Note: This was originally printed for a September bulletin.
On October 31, 1517, twelve years before he wrote this hymn, the Roman Catholic monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences to the door of a Wittenberg, Germany, church, effectively sparking the Protestant Reformation with his critique of indulgences sold by the Catholic church. Out of this Reformation, celebrating its 490th anniversary next month, was born all of the other churches (besides Roman Catholic and Orthodox) that we know today: Lutherans, Presbyterians (including the branches of the Reformed Church), Anabaptists (predecessors of the Baptist denominations)--and Anglicans [that's the church I'm currently serving]!
One of the hallmarks of the Reformation was the five "solas", meaning "alone":
Sola gratia (we are saved "by grace alone")
Sola fide (through "faith alone")
Sola scriptura ("Scripture alone" is the source of Christian doctrine)
Solus Christus ("Christ alone" is the mediator between God and man)
Soli Deo Gloria (all glory is due to "God alone")
Two of the ways Luther expressed the idea of sola scriptura were by encouraging ordinary people to read Scripture for themselves and to sing scriptural ideas in their own languages, rather than merely hearing scriptural ideas sung in Latin. Because of his emphasis on ordinary people participating in the service, Luther was a father of congregational singing.
"A Mighty Fortress" expresses the strength of ordinary people's devotion in the face of much resistance, and since its words and tune were both written by the founder of the Protestant Reformation, it has been called the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation." For a while, it is the last hymn we will sing that was written by a monk--because ordinary people learned to read, write, and praise God with hymns in their own languages. May we sing it today with vigor, knowing we stand with generations of ordinary people to praise an extraordinary God.
2 comments:
Sorry I haven't been reading, I somehow lost my bookmarks and just found you again.
Excellent synopsis! Though many baptist denominations would disagree with you that they stem from Luther, I think that it is important to realize our strong unity, since all we focus on is our differences.
I trust that the Christmas service(s) went well and that all is beautiful in your world.
God's blessings, Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year.
~Sean
Good to hear from you, Sean! Thank you for your comment and blessings.
The Christmas Eve services went very well. Our little choir sang their hearts out; the congregation got to light white candles (an activity our priest thinks of as "evangelical" rather than "Anglican", but permitted anyway); a young soprano sang a beautiful descant to "Silent Night" from the balcony; and I played a vigorous rendering of "Joy to the World" on the organ, pulling out all the stops, for the finale. The lectionary even featured a congregational reading of Psalm 96 this year, the psalm on which "Joy to the World" is based.
How were your Christmas services? And how did your choir take to learning a theme hymn?
Post a Comment