LORD OF LIFE LUTHERAN CHURCH

Music Notes

5 February, 2012

“In Holy Conversation”  Pastor Gregory Wismar, who retired last June from Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown, CT, is a regular contributor to The Lutheran Witness and was a contributor to and editor for the Lutheran Service Book. About his collaboration in the hymnal, Pastor Wismar states, "This is my work of love. I've been through every page, and I have loved it," reflecting Martin Luther’s maxim that the “Bible, hymnal and catechism should be the staples of any Christian’s library.” His poetry has found its way not only into the hymnal but into numerous choral anthems as well.

            Indeed, Pastor Wismar’s cherishing of our theological heritage as manifest in the hymnal is too rare a characteristic these days, in which the concept of the priesthood of all believers has, unfortunately, in many quarters metamorphosed into an unhealthy type of self-centered, pridefully-arrogant individualism in which some people would rather worship their emotions or their own reason instead of the Holy Trinity as revealed through scripture. In our Christian life, we face many distractions, temptations, and subtle hazards that may threaten our relationship with Christ, just as in today’s Gospel reading Jesus must depart and go “out to a desolate place, and there He prayed.” (Mark 1: 35b) If Jesus found spiritual necessity in “rising in the very early morning, while it was still dark” to pray, how much more important is it for us to do the same? The scriptures provide us much on which to meditate, the catechism explains it to us, and we internalize our faith and doctrine into our lives through singing hymns. Yet, even without the distractions of everyday life, our prayers can often seem inarticulate and forced. Even St Paul realized this when he writes in Romans 8: 26, “ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Pastor Wismar’s hymn calls us back into the simplicity of prayer.

            The first stanza reminds us that “we speak to God in prayer, and at His invitation our deepest thoughts we share.” Knowing how to pray is not natural and ingrained into human nature, or the disciples would not have implored Christ “Lord, teach us to pray!” By praying, we are not only obeying His will, but are “as children bringing needs,” through which “His Spirit intercedes.” How many of us have prayed for something that is seemingly answered in the negative, only to find later that, through the clarity of time and distance, our original request would not have benefitted us? Sometimes our prayers are not answered in the way we expect, as in the words of the second stanza, “with care our Father listens to every thought expressed, then answers our petitions in ways He knows are best.” Church folk, like everyone, can be stubbornly opinionated, oftentimes not allowing reason or sense to obfuscate  their emotionally-held views; yet, we are fortunate that God cannot be manipulated and answers our prayers “in ways He knows are best.” The third stanza observes that prayer, the metaphorical “holy conversation,” can be in silence or by word. Too often, our society is obsessed with noise, non-stop activity, a continual asserting of our rights and nagging for all injustices to be remedied. The television device is filled with 30-second sound bytes, the backgrounds to which are musical accompaniments that seem to compete with each other with their brazen mind-numbingness. And there are people in Christendom who would like the Church to look and act the same way! Yet Jesus, by His example, implores us to silence and to prayer. If prayer is a “holy conversation,” we must be as ready to listen as to speak, and God is prepared to speak to us in manifold ways.

            Do we listen when He is speaking? Society would tell us to withdraw to the inspiring beauty of a mountainside in order to find God, and certainly God is present in His creation and some of His characteristics are thus revealed. But he is only specifically revealed through scripture. Do we listen to hymns and liturgy and preaching when it is replete with God’s Word speaking to us, or do we not hear because our minds are too busy? God has revealed Himself through His Word, and sometimes our prayers are answered specifically through our reading and listening to His Word, something that is not to be found if we are too busy pondering the injustices of the world and the ways by which we have personally been wronged. Some people would be annoyed or insulted to be considered “childlike” as the second stanza alludes; yet, only through the denial of our own will and senses are we able to place ultimate faith and trust in God the Father.