On Liturgy and hymns
How does the historic liturgy which presents the very Son of God in Word and Sacrament leave room for the breadth, beauty, and emotion of Lutheran hymnody? For example, with the Son of God being truly present in His own Body and Blood at the Table for His saints, how is it possible for those present to be able to do anything other than kneel in His presence, receive His gracious gifts, and again kneel to pour out their hearts, thank, praise, and adore Him? How is it possible to sing hymns on a variety of themes during communion when God Himself is present in His flesh and blood for flesh-and-blood sinners?
This is similar to the question that faces every composer who is committed to using the historic liturgy, yet desires to integrate his own creativity in the service of Christ’s Church. In a letter dated January 12, 1835, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote of this struggle: “Truly churchly music [written] expressly for use during the celebration of the Lutheran divine service (für den evangelischen Gottesdienst) seems impossible to me. This is so not just because I cannot find a place where such music could be inserted into the divine service without interfering with the inner, necessary links and elements of the service, but because I absolutely cannot even conceive of such an insertion point” (Grundlinien der Kirchenmusik vom späten 18. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert im deutschsprachigen Raum , available from https://www.gottesdienst-ref.ch/customer/files/III_E_10_Musik18-20.pdf, my translation).
Mendelssohn, a nominal Jew who converted to Christianity and Lutheranism, was convinced of the primacy and integrity of the liturgy of the divine service. This is meet, right, and salutary, because the liturgy is the carrier of God’s gracious Word and Sacrament. Accordingly, Mendelssohn did not want to write sacred music for an independent forum, outside the service, that might or might not inspire concert goers. Neither did he want his own musical compositions to overwhelm the integrity and meaning of the divine service.
From this perspective, it is perhaps not surprising that Mendelssohn found some of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach to be problematic. In 1829 Mendelssohn reflected on his own reviving of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, “It was the same with the Bach Passion; it was sung as an independent, uplifting work of music in church; as examples of real church music I can only cite the early Italian works for the papal chapel, where [the music] has the same effect as the candles, incense, etc.” (From “This Task Was No Easy One for Me Either . . .” by Karsten Blüthgen, transl. Janet and Michael Berridge, from the CD booklet of Geistliche Gesänge von Brahms bis Barber, Dresdener Kreuzchor, kantor Roderich Kreile, edel Classics, 2006).
Mendelssohn reminds all who suffer in the midst of general liturgical confusion that, historically, Lutherans have not understood the Divine Service as a human production, wherein man uses his creativity to make liturgical changes, to reach people where they are at. Lutherans have understood the Divine Service as God’s work, wherein the Spirit of Jesus uses His words and gifts to create and sustain saving faith, to change people where they are at. Confessional Lutherans have always tried to stay out of the business of tampering with the liturgy. This is as it should be.
Within the Lutheran worship ethos, arguably the locus for human creativity has been the hymnody. Composers have offered out of the First Article gifts they have received, normed their work by the Second Article (Gospel), and produced hymns for the purpose of building Third Article gifts. Again, Mendelssohn strikes a helpful note. Hymnody is never to overwhelm the liturgy but, as its own expression of the Word wedded to music, to undergird the Word and Gifts of the liturgy. There is great room within the Divine Service for hymnody—hymns that teach, convict, comfort, unite, bless, and turn the faithful to pray, praise, and give thanks in the crucified and risen Christ—but such hymns must not become a thing unto themselves, a performance, or main event, but an undergirding of, a support for, a meditation on the Word being preached and the Gifts being given in that Divine Service.