CHRISTMAS 1944 in Berlin
Ilse Shaffer, a former missionary now with the Lord, grew up in Berlin during World War II and wrote about Christmas 1944 in that city. How prone we are to look back at all the people in Nazi Germany as “the enemy” and never consider the plight of Christians there. (Note: The “Christmas Trees” she mentions was the ironic label given by Germans to the incendiary markers dropped by Allied planes to target an area for the bombers.)
Would there really be Christmas again? Was this the time to celebrate? Where did all the people live that one saw in the streets, the overcrowded streetcars and buses? (So many buildings were destroyed.) Our army in the east was defeated. The Russians were in East Prussia and the Allies were getting close to the western border. We could no longer trust our news, but we knew the end was not too far away.
And now Christmas was approaching, the celebration of the coming of the Prince of Peace; my heart was bitter toward God. What did it mean this Christmas message: “Peace on earth?” There was no peace. This was the sixth Christmas since the war began, and still no peace. Where was God in all the destruction, the dying, the bombing? We saw the first refugees from the east, pulling a little cart with their few possessions, walking in this cold winter, walking, walking, walking, telling us horror stories of murder and rapes by Russian soldiers. “Peace on Earth”??? What would the next months bring? The bombing had not stopped; it got worse, day and night, day and night.
There were no lights in the streets, not many goods on the shelves, only at night the sky was lit up by the “Christmas Tree” bright lights that came down from heaven. The U.S. bombers were coming. If those lights shone over us or near us, we knew we were the targets of their bombs. We better get ready for it. We had not seen any Christmas trees for sale; we had better forget about Christmas. Then, the last day before the holidays my father had found a big branch of a tree about three feet tall. We rejoiced. What shall we do with it? Cut it up, put it in a vase? I found a big flower pot, filled it with sand, cut off the lower branches which I fastened to the trunk to make it look like a tree. The main branch was not quite straight. So I took a walking stick from my father, stuck it in the sand in the flower pot and gave the branch more support. It looked more and more like a Christmas tree. The clear old ornaments were fastened to the branches. There was our Christmas tree!
I cannot remember any presents. My mother raised rabbits, at least one gave its life so we could enjoy meat, but the real Christmas to us was when we all walked to church and heard the Christmas story. How different it sounded this year. Mary and Joseph, tired and hungry, could not find a place to live—so many people’s homes were bombed, they could not find a place to live—God understood. The baby Jesus had no bed, slept in a manger—our soldiers had to sleep on the floor, on straw or hay. God understood. Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus had to leave in a hurry, fleeing Herod—whole families: we saw grandparents, mothers and children, fleeing from home—God understood. How close God was—He was rejected, poor, in danger. His suffering had begun with His birth. He was one of us. Peace, the peace of God, filled our hearts. Christmas took on new meaning—He understood.
Savior of the Nations, Come
Savior of the nations, come,
Show yourself, the virgin’s son.
Marvel heaven, wonder earth,
That our God chose such a birth.
Not by human power or seed
Did the woman’s womb conceive;
Only by the Spirit’s breath
Was the Word of God made flesh.
Mary then was found with child,
Still a virgin, chaste and mild.
God had favored her with grace
To receive the Prince of Peace.
Christ laid down his majesty,
Passed through dark Gethsemane.
Though he left his Father’s home,
Christ now sits on God’s own throne.
Christ in glory intercede
For your creatures’ suffering need.
Let your resurrecting power
Soon complete the victory hour.
Praise to you, O Lord, we sing.
Praise to Christ, our newborn King!
With the Father, Spirit, one,
Let your lasting kingdom come.
—
Text: Ambrose, 4th cent., and Martin Luther, 1523;
Translation. Calvin Seerveld, 1984
Some Rich Last Verses to Add to “Come Thou Fount”
A couple of options:
1. The last verse of “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” by Charles Wesley (same meter, work fine)
Finish then Thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee:
Change from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder love and praise. [I especially like that last phrase]
2. A new verse penned by Bob Kauflin:
Oh that day when freed from sinning
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Full arrayed in blood-washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace.
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Bring Thy promises to pass;
For I know Thy pow’r will keep me
Till I’m home with Thee at last.
A Prayer
Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almighty and most merciful God, fervently to desire, wisely to search out and perfectly to fulfil, all that is well-pleasing unto Thee this day. Order Thou our worldly condition to the glory of Thy Name; and, of all that Thou requires us to do, grant us the knowledge, the desire, and the ability, that we may so fulfil it as we ought; and may our path to Thee, we pray, be safe, straightforward, and perfect to the end.
Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know Thee, diligence to seek Thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
–Thomas Aquinas
Pentecost Readings
CALL TO WORSHIP
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Come and worship God the Father.
He raised the Jesus from the dead by the Holy Spirit,
to reign at his right hand in majesty.
And he makes us his royal priesthood to reign with him!
Glory to God in the highest!
Come and worship God the Son.
He poured out his life unto death for us.
And he rose again to pour out his Holy Spirit upon us!
Glory to God in the highest!
Come and worship God the Holy Spirit.
He breathed life into creation in the beginning,
and brings our broken, dead world back to life again.
And he brings us into one body in Christ
with love that breaks through all barriers
of tribe and tongue, culture and color!
Glory to God in the highest!
Let us worship God through the Spirit of our risen Lord.
Amen!
CONFESSION OF SIN
Our exalted Lord Jesus,
you poured out your Holy Spirit upon your church
to fill us with new life and power to love you and serve you.
We confess that we resist and grieve your Spirit,
rejecting the truth of your word that he illumines for us,
refusing to glorify you as he directs us.
We love the way of death and slavery to sin
rather than true freedom and life in your Spirit;
we act in hatred, immorality, and anger
and not in the righteousness, peace, and joy of your Spirit.
Have mercy on us, and forgive us all of our sins.
Renew us and lead us by your Holy Spirit,
so that we may be filled with all life and power that you have promised to us.
–Michael A. Farley
A Father’s Day Prayer
Minister: Our Father in heaven, on this Father’s Day, we are once again reminded that You have revealed in Your Word who You are to us.
People: You are not only our Creator, our Ruler, our Lord, but a Father to us.
Minister: You established family and appointed men to be heads of their households and earthly representations of You.
People: Thank you for the precious gift of fathers.
Minister: We pray for men who have courageously assumed this sacred role of reflecting who You are on earth.
People: Would You father them, mentor them, and give them hearts like Yours?
Minister: When they face the difficult task of teaching their children to walk upright:
People: Would You help them not to be afraid to discipline, yet to be known by their children for their compassion, tenderness, mercy, and wisdom?
Minister: When they are engaged in the spiritual battles of keeping their families faithful:
People: Would You anoint them to be warriors of prayer, defenders of the Truth, and guardians of the faith of their children’s souls?
Minister: When they are bombarded with the lies of the world that portrays a twisted view of what a father should be:
People: Would You enable them to hold their ground, make them light in darkness, and living examples of Yourself to this Fatherless world?
Minister: O Father, You know the hidden fears fathers have, when they are unable to provide and protect due to loss of income or health, or the increase of needs:
People: Would You grant them understanding children, free them from the pride of self-reliance, and help them find strength as fathers by putting trust in You?
Minister: We pray for fathers who are striving to balance the demands of work, marriage, children and Kingdom service with both joy and sacrifice.
People: Would You bless their efforts and reward them with the fruits of their labor?
Minister: We pray, on this day, specifically for the spiritual fathers of the church, our elders and leaders, for You know the weighty tasks they are confronted with daily.
People: Would uphold them, sustain them, help them walk blamelessly before You, and grow in them knowledge and understanding of Your Truth, so that they may effectively father and shepherd those under their care.
Minister: And we pray for ourselves who have all been fathered.
People: Would you teach us how we may best love, honor, support and take care of our fathers, in prayer and in deed? Help us overlook their short-comings but carry on those legacies that are of eternal value. Amen.
–Virginia Yip
Wrong Approaches to Leading Worship
- Think of yourself as a spiritual engineer.
- Lead worship that reinforces narcissism rather than challenging it.
- Shy away from naming the folly of life apart from God. Hold back from telling all of God’s wonderful deeds (Psalm 73:28).
–John D. Witvliet, “Worship in a Beatitude-Shaped World: Learning from Psalm 73,” Reformed Worship 100 (June 2011), 6
Right Approaches to Leading Worship
- Desire to worship God, not to worship worship.
- Realize that we don’t engineer the spiritual value of worship but receive it as a gift.
- Realize that—by the Spirit’s power—worship is formative, not merely expressive; it changes our perspective, shapes our desires, corrects our vision.
- Long for the Holy Spirit to work through our preaching and praying, tasting and seeing, to convert and sanctify us.
- Be convinced that worship at its best immerses us in a countercultural world that fits the second rather than the first half of Psalm 73.
–John D. Witvliet, “Worship in a Beatitude-Shaped World: Learning from Psalm 73,” Reformed Worship 100 (June 2011), 6
Providence
“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13
It is not the vast bulk of an estate, but the vigilant care of divine providence that guards you from the stroke of ruin. The providence of God around us is the solid basis of all sanctified and durable prosperity. His providence enfolds all who bear his image in everlasting arms. He will advance you higher, and secure you better than any noble birth or estate could ever do. The delight and pleasure resulting from the observation of divine providence is very great. It would doubtless be a part of our entertainment in heaven to view with transporting delight how the designs and methods were laid to bring us there.
Providence not only brings you to heaven, it brings heaven to your soul now. God is providentially steering all to the port of his own praise and his people’s happiness, while the whole world is busily employed in managing the sails and tugging at the oars with a quite opposite design and purpose. They promote God’s design by opposing it, fulfil his will be resisting it, and enlarge his church by scattering it. They make the saint’s rest sweeter by making their condition so restless in the world.
What a history we might compile, as we trace the footsteps of providence along the way. Here it prevented, and there it delivered. Here it directed, and there it corrected. Here it grieved, and there it relieved. Here was the poison, and there, the antidote. This providence dispelled a dismal cloud. This one straitened, and that one enlarged. Here a want, and there a supply.
Words cannot express what delight we may find in such an employment. O reader, what a life of pleasure you might live by noticing the ways of providence towards you! What a heaven upon earth you may have! Taste and see the glory of the study of providence.
Words cannot express what delight we may find in such an employment. O reader, what a life of pleasure you might live by noticing the ways of providence towards you! What a heaven upon earth you may have! Taste and see the glory of the study of providence.
–John Flavel (1627-1691)
The Wonder of the Incarnation
Welcome, all Wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span.
Summer in winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little One! Whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.
To Thee, meek Majesty! soft King
Of simple graces and sweet loves.
Each of us his lamb will bring,
Each his pair of silver doves;
Till burnt at last in fire of Thy fair eyes,
Ourselves become our own best sacrifice.
–from “Hymn to the Nativity: A Song Sung by Shepherds” by Richard Crashaw (1613-1649)
Jesus, the True and Better Way
Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.
Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void to create a new people of God.
Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”
Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people. Who didn’t just say, “If I perish, I perish” but “When I perish, I’ll perish–for them.”
Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.
–Tim Keller, speaking at the Gospel Coalition, 2007
REFORMATION DAY (October 31)
The aim of the Reformation was not the abolition of the priesthood but the abolition of the laity. Every Christian was to realize his priesthood: ‘Ye are a chosen generation; a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.’ This is the Biblical conception of worship—an offering of the entire congregation in praise and adoration. The Reformers aimed at restoring this heritage to a people who had become accustomed to being spectators at a ceremonial in a language they did not understand. They therefore insisted on everything being said at worship in a clear and intelligible voice in the language of the common people. They also encouraged the revival of congregational singing and audible participation in the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed. They restored the practice of regular reception of the Lord’s Supper in both elements, and indeed wished to make this the normal weekly worship of the Church.
–Rev. D.H.C. Read. “THE REFORMATION OF WORSHIP III. The Direction of Contemporary Worship,” Scottish Journal of Theology 8:3 (Sept. ’55), p.285.
We Love Because He First Loved Us
Only Thee
Blessèd Savior, Thee I love,
All my other joys above;
All my hopes in Thee abide,
Thou my Hope, and naught betide;
Ever let my glory be,
Only, only, only Thee.
Once again beside the cross,
All my gain I count but loss;
Earthly pleasures fade away,
Clouds they are that hide my day;
Hence, vain shadows! let me see
Jesus, crucified for me.
Blessèd Savior, Thine am I,
Thine to live, and Thine to die;
Height or depth, or creature power,
Ne’er shall hide my Savior more;
Ever shall my glory be,
Only, only, only Thee.
–George Duffield, 1851 (can be sung to the tune of “For the Beauty of the Earth”)
Pure Grace
Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
‘A guest,’ I answer’d, ‘worthy to be here:’
Love said, ‘You shall be he.’
‘I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.’
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
‘Who made the eyes but I?’
‘Truth, Lord; but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.’
‘And know you not,’ says Love, ‘Who bore the blame?’
‘My dear, then I will serve.’
‘You must sit down,’ says Love, ‘and taste my meat.’
So I did sit and eat.
– George Herbert (1593-1632)
Theology and Worship
Good church musicians constantly ask whether the “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” of the church’s worship are sung “so that the Word of God may dwell in us richly” (the forgotten purpose clause of Col. 3:16). Good liturgical musicians worry about the link between theology and worship: whether worship in their church depicts God as only indifferent and far removed; whether it gives the impression that prayer is simply an act of cognition, or conversely, an act of pure emotion; whether worship in their congregation makes it clear that the Bible is central to the life and faith of the church. The good ones, as I describe more fully elsewhere, know that worship expresses the deepest theological convictions of the community and that it reveals as much about the belief of the community as do catechisms and confessions.
–Witvliet, John D. “Training Church Musicians as Pastoral Liturgists,” Musicians for the Churches: Reflections on Vocation and Formation (2001, Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, New Haven CT), p.18.
Easter Victory
–Melito of Sardis (ca. A.D. 195), Easter sermon
Holiness and Beauty
[Walter] Bruggemann has helped me to understand why so much detail is rehearsed in the text on the tabernacle [in Exodus]:
Far too often beauty is sacrificed on the altar of efficiency. Was it efficient for Bishop Fulbert to direct the building of Chartres Cathedral in France? No, but he and others recognized the human need for beauty – a need as profound as the need for truth because both are attributes of God.
–Christopher Benson, http://firstthings.com/blogs/evangel/, Friday, February 5, 2010
The Fuel of Missions
“Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” (Psalm 96:1-5)“You can’t summon the nations to sing if you aren’t singing. Our job in missions is, first, to sing.”
–John Piper (sermon: “Declare His Glory among the Nations”)
Nothing New
All the ‘new songs’ in heaven are about old things.
–John Piper (sermon: “Declare His Glory among the Nations”)
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