A Great Cloud of Witnesses…

✜ JESU JUVA ✜

If you would take a close look at the original works of J.S. Bach (as well as many other composers of that era), you would find a “J.J.” adorning the top of the first page of sheet music. These initials stood for the Latin phrase, “Jesu, juva,” “Jesus, help!” What an amazing confession of faith alongside such humility! That the great Johann Sebastian Bach would need such help seems ludicrous. But Bach recognized his natural weakness. He realized that it is only by the grace of God that we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

About the Author

My experience is not earth-shattering nor ground-breaking. I, like thousands of my brothers in the ministry, have served and continue to serve the saints to whom I was Called. I’m a parish pastor in Nebraska. I had the privilege of serving as a classroom teacher for 7 years at Great Plains Lutheran H.S. in Watertown, SD before accepting the Call to my current home, Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE.

Prior to my service at Great Plains Lutheran I attended Luther Preparatory School (1999), Martin Luther College (B.A., 2003; M.S.Ed., 2013), and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (M.Div., 2007). In 2012 I married my wife, Megan, a true Proverbs 31 woman. She enjoys her God-given vocations of faithful mother and supportive wife. The Lord has blessed our marriage with two sons: Judah and Ezra.

Growing up in a home that moved not with calendar years, but with the Church Year and the liturgical music that accompanied it, it’s no wonder that the liturgical life of the Church (and the history and spiritual impact of it) has become a passion of mine. Take one look at my office bookshelf or desk and you will find a plethora of volumes dealing with worship, hymnody, liturgics, and Confessional Lutheranism. I’ve been interested in the lives of the saints who have gone before us and the deep connection we have to these individuals within the realm of the Divine Service. This includes the hymns, the canticles, and the festival or commemorative days on which we celebrate these saints in the Lord.

Saint Days? Isn’t that “too Catholic?”

Since the time of Paul, the Christian Church has retold stories of the lives of Christians in numerous ways. Regrettably, the church of the past has all but abused these commemorative days. An over-emphasis of medieval Catholicism overshadowed the salvific work of Jesus. However, we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It has served Christians well to study and appreciate the lives and works of God’s saints. But a proper and balanced emphasis on the lives of Christians past is a fine line to walk.

To properly balance this emphasis, we must first realize that the starting point of all things is God (Ephesians 4:4-6). Thomas von Hagel, in his book, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, wrote about this proper balance and emphasis:

As is always the case, the starting point is God. God is Father, Son, and Spirit; yet there are not three gods, but one. In the midst of this apparent plurality, there is divine unity. Similarly, through there is a myriad of Christian lives, they are one body that is united in the one true God. (p. 10)

At the heart of it all is Baptism. That is what connects you and me. That is what connects me and you to the saints of the past. But most importantly, that is what connects you and me to Christ. This is why the Divine Service starts with Baptism (“In the name of the Father…”). Not only does it connect us with God, but it unites us with every person who had faith in Christ who has ever and will ever live. According to the Letter to the Hebrews, a great cloud of witnesses surrounds us (12:1). In chapter 11, the writer to the Hebrews encourages us to study people of faith, those who endured hardship and turmoil. By seeing the faithfulness of God in the lives of these saints, we are then able to endure the hardships of our own lives and to look to Christ and his cross.

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. — Hebrews 12:1,2

✜ SOLI DEO GLORIA ✜

 

I am by no means anywhere near the caliber of Bach, which means that my plea of, “Jesu, juva!” is that much more desperate. I begin this endeavor with the prayer that we all may be encouraged by the grace that our Lord shows us in our connection to him in the Church. We see these connections in the lives of those saints who have gone before us. We hear it in the music of the hymn writers of the past. We read it in the words and works of those believers in Christ who put pen to paper to extol the praises of our God through poem and hymn. My endeavor is to venture into this “great cloud of witnesses,” providing background into their lives of faith and service, not to draw attention to them. Not to worship or venerate. But to give an example of faith—faith in Christ and his cross.
Bach started every piece with a plea for mercy. But he ended each with a song of praise. Just like the “J.J.” at the start of each piece, he ended each with the words “Soli Deo Gloria,” “To God alone be the glory.” May God grant such a request with this endeavor, too.