CW 865 - O Lord, Take Pity Once You've Seen
This Sunday, our congregation of Water of Life Lutheran Church is celebrating the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. During the time of the Lutheran Reformation in Germany, the Emperor and the Pope had the power to arrest and kill anyone who disagreed with them. The Lutherans decided there was only one thing to do – confess.
On June 25, 1530, a group of faithful Lutheran princes and electors met in Augsburg, Germany, to present the confession of their faith to Charles V, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. These were not theologians that were standing before the Emperor. They were courageous Lutheran laymen – like yourselves. They confessed their faith and told the Emperor and the Roman Church what they believed, taught, and confessed. They relied on the promise of God’s Word, as contained in Psalm 119:46, “Then I will speak of your testimonies before kings, and I will not be put to shame.” The Augsburg Confession was presented as a statement of biblical truth and a proposal for true unity in the Christian faith. It has never been withdrawn or found in error.
This Sunday, as we celebrate the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, we sing “O Lord, Take Pity Once You’ve Seen.” This is an old hymn written in German by Martin Luther. It was made new and available to us through the translation of Michael Schultz into English.
Verse one: O Lord, take pity once you’ve seen what’s leaving us so shaken: your saints are few and far between— we feel we’ve been forsaken. So many call your Word untrue, refusing to believe in you—they have us far outnumbered.
The Augsburg Confession was presented 494 years ago. Things haven’t really changed all that much in five centuries and an ocean away. There are plenty of people today who would say: stop arguing about theology; stop worrying about silly religious disagreements; about right and wrong; about how one is saved; and by whom. That stuff doesn’t matter. Let’s all just get along and do what’s really important. (Whatever they think is really important. Whatever the current issues of the day are. Whatever battles the social justice warriors think are worth fighting for.) That’s kind of what the Emperor was saying 494 years ago.
Our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations confess subscription to the Augsburg Confession. We use it in our youth and adult confirmation classes, along with Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms as faithful explanations of Scripture. Every teacher and pastor in our church body has stood before their church’s altar and sworn faithfulness to the Word of God as explained in our Lutheran Confessions. They are asked, “Do you accept the statement and exposition of that Word of God in the Ecumenical Creeds, namely, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, and in the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, namely, the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord—as these are contained in the Book of Concord?” They confess: “Yes, I believe and
confess these creeds and confessions as my own because they are in accord with the Word of God. I also reject the errors they condemn.”
As churches in our little Wisconsin Synod, we may feel greatly outnumbered. As God’s saints, we may feel few and far between. As Christ’s followers, we may feel forsaken. But for centuries, by God’s grace, the saints who have gone before us have clearly proclaimed the Scriptures and rightly administered the Sacraments. We pray for God’s grace upon the saints who come during the centuries after us to continue to cling to the Augsburg Confession.
Verse two: May God root out all those who teach religion that is twisted, who say with bold, defiant speech: “We cannot be resisted. For we alone have right and might; our views are welcomed with delight. To whom must we now answer?”
There are many in our culture – sadly, many who call themselves Christian – who say that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe in Jesus. They say this so that they can discount Jesus’ teachings and make room for their abhorrent lifestyle choices and decadence. They subtract what Scripture says about sexuality, marriage, and the roles of men and women. They add to what Scripture says about creation, the way to heaven, and the reality of hell.
Verse three: Therefore God says: “I won’t delay! My people’s hopes are waning. Their sighs disclose their great dismay; I’ve heard their sad complaining. My healing Word will work as planned, will bring relief, will make them stand, will strengthen and uphold them.”
There is a historic saying in Lutheranism that the Church stands and falls on the article of justification. “Justification” means “to declare righteous.” The fourth article of the Augsburg Confession emphasizes: “Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight.”
This article teaches that what we cannot do for ourselves, Christ has done for us. He is the solid Rock on which God builds his Church. In him, and him alone, we stand forgiven. It is this Word of God – and particularly the doctrine of justification – that brings healing to our sin-sick souls, that provides relief when we despair of our sinfulness, and strength when we realize how weak we are on our own.
Verse four: Dear Lord, the godless gather round the guides whose teachings suit them. Within your Church let there be found the courage to refute them. Preserve your Word and keep it pure, and thus we shall remain secure from evils that surround us!
“Doctrine” is almost looked upon as a bad word in our American Christian climate. But doctrine is the answer to Jesus’ own questions: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”