After chapel today, Professor Pless and Dr. MacKenzie signed copies of their books in the CTSFW bookstore. Professor Pless was a general editor for two collections of essays, “Closed Communion? Admission to the Lord’s Supper in Biblical Lutheran Perspective” and “The Necessary Distinction: A Continuing Conversation on Law and Gospel,” which take a deeper look into Holy Scriptures and faithful practice. “The Reformation,” by Dr. MacKenzie, engages readers with historically-rich illustrations and facts.
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might,
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
But lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
For All the Saints (LSB 677)
As the 500th anniversary of the Reformation rolls into All Saints’ Day, I find myself thinking especially of my grandparents, gone home to eternal peace. They faithfully brought their children up in the Church, and my parents in turn did the same for me and my siblings. Who are you remembering this All Saints’ Day?
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Here are a handful of pictures from the Reformation service last night. If anyone missed it (or simply wants to watch again), the video of the service will be up for the next seven days. You can either find it by scrolling down our Facebook page, or by visiting http://www.ctsfw.edu/reformation500/.
We’ve had a few people ask about attendance and online viewership, and so far we’ve counted almost 800 people in attendance at the service (most of them in Kramer Chapel, with overflow in Sihler Auditorium), with nearly 14,000 views on Facebook and another 2,500 who watched the livestream on our website.
While the 500th anniversary may itself be over, there’s still a lot happening on campus. In commemoration of the importance of God’s Word to the Reformation, tomorrow the Student Association is going to begin a public reading of the entire Bible, beginning at 3 p.m. this Thursday, November 2nd, and ending at 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 5th. The continuous reading of the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is open to everyone. You are welcome to come to Sihler Auditorium day or night, to listen for as long (or as short) as you’d like. To view the reading schedule, go here: https://my.ctsfw.edu/document.doc?id=3180.
Following that, this Sunday and Monday there are several Music Events taking place in Kramer Chapel, all of which are also open to the public. On November 5th, you can come and listen to an organ recital at 4:30 p.m., then later come for the All Saints’ Choral Vespers at 7:30 pm. On November 6th, there is Choral Evening Prayer at 5:00 p.m., and a Hymn Festival at 7:30 p.m. Most of these will be livestreamed. We’ll post more details later this week.
In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and say:
“In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Then kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. If you choose, you may also say this little prayer:
“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
Then go to sleep at once and in good cheer.
Today’s already proving to be a Reformation-rich day here on campus. After chapel I asked Dr. MacKenzie to pose for a picture with his book, “The Reformation.” The coffee table-style book presents an overview of the Reformation through both images and text, and can be purchased from our bookstore here: https://bookstore.ctsfw.edu/reformation.
As a bonus, in the background you can see Dr. Grime (Dean of the Chapel) and a handful of seminarians preparing for this evening’s 500th anniversary worship service. If you can’t make it to hear President Harrison preach in person, you can join us by watching the livestream here on our Facebook page at 7:30 p.m. (EDT).
In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say:
“In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. If you choose, you may also say this little prayer:
“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
Then go joyfully to your work, singing a hymn, like that of the Ten Commandments, or whatever your devotion may suggest.
(Luther’s Small Catechism: “How the head of the family should teach his household to pray morning and evening”)
CTSFW planned to have one more student this fall, but the man in question was deployed before he could begin his first year at the Seminary. He’s still in our thoughts, prayers and on our mailing list, and his wife asked that we pass on this message:
To the people of the Seminary sending care packages,
Thank you for the vast resources that have been provided. The cards, soap, snacks, hymn CD, divine service CD and bulletins, the books, service book and Greek Grammar, thank you, it is going to go to good use and I am humbled by everyone’s kindness to me and my spouse. Whether I am able to attend the Seminary next fall or am delayed for any reason, sooner or later I will be there and very much look forward to it. Thank you for the prayers and personal time to send these out.
Yesterday was the commemoration of three faithful women in the Church, and because our calendar stacks these things on top of each other, today we commemorate three hymnwriters, Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann and Paul Gerhardt.
Some highlights: Nicolai wrote the tune to “Allelulia! Let Praises Ring”/”O Holy Spirit Enter In,” and the other two wrote the text to a couple of my favorite Lenten hymns, “O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken” (Heermann) and “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (Gerhardt). However, since neither are in season I’ll leave you with an Easter hymn by Gerhardt instead (LSB 467):
Awake, my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now, after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When to the realms of light
Our spirit wings its flight.
The foe in triumph shouted
When Christ lay in the tomb;
But lo, he now is routed,
His boast is turned to gloom.
For Christ again is free;
In glorious victory
He who is strong to save
Has triumphed o’er the grave.
This is a sight that gladdens–
What peace it doth impart!
Now nothing ever saddens
The joy within my heart.
No gloom shall ever shake,
No foe shall ever take
The hope which God’s own Son
In love for me hath won.
Now hell, its prince, the devil,
Of all their pow’r are shorn;
Now I am safe from evil,
And sin I laugh to scorn.
Grim death with all his might
Cannot my soul affright;
It is a pow’rless form,
Howe’er it rave and storm.
The world against me rages,
Its fury I disdain;
Though bitter war it wages,
Its work is all in vain.
My heart from care is free,
No trouble troubles me.
Misfortune now is play,
And night is bright as day.
Now I will cling forever
To Christ, my Savior true;
My Lord will leave me never,
Whate’er He passes through.
He rends death’s iron chain;
He breaks through sin and pain;
He shatters hell’s dark thrall;
I follow Him through all.
He brings me to the portal
That leads to bliss untold,
Whereon this rhyme immortal
Is found in script of gold:
“Who there My cross has shared
Finds here a crown prepared;
Who there with Me has died
Shall here be glorified.”
Dr. Bushur now occupies a chair in honor of Carl and Erna Weinrich, the parents of Dr. Weinrich. In celebration of the establishment of the Chair in New Testament and Early Church Studies, Dr. Bushur gave a public lecture on “The Catholic Paul: Allegory & Perspicuity in Irenaeus’ Reading of Scripture.” As a layperson (who, admittedly, struggled with the terminology), my takeaway of convocation was that though the Word is clear and perfect, we sinners can’t fully understand it either clearly or perfectly. That does not, however, make Scripture malleable. Instead, we strive to understand these things in the context of what God has submitted to our knowledge: the created world, and in the person of Jesus Christ.
To the people of the Seminary sending care packages,