Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Oct/79

Contributor - Herman Mulder

Title - The Growth of sacred Music: Part XII: "Martin Luther, Revisited

Topic - Music

A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great; And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.

Martin Luther (1529)

Some time ago I wrote about Martin Luther and the Reformation. I find it very appropriate to deal with the topic of Martin Luther in this Thanksgivings' Issue of the Pioneer. This summer, my wife and I had the pleasure of traveling through The Netherlands and Germany. While in Germany we visited the famous city of Worms on the Rhine. In Worms stands the beautiful Reformation Memorial Church and the bigger-than-life Martin Luther memorial. It was in Worms that Dr. Martin Luther stood before the Emperor and the Imperium on the 17th and 18th of April in 1521.

We spent two weeks touring the Rhine Valley. When I saw the name Worms appear on the road signs, I knew that we would have to stop there, to pay homage to Luther as it were.

The Protestant churches owe a great deal to Luther. First of all the fact that he caused us to be; second of all that Luther considered music to be the life blood of the Reformation and ultimately the church. "I wish", he wrote "to make ... psalms for the people, that is to say sacred hymns, so that the word of God may dwell among the people also by means of song." It is the fact that Luther chose to have music in his church that I wish to give thanks. Music is the universal language enabling all Christians to once again speak one tongue and praise their Lord simultaneously.

Upon entering Trinity Church, the Reformation Memorial Church, one was faced with a multitude of stained glass windows depicting the entire Apostles' Creed, the creation of the earth, and the life of Christ on earth. At the back of the church, beneath the enormous organ was a mosaic of Luther's trial. it illustrates the Emperor Charles V, officials, and Luther during the pronouncing of the sentence. To indicate that Luther's stand is not due to human obstinacy, but due to divine revelation, the artist has depicted a ray of light that stands above Luther's figure. We stood in awe as we shared the same "living space" as Luther did so many years ago.

Later that day we visited the Luther Memorial. Here, in a huge city park, Luther stands among his reformation contemporaries Luther was flanked by four Pre-Reformers, Petrus Waldus, John

Wycliffe, John Hus, and Girolamo Savonarola.

Quite close to the Trinity Church is the little Luther Gate through which - as the legend goes - Luther is supposed to have left Worms.

At Worms, Pfiffligheim we find the stump of the Luther Tree. An old legend says that at the time of the Luther Diet a woman, who in an argument with her neighbour defended Luther's teaching, planted a withered branch of an elm tree into the earth with the words: "As true as this barren branch will thrive and grow into a tree, is Luther's teaching true also." The branch grew green leaves and eventually grew into the large Luther tree which could be seen from afar.

At Thanksgiving we recognize that the Lord has been truly generous with us. We thank Him for our bountiful crops and His continuous blessings. I forever praise our Lord for the music which he gave to us. Surely composers like Bach and Handel must have been apprentices for the Heavenly Choirs which awaited them.

On this Thanksgiving Sunday praise God for the beautiful music - the music which enables us to praise Him simultaneously in all languages around the world.

The Day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended, The darkness falls at Thy behest; To Thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall hallow now our rest.

As o'er each continent and island The dawn leads on another day, The voice of prayer is never silent, Nor dies the strain of Praise away.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never, Like earth's proud empires, pass away; Thy Kingdom stands, and grows forever, Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

Written in 1870

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