song words and music join together to rehearse the story of God’s deliverance and to proclaim his Word to all the world.” The hymn “Angels we have heard on High” joins our voices to the jubilant heavenly chorus that announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in In concert with That is what God’s gathering people looks like. We receive God’s good news and respond with thankfulness and praise. We cry to God for mercy and forgiveness and we are comforted. From the words of the introduction page, “Lutheran Service Book is offered with the prayer that it may be used in all its fullness to give voice to the prayer, praise, and thanksgiving of God’s holy people as they are graciously served by Him through Word and Sacrament.” Today we dedicate a new hymnal. The color of the hymnal may change. The text or melody of a few hymns may change. In fact there are some new hymns that we will grow to treasure. But with all that has changed trust that we continue to gather as God’s people because we are joined by the Word of God and His Sacraments. Soli Deo Gloria |
