Sunday’s Hymn of the Day is Come, Follow Me,
the Savior Spake (LSB #688), is an exhortation to live our lives under
the cross. We, who have been set free from sin, death, and everlasting
condemnation, must now live our lives in service to Him by walking in His way.
How can we ever hope to accomplish such a thing? By firmly clinging to His Word
(stanza 5).
Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake
Text: Johann Scheffler (1624-77)
Tune: Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630)
In the weeks
after Trinity Sunday there is a focus on how the Christian conducts himself. The
Epistle readings often highlight Christian conduct while Our Lord speaks and acts
in ways that show what the Christian Church is about. Hymns like “Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake” fit
perfectly into this time in the life of the Church.
We sing the admonition of Christ and the Apostles to
flee from darkness and whatever else would threaten our salvation and to walk with
one another in kindness and love.
This shift in
hymnody, from the sturdy, doctrinal hymns of Luther and the sixteenth century,
to the hymns teaching the Christian life in the seventeenth century took place
by the pen of writers such as Johann Scheffler. Scheffler was born in 1624 in Breslau
(today Wrocław, Poland). Trained as a doctor, Scheffler received his M.D. in
1648 from the University of Padua. His life took him far from his Polish
homeland because of his adherence to Lutheranism, because Poland was hostile to
Lutheranism at the time. After completing his education he returned home to
serve as court doctor for Duke Sylvius Nimrod of Württemberg-Oels. e Duke was a
staunch Lutheran, but Scheffler soon found his personal theology at odds with
Lutheran theology. While studying he became familiar with the writings of Jakob
Böhme, whose theology was heavily mystic. Mysticism is the desire to have
knowledge of God by personal experiences, such as trances, visions, and
speaking in tongues. A majority of theologians in that era denied mysticism,
but some embraced it.
Eventually Scheffler left the Lutheran Church and in
1652 was officially received into the Roman Catholic Church and changed his
name to Angelus Silesius. He became a priest in 1661, and in 1671 retired to
the monastery of St. Matthias in Breslau, where he died in 1677. Scheffler’s
hymns found wider acceptance and use among Lutherans than Roman Catholics. His
hymns were some of the finest poetry of the time. Scheffler wrote several
hymns, many of which are included in e Lutheran Hymnal and other major Lutheran
hymnals. Scheffler’s hymns were published in several hymnals in his lifetime,
many of which he released himself.
However, the most notable hymnal he produced was
Heilige Seelenlust, “Holy Desires of the
Soul.” Most of his hymns, at least of those in wide use, seem to be written
before his ventures into mysticism, and focus heavily on the person and work of
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
“Come, Follow
Me, the Savior Spake” is widely known as a five stanza hymn. However, the
version in e Lutheran Hymnal omits two stanzas, between what we have as four
and five:
The primary voice in this hymn is that of Jesus. He
tells us what
He does for us. While it may sound like we sing of
what we must do, it is really what Our Lord does for us. In stanza two when He tells
us to “walk as in the day,” He does
not leave us to do it but tells us, “I
keep your feet from straying.” Similarly, in stanzas three and four He
tells us of His “gracious Words”
which give strength and comfort while He “[leads]
you to your heavenly goal.”
Though we do sing also of what we must do, all of
these actions are the response of faith. Our following of Christ Our Lord is
only possible because by His Means of Grace (Word and Sacrament) we are
strengthened in faith towards Him and fervent love for one another. With Jesus’
strength we bear the battle’s strain undaunted because His Word sustains us and
His love supports us.[2]
Collect for Saturday of the week of Pentecost 3: O Lord, source of eternal light: shed forth your unending day upon us who watch for you, that our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, and our worship on the morrow give you glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. [3]
[1]
The Cross of Christ, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[3]
Collect for Saturday of the week of Pentecost 3: For All the Saints, A Prayer
Book For and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity
Bureau, Delhi, NY
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