‘And you are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I am God.’
– Isaiah 43:12
– Isaiah 43:12
This past April several men in our seminaries received their Divine Calls into the ministerium. Following graduation ceremonies in May, many pastors-elect are being ordained into the office of the holy ministry this month. There is much to sing about here, so please join me to explore three accessible choral works for the parish choir, following selected readings from the ordination service in Lutheran Service Book Agenda.
The Institution of the Office of the Holy Ministry
| Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” – St. John 20:21–23 NKJV alt. |
Recall the first Easter Sunday, when ten of Jesus’ disciples were gathered in the upper room. Their Lord has been denied, betrayed, crucified, dead, and buried. The disciples were huddled together in fear, uncertain about their future. And then Jesus came and stood in their midst. And what was the first word they heard from the risen Christ? “Peace.” There is peace for Peter, who denied Him; peace for the three disciples who slept during Jesus’ hour of need; yes, peace in the flesh for all eleven of Jesus’ faithful disciples. If the first sharing of the peace comforts the disciples, then the second sharing of the peace sends them to the ends of the world as witnesses to the Divine peace that, as Luther says, “surpasses reason and understanding; this peace comforts a person and sets the trouble heart at rest” (LW AE 69:335).
Many of our parish choirs probably know the setting of a parallel text from John’s Gospel, “Peace I Leave with You” (John 14:27) by Walter Pelz (b. 1926), which might have worn thin for some of our congregations by now. The Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt (1915–2014), perhaps best known for his setting of “O Crux,” also has an accessible setting of this text. The word “peace” is repeated three times in the opening measures, similar to our Lord’s repetition of the word in His resurrection appearances. Nystedt alternates between textual homophony (all voices singing together) and occasional counterpoint, perhaps depicting the dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. The composer creates a sense of peace at “Let not your heart be troubled,” finally settling on a major chord, where the sense of arrival and homecoming is evident. Again, from Luther: “Amid [the troubles of the world], the [Christian] has peace when others have discord” (LW AE 69:335).
Many of our parish choirs probably know the setting of a parallel text from John’s Gospel, “Peace I Leave with You” (John 14:27) by Walter Pelz (b. 1926), which might have worn thin for some of our congregations by now. The Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt (1915–2014), perhaps best known for his setting of “O Crux,” also has an accessible setting of this text. The word “peace” is repeated three times in the opening measures, similar to our Lord’s repetition of the word in His resurrection appearances. Nystedt alternates between textual homophony (all voices singing together) and occasional counterpoint, perhaps depicting the dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. The composer creates a sense of peace at “Let not your heart be troubled,” finally settling on a major chord, where the sense of arrival and homecoming is evident. Again, from Luther: “Amid [the troubles of the world], the [Christian] has peace when others have discord” (LW AE 69:335).
| Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – St. John 14:27 KJ |
The Responsibilities of the Office of the Holy Ministry
| [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” – Luke 24:46–47 alt. |
These words to Jesus’ disciples speak of prophecy, fulfillment, and sending. What was written of old has been fulfilled in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Now what? At the cusp of His ascension, Jesus sends them as He Himself was sent: with a message of repentance and forgiveness for all nations. This message began on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, and it must continue until Jesus returns and preaching is no more.
Readers are no doubt familiar with Handel’s (1685–1759) Messiah oratorio, as are church choirs around the world. Movement #37, “The Lord Gave the Word,” is a fitting choral response to accompany this reading from Luke 24, especially as the attending clergy gather around the candidate for ordination. The same God who gave us the prophetic and apostolic Word has given us the incarnate Word, which the newly ordained will soon preach to his flock. The opening unison declaration by the tenors and basses is followed by a march-like declamation in four-part harmony with rapid sixteenth-note melismas, as befits the good news of the resurrection and its worldwide promulgation. Jens Peter Larsen writes, “Strong in their conviction of victory . . . God’s messengers set out to preach . . . that mankind has been liberated from the power of death” (Handel’s Messiah: Origins, Compositions, Sources, p. 158).
Readers are no doubt familiar with Handel’s (1685–1759) Messiah oratorio, as are church choirs around the world. Movement #37, “The Lord Gave the Word,” is a fitting choral response to accompany this reading from Luke 24, especially as the attending clergy gather around the candidate for ordination. The same God who gave us the prophetic and apostolic Word has given us the incarnate Word, which the newly ordained will soon preach to his flock. The opening unison declaration by the tenors and basses is followed by a march-like declamation in four-part harmony with rapid sixteenth-note melismas, as befits the good news of the resurrection and its worldwide promulgation. Jens Peter Larsen writes, “Strong in their conviction of victory . . . God’s messengers set out to preach . . . that mankind has been liberated from the power of death” (Handel’s Messiah: Origins, Compositions, Sources, p. 158).
| The Lord gave the word: Great was the company of the preachers. – Psalm 68:11 Book of Common Prayer |
The Admonition to the Congregation
| Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. -- Hebrews 13:17 NI |
In the Old Testament, the watchmen stood on Zion’s heights to guard the earthly city. In the New Testament, pastors keep a theological watch over the doctrine and practice of the churchly Zion. If the watchmen (pastors) are faithful, then their call to repentance, faith, and holy living must be obeyed and their work will be a joy.
An appropriate choral response to this reading is “He Watching Over Israel” by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), from his oratorio Elijah. These two Psalm verses stand together in the oratorio to remind Elijah that, even if his call to repentance is disobeyed, the Lord is still with him to strengthen and him and to bless his preaching. Sung in an ordination service, this popular anthem reminds the congregation that the Chief Shepherd watches over them through their under-shepherd, the pastor.
Those who have sung this work appreciate the two against three dynamic through most of the work, with the orchestra playing triplets and the choir singing in duplets. The form is what one might call “vintage Mendelssohn”: An initial section (“A”) through “nor sleeps”; a second or “B” section starting at “Shouldst thou walking in grief”; and finally a masterful combination of the two sections (“AB” or “C”). Do the triplets pulsing throughout the work depict the Lord who never sleeps? The final combination of themes reminds the hearers of life under the cross, where they languish in the daily battle against temptation, but their watchful Lord never abandons them. The highly melismatic passage at the end of this chorus (starting at 2:50 in this recording) is a profound statement of penitent faith and musical beauty from a composer who died the same year as the founding of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and whose musical legacy is alive and well in our congregations.
An appropriate choral response to this reading is “He Watching Over Israel” by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), from his oratorio Elijah. These two Psalm verses stand together in the oratorio to remind Elijah that, even if his call to repentance is disobeyed, the Lord is still with him to strengthen and him and to bless his preaching. Sung in an ordination service, this popular anthem reminds the congregation that the Chief Shepherd watches over them through their under-shepherd, the pastor.
Those who have sung this work appreciate the two against three dynamic through most of the work, with the orchestra playing triplets and the choir singing in duplets. The form is what one might call “vintage Mendelssohn”: An initial section (“A”) through “nor sleeps”; a second or “B” section starting at “Shouldst thou walking in grief”; and finally a masterful combination of the two sections (“AB” or “C”). Do the triplets pulsing throughout the work depict the Lord who never sleeps? The final combination of themes reminds the hearers of life under the cross, where they languish in the daily battle against temptation, but their watchful Lord never abandons them. The highly melismatic passage at the end of this chorus (starting at 2:50 in this recording) is a profound statement of penitent faith and musical beauty from a composer who died the same year as the founding of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and whose musical legacy is alive and well in our congregations.
| | He watching over Israel slumbers not, nor sleeps. Shouldst thou walking in grief languish, He will quicken thee. – Psalm 121:4, 138:7 |
The common theme in these excerpts is the faithfulness witness of the prophets, apostles, and their successors to their Lord. The witnesses have nothing of their own to give. They do not shape the flock in their own image, but in the image of Christ. The Swedish Bishop Bo Giertz (1905–1998), perhaps best known for his novel, The Hammer of God, put it this way in a 1963 sermon for the ordination of two candidates for the ministerium:
| | You are My witnesses and I am God.” So the Lord says to both of you who stand before His altar today. He is God, who knows all. We can never marvel enough that He chose us and will have us as His witnesses. To give us certainty concerning this inconceivable thing, He gives us the outer, visible call to that which is invisible in the heart and confirms His will through this ordination that happens in His name. Here He says, “You are My witnesses, and I am God.” There we have only to say, “Here I am, Lord. As You want, Lord. Yes, Lord, as You will, in everything and at all times as You have said, as You determine, as You find best. Your will be done. Amen. -- Then Fell the Lord’s Fire: New Life in Ministry: Ordination Sermons and Essays on Pastoral Theology and Practice, p. 83 |
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