Fifth Sunday of Easter + Cantate
Text: John 16:5-15
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Most of you have probably heard of Johann Sebastian Bach, the great German composer and musician of the 18th century. His musical abilities reached extraordinary heights as he composed pieces large and small. Some of his most familiar pieces of music, which you might encounter, are played at weddings today, including “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”
But if you did not know, Bach was a Lutheran, and most of his music focused on Cantatas, which were written to be played and sung during the Divine Service. As the director of music at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Bach was charged with writing cantatas that corresponded to the readings of the day and leading the choirs.
These cantatas typically last 10-30 minutes, and each service might have more than one. But the people didn’t mind because almost everything within the Divine Service was sung at that time. Until then, only the sermon or admonition for confession to the people had been spoken.
Times have obviously changed as the Church has moved away from the rich singing that planted the seeds of faith into the hearts of the young in the past. There are several reasons for this in the Lutheran Church. One is that when The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) was compiled, the music for the pastor to sing or chant was placed into a separate book. However, few pastors would have had the additional funds to purchase such a book. Also, in an attempt not to be Roman Catholic, many Lutherans gave up the liturgy of old as a means of protest.
The results of these items from our recent history have led much of Lutheranism in a way that has abandoned its musical roots.
Yet, it would be good for us to reflect on how Martin Luther, for whom we receive our name from, viewed music, as he said,
“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through Music.” (Martin Luther)
So, why do we sing?
Well, first because God invites us to sing.
As we heard from Isaiah in the Old Testament,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.”
(Is 12:4–5)
This is what we do as we gather here each and every Sunday: we “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; [we] let this be known in all the earth.” (Is 12:5)
In the Gloria in Excelsis, we sing with the angels at Christmas. In the Sanctus, we sing of Jesus as He comes that first Holy Week to grant us His forgiveness. After the distribution, we sing the Nunc Dimittis, praising God with Simeon as we have received Jesus’ flesh and blood, a foretaste of heaven, and declaring our readiness to depart this earthly life in peace.
We Lutherans are a singing people, and the Fifth Sunday of Easter is called Cantate, meaning to sing, which comes from the antiphon of our introit today.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
The Sundays that have come to pass this Easter season have focused on the risen Jesus, but now our attention begins to shift toward the Ascension of Jesus. As the introit goes on to say, these Sundays start to reveal how the
[Father’s] right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
These Sundays show how Jesus’ return to His Father at His ascension is a sign of His victory and the fulfillment of why He came to earth in the manger that first Christmas: to win salvation upon the cross for you and all who believe in Him, to pay the debt of your sins. And now we prepare for Jesus to ascend to His Father’s right hand, where He will send the Holy Spirit to us.
As Jesus said in the Gospel today,
And when [Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me. (John 16:8-9)
How often do you catch yourself singing a hymn and find yourself full of guilt, remorse, and anguish? Your eyes well up with tears. Your lips quiver as you confess with a whisper how you have failed to be faithful.
How can this music do such a thing upon the heart?
Because the Holy Spirit abides and works through the Word of God, and as we sing, just as the Church has for millennia, God’s Word fills the pages of our hymns, and you are now singing God’s Word.
It’s at a time such as this that you can resonate with the second stanza of our hymn of the day, “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” as we sang,
Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;
Death brooded darkly o’er me.
Sin was my torment night and day;
In sin my mother bore me.
But daily deeper still I fell;
My life became a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.
What a sad and dreadful day if this were where the hymn ended. But now, instead, the Father has compassion, sending His Son to set you free and slay death itself. And in a moment, we will complete the hymn as we sing,
“Now to My Father I depart,
From earth to heav’n ascending,
And, heav’nly wisdom to impart,
The Holy Spirit sending;
In trouble He will comfort you
And teach you always to be true
And into truth shall guide you.
The ninth stanza is a beautiful commentary on these words of Jesus today,
When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-14)
He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14)
The Holy Spirit now comes to lead and guide you to Jesus, to reveal Him to you in His Word, at the font, and at the rail. The Work of the Holy Spirit invites you to sing the song of faith, so that as your last day comes, your song will not end, but continue with the eternal choirs that now circle the Lamb, singing a new song unto the Lord without ceasing.
But make no mistake, this song is already being sung today, here and now, as we gather each and every week to confess our sins in order to receive God’s forgiveness. Each Sunday is a choir rehearsal for the greater feast that is to come, so don’t be bashful, but as the introit says,
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises, for your Lord and Savior has won Salvation for you.
Going back to Bach for a moment, at the end of each of his cantatas, he would sign them with the letters SDG, short for Soli Deo Gloria – “Glory to the only God” or “Glory to God alone.”
What a wonderful way to end, not only a hymn or piece of music, but this life itself, giving glory to God with heart and voice. +INJ+
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
