A Very Old Song

Martin Luther is getting a little more attention this year as Reformation Day comes around.  And he should.  After all, it is the 500th year anniversary of the day he nailed his now famous "95 Theses" to the church door at Wittenberg, Germany.  While many Protestant churches will hardly note the day with any kind of observance, what Luther did dug the first shovel of dirt for the many denominations that adorn the church landscape.  He was a Roman Catholic monk and professor who wanted a conversation with the Pope and instead got an excommunication from the church.  When he nailed that word to the church door, he certainly had no idea that it would be the impetus for a revolution.

 

What is also incredible is that the church is still singing a hymn he wrote.  Think about it.  When we sing "A Mighty Fortress is our God," we are singing a hymn almost 500 years old.  Now some of our contemporary worship friends might say that singing music that old is one of the things wrong with the traditional church. I find it amazing.  Truly amazing!  "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 pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal."  To sing such a song does not speak of a church with its head stuck in the dirt of the past, but one which understands the value of joining with believers who have been worshipping and praising God with this hymn for nearly 500 years.

 

Just because something is old does not mean it is of no value.  Neither does the fact that something is new make it more valuable than something that is old.  Call this my Senior Adult thinking if you wish, but I think it speaks more of common sense.  I like thinking that my voice is being raised not just with a congregation of folks when I sing this hymn, but a resounding choir that is filled with folks who loved God during these past 500 years.  The church is greater than anyone of us, more glorious than any of our buildings, more powerful than any of our preachers and it has been that way through the centuries.  Remembering and singing this old powerful hymn causes us to realize it is not about me, or us, but about what God has been doing for a very long time,