"'This Lamb Is Christ, the Soul's Great Friend': The Father Sends His Willing Son" (Gerhardt sermon)

March 21, 2007 | The Rev. Charles Henrickson

[Charles Henrickson]

"'This Lamb Is Christ, the Soul's Great Friend': The Father Sends His Willing Son"
(Sermon series on "The Hymns of Paul Gerhardt")

In this series on “The Hymns of Paul Gerhardt,” we’ve seen how Gerhardt’s hymns often deal with what we call the subjective experience of the believer. The feelings, the emotions, the experiences and circumstances of the individual Christian’s life quite often lead the way in these hymns: “Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing”; “Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me”; and so on. But at the same time we’ve seen that these subjective experiences and feelings always have their basis in the objective work of God, which lies outside of us.

The subjective feelings have an objective basis. For instance, take one of the hymns I just mentioned: “Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing, a cheerful trust maintain.” Alright, there is the subjective element, my feelings. But it’s quickly followed by the objective basis in God, in other words, why I can feel that way: “For God, the source of ev’rything, your portion shall remain.” Gerhardt reminds us of who God is, and who he is for us, as the reason or cause for hope and joy. Likewise in the other hymn I mentioned, “Why should cross and trial grieve me?” That question is quickly answered in the next lines: “Christ is near with his cheer; never will he leave me.”

You see, it’s a cause-and-effect thing. The cause is God’s great love for me in Christ. The effect is that I now have joy and confidence, hope and trust in my heart. Often Gerhardt leads off with the effect--my rejoicing, my confidence in God--and then proceeds to describe the cause, namely, something about God and what he has done for me in Christ. You can do it either way: I rejoice, because God has loved me. Or, God has loved me, therefore I rejoice. Either way you say it, the subjective experience has an objective basis in God.

Well, if some of the hymns we’ve sung the last couple of weeks put more emphasis on our experiences and then go to the basis in God, then the hymns we’re singing tonight and next week go the other way around. The emphasis now is on the great love of God in Jesus Christ, specifically, in Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the world, yes, even for my sins and yours. These are hymns of Christ’s Passion, his suffering and death for our sake. It’s appropriate that we sing these hymns as now we are getting closer to Holy Week, in just a week and a half.

The emphasis in these hymns of Gerhardt is on the objective work of God, that which God did outside of us, apart from our feelings and experiences. But as always, even here in these hymns of Christ’s Passion, Gerhardt as a good preacher cannot help but then tie the work of God to its effect in our lives. There is always a “for you” dimension when we sing about, or a preacher preaches about, what Christ has done. That’s what makes it good news! I could say all day and all night: “Jesus Christ is the true Son of God come in the flesh and he died on the cross and rose from the dead.” But until I add, “And he did all this for you and for your salvation!” I have not yet preached the gospel. To preach the gospel, or to sing the gospel in a hymn, requires both elements: the mighty acts of God in Christ, and that he did these things for you. Gerhardt’s Passion hymns preach the gospel to us because they capture both parts: Christ’s work and the benefit for us.

Let’s see how that plays out in the hymns for tonight. How do these hymns tie the work of Christ to my situation?

My situation was not a good one. In the hymn, “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You,” Gerhardt puts it this way, very strikingly pairing my lost condition with what the Savior has done in response:

I lay in fetters, groaning; You came to set me free.
I stood, my shame bemoaning; You came to honor me.

What a beautiful way to express both the Law and the Gospel in such short phrases: “I, you; I, you. . . .” I lay in chains, I stood in shame. You, Christ, you came to set me free! You came to lift me out of my shame to a place of undeserved honor.

The starting point for me--the starting point for each one of us--was really a dead end. We were “fettered,” that is, chained to sin, bound and chained and locked into death and the grave. No escape. No Houdini tricks could get us out. But Christ “came to set us free,” and he holds the key that releases us from that dark dungeon. “Fear not,” the risen Christ declares in Revelation, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys to Death and Hades.” The Lord Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, has conquered sin and death and hell, and he sets us free from our fetters!

That’s why he came. That’s why the Son of God came down from heaven and was incarnate and was made man: He did it for us men and for our salvation. God’s great love for our lost and fallen race lies behind Christ’s coming in the flesh:

Love caused Your incarnation;
Love brought You down to me.
Your thirst for my salvation
Procured my liberty.

Yes, here in this hymn, Paul Gerhardt beautifully preaches the gospel to us, even as we sing the words. We sing of God’s great love for us in Christ, and we hear the wonderful benefits that that holds for each one of us: “salvation”; “liberty”; “a glorious crown”; “a treasure safe on high”; “the peace of sin forgiv’n”; “eternal life in heav’n.” Yes, the cause has an effect: Christ’s work leads to my salvation.

And Christ’s objective work likewise has an effect in my subjective feelings: “O Lord, how shall I meet you?” Answer: “With joyous songs and psalms.”

My heart shall bloom forever
For You with praises new
And from Your name shall never
Withhold the honor due.

Christ’s saving work, entirely outside of me, yet has its effect in me. It produces joy in my heart and praises on my lips!

Now we turn to a hymn that many regard as perhaps Gerhardt’s greatest hymn--indeed, one of the finest Passion hymns ever written--and that is, “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth.” Once again Gerhardt preaches the gospel to us by proclaiming the person and work of Christ and connecting that to what it means for us.

We meet this Lamb in the first stanza, but the Lamb is not identified, other than by what he is doing: bearing the guilt of sinners, loaded down with the burden of the world’s sins, carrying this load all by himself. There’s also what the Lamb is not doing: he’s not complaining. He is led to slaughter without complaint, even though he has done nothing to deserve such punishment. This Lamb goes forth willingly into suffering, “that spotless life to offer” as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Here Gerhardt is echoing the Servant Song of Isaiah 53, where the Lord’s Servant is led like a lamb to the slaughter, having the iniquity of us all laid upon him.

Now in the second stanza we hear who this Lamb is. He is identified: “This Lamb is Christ.” Like John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and crying out, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” so now our hymn tells us who will make the sacrifice for our sins. It is “Christ, the soul’s great friend, the Lamb of God, our Savior.” By offering his life for our sake, Christ saves us from eternal damnation, and thus he is our greatest friend. He is on our side, you can count on it!

But now in the rest of this stanza and into the third, Gerhardt takes us into the profound mystery that lies behind Christ’s coming into the world as the Lamb. That wonderful secret, revealed in the gospel, is the unimaginable love of God from eternity--that, to use St. John’s familiar words, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.” The Father’s gracious will, the Father’s heart of love, his forgiving love toward rebellious mankind, in found precisely in his sending his one-and-only Son into this world to make atonement for our sins.

And so Gerhardt, here in this hymn, now creatively and dramatically takes us into a dialogue between the Father and the Son, so we can ponder the mystery of this gracious will. First the Father speaks:

“Go forth, My Son,” the Father said,
“And free My children from their dread.”

And now in the next stanza the Son responds:

“Yes, Father, yes, most willingly
I’ll bear what You command Me.
My will conforms to Your decree,
I’ll do what You have asked Me.”

How often do we read in John’s gospel--we heard it again tonight--where Jesus says: “I have come to do the will of the one who sent me.” Jesus was a man on a mission. He was sent by his Father, and he was determined to carry out the Father’s plan. The Father and the Son are together in their will for your salvation! They planned this whole thing out even before you were born--from even before the foundation of the world! God’s purpose and plan all along has been to redeem rebellious mankind--and that includes you! Jesus Christ came for this specific purpose: to do the will of the Father, which is, to rescue you! What unfathomable love this is! We cannot fully comprehend it. But we certainly can receive it and bask in it and rejoice in it!

Yes, the cause has its effect. God’s objective work in sending Christ has its great effects for us: Christ’s blood becomes our royal robe, his righteousness our crown--“garments richly wrought,” which we shall wear forever in heaven. And even now, this love of God in Christ produces its effects in us: a blessed hope, unshakeable, and an everlasting joy!

[Charles Henrickson]

Like John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and crying out, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” so now our hymn tells us who will make the sacrifice for our sins.

Paul Gerhardt (1607-76), born 400 years ago this month

[Charles Henrickson]

Ping.

[MHGinTN]

Thank you for the ping.

[bcsco]

Thank you, Pastor. I look forward to these every week.

Jim

[PJ-Comix]

Now we turn to a hymn that many regard as perhaps Gerhardt’s greatest hymn...

Better than Berlin's White Christmas?

[stayathomemom]

As I sat in church yesterday evening, I wondered if you might be posting another sermon. Thanks.