Sing in Remembrance That He is Risen! :: Psalm 98:1b, 3–4 (1a, 2b)
Today is Cantata Sunday. Therefore, the theme of this day and of this sermon is, sing ...
SING IN PRAISE TO GOD FOR COMPLETING HIS REDEEMING WORK: HE IS RISEN!
I. Sing a Psalm!
Sing! ... Like the people of Israel, after crossing the Red Sea, saying, The LORD [God] is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation (Ex 15:2a).
Sing ... Like Mary, when she learned she would become the mother of God, saying, My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices [in] God, my Savior (Lk 1:46-47).
Sing ... Like Zechariah, that our Lord [has given] knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins (Lk 1:77).
Sing a Gerhardt or Starke hymn. Yes, make a joyful shout to YHWH that the marriage of the Lamb has come (Rv 19:7). Join all the saints, angels, and the company of heaven who are singing, Great and marvelous are all your works, Lord God, the Almighty (Rv 15:3)!
This is what the Holy Spirit is teaching us today with our Introit from Psalm 98. Our entrance hymn focuses exclusively on praising YHWH for his victory over sin, death, and the devil. It points us to Jesus, who was born without sin, and lived without sin, and died for our sin. He was quite literally “The” Holy One of Israel who has delivered the salvation of our God (v 3).
As Paul says in Colossians, which we are studying on Wednesdays: Jesus is the image of the invisible God, for by him all things were created ... for him. ... For all the fullness [of God] was well-pleased to dwell in him and through him, to reconcile all things into him, having made peace through the blood of the cross (Col 1:15-16, 19-20)... which is still being given in celebration of the completion of his redeeming work. That is more than reason enough to sing.
II. To be sure, it is so much easier to sing praise to God when life’s a breeze, when our troubles are few and far between, and man doesn’t stand between us and God.
Do you recognize the precious gifts God gives to you? It is God who gives them without our prayer, even to all evil people.
Has anyone taught you how to sing? A Psalm? Have you forgotten when to sing? A Psalm? Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Col 3:16).
But how can you sing when you are suffering or are in distress? Because God has promised to rescue each of you from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and when our last hour comes, to take us to himself in heaven.
That’s what Paul and Silas certainly believed. We are close to studying their shout for joy in our Sunday Bible Study. You should join us to learn how Paul and Silas, who had been attacked in the streets for preaching the Gospel, responded. They had just healed a demon-possessed girl. But in response, the people of Philippi stripped them naked in the streets, trying to humiliate them. Then city officials ordered them to receive many stripes across their backs ... and they threw them into prison and shackled them with chains. Their backs were raw and bleeding. Yet, instead of moaning, Paul and Silas sang hymns of praise to God in remembrance of his mercy (Acts 16:25).
Do you think you could do that? To sing when the world opposes the Gospel? To sing when you feel oppressed? To sing when you see the kingdom of God coming among us?
Brothers and sisters in Christ ... believers who do God’s will even when striving to help others can expect mistreatment and abuse from the people and institutions of the world. For the Word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18). But the same name and power that freed the girl from demons and raised Jesus from the dead will deliver us from suffering to eternal life. He will deliver us from persecution.
III. So what shall we sing? How about our Introit!
Sing to YHWH a new song,
For he has uncovered his righteousness to the eyes of the nations.
His right hand and holy arm have caused salvation for him.
He has remembered his steadfast and covenantal love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
[Now you have a reason to] make a joyful shout to YHWH, all the earth.
Break out in a ringing cry of exultation and sing (Ps 98:(1a, 2b), 1b, 3-4).
The Psalms ... especially this Introit for this Fifth Sunday of Easter ... teach us to do these things. They teach us how to enter God’s Service to us. They teach us how to pray, praise, and give thanks that he has come to us ... to rejoice, and confess, and lament with God’s own Word that he serves us. They teach us the new song that Saint John tells us about in Revelation 14[:3], the one that only the redeemed know. They teach us to make a joyful shout to YHWH, [and to] break out [into] a ringing cry of exultation (v 4).
They teach us to remember that God has uncovered his righteousness for the eyes of the nations (v 2b) ... to remember when he did this ... and how and where he did this. It happened the night he was betrayed. It happened when his right hand and holy arm were stretched out to bring salvation to the nations. It happened when Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame (Hb 12:2).
Now as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim this truth! So we sing that Jesus remembers you. We sing that it is Jesus who always remembers. Too often we forget why we have been invited to the Divine Service ... why we have been called to receive the new covenant of the Lord’s Supper. We forget to sing as we do it.
The world around us wants to mourn. God calls us to celebrate.
The world makes this Divine Service simply about our communion with each other. But this is the Feast of Victory for our God!
Please turn to Page 330 in your [Lutheran Service Book] for the conclusion of the Christian Questions With Their Answers prepared by Dr. Luther for those who intend to go to the Sacrament. We begin on Question 19. ...
What should admonish and encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently? ...
But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?
IV. [So sing the new song]
God so loved us that He gave ... not just sweet words ... not just love letters dripping with beautiful phrases. No, God loved us in this way: He gave His only Son into death so that on account of the resurrection you can sing to YHWH the new song.
This was the old song: Good Lord, deliver us from the devil, death, hell, all our sins and sufferings. And this is the new song: He is risen! ...
Is it any wonder that in the Large Catechism, Luther said he longed to celebrate this every day, not just every week (LC V 24, 39)? You get to sing and to celebrate with all the company of heaven that you have been forgiven and set free on account of the blood of Jesus. As Paul writes in Romans 6[:6-7] Our old self was crucified with [Christ] in order that the body of sin might be rendered ineffective, [that is] that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who died has been declared justified from sin.
That means you! The old has passed away ... the old sins, the old fears, the old hatreds, the old goals, the old man-made traditions. ... And the new has come ... The new creation, the new king, the new water, the new grain, the new wineskin, the new name, the new life, the new song.
So sing! Rejoice! Praise God in the fullness of the Divine Service ... in Jesus’ name.