HYMN 339 We Said He Was The Christ/Lord Of All

St. Matthias‘ Day/Calling a pastor Text: Gracia Grindal Tune: Amanda Husberg We Said He Was the Christ 1. We said he was the Christ, And then he spoke to us, “I will be sacrificed And suffer on the cross. Then I will die, But in three days, I will be raised By God on high. 2. “How can this be?” we said, “We want you here with us! The Christ cannot be dead, Why talk about a cross? Don’t talk about Your flesh on wood, You are too good To die like that!” 3. The shadow of a cross Blocked out the morning sun. A pall spread over us, He said, “It will be done. For I must die So you can live. To you I give All that is mine.”
4. “If you would follow me, You must deny yourself. Take up your cross and see The road away from hell. For those who save Their lives will lose, But those who choose To die are safe.” 5. Lord, where you are is heav’n, And we will follow you. The life that you have giv’n For us makes all things new. You rose again And won for us. Upon the cross Eternal gain. Text © Copyright 2008, Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. Lord of All, You Know our Hearts/St. Matthias Day Text: Gracia Grindal Tune: James E. Clemens 1. Lord of all, you know our hearts, Show us now whom you have chosen. One who’s able to impart All the truth that can be spoken. You can see what we cannot, Every thought. 2. Like Matthias who had seen Jesus baptized in the river, Watched him die and rise again, Give us one who can deliver Living witness to each one Of your Son. 3. Lead and guide us as we choose One to lead us by your gospel, Preaching, teaching your good news So that we may grow and prosper. Show the love your Spirit sends Never ends. Text © Copyright 2015 Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. MEDITATION Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Christ and then suggested Jesus hold back on the crucifixion talk. This incurred the rebuke of Christ. Jesus heard in Peter's suggestion the voice of Satan and cried, “Get behind me, Satan!” In other words, "Follow me, don’t try to lead me; you are thinking from the human point of view, not the godly." Jesus then goes on to give the secret to the Christian life. “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, and the gospel’s will save it.” I wonder what Jesus’ saying means to us during the pandemic. We are fearful; we seem bent on saving our own lives so much so that nothing seems more important. Once again I think of the kids who more and more are expressing their hopelessness and fears in not being in school. What Jesus says may seem counter intuitive, and opposite of what we know, but if we think about it, it is true of almost everything. We all know people who have wanted something so much they have given up everything for it, and often in the end it has proven to have been an idol that brought only death. Once a student of mine on thinking about this, exclaimed, "When you think about it, we have a death grip on life!" It really has to do with what we worship. As Martin Luther noted in his Large Catechism , what we worship is our God and from that God we receive exactly what it can give. And as the Bible says over and over again, to worship something we have made with our hands from wood, silver or gold, is not only fruitless, but, on reflection, strange. Kierkegaard agreed with Feuerbach, the philosopher, who said that rather than believing we have been made in the image of God, we have made God in our image. When he went to church, he would hear sermons that featured a God who was far too much like us, rational, comfortable, easy to manage and convenient. Jesus came to save us from the death we are in love with. To save us from our idols, of course, we have to die to them and turn to the one who died for us. He does that to give us a better ending, life eternal. And at what expense! Martyrs quoted St. Paul as they went to their deaths, “For me to die is gain!” Philippians 1:21. That brings me to St. Matthias. When the apostles needed to replace Judas, their one requirement, Peter said, Acts 1, was that he had been with them from Jesus’ baptism “until he was taken up,” and a witness to the resurrection. They cast lots and it fell on Matthias. While having seen these things did not always produce a believer, which we know from the account of Jesus' Ascension in Matthew when there were still those who did not believe, having been witnesses who believed gave the apostles unusual conviction of the truth of what they confessed. Tradition has it that Matthias preached first in Judea, then in Cappadocia and in the cities by the Caspian Sea, now Georgia. The tradition says that he was stoned to death for his preaching and buried in Colchis. Other traditions say he died bringing the Gospel to Ethiopia. We do not know much except that having seen the death and resurrection of Jesus, he could lose his life for Jesus, because he had seen Jesus give his life for him and believed he would raise him up from the dead. Like all the apostles, nearly all of whom were martyred, it was a good exchange. HYMN INFO I wrote the first hymn not for this Sunday but one in the Pentecost season, but it fits exactly the text for next Sunday. I include the hymn on Matthias, whose day is February 24, as one that could be used for call committees looking to call a pastor or church worker. It is difficult to know the best person for a call. That is why prayer is such an important part of the search process. Singing or saying this hymn might help such a group to focus on what is crucial.
The first hymn can be sung to several tunes, Darwall’s 148th , but also Laus Regis . The second goes well with Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit, (Dayspring of Eternity .) WE SAID HE WAS THE CHRIST Darwall’s 148th Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis. https://youtu.be/yy5jpayriEQ Darwall 148th . Harp version https://youtu.be/uhONt9YPZYI LORD OF ALL YOU KNOW OUR HEARTS Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit
https://youtu.be/EeaGjEqbcxg Organ
https://youtu.be/beueIYmKSFA For permissions https://www.wayneleupold.com/index.php/hymn-search/