This is a very important question for us to ponder. In fact, Jesus asked this all important question to Peter in Matthew 16:15, when, after discussing what everyone was saying about Jesus, He asked Peter: “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered by confessing: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was not merely a wise teacher. He wasn’t just a future telling prophet. He wasn’t just an example to us of how God wants us to live our lives. True, He was indeed all of these things, but He was much more than these. He was our sin sacrifice. He is our atoning Savior, paving the way to heaven for us by shedding His blood on the cross. He was God in flesh.

God wants us to know this truth, and so He reveals it to us in His Word. This is why Jesus performed all of the miracles and healings. Not to call attention to Himself or to randomly provide thrills and entertainment, but to show the world that He was indeed God in flesh. God sent Jesus to reveal the Kingdom of God to the world, as it is written in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, because that is why I was sent.” God loves us! Our sins are forgiven in Christ! Jesus is Lord! This is the reality of truth that God reveals to us in Epiphany, and this is what He wants us to know. See John 20:30-31 – “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” Thanks be to God for revealing this truth to us in His Son!

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It’s almost ten years since work began in earnest on the Synod’s latest hymnal, Lutheran Service Book. Among the many big issues that we knew would challenge us was the matter of language. What style of language would we use? An older style? An updated style? Something in between?

Lutheran Service Book

As far as our work on LSB was concerned, we felt somewhat vindicated by the direction we were taking, which was to aim for a literal translation of texts wherever possible, yet to strive for translations that weren’t stilted or wooden. Of course, that is easier said than done. Our most difficult challenge concerned the old “Page 15” service from The Lutheran Hymnal (now Setting Three in LSB). With a full one-third of our congregations still using TLH, we knew that this service needed to be treated carefully. We actually went through three or four “test” versions that we tried out in congregations that were using TLH. We toyed with updating the language and providing dual translations, but eventually settled on a fairly conservative course. For those parts of the service where text was wedded to music, we kept the text “as is,” in other words, using the archaic language as found in TLH. But, for the spoken parts of the service, we gently updated the language, something that many pastors were already doing in their spoken parts. For the most part, reception of this service has been good.

If you’re interested in reading more about the new directions in the Roman Catholic Church, go here where you can see examples of the changes that have now been approved—seven years later.

If you want to see the language guidelines that were used in the development of LSB, go here. Take a look at the discussion on page 4 concerning “Archaic and Obsolete Language.”

Rev. Dr. Paul Grime

There is much that could be said about the text of this hymn.  It holds up some of the best characteristics of twentieth century hymnody: powerful word painting, vivid imagery, strong biblical connections, etc.  But I mostly want to talk about the music of this text.

The music for this text, entitled “Lord of Life”, can be best described as haunting yet hopeful.  The topic of the text is death and resurrection, and following the biblical imagery, there are three stanzas that really address the grief of the bereaved.  The music beautifully holds this up.  There is a strength in classic Lutheran chorales that they don’t hide from grief.  Paul Gerhardt is perhaps best known for this.  In the same way, the music has to hold up this very real tension of grief and hope.  Hildebrand’s melody does this well.

But it’s more than that.

In the span of a day, I sang and taught this at our K-8 school chapel, sang and prayed it with a parishioner in the hospital with multiple chronic illnesses, used it to meditate on the text for the upcoming Sunday, and then sang, taught and prayed it with my own family before going to bed.  What a gift!  What a treasure!

Any music that can be taught to kindergartners and then used to comfort an eighty year old man is worth learning.

This is also a great example of why I love being a pastor.  We get to hold these great treasures of the Gospel up to God’s people, young and old.  I probably sang this hymn a dozen times today.  I’ll sing it a dozen more times tomorrow.  What could be bad about that!

-Pastor Todd Peperkorn

Teach. If our curriculum were a tree, the roots would be Jesus Christ and the trunk would be the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Sacrament.  I’ll talk about the role of the Eucharist momentarily.

As a student at CTS, you will become immersed in the texts of the Old and New Testaments.  Every seminarian studies, in their original languages, all four Gospels, all five books of Moses (Gen-Deut), the epistles of Paul, the major OT prophets and the Psalms.  Every student takes a Greeks Readings course for six of the nine on campus quarters.  That’s the minimum.

We believe that it is extremely important for the pastors of the church to have competency in reading the Greek and Hebrew texts of God’s Word.  This is possibly more important today than it has been in over a thousand years.  The society in which our graduates will be placed is more pluralistic and religiously diverse than America has ever been.  We are also more drenched in communication technologies.  This adds up to a  very confused and confusing mess.  False teachings abound.  People need and often hunger for someone to give them good spiritual food to eat.  We must be able to speak the Truth clearly, winsomely, and with precision.  Lives depend on it.

Add an in depth examination of the Lutheran Confessions, Liturgics and hymnody, pastoral practice, preaching, etc.  Not only are there specific courses in each of these fields, but our faculty strives to bring a wholistic approach to the classroom.  In other words, it is not beneficial to teach the Gospel of Luke, for instance, without talking about how to preach these texts, how they’ve been understood by historical heros of the church, how they appear in the liturgical life of the church, their significance for counseling and outreach.  We practice an intentionally inter-disciplinary form of instruction.  So when you study the Psalms, to take another example, you will have two professors.  One will teach you the Hebrew constructions and the interpretation of the texts while the other will tie that in with the liturgical and devotional use of the psalter.

Central to everything is our chapel.  This is because we understand that our students, as their primary identity, are children of God.  They must receive the Lord’s gracious gifts in scripture, preaching, Eucharist, prayer and song.  Their own heart are nourished by the presence of Christ in our midst.  That much is fundamental.  Otherwise, we become a stagnant academy of abstract ideas and theories.  God is not a “subject” to be autopsied by our skilled technicians.  He is a living person who relates to us by His Son.

These emphases of our curriculum form a person into a well equipped teacher and preacher.

369 Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
371 Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness
445 When You Woke that Thursday Morning
484 Make Songs of Joy
491 Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels
593 See This Wonder in the Making
896 Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year
910 Now the Silence
922 Go, My Children, with My Blessing
945 Your Heart, O God, Is Grieved

In most times and places, there probably isn’t much consideration about the authors of hymn texts and composers of hymn tunes and settings. And those writers probably prefer it that way, anyhow, since a good hymn points to Christ, rather than highlighting those who created the words and music. But when we do pause to consider those skilled lyricists and musicians such as Rev. Vajda, we can be thankful for their work of putting words and tunes into our mouths and lives.

Concordia Publishing House has a fitting tribute on their website HERE.

The newly minted pastors leaving the seminary for their first calls have had excellent homiletical training from the finest professors. They’ve immersed themselves in the study of sacred writ. They have engaged energetically with doctrinal writings and historical texts. Now they are ready to preach. Yes and no. Preaching is as much an art as it is a science. One can compose a technically fine sermon but one that lacks beauty or warmth.

There are many types of preachers. And I know a number of very excellent Lutheran preachers who have dramatically different styles. What works for one fellow in his particular setting might not fly for another elsewhere. There is no one size fits all. However, as one who is still terrified, excited and challenged every time he stands in a pulpit, these are my “tips” for preaching. It’s certainly possible that some preachers will take exception with this or that point. They are in no particular order. FWIW

• Whether you use an outline or a manuscript, when you write the sermon, write for the ear, not for the eye. Your words will primarily be heard, not read. That should make a big difference in how you write.
• Use everyday language. Your sermon is not an English lesson. Your objective is not to expand people’s vocabulary. Use good grammar, but be flexible. Speak in the manner your parishoners are accustomed to. When you write, imagine you are having a one-to-one conversation with a typical member of the congregation.
• Reviewing sermons from the fathers of the church for insights is commendable, but don’t adopt the flowery Victorian style of many translations.
• Be natural. Avoid all pulpit-tone. Unless you hail from the British Isles, do not anglocize your speech. It’s pretentious.
• Preach with authority but without being pompous or bullying.
• Keep all non-biblical quotations to a minimum, and brief.
• Humor can be helpful or it can be harmful. It’s like salt on your potato. A dab will do. Don’t use jokes or puns to draw attention to yourself.
• Do use illustrations. Don’t over-use them. And make certain the illustration really does help proclaim the gospel and isn’t just a cute story you can’t resist using.
• Preaching is not about you. If it ever becomes about you, repent.
• Preach Jesus Christ crucified. If you haven’t declared the cross and its benefits, you haven’t preached.
• Be specific and direct in preaching the law to convict. Never use the law as a means to puff up the self-righteous. It kills. Kill them with it.
• The gospel raises us to life again. Pierce and crush them with the hammer. Resurrect them, specifically and directly, with the gospel.
• Preach the law with compassion and sympathy. Don’t water it down, but don’t be spiteful. You don’t have the right.
• Have someone critique your gestures and body language.
• Make sure people understand you. If you ramble or use too much highfalutin vocabulary and thus aren’t being understood, you may as well be speaking in Klingon.
• Don’t be wordy or long-winded. Verbosity is an atrocity.
• The gospel works. Don’t get in its way.

“I Come O Savior to Thy Table”

No matter if we sing this hymn or not on Sunday, I always use it as a prayer before and after communion. After reviewing another week’s worth of sin against the savior who so freely saved me, I do approach his table with a weak and weary soul. I need his bread of life to make me whole once again.

After a repentant review of my sin and after I once again realize how dependant I am on Christ, I rejoice in the fact that I have inherited eternal life through Christ’s death and resurrection.

Tlus, he freely gives me his good and gracious gifts through this wondrous meal! What more could I ask for? What greater gift can I inherit?

The thing I love most about this hymn, however, is the beautiful refrain “Lord may your body and your blood be for my soul the highest good.” This continually reminds me that salvation and forgiveness is not of my doing. I am not forgiven because I can make it up to God. I am not saved because of the righteous works I do. I am saved because he was the atoning sacrifice for my sins. His death and resurrection allowed all men to be reunited with God. He then continually works for our good. He daily blesses us with his presence. He daily forgives us and supplies us with his Holy Spirit.

He continually and freely gives us his body and blood which is “for our souls the highest good!”

So no matter what this world tries to offer us, we must always remember that it will all pass away. The things of this world will leave us empty. For it is Christ alone who is our “life and strength forever” and it is by him that our “hungry souls are fed.” So when we approach his table, may our prayer always be, “Lord, may your body and your blood be for my soul the highest good!”

“Now the Light Has Gone Away” is indeed my favorite hymn in the hymnal. Why is it? Let’s start with the history of it. Growing up every night as my mother would tuck me into bed she would sing me this song. It was never a song that I knew, but rather something my mother introduced to me. It had a catchy lullaby tune and seemed like a short little song that got past down generation after generation. In fact I didn’t know it existed in the hymnal until around high school when I was just flipping through and stumbled upon it. It was then I examined the lyrics (which I always thought were pretty generic) more closely. The great thing about a hymn like this is how easily accessible it is even to little kids. It isn’t loaded with special meanings and language and vocabulary that were used long before I was born. It speaks the language of a child. The hymn is essentially a prayer that asks for forgiveness, a fresh start, Christ to be with loved ones, and thanksgiving. We see throughout the Bible that Jesus took the children and always encouraged them and showed so much love for them.

And this hymn reiterates the love that Christ shows on us. It is something every little kid needs to hear and even more so adults. It is amazing how a hymn so simple can be so uplifting. I can’t be thankful enough to have parents that helped plant the seed of everlasting faith in me and being taught that hymn as a child has helped me up until this very day. As it will continue to be my source of inspiration as I prepare for my life of service not only in the Church but in the world. I hope that you too take the time to focus on this hymn and learn the words. It is a great nighttime prayer but it is also a great song for the many struggles one does encounter in life. I can’t wait to be able to share this special hymn with my children some day just as it was shared with me as a child.