Title: Since Adam’s Age, so Long Have we!
Text: Isaiah 61:1-4
Text: Isaiah 61:1-4
Facebook live: Since Adam’s Age, so Long Have we!
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
As Lutheran’s, we’re accustomed to all kinds of acronyms, abbreviations. Those of us who have grown up in the Missouri synod know the Lutheran lingo. We know about our women’s and men’s auxiliaries, the LWML and LLL. We may remember the old insurance companies AAL and LB … now Thrivent.
And don’t forget our hymnals: TLH, LW and now LSB. Acronyms are a way of life for Lutherans, second nature. But “WH”? That abbreviation is new to us. It’s unfamiliar.
I mentioned last week that finding seasonal Reformation hymns – German Advent hymns dating back to the 1520s or 1530s, hymns Luther or first-generation Lutheran’s wrote and I mentioned that this was hard and difficult because the fact is … there just simply were few German hymns when the Reformation began. Hymns written within this narrow historical snapshot are few and far between. The shortage of such hymns forced a look outside of LSB and it was suggested “WH” might be the place.
“WH” stands for “Walther’s Hymnal.” C.F.W. Walther was the first president of the Luther Church – Missouri Synod. In 1838, along with the other Saxon Germans, he sailed from Germany to Missouri.
When this group sailed, they brought with them the Germen-Language hymnal they had used in their homeland. That hymnal was a bad hymnal. Its hymnal didn’t reflect pure biblical doctrine (teaching) and true confessional Lutheran theology. Its hymns failed to faithfully teach about Jesus.
Because a hymnal is an important resource in teaching, and because right (orthodox) teaching was so important (and still is) to the Missouri Synod, in 1847, Walther’s congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, with Walther’s encouragement and oversight, published a hymnal.
The hymnal’s title was:
“The Church Hymnbook for Evangelical Lutheran congregations of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession containing the most popular hymns of the blessed Dr. Martin Luther and other special Teachers.”
Walther’s hymnal became the first and only hymnal the Missouri Synod would ever have, available for purchase even into the 1960s. five years ago the German Hymnal was translated into English. In the hymnal we find tonight’s Reformation era Advent hymn,
“Since Adam’s Age, So Long Have We.”
A man named Michael Weisse wrote this hymn in 1533. See his name on the hymn bottom. Weisse wasn’t a Lutheran. He was a former Roman Catholic Priest, influenced by Luther’s teachings. Luther’s clear teaching on justification by faith led Michael to turn away from Roman Catholicism.
However, he didn’t turn to Lutheranism. He turned to a Reformed group known as the Bohemian Brethren. After leaving the Roman Catholic Church, Michael Weisse served this group as a pastor. The group refused to join Luther because of a disagreement with the Lutheran confession concerning the Lord’s Supper and justification by faith alone.
As one historian explained,
“Michael, was a man of great influence among them, a member of their council, and editor of their first hymn book in German.”
Luther was acquainted with Michael. In 1545, Luther wrote that despite being weak on the sacraments, Michael was a good poet. Walther also regarded Michael Weisse, including six Weisse hymns in his German hymnal.
Among the six is tonight’s hymn.
Concerning “Since Adam’s Age, So Long Have We,” it’s likely that Weisse’s clear gospel proclamation is what moved Walther to include the hymn within the hymnal’s Advent and Christmas section.
In twelve short stanzas, Weisse tells the story of salvation. He begins by diagnosing the disease affection each of us: sin, original sin, and punishment we deserve for sin.
Stanzas 1,2. If you’re attempting to teach and explain the Christian faith, these stanzas present clear teaching. Yet not only does he diagnose the disease but he also describes the medication. The medicine is Jesus. The father said,
“I will display My Grace and Give My Son to save this race, to heal them as their doctor true, to bless them, and to make them new.”
Stanza 7 frames Jesus within the wider Biblical context, the context of God’s covenants with Abraham and David. This is the wider biblical context we want us to reflect upon tonight.
To put this hymn in perspective, the other hymns we’ve reflected upon this Advent season have taught us to remember that Jesus is God of God yet fully man, that Jesus gives us the victory over sin by vanquishing grim death for us and opening heaven before us.
Tonight’s hymn is a bit different in that it teaches us to remember another important truth: that God keeps his promise.
God promised both Abraham and David a descendent. Jesus, God kept his promise.
God told Abraham, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring (noun singular) as the stars in the heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring (noun singular) shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
When God spoke these words, God was talking about Jesus, the ultimate offspring promised to Abraham. Likewise, when God told David,
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom forever,”
God wasn’t talking so much about Solomon, but about the greater David, Jesus. In fact, the very first verse of Matthew’s gospel reminds us that in Jesus God kept his promise. Here the first verse:
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Jesus’ connection with the past, with God’s covenant with Abraham and David, is also revealed when Gabriel announces Jesus’ conception to Mary, explaining to Mary that
“You will conceive and bear a son of the most high, And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary herself even made the connection that through Jesus, the son, carried in her womb, God remembers his promises!
“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Indeed, God doesn’t forget his promise. “He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.” Psalm 111
In Jesus God remembered his promise.
He remembered the promise he gave to Abraham and David, the promise of giving them his only son, the son by whom redemption – your redemption – would be won.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus – the son of David and son of Abraham – Jesus is living proof that God keeps his word from first to last.
And that assurance means all the difference to you and me. We now go through life assured God is true – he never forgets his promise. So, remember and take refuge in his promise spoken to us through his word: Jesus is your savior from sin; in Jesus, your sins are forgiven; in Jesus, heaven is opened to you; God doesn’t forget; he remembers.
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
As Lutheran’s, we’re accustomed to all kinds of acronyms, abbreviations. Those of us who have grown up in the Missouri synod know the Lutheran lingo. We know about our women’s and men’s auxiliaries, the LWML and LLL. We may remember the old insurance companies AAL and LB … now Thrivent.
And don’t forget our hymnals: TLH, LW and now LSB. Acronyms are a way of life for Lutherans, second nature. But “WH”? That abbreviation is new to us. It’s unfamiliar.
I mentioned last week that finding seasonal Reformation hymns – German Advent hymns dating back to the 1520s or 1530s, hymns Luther or first-generation Lutheran’s wrote and I mentioned that this was hard and difficult because the fact is … there just simply were few German hymns when the Reformation began. Hymns written within this narrow historical snapshot are few and far between. The shortage of such hymns forced a look outside of LSB and it was suggested “WH” might be the place.
“WH” stands for “Walther’s Hymnal.” C.F.W. Walther was the first president of the Luther Church – Missouri Synod. In 1838, along with the other Saxon Germans, he sailed from Germany to Missouri.
When this group sailed, they brought with them the Germen-Language hymnal they had used in their homeland. That hymnal was a bad hymnal. Its hymnal didn’t reflect pure biblical doctrine (teaching) and true confessional Lutheran theology. Its hymns failed to faithfully teach about Jesus.
Because a hymnal is an important resource in teaching, and because right (orthodox) teaching was so important (and still is) to the Missouri Synod, in 1847, Walther’s congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, with Walther’s encouragement and oversight, published a hymnal.
The hymnal’s title was:
“The Church Hymnbook for Evangelical Lutheran congregations of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession containing the most popular hymns of the blessed Dr. Martin Luther and other special Teachers.”
Walther’s hymnal became the first and only hymnal the Missouri Synod would ever have, available for purchase even into the 1960s. five years ago the German Hymnal was translated into English. In the hymnal we find tonight’s Reformation era Advent hymn,
“Since Adam’s Age, So Long Have We.”
A man named Michael Weisse wrote this hymn in 1533. See his name on the hymn bottom. Weisse wasn’t a Lutheran. He was a former Roman Catholic Priest, influenced by Luther’s teachings. Luther’s clear teaching on justification by faith led Michael to turn away from Roman Catholicism.
However, he didn’t turn to Lutheranism. He turned to a Reformed group known as the Bohemian Brethren. After leaving the Roman Catholic Church, Michael Weisse served this group as a pastor. The group refused to join Luther because of a disagreement with the Lutheran confession concerning the Lord’s Supper and justification by faith alone.
As one historian explained,
“Michael, was a man of great influence among them, a member of their council, and editor of their first hymn book in German.”
Luther was acquainted with Michael. In 1545, Luther wrote that despite being weak on the sacraments, Michael was a good poet. Walther also regarded Michael Weisse, including six Weisse hymns in his German hymnal.
Among the six is tonight’s hymn.
Concerning “Since Adam’s Age, So Long Have We,” it’s likely that Weisse’s clear gospel proclamation is what moved Walther to include the hymn within the hymnal’s Advent and Christmas section.
In twelve short stanzas, Weisse tells the story of salvation. He begins by diagnosing the disease affection each of us: sin, original sin, and punishment we deserve for sin.
Stanzas 1,2. If you’re attempting to teach and explain the Christian faith, these stanzas present clear teaching. Yet not only does he diagnose the disease but he also describes the medication. The medicine is Jesus. The father said,
“I will display My Grace and Give My Son to save this race, to heal them as their doctor true, to bless them, and to make them new.”
Stanza 7 frames Jesus within the wider Biblical context, the context of God’s covenants with Abraham and David. This is the wider biblical context we want us to reflect upon tonight.
To put this hymn in perspective, the other hymns we’ve reflected upon this Advent season have taught us to remember that Jesus is God of God yet fully man, that Jesus gives us the victory over sin by vanquishing grim death for us and opening heaven before us.
Tonight’s hymn is a bit different in that it teaches us to remember another important truth: that God keeps his promise.
God promised both Abraham and David a descendent. Jesus, God kept his promise.
God told Abraham, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring (noun singular) as the stars in the heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring (noun singular) shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
When God spoke these words, God was talking about Jesus, the ultimate offspring promised to Abraham. Likewise, when God told David,
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom forever,”
God wasn’t talking so much about Solomon, but about the greater David, Jesus. In fact, the very first verse of Matthew’s gospel reminds us that in Jesus God kept his promise. Here the first verse:
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Jesus’ connection with the past, with God’s covenant with Abraham and David, is also revealed when Gabriel announces Jesus’ conception to Mary, explaining to Mary that
“You will conceive and bear a son of the most high, And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary herself even made the connection that through Jesus, the son, carried in her womb, God remembers his promises!
“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Indeed, God doesn’t forget his promise. “He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.” Psalm 111
In Jesus God remembered his promise.
He remembered the promise he gave to Abraham and David, the promise of giving them his only son, the son by whom redemption – your redemption – would be won.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus – the son of David and son of Abraham – Jesus is living proof that God keeps his word from first to last.
And that assurance means all the difference to you and me. We now go through life assured God is true – he never forgets his promise. So, remember and take refuge in his promise spoken to us through his word: Jesus is your savior from sin; in Jesus, your sins are forgiven; in Jesus, heaven is opened to you; God doesn’t forget; he remembers.
Just like with Abraham and David, he remembers his promises, the promise of rescue from death and the devil, the promise of everlasting salvation, promises he made to you in your Baptism, promises that are “yes” to you now by faith, promises that will be “yes” to you by sight on Resurrection Day.
Need Christmas cheer? God remembers! The Lord is gracious and merciful. Go to sleep in that peace tonight.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment