Happy New Year!

Bill Monroe - Rawhide

Eve of the Name of Jesus: "He took the curse of the law upon himself."

What does Christ do when He, though Lord of the Law, freely subjects Himself to circumcision? Paul says in galatians 5:3: “I testify to you that every one who allows himself to be circumcised is obliged to keep the whole law” [Luther Bibel]. Accordingly, the circumcision of Christ has the important significance for us that He thereby subjected Himself to the judgment of the Law. That means He took the curse of the Law upon Himself. He fulfilled for us the entire Law in the most perfect obedience of love. For us He received the wages of sin. He received our death and curse along with all distress and misery, which the Law casts upon the sinner and transgressor for time and eternity.

These drops of blood that the dear child Jesus sheds here at His circumcision are, as it

were, the earnest money, the down payment, which our guarantor lays down against the

judgment of god. Through it He pledges to pay the entire debt. As a real guarantor, He

pledges to accomplish all this for us so that a thorough peace between us and god and His

Law be established.

This was completed on the cross by His death. His life was a sin offering given for the

sins of the lost children of Adam. His precious blood paid the full ransom and purchased

us back from the curse of the Law. The Law can now no longer threaten you [with the

phrase]: “Perfect obedience or death!” So you are redeemed from sin, death, and devil. The

righteousness of god is absolutely fulfilled. He is now a reconciled Father, who, for the

sake of Christ, forgives us our sins, receives us again as His children, and will give to us life

and salvation. to this end, through the Holy Spirit, He grants repentance in faith that we

become righteous and holy before god.

Do you see what Christ’s circumcision means! You have to admit it is of the highest

importance and blessing for a lost sinner. Here the fearful yoke and the unbearable weight

of the Law, with its unfulfillable demands and awful curses, was taken from your shoulders

and laid upon this beloved little child. With great pains, the down payment for you was

made with His drops of blood. He pledged Himself to pay your entire, great, horrible

guilt. He freely relieved you of this burden. Moreover, through this guarantor and this

deed, He obtained forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Now what is the significance of the name Jesus for us? The angel who appeared to her

already proclaimed to Mary that she should call the newborn child “Jesus.” Later an angel

also appeared to Joseph in a dream. He commanded him to take Mary as his wife and to

call the little child to be born, conceived of the Holy Spirit, “Jesus,” for He would save

His people from their sins. At the circumcision, Christ began the work of redemption and

salvation. Here this name was publicly given Him.

Friedrich Wyneken, A Sermon of Consolation on New Year's Eve

At Home in the House of My Fathers, CPH 2011

The House Where Luther Used To Die.

That's right. These are photos I took a few weeks ago in Eisleben. The church is St. Andrews, where Luther preached his last sermon before ending early and complaining of chest pain. The house under construction is what has been regarded for more than a century as Luther's "Death House." We were informed by a local expert however, that conclusive evidence has been discovered which indicates Luther actually died a block down the street. Seems the authorities got it wrong a century or more ago when this home was refurbished as the Death House.

Oh well, as I quipped to friends, "Luther used to die here, but now he's dieing down the street."

Pastor H.

Nihil plus ultra - More photos of the place of CFW's Youth

C.F.W. Walther was very familiar with this barn, built next to the parsonage ca. 1760. M.H.

And still more photos of the place of CFW Walther's Youth

Even More Photos of Obscure German Places: Langenchursdorf

Photos of Obscure German Places - Langenchursdorf: Home of CFW Walther

Took these shots in the first part of December 2011. The founder of the LCMS, Dr. CFW Walther was born in this little Saxon village in 1811. The church and buildings (parish hall and barn) except for the "new" Parsonage (built in the 1840s! on the same spot as the original) CFW was very familiar with all the buildings. Walther's father and grandfather (and brother Otto Hermann) were all pastors in this little village. The current pastor, Pfarrer Stroebel, is a nice guy and well aware of the connection to the LCMS.

Pastor H.

More from the Wartburg Castle

I really love "IPhoto." It's amazing that an underexposed picture can be enhanced in a magnificent piece.

The mosaics from this part of the Wartburg Castle were done in the 19th century.

Matt H.

A window in the Wartburg Castle

St. Paul's in Leipzig Rebuilt

A Leipziger recently told me that the destruction of St. Paul's Church in 1968 by the DDR government was the darkest day in the history of the city. A high ranking communist official noticed rather heavy student traffic and inquired about it. The students were attending church at St. Paul's. Thus the ancient church was destroyed to make room for "improvements" at the university (another communist box-monstrosity). Thousands protested and were incarcerated, some spending years in prison. The church where Bach performed, Luther and Harless preached and so much more happened, has now been rebuilt. I took the bottom photo a few weeks ago.

P.H.

The Paulinerkirche was a church on the Augustusplatz in Leipzig, named after the "Pauliner", its originalDominican friars. It was built in 1231 as the Klosterkirche St. Pauli for the Dominican monastery in Leipzig. From the foundation of the University of Leipzig in 1409, it served as the university church. After theProtestant Reformation it was donated to the university and was inaugurated in 1545 by Martin Luther as theUniversitätskirche St. Pauli (University Church of St Paul), later also called Unikirche. Johann Sebastian Bach and Max Reger were among its directors of music.

The church survived the war practically unscathed but was dynamited in 1968 during the communist regime ofEast Germany. It was not rebuilt. Instead, a new university church was built on the site in the shape of the former church and inaugurated in 2009, for the 600th anniversary of the university. For the full Wiki story click HERE.

The New LCMS Publicity Campaign

Mom and I Enjoying Germany

I was delighted to have my mom along on our recent Germany tour.

Finally a little time for car repair

My brother-in-law came by today and put new front break pads on the car. I had some time to replace a couple of burned out bulbs a couple of broken parts. I love fiddling with the car but haven't had the time. Last spring I bought a 2001 Mercedes with 100,000 miles but looks like new inside and out. GREAT car!

Pastor H

A Musical Gift for Christmas from Matt Harrison

Joy to the World - Aretha

Jazz Christmas

The First LCMS - NALC Dialogue

The Decisive Battle of the Smalcald War

On our recent German trip we stopped at a site I'd not seen previously. This is the monument near Falkenberg, Germany. It reads, "The decisive battle of the Smalcald War, on the evening of April 24, 1547."

The battle ensued at Muehlberg, about 10 miles south. It was Sunday morning. The Imperial troops attacked while the Lutherans were having the divine service, rushing across the Elbe River. The Lutherans retreated. As they were streaming across the field behind this monument, they came to a narrow road into the forest. The retreat was slowed by the bottleneck, and 3000 Lutheran troops were slaughtered. John Frederick was pursued still further north and apprehended after being injured (note the scar). For more on the Smalcaldic League click here. M.H.

(The following is from Thebookofconcord.org).

The Smalcald War, so called because it was directed against the Smalcald League, was easily won by the Emperor. Among the causes of this unfortunate issue were the neutral attitude of Joachim II of Brandenburg and of other Lutheran princes, and especially the treachery of the ambitious and unscrupulous Maurice, Duke of Saxony and nephew of Elector John Frederick of Saxony, who, in order to gain the Electorate of Saxony, had made a secret agreement with the Emperor according to which he was to join his forces with those of the Emperor against the Lutherans. The decisive battle was fought at Muehlberg on the Elbe,April 24, 1547. It proved to be a crushing defeat for the Protestants.The Elector himself was taken captive, treated as a rebel, and sentenced to death. The sentence was read to him while he was playing chess with his fellow-captive, Duke Ernest of Lueneburg. John Frederick answered, he did not believe that the Emperor would deal so severely with him; if, however, he were in earnest, they should let him know that he might order his affairs with his wife and children. He then calmly turned to the Duke, saying: "Let us continue the game; it's your move." (Jaekel, G. d. Ref. l, 114.) The day after the battle at Muehlberg, Torgau fell into the hands of the Emperor; and when he threatened to execute the Elector, having already erected a scaffold for this purpose,Wittenberg, too, though well protected by 5,000 soldiers, signed a capitulation on May 19, in order to save the Elector's life. On the 23d ofMay,Wittenberg was occupied by the Emperor.Here Charles, when standing at the grave of Luther, and urged to have the body of "the heretic" exhumed, spoke the memorable words that he was warring not with the dead, but with the living. The death-sentence was rescinded, but, apart from other cruel conditions forced upon the Elector, he was compelled to resign in favor of Maurice and promise to remain in captivity as long as the Emperor should desire. His sons were granted the districts of Weimar, Jena, Eisenach, and Gotha. Philip of Hesse surrendered without striking a blow, and was likewise treacherously held in captivity and humiliated in every possible way by the Emperor. The imperial plenipotentiaries had assured the Landgrave that he would not be imprisoned. Afterwards, however, the words in the document, "not any bodily captivity - nit eenige Leibesgefangenschaft," were fraudulently changed by Granvella to read, "not eternal captivity-nit ewige Leibesgefangenschaft" (Marheineke, G. d. Deut. Ref. 4, 438.) The sons of the Landgrave remained in possession of his territory. Thus all of Southern and, barring a few cities, also all of Northern Germany was conquered by Charles. Everywhere the Lutherans were at the tender mercy of the Emperor,whose undisputed power struck terror into all Germany.

Sasse: "A Single illness threatens the Lutheran Churches of the World."

The letters, which at Christmas time came from various areas of the Lutheran Church of Europe and America, from territorial and free churches, large and small churches, spoke without exception of the deep inner distress of the churches. They spoke of distressing matters scarcely found in the church papers, matters of which one can not speak publicly at all, or only in a very limited way. But all these voices give one who resides at a place on the earth outside Europe and America the impression that a single illness threatens the Lutheran Churches of the world. It is the very secularization of the church itself.

If 25 years ago the secularization of culture was recognized as the great illness of the time, then it is soberly to be asserted today that secularism is now the illness of the church. It is gripping to see that, in order to fulfill the missiological goal of calling the peoples of the west back to the Christian faith, the church itself must first be turned back to this faith. “Sweden’s people are God’ people.” That was the solution a generation ago. Today the question is to what extent the Church of Sweden is still the church of God? And so it is in all nations.

Great missionary endeavors and evangelization efforts will still be carried out, but it is precisely the most serious evangelists who are coming to the conviction that the gospel preaching church must be the first object of their evangelization. This understanding was already once given as a gift to German evangelical churchdom. The consequence of the theology of Karl Barth in the time of his great influence in the first half of the 1930’s was based upon this recognition. That was the meaning of his struggle against Otto Dibelius [1880-1967] and his “Century of the Church.” That was the most profound power of the “Confessing Churches” of all persuasions in Germany, however they may have differed from each other as Lutherans, Reformed, or United [Churches]. That was really the renewal of the Reformation; for Reformation is indeed the repentance of the church. The end of this repentance meant the end of the “Confessing Church.” What then followed was mere restoration. Every revolution ends with collapse and the convulsive efforts to restore everything to what it was before. That is an inborn propensity of natural man. From the far southern and eastern portion of the world, one has the impression that the Japanese people have been struck at the very core of their existence in a more profound way, and that there are more penitent men, men who have heard the New Testament summons to repentance, than among us Germans. One need simply glance at Lilje’s[1] “Sunday Paper” [Sonntagsblatt] or the propaganda paper broadcast throughout the world, “Christ and World” [Christ und Welt] with the following in mind: What remains here of the Stuttgart confession of guilt which was at least true in 1945?

Where the church, however, loses and surrenders the authority to preach repentance, neither can she preach justification. There she loses the Gospel. There she does not experience that repentance which makes the church the church of Christ. There she can still proclaim a Christian worldview; she can train scholars and workers, doctors and philosophers, engineers and journalists at evangelical academies. There her theologians can still proclaim a theory of the forgiveness of sins, but she no longer has the authority to call sinners to repentance. Karl Holl once made an excellent statement regarding the sermons of Schleiermacher from the years after the collapse of Prussia: “One gets the impression that Schleiermacher too perceived the deepening of the understanding of sin in the sense of strict Christianity at that time as a certain hindrance to the necessary ascendance of the father land” (Ges. Aufsatze [Umlaut over “a”] III, p. 357). That is Prussian Christianity, the Christianity of the “German Christians” and their kindred spirits in all nations of the earth: One reckons one’s own sins against those of others, and quickly forgets his own. But God forgets not. He forgives, but only the truly repentant.

Nowhere is the secularization of the Lutheran Church more visible than in the loss of her confessional conscience. In these letters we have often recounted that and why the Lutheran Church is a confessional church kat exochen [i.e. in the proper sense of the term]. The confession means for her more than it does for the Reformed, indeed, in many respect even more than for the [Roman] Catholics. The Reformed Churches can survive if the confession is relativized, when it is stated: “We do not know precisely whether next Sunday we will continue to interpret Scripture in the way we do today.” Catholicism actually celebrates a triumph when a dogma is proclaimed by the pope, the correctness of which is doubted by many of the best Catholics and which they then in worthy obedience accept, though they themselves know that the proof of tradition is defective and therefore doubtful. Both these groups [Reformed and Roman] lack that ultimate seriousness regarding the question of truth, which was the proprium [the essential point] of the Lutheran Reformation. We Lutherans are quite happy to boast about this virtue, but perhaps no longer with justification, just as the Swiss still boast of the bravery which their fathers showed on the battle fields of Europe centuries ago. Indeed, the church does not live on from the faith of the fathers. The confession can have a purely historical significance like the flags and uniforms of Hannover. If it is correct that the confessio, the confession of the faith, is indissolubly connected with confessio in the sense of the confession of sin and of the praise of God, is not then our lack of repentance and our lack of joyful praise of God in newer hymns a notable parallel to the regression of the dogmatic confession [of the faith]? Allow me to cite the following sentence from the Christmas letter of an American friend as an illustration of this state of affairs:

I am afraid we have come to a point in American Lutheranism where we no longer dare discuss controversial doctrines. There is a deep concern in all hearts for outward unity, but with that there often goes, as you know, doctrinal differences (read “indifference”) and even compromise on truth. The concern for truth has lost its power in our country, not least because of the philosophy of government and the corruption in government that we have seen for the last two decades. It reaches all the way down into the church because the young people are educated into this kind of a philosophy. God help us to be fearless in our presentation of the truth and in our battle against falsehood.[2]

Thus the great secularization process, which is today passing through all churches, affects in Lutheranism a troubling regression of confessional consciousness and with this also of dogmatic substance.

Sasse, Letters to Lutheran Pastors XXII, 1952

---

[1] Hans Lilje, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, Council of the EKiD, leading bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany or VELKD, president of the LWF 1952-1957. RGG3 IV.378. MH

[2] Probably Herman Amberg Preus of Luther Seminary, St.Paul. Uncle of Robert and J.A.O. MH

So do you think there was a problem with sermon length?

On my recent visit to Torgau, including the church where Katie Luther is buried, I noted this interesting hour glass contraption on the (what appears to be 17th century) pulpit. So... do you suppose there was a problem with sermon length by the pastor of this church once upon a time?

Pastor H.

Bach's Coffee Cantata

So I was walking around Leipzig last week and found the former location of Zimmermann's Coffee House where Bach's "Coffee Cantata" was performed. The Cantata is a whimsical piece in which a father finally fails to make any progress in relieving his daughter of her coffee addiction, a new fad in 18th century Germany.

This coffee addict enjoys it tremendously

Matt H.

Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering) (aka The Coffee Cantata) (BWV 211) is a secular cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bachbetween 1732 and 1734. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic opera.

In a satirical commentary, the cantata amusingly tells of an addiction to coffee, a pressing social problem in eighteenth century Leipzig, where this work was premiered.

The cantata's libretto (written by Christian Friedrich Henrici) features lines such as "If I can't drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment, I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat"—a sentiment that would likely have been appreciated by the patrons of Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig, where Bach's Collegium Musicum, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1702, would have originally performed the work.

Bach wrote no operas: the cantata was written for concert performance^[1], but is frequently performed today fully staged with costumes.

Contents [hide] 1 Roles 2 Movements 3 Recordings 4 References 5 External links

[edit]Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 1734
The Narrator	tenor
Schlendrian, (literally Stick in the Mud)	baritone
Lieschen, daughter of Schlendrian	soprano

[edit]Movements

Movement	Title	Characters	Synopsis
1	Recitativo: Schweigt stille	Narrator	The narrator tells the audience to quiet down and pay attention, before introducing Schlendrian and Lieschen.
2	Aria: Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern	Schlendrian	Schlendrian sings in disgust of how his daughter refuses to listen to him, even after telling her 1,000 times.
3	Recitativo: Du böses Kind	Schlendrian and Lieschen	Schlendrian asks his daughter again to stop drinking coffee, Lieschen defiantly tells her father to calm down.
4	Aria: Ei! Wie schmeckt der Kaffee süße	Lieschen	Lieschen sings a love song to her coffee
5	Recitativo: Wenn du mir nicht den Kaffee läßt	Schlendrian and Lieschen	Schlendrian starts giving ultimatums to his daughter, threatening to take away her meals, clothes, and other pleasures. Lieschen doesn't seem to care.
6	Aria: Mädchen, die von harten Sinnen	Schlendrian	In this sung monologue, Schlendrian tries to figure out what his daughter's weak spot is, so she absolutely couldn't want to drink coffee again.
7	Recitativo: Nun folge, was dein Vater spricht!	Schlendrian and Lieschen	Schlendrian threatens to prevent his daughter from marrying if she fails to give up coffee, Lieschen has a sudden change of heart.
8	Aria: Heute noch, lieber Vater	Lieschen	Lieschen thanks her father for offering to find her a husband, and vows to give up coffee if she can have a lover instead.
9	Recitativo: Nun geht und sucht der alte Schlendrian	Narrator	The narrator states that while Schlendrian goes out to find a husband for his daughter, Lieschen secretly tells potential suitors that they must let her drink her coffee if they care to marry her.
10	Trio: Die Katze läßt das Mausen nicht	Tutti	All three characters sing the moral of the story, "drinking coffee is natural".

JS Bach's

Coffee Cantata

Libretto by

Christian Friedrich Henrici

Cantata BMV211

wav:229Kb

Composed for perfomance by Bach's Collegium at Zimmerman's Coffee House,
Leipzip, between 1732 & 1734

Recitative Narrator Be quiet, stop chattering, and pay attention to what's taking place: here comes Herr Schlendrian with his daughter Lieschen; he's growling like a honey bear. Hear for yourselves, what she has done to him! Aria Schlendrian Don't one's children cause one endless trials & tribulations! What I say each day to my daughter Lieschen falls on stony ground. Recitative Schlendrian You wicked child, you disobedient girl, oh! when will I get my way; give up coffee! Lieschen Father, don't be so severe! If I can't drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat. Aria Lieschen Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes, more delicious than a thousand kisses, mellower than muscatel wine. Coffee, coffee I must have, and if someone wishes to give me a treat, ah, then pour me out some coffee! Recitative Schlendrian If you don't give up drinking coffee then you shan't go to any wedding feast, nor go out walking. oh! when will I get my way; give up coffee! Lieschen Oh well! Just leave me my coffee! Schlendrian Now I've got the little minx! I won't get you a whalebone skirt in the latest fashion. Lieschen I can easily live with that. Schlendrian You're not to stand at the window and watch people pass by! Lieschen That as well, only I beg of you, leave me my coffee! Schlendrian Furthermore, you shan't be getting any silver or gold ribbon for your bonnet from me! Lieschen Yes, yes! only leave me to my pleasure! Schlendrian You disobedient Lieschen you, so you go along with it all! Aria Schlendrian Hard-hearted girls are not so easily won over. Yet if one finds their weak spot, ah! then one comes away successful. Recitative Schlendrian Now take heed what your father says! Lieschen In everything but the coffee. Schlendrian Well then, you'll have to resign yourself to never taking a husband. Lieschen Oh yes! Father, a husband! Schlendrian I swear it won't happen. Lieschen Until I can forgo coffee? From now on, coffee, remain forever untouched! Father, listen, I won't drink any Schlendrian Then you shall have a husband at last! Aria Lieschen Today even dear father, see to it! Oh, a husband! Really, that suits me splendidly! If it could only happen soon that at last, before I go to bed, instead of coffee I were to get a proper lover! Recitative Narrator Old Schlendrian goes off to see if he can find a husband forthwith for his daughter Lieschen; but Leischen secretly lets it be known: no suitor is to come to my house unless he promises me, and it is also written into the marriage contract, that I will be permitted to make myself coffee whenever I want. Trio A cat won't stop from catching mice, and maidens remain faithful to their coffee. The mother holds her coffee dear, the grandmother drank it also, who can thus rebuke the daughters!