The Use Of The Word Of GodThe Use Of The Word Of God

The November, 2008, issue of this periodical, (Table Talk, Vol. 15, Num-ber 4) included an article titled, God's Word. That article spelled out in somedetail what God's Word (the Bible) is, and the uniqueness of that Word. As Confessional Lutherans, we make much of God's Word to us as wehave it in the pages of Holy Scripture, or as we generally refer to it, theBible. We, as the LMS-USA speak of the Bible in these words, "We believethe Bible is God’s Word and self-revelation to us, and as such, it is withouterror in all it touches, whenever and however it speaks whether in matters offaith, doctrine, history, geography, or science." All this is fine and good, butwhat use do we make of it? Is it sufficient that one believes that holding to a high view of Scripture isimportant? Is it enough that one belongs to a church that holds to a under-standing of Scripture such as that just quoted? Is it adequate that one makesa point of listening to sermons preached by someone who holds firmly to ahigh view of Scripture? .... or that one reads a devotional published by a pub-lisher who holds to a high view of Scripture? It is questions such as this that this issue of Table Talk wishes to address.The first article (page 2) addresses our Lord's use of Scripture. This, itwould seem, is a good place to start in that we, who wish to be followers ofChrist, are called to be imitators of Him. Paul challenges his readers,"Therefore be imitators of God..." (Eph. 5:1). In First Corinthians 11:1, hewords it this way, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." In the same vein,the Apostle John writes, "whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in thesame way in which he [Jesus] walked" (First John 2:6). And Peter also dealswith this same issue and speaks of Christ "leaving [us] an example, so that[we] should follow in his steps" (First Peter 2:21). The point being that theuse our Lord made of God's Word should be an example for us as to the usewe should be making of God's Word. The second article, beginning on page 5, has to do with Luther, whose lifeand work were central to our celebration last year of the 500th anniversary ofthe Reformation. He has been described as "a theologian of the Word."What does that mean for us, who claim to be following in his train, now inthe 21st century? And finally, on page 8 we come to where "the rubber meets the road."What about our use of the Word today.

TABLE TALKVol. 25 No. 1

Official Publication of the LMS-USA...these words... shall be upon your heart; you shallteach them... and talk of them... Deut. 6:6,7

February 2018

In this issue . . . Christ and His Bible . . . . . . . . . page 2 Luther: 'The Word Did Everything' . . . . . page 5 Our Use of God’s Word . . . . . . . . page 8 God's Word Is Our Great Heritage . . . . . page 11

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Christ and His Bibleby

Jacob Tanner

JESUS CHRIST AND THE BIBLE

The Old Testament books were theScriptures Jesus used. They were HisBible. Jesus knew His Bible. He wasthoroughly at home in it. He quotedthe Old Testament freely and at will,and frequently clothed His thoughtsin its words and phrases. This famil-iarity was a result of long carefulstudy. God-fearing parents among theJews began to instruct their childrenin the Scriptures at a very early age(Deut. 6:4-9). Father and mother toldthe stories of the patriarchs, Moses,Joshua, the judges, the kings, and theprophets as soon as the childrencould understand what the parentssaid. At the ages of four or five theycommenced a systematic memoriz-ing of the Scriptures. This memoriz-ing was continued in the synagogueschools. The result was that a giftedchild at the age of twelve or fourteenpractically had the Old Testamentstored away in his memory. If thatwas the case in ordinary pioushomes, we can understand with whatlove and zeal Mary, with the assis-tance of Joseph, took up this workwith her unusually gifted son. His study of the Old Testamentwas not a mere intellectual exercise.There He found food for His spiri-tual life. The Scriptures became Hisspiritual home. The Old Testament was the his-tory of His own people. And it was acaptivating history. The character ofthe leaders of the past and theirwork, battles, and sufferings forJehovah's cause were such as to fas-cinate any warm-blooded youth. Andit was the history of His Father’swork to prepare for His own coming.From the moment He became con-

scious of His relation to the Father,the Scriptures must have taken on anadded significance and been studiedwith new interest. Thus He penetrated deeper anddeeper into the Scriptures. There Hefound the material He needed for thedevelopment of His intellectual andspiritual life.

TO JESUS THE SCRIPTURESWERE GOD'S WORD

When the Jews accused Him ofblasphemy because He declaredHimself to be God's Son, He quotedthe 82nd Psalm, and declared it to beGod's word (John 10:22-39). Being God's word the Scriptureswere authoritative. Heaven and earthwill pass away but the law will notcome to an end until all things that itdeclares shall be accomplished.What the Scriptures say must be ful-filled for they are God's word (Matt.5:18; 26:24, 54).

HE APPLIED THE SCRIPTURES

TO HIMSELF

We have mentioned before thatJesus at the age of twelve was con-scious of a relation to God the Fatherthat was different from the relationof ordinary human beings. From thenon this consciousness must have in-creased in clearness until it was fullydeveloped at the time He took up Hiswork. Hand in hand with this devel-opment must have gone an increas-ing understanding of the work Hehad to do. In the Scriptures He foundHis work set forth. When He read in the synagogueat Nazareth the Messianic programIsaiah had outlined. He applied theprophet's word to Himself. He wasthe Messiah and it was His work the

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prophet had described (Luke 4:16-21). In the conversation with the twoon the Emmaus road He explainedthe Scriptures to them concerningHimself. In the Scriptures He hadfound the full program for His work(Luke 24:27).

EVEN THE DETAILS

Not only did He find the broadoutlines of His work in the Scrip-tures, but even the details. Malachi had foretold that therewould be the closest relation be-tween the Forerunner and Christ.When Jesus was ready to begin Hiswork He came to John to be baptizedof him "to fulfill all righteousness."In obedience to the plan God before-hand had made known, He con-nected His own work with that ofJohn (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:15). He now received the Holy Spiritin the measure needed for His work.While we are unable to explain thismystery, the first effect of the com-ing upon Him of the Holy Spiritgives us some light. He at once wentout into the wilderness where Hestayed forty days all by Himself. What did He do? Though the gos-pels tell only of the temptation at theend of the stay, it seems safe to saythat He now, in the light that theSpirit shed upon the message of theOld Testament, restudied His wholeprogram. At the end of the forty daysHis course was clear to Him even indetails. In His public ministry Hefollows a path that is chiseled clear-cut in His mind. When Jesus began to teach inparables, He seems to have done it inobedience to the prophecy of Isaiah.In His answer to the disciples He re-fers to this prophecy as being ful-filled by the results of His speakingin parables (Matt. 13:10-15). From the gloomy dungeon of theprison John the Baptizer sent his dis-ciples to Jesus asking Him whetheror not He was the coming Messiah.

In His answer Jesus refers them tothe details of the Messianic programas given by Isaiah. Jesus was doingjust what the prophet said He shoulddo Is. 35:5; 42:6-7; 61:1; Matt. 11:2-6). The Scriptures said that Messiahshould be betrayed by one of Hisclosest friends. In obedience Jesustolerated the betrayer in the circle ofHis nearest friends (Ps. 41:9; John13:18). Jesus even found the length ofHis stay in the grave foretold in theScriptures (Matt. 12:40). He came toearth to carry out the plan of salva-tion agreed upon in the eternal coun-cil of the triune God, and revealed inthe Old Testament. He was depen-dent upon the Scriptures for the planas well as the details. He must fulfillevery part of that plan. If Jesus Christ found it necessaryand and was willing to subject Him-self in obedience to the Scriptures, isit less necessary for us, and shouldwe be less willing to obey God'sword?

THE SCRIPTURES FURNISHEDHIM WITH ANSWERS TO THE

SPIRITUAL AND MORALPROBLEMS

We are unable adequately to tracethe process by which the Son of Manin the Scriptures found an answer toevery problem of life. However, thatHe had done so He himself makesevident. The Sabbath question was one ofthe ever-recurring problems. Howshould the Sabbath be observed?Had God given it to man as a bur-den, such as the Pharisees had madeit, or as a blessing? Jesus had the an-swer ready. He had found it in theScriptures. "Have ye not read?" Heasked His accusers. Then He toldthem what the Scriptures said, andthere was the answer (Matt. 12:1-8). The question of divorce, of dutyto parents, of the rank of the com-

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mandments, and all the other ques-tions He answered either by directlyquoting the scriptures or by statingtheir teachings in His own words(Mark 10:2-12; Matt. 15:3-6; 22:35-40). Once He asked His enemies aquestion that throws light on howJesus had studied the Scriptures. Thequestion was whose son Christ was.It must have been early in His lifethat Jesus had met the two facts inthe Scriptures, that Messiah was adescendant of David and that Davidcalled Him Lord. The Scripturesgave the answer, but the Scribes andPharisees had been unable to find it.Jesus, however, had gone to the bot-tom of the problem and found theanswer. Messiah was David's son be-cause He was born as a descendantof David. At the same time He wasDavid's Lord because He was alsoGod's Son (II Sam. 7:16; Ps. 2:7;Matt. 22:41-45).

HE FOUND COMFORT ANDSTRENGTH IN THE SCRIPTURES

Jesus constantly sought comfortand strength in communion with Hisheavenly Father to carry out His su-per-human task. The Scriptures werean all important factor throughwhich God gave Him such comfortand strength. We can see this in His many ref-erences to the Scripture when Hespoke of His sufferings and death. Itwas a comfort to Him and gave Himstrength that He was fulfilling theScriptures (Matt. 26:31, 54, 56; John13:18; 17:12). Especially on the cross did Jesuslive in the Old Testament and drawcomfort from its words. Of Hisseven words on the cross, two weredirect quotations from the Old Testa-ment. His first word is a fulfillmentof the description that Isaiah gives ofthe dying Messiah. The fifth word, "Ithirst," gives expression to thethought in Ps. 69:21. (Compare Ps.22:1 and Matt. 27:46; Ps. 31:5 and

Luke 2:46; Is 5:12 and Luke 22:37;Ps. 69:21 and John 19:28.) We can see how He in His lasthours lived in the Scriptures and howthey supported Him. It needs only tobe mentioned that what was so evi-dent in His dying moments musthave been His practice throughoutHis whole life.

THE SCRIPTURES WEREHIS WEAPON

In the mighty encounter in thewilderness between Jesus and theDevil, the Scriptures play an impor-tant role. Even the tempter finds itnecessary to use the Word of God.However, being a liar from the be-ginning he cannot use it in its truemeaning but must pervert it. There-fore, his use of the Scriptures doesnot help his cause when he meetsone who knows their true meaningand who with His whole heart livesin and is guided by them. All three times Jesus meets theattack of the tempter with the an-swer, "It is written." It is as if He inthis terrible hour feels it even morenecessary than ordinarily to plantHis feet on the solid rock of God'sword (Matt. 4:1-11) In order to understand the victori-ous power of the Scriptures as usedby Jesus, we must remember thatthis was not a battle of wits. It wasnot a test of who was most readywith quotations. What defeated theDevil was that the issue was a ques-tion of obedience. It was not only be-cause Jesus had ascertained the truemeaning of God's word, but also be-cause He unflinchingly obeyed theword, that the Scriptures in His handwere an irresistible weapon. For those who will not obey theword of God it is no power unto sal-vation. May we remember this whenwe read and study the word.From: Ten Studies in the Creed by Jacob Tan-ner; Augsburg Publishing House, Mpls. MN,1950. Used with permission.

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Luther: 'The Word Did Everything'By Erik Herrmann

Martin Luther is often describedas a theologian of the Word. One canunderstand this in several ways.First, Luther’s formal vocation was"doctor in Biblia"— a teacher andprofessor of the Bible. It was not anuncommon calling, yet Luther trans-formed his work at a small universityinto a platform for widespreadchurch reform and the reshaping ofChristian life and piety across Eu-rope. In the university, Luther broughtthe Bible into the center of theologi-cal instruction by changing the focusof the curriculum and, for the com-mon person, Luther produced hismagisterial German translation ofthe Bible. His work with the Biblebecame the touchstone for newforms of worship, hymns and cat-echisms, alongside a renewed appre-ciation for the sacredness of domes-tic life and the workplace. All of thiswas kindled by Luther’s profoundconviction that the Bible was theWord of God. Such a view was not in itself un-usual in his day. What was unusual,however, was his singular focus onthe Word as the source and goal ofthe Christian life. While the medi-eval church tended to focus its faithand piety on devotional and liturgi-cal ritual — both priestly and lay —Luther believed that the Church wasborn and sustained solely by theWord — preached, heard, read, sungand believed. As we rememberLuther and the Reformation 500years later, we do well to rememberclearly that the religious core of hiswork was his deep love and rever-ence for the Word of God. Luther’s concept of the Word ofGod permeated his entire theology; italways included the Bible, but it alsowas much more than this. For Luther,God’s Word was, first of all, the pri-

mordial Word of creation thatbrought into being all things fromnothing: “and God said, ‘Let therebe’ … and there was.” Yet this Wordof creation was not simply a thingfrom the ancient past but continuedto sound throughout the creation,sustaining, making new, making lifepossible without which no life could

be. Not just “God has made theheavens and the earth,” but “God hasmade me, my eyes and ears and allmy senses” (Small Catechism). Andit is this same creative Word that, in-comprehensibly, also became flesh(John 1:14). This means that the verylife and light of creation became in-separable from Jesus who embodiedand proclaimed this creative, Spirit-filled Word to a broken, dark andchaotic world. This was, for Luther,the primary sense of “the Word ofGod.” Jesus was a preacher; this wasnot accidental or incidental. It wasthe crucial core of how God dealswith his people:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

Luther translating the Bible

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because he has anointed me to pro-claim good news to the poor. He hassent me to proclaim liberty to thecaptives and recovering of sight tothe blind, to set at liberty those whoare oppressed, to proclaim the yearof the Lord’s favor.

(Luke 4:18-19; Is. 61:1-2 ESV).

Thus, when it came to the Bible,it too was the Word of God, but es-pecially because it was a witness tothis same Jesus. Through its re-corded histories, its laws, its poeticand prophetic utterances, and its ap-ostolic testimonies, the Bible is theWord that urges us onward towardChrist, or as Luther put it, “wasChristum treibet.” Thus, the OldTestament was like the “swaddlingcloths” of Christ,clothing God’sgreat plan of salva-tion with age-oldacts of judgmentand deliverance.The ancient peopledescribed thereinappear to us as akind of “mirror oflife,” indicating bytheir encounterswith God and HisWord the range ofresponses in bothfaith and unbelief.All of this wouldpoint to God’s de-finitive act of judg-ment and deliver-ance exhibited inthe death and resur-rection of Jesus. This Christ-centered view alsoholds for Luther’s understanding ofthe New Testament. For Luther theNew Testament is not so much abook, as we are accustomed to think— (I suppose we owe that to theprinting press as much as anything)— but it is first and foremost a di-vine promise. The New Testament isGod’s promise to save humankindfrom its own destructive path — apromise that stretches back to Eden

and runs through the lives of the pa-triarchs, prophets and kings until itsfulfillment arrives in Christ. Another word for promise is“covenant” or “testament,” andLuther especially latched on to thislast word. This promise is God’s“testament” — his last will and testa-ment, in fact (cf. Hebrews (9:16f.)— and in making it, God has setforth the scope of the whole redemp-tion of Christ: “For if God is to makea testament, as he promises, then hemust die; and if he is to die, then hemust be a man. And so, that littleword ‘testament’ is a short summaryof all God’s wonders and grace, ful-filled in Christ.”

At its heart,then, the NewTestament is notonly a set of writ-ings but God’sfaithful fulfillmentof a promise, adeclaration ofgrace, an an-nouncement ofgood news — thatGod has recon-ciled us in HisSon: “It is themanner of theNew Testamentand the Gospelthat it must bepreached and per-formed by wordof mouth and aliving voice.Christ Himself

has not written anything, nor has Heordered anything to be written, butrather to be preached by word ofmouth.” It is perhaps not surprising, then,that Luther’s dealings with the NewTestament books are largely in hissermons rather than lectures or com-mentaries. In the sermon, the livingvoice of the New Testament finds itshome, that is, in the faith of the onewho hears. The promise that was ful-

Christ Himself has not written any-thing, nor has He ordered anythingto be written, but rather to bepreached by word of mouth.

filled in Christ spills over and isfulfilled again and again in thehearts of those that believe. Con-sider this excerpt from Luther’sAdvent sermon in 1522: [Christ’s] taking upon himselfof humanity would have profitedno one had it not meant the proc-lamation of the Gospel. The Gos-pel was to present him to thewhole world, revealing the factthat he became man for the sakeof imparting the blessing to allwho, accepting the Gospel, shouldbelieve in him. Paul tells us theGospel was promised of God;from which we may infer Godplaced more emphasis upon theGospel, the public revelation ofChrist through the Word, thanupon his physical birth, his adventin human form. God’s purposewas concerning the Gospel andour faith, and he permitted hisSon to assume humanity for thesake of making possible thepreaching of the Gospel of Christ;that through the revealed Wordsalvation in Christ might bebrought near — might come — toall the world. … How can Christprofit us unless he be embracedby faith? But how can he be em-braced by faith where the Gospelis not preached? Preaching, then — when itrightly proclaims Christ — is ev-ery bit as much the Word of Godas the Bible or that which broughtthe world into existence. Throughthe proclamation of the Word —whether publicly by a pastor or byany brother or sister baptized intoChrist — God continues to de-stroy our presumptions, idols andfalse pieties in order to create newhearts that cling to “the one thingneedful” (Luke 10:42). Throughhearing the Word, we are broughtto repentance, receive forgivenessand find reconciliation to God inChrist and with one another. Even

the Sacraments are such a procla-mation of the Word, bringing thefaithful into a new world and newkingdom in which the Savior’ssupper and story are celebrateduntil He comes again. For all of Luther’s lofty lan-guage about the Word, he alsocelebrated the lowly, quotidian,even fragile means through whichGod’s Word comes to us. The“swaddling cloths” mentionedabove are “shabby and poor, yetprecious is the treasure wrappedin them for it is Christ.” Thepreacher, too, is just one sinneramong many — a clay vessel car-rying this same treasure. God’sWord takes up no uniquely divinelanguage, but clothes itself inwhat seems all too human and toofoolish to accomplish such greatthings. Nevertheless, both prophetand apostle profess the same: theWord of God endures forever. As we commemorate Lutherand the Reformation, there ismuch to remember and celebrate.But nothing gives us greater causefor confidence, humility or grati-tude, than the life God gives us byHis Word. What is Luther? The teachingis not mine. Nor was I crucifiedfor anyone … How did I, poorstinking bag of maggots that I am,come to the point where peoplecall the children of Christ by myevil name? … I simply taught,preached, wrote God’s Word; oth-erwise I did nothing. And while Islept, or drank Wittenberg beerwith my friends Philip andAmsdorf, the Word so greatlyweakened the papacy that noprince or emperor ever inflictedsuch losses upon it. I did nothing;the Word did everything.

Reprinted with permission ofConcordia Seminary, St. Louis.https://www.csl.edu/2017/03/luther-the-word-did-everything/

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Our Use of God’s Word Rev. John Erickson

As to following the example ofChrist with regard to God’s Word, itseems that Paul’s admonition to theColossian Christians says it well.“Let the word of Christ dwell in yourichly” (Col. 3:16a). To dwell means to “feel athome.” One commentator writes,“The word ‘dwell’ means to keephouse. We should live in the Wordof God like we live in our homes.We are familiar with our homewhere all the closets are, where wehave items stored. We must thor-oughly acquaint ourselves with theWord. The Word should become sofamiliar to us that we know it likethe back of our hand. The idea is tolet the Word of God dwell inside andlive at home in our lives. The Wordof God needs to inhabit us. This ismore than just reading the Bible.God wants us to let the peace ofChrist rule in our hearts (Col 3:15)and the Word of Christ dwell in ourhearts.” [Grant Richison]. Therefore it would seem Paul’sdesire for his readers was that themessage of God’s Word… that themessage of the Bible… would filltheir lives… would infuse their verybeing, and thus be the motivation fortheir living. Paul did, and he wouldwant us also, to have a relationshipwith God’s Word such that we feelat home with it, and it with us. As a little aside - Paul has it, “letthe Word of Christ…” As I under-stand it, this is the only time thephrase “the Word of Christ” is foundin the New Testament. The more

common way of phrasing the idea ofthe Bible is “the Word of the Lord”or “the Word of God.” In connec-tion with this, John Gill writes in hiscommentary, “The Alexandrian copyand Arabic version read, ‘the Wordof God’; by which may be meant thewhole Scripture, all the writings ofthe Old and New Testament, whichare by inspiration of God, were ed-ited by the spirit of Christ, speak andtestify of Him, and were written forHis sake, and on His account, andtherefore may be called His Word.” Paul would have the Bible to beat the very heart of our existence. Ifthis is going to happen, then we musthave contact with the Bible, and thatcontact must, as far as it is possible,be direct not second hand contact. Not this is what so-and-so said theBible said, but this is what the Biblesays. In other words, if we are goingto truly know the message of theBible, we need to be in the Bibleourselves. We need to read theBible. I remember reading some yearsago that the Bible can be read, atpulpit speed, in about 80 hours. Theother day I came across the follow-ing. “Did you know that half of thebooks of the Bible can be read in lessthan 45 minutes each, and many ofthem in less than 20? It has beendemonstrated that the entire Old andNew Testaments can be read aloudin less than 71 hours. Do you realizethat this means that in less that fif-teen minutes a day we could read theBible cover to cover in under ayear?”

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But of course there is more in-volved than merely ‘reading’ theBible, or in merely ‘listening’ to theBible being read. It is also the casethat the message of Scripture be un-derstood. Now this does not mean itis wrong to read a portion of Scrip-ture while not understanding it. Butit is wrong to read and not want tounderstand what is being read… orworse yet… to read and refuse totake to heart what is read. Any stu-dent of the Bible soon learns that themeaning of a portion of Scripture ora teaching of Scripture can ‘laythere’ for a time, maybe even foryears, and not really make sense. And then… all of a sudden… oneday… it takes on meaning. And onemight wonder why it was not under-stood for a long time previous. ButGod very often gives to his childrenwhat they need to know, exactlywhen they need to know it. When it comes to Scripture, as istrue in any relationship, we need tobe involved in active listening. Weneed to make sure we are readingand hearing correctly. We need tointeract with the Word to make surewe are understanding what is beingsaid. And we need to apply what isread practically. It was Mark Twainwho said, “Most people are botheredwith those passages of Scripturewhich they cannot understand; but asfor me, I have always noticed thatthe passages in Scripture whichtrouble me most are those which I dounderstand.” He had it right. TheBible doesn’t teach concerning for-giveness so that we might discussthe subject. It teachs about forgive-ness so that we seek to be forgiven,and so that we will forgive. TheWord is dwelling within us richlywhen it makes for some difference inour lives… when our lives are ef-fected as a result of our taking itsmessage into our hearts and minds.. Something else that is importanthere is the Apostle’s use of the littleword “let.” “Let the word ofChrist…” It seems clear from this

that the “word of Christ” is avail-able, ready, and waiting for us.Christ desires, and is willing, thatHis "word" should dwell in us. When our Lord was on the Mountof Transfiguration, and when, on thatoccasion, Moses and Elijah had dis-appeared from their sight so that Pe-ter, James, and John were left alonewith their Lord, they heard a voicefrom heaven, “This is My Son, listento Him.” The admonition fromheaven was that the disciples were tolisten with their ears and take whatwas heard into their hearts andminds. Paul here admonishes thesame… namely, that his readerswould take the teachings of Scrip-ture, and especially the gospel, intotheir very persons. And how werethey to do this? They were to do soby means of faith. “For good newscame to us just as to them; but themessage which they heard did notbenefit them, because it did not meetwith faith in the hearers” (Heb. 4:2).Without faith a person may indeedhear, but it will be to no avail, i.e.,the Word will not be made effica-cious. It is possible for the Word to en-ter into one’s life as a stranger andnot abide. It can enter, but if notcomprehended, it does not en-lighten. John states it this way in hisGospel, “The light shines in thedarkness, but the darkness has notunderstood it” (1:5). Paul speaks ofthis in his Second Letter to theCorinthians (4:4), “The god of thisage has blinded the minds of unbe-lievers, so that they cannot see thelight of the gospel of the glory ofChrist, who is the image of God.”Another example of this would bethe experience of King Herod, in lis-tening to the Word as spoken byJohn the Baptist, “he liked to listento him” (Mk. 6:20). There is little question but thatGrant Richison, who I referred toearlier, is right when he commentshow that some “treat the Word ofGod like a rabbit’s foot or charm, but

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we cannot use the Bible that way. We cannot rub the Bible on wartsand they disappear. We cannot flipthe pages of the Bible and blindlyput our finger on a verse and claimit. The Bible is no prayer wheel ormagic book. We must systemati-cally study the Bible and memorizepertinent verses to deal with weakareas of our Christian life.” Paul’s hope was that the Word ofGod might be carefully, thoroughly,and earnestly searched… willinglyand joyfully received… carefullyheeded. Scripture itself speaks as tothe use we should make of it: Deut. 6:6 - “…these words which Icommand you this day shall be uponyour heart.”Joshua 1:8 - “This book of the lawshall not depart out of your mouth,but you shall meditate on it day andnight, that you may be careful to doaccording to all that is written in it;for then you shall make your wayprosperous, and then you shall havegood success.Ps. 1:1-2 - Blessed is the man…

[whose] delight is in the law ofthe LORD, and on his law he medi-tates day and night.

John 20:31 - “…but these are written

that you may believe that Jesus isthe Christ, the Son of God, andthat believing you may have lifein his name.

Acts 17:11 - Now these Jews weremore noble than those inThessalonica, for they receivedthe word with all eagerness, ex-amining the scriptures daily to seeif these things were so.

2 Tim 3:16 - “…and how from child-hood you have been acquaintedwith the sacred writings which areable to instruct you for salvationthrough faith in Christ Jesus.

The Collect for the Word that is usedin many of our churches speaks tothis very thing.

“Blessed Lord, You have causedall Holy Scripture to be written forour learning. Grant that we may sohear them, read, mark, learn, andinwardly digest them, that by thepatience and comfort of Your holyWord, we may embrace and everhold fast the blessed hope of ever-lasting life which You hast givenus in our Savior Jesus Christ, wholives and reigns with You and theHoly Spirit, ever one God, worldwithout end. Amen.”

The Annual Gathering of the LMSwill be held June 9 and 10

atChrist Lutheran Church

Chetek, WI

For information contact Rev. Tylan Dalrymple - 715-924-2552

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God's Word is Our Great Heritage God's Word Is Our Great Heritage was written in 1817 by Danish Pastor,N. F. S. Grundtvig. Grundtvig's understanding of the Word paralleled that ofLuther. Luther said, "...while printed words are dead, spoken words are liv-

ing; on the printed page they are not so forcibleas when uttered by the soul of man through themouth." [Graves, Frank Pierrepont: A History OfEducation During The Middle Ages And TheTranslation To Modern Times; The MacmillanCo., 1919, p. 187]. This speaks to the understand-ing of the Word and the Church held by bothmen. For them, the Church was not merely some-thing built on a written book (the Bible). Rather itwas built on a Living... Preached... Confessed...Sacramental Word that is drawn from the Scrip-tural Word. This means the Word of God issomething that is alive... is spoken... and is sung. Grundtvig was a prolific hymn writer. His"strongest hymns are those that deal with theChurch and the sacraments. The divine character

of the Church is continuallystressed, for Christ not onlyfounded it, but, as the Living Word,He is present in it and in the sacra-ments to the end of time. "Built on aRock, the Church doth stand" isprobably his most famous hymn.[Ryden, E. F.: The Story of Chris-tian Hymnody; Fortress Press, p.216]. Grundtvig wrote God's Word IsOur Great Heritage, as the 5th verseto Martin Luther's, A Mighty For-tress Is Our God. The hymn wastranslated into English by OleGulbrand Belsheim in 1909. In 1916,Friedrich Otto Reuter, then a professor at Dr. Martin Luther College, put thehymn to a tune of his creation. While a number of hymnals use Reuter's ar-rangement, others have carried over Grundtvig's original setting of the hymnto Luther's EIN' FESTE BURG.

God's Word is our great heritageAnd shall be ours forever;

To spread its light from age to ageShall be our chief endeavor.

Through life it guides our way,In death it is our stay.

Lord, grant while worlds endure,Throughout all generations.

N. F. S. Grundtvig1783-1872

Luther's EIN' FESTE BURG

To:

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gelic

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so a

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for

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con

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For

info

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rite

:

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Syno

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