The Story of Our Hymns Part 13

Bach's devotion to the Lutheran Church has been likened to that of Palestrina to the Catholic Church. There is no loftier example of musical genius dedicated to the service of the Christian religion than we find in the life of Bach. He felt that his life was consecrated to G.o.d, to the honor of his Church, and to the blessing of mankind. Although it was the age when the opera was flourishing in Europe, Bach gave no attention to it, but devoted all his remarkable talent to church music.

As master of the organ, Bach has never been equaled. His chorales and pa.s.sion music also belong in a cla.s.s by themselves. A famous critic has written: "Mozart and Beethoven failed in oratorio, Schubert in opera; the Italian operas of Gluck and Handel have perished. Even in the successful work of these men there is a strange inequality. But upon all that Bach attempted--and the amount of his work is no less a marvel than its quality--he affixed the stamp of final and inimitable perfection."

With the pa.s.sing of years, Bach's genius is being recognized more and more throughout the Christian Church. The performance of his cantatas by the Catholic Schola Cantorum of Paris "is one of the many testimonies to the universality of the art of this son of Lutheranism." There is something in his mighty productions that touches the deepest chords of religious emotion, regardless of creed or communion.

A Hymn on the Mystical Union

Thou hidden love of G.o.d, whose height, Whose depth unfathomed no man knows, I see from far Thy beauteous light, Inly I sigh for Thy repose: My heart is pained, nor can it be At rest; till it find rest in Thee.

Is there a thing beneath the sun That strives with Thee my heart to share?

Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone, The Lord of every motion there.

Then shall my heart from earth be free, When it hath found repose in Thee.

O hide this self from me, that I No more, but Christ in me, may live!

My base affections crucify, Nor let one favorite sin survive; In all things nothing may I see, Nothing desire, or seek, but Thee.

Each moment draw from earth away My heart that lowly waits Thy call!

Speak to my inmost soul, and say: "I am thy Love, thy G.o.d, thy All!"

To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice, To taste Thy love, be all my choice!

Gerhard Tersteegen, 1729.

GERHARD TERSTEEGEN, HYMN-WRITER AND MYSTIC

While Benjamin Schmolck must be regarded as the greatest of Lutheran hymn-writers in Germany during the eighteenth century, Gerhard Tersteegen holds the same distinction among German Reformed hymnists. Except for the Wesleys in England, no man during his age exerted so great a spiritual influence in evangelical circles of all lands as did Tersteegen. In some respects his religious views bordered on fanaticism, but no one could question his deep sincerity and his earnest desire to live the life hidden with Christ in G.o.d.

Born at Mors, Rhenish Prussia, November 25, 1697, Tersteegen was only six years old when his father died. It had been the plan of his parents that he should become a Reformed minister, but the death of the father made it impossible for the mother to carry out this purpose. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a merchant, and four years later entered business on his own account.

Although he was only twenty years old at this time, he began to experience seasons of deep spiritual despondency. This lasted for nearly five years, during which time he changed his occupation to that of silk weaving, since he desired more time for prayer and meditation. It was not until the year 1724, while on a journey to a neighboring town, that light seemed to dawn on his troubled soul, and he was filled with the a.s.surance that G.o.d's grace in Christ Jesus was sufficient to atone for all sin. In the joy and peace which he had found, he immediately wrote the beautiful hymn, "How gracious, kind and good, my great High Priest, art Thou."

From this time until the close of his life, Tersteegen began to devote his energies more and more to religious work and literary activities. An independent religious movement known as "Stillen im Lande" had begun about this time, and he soon became known as a leader among these people.

Tersteegen had already ceased to a.s.sociate with his friends in the Reformed Church, and had gone over to religious mysticism. In one of his strange spiritual moods he wrote what he called "a covenant between himself and G.o.d" and signed it with his own blood.

Finally he gave up business pursuits entirely, and his home became the refuge of mult.i.tudes of sick and spiritually troubled people. It came to be known as the "Pilgrim's Hut," from the fact that many found a temporary retreat there, as well as spiritual help and guidance.

Tersteegen also traveled extensively in his own district, and made frequent visits to Holland to hold meetings there.

Tersteegen never married, and for this reason he was accused of teaching celibacy. Several sects, including the Moravians, sought to induce him to become one of their number, but he steadfastly refused to identify himself with any organized church body. He died at Mulheim, April 30, 1769.

Tersteegen's hymns, as well as his other writings, reflect his spirit of mysticism. His soul was imbued with the sense of the nearness of G.o.d, and, through a life of spiritual communion and a renunciation of the world, he developed a simplicity of faith and a child-like trust that found beautiful expression in his hymns.

Two of these, "Thou hidden love of G.o.d whose height" and "Lo, G.o.d is here, let us adore," made a deep impression on John Wesley, who translated the former during his visit to Georgia in 1736. Wesley became familiar with Tersteegen's hymns through contact with Moravian pilgrims who were crossing the Atlantic on the same ship on which he sailed. "Lo, G.o.d is here, let us adore" has several English versions, including "G.o.d is in His temple" and "G.o.d Himself is present."

Another of Tersteegen's hymns, "G.o.d calling yet! shall I not hear?" is one of the most stirring calls to repentance in all the realm of Christian hymnody. It was rendered into English by Mrs. Sarah Borthwick Findlater in the series of translations known as "Hymns from the Land of Luther."

Other noted hymns by Tersteegen include "Jesus, whom Thy Church doth own," "O Love divine, all else transcending," and "Triumph, ye heavens,"

the latter a Christmas lyric of exultant strain.

Tersteegen's conception of the high place which hymnody should occupy in Christian worship is revealed in his writings. He says: "The pious, reverential singing of hymns has something angelic about it and is accompanied by divine blessing. It quiets and subdues the troubled emotions; it drives away cares and anxieties; it strengthens, refreshes and encourages the soul; it draws the mind unconsciously from external things, lifts up the soul to joyful adoration, and thus prepares us to worship in spirit and in truth. We should sing with the spirit of reverence, with sincerity, simplicity and hearty desire.... When you sing, O soul, remember that you are as truly communing with the holy and omnipresent G.o.d as when you are praying. Consider that you are standing in spirit before the throne of G.o.d with countless thousands of angels and spirits of the just and that you are blending your weak praises with the music of heaven. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."

Following a Heavenly Leader

Jesus, still lead on, Till our rest be won, And although the way be cheerless, We will follow, calm and fearless.

Guide us by Thy hand To our Fatherland!

If the way be drear, If the foe be near, Let not faithless fear o'ertake us, Let not faith and hope forsake us; For through many a foe To our home we go!

When we seek relief From a long-felt grief, When temptations come alluring, Make us patient and enduring, Show us that bright sh.o.r.e Where we weep no more!

Jesus, still lead on, Till our rest be won; Heavenly Leader, still direct us, Still support, console, protect us, Till we safely stand In our Fatherland!

Nicolaus Ludwig, Count Zinzendorf, 1721

ZINZENDORF AND MORAVIAN HYMNODY

The church of the Moravian Brethren is famous for two things: its missionary zeal and its love for church music. It owes both of these distinguishing characteristics to its great founder and patron leader, Nicolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf. Not only was this very unusual man a gifted writer of hymns, but he was also an ardent exponent of foreign missions.

Zinzendorf was only ten years old when his soul was fired with a pa.s.sionate desire to do something to help win the world for Christ. He was a pupil at the famous Pietist school of Francke at Halle, Germany, at the time, and through his endeavors a mission society known as "The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed," was organized among the lads of his own age.

A few years later he chanced to see a copy of Sternberg's masterpiece, "Ecce h.o.m.o," depicting Christ wearing His crown of thorns before Pilate and the Jewish mob. Beneath the famous picture were inscribed the words:

This have I done for thee; What hast thou done for Me?

From that moment Zinzendorf took as his life motto: "I have but one pa.s.sion, and that is He and only He." On his wedding day, in 1722, he and his young bride decided to renounce their rank and to dedicate their lives to the task of winning souls for Christ.

The Lord took them at their word. In that same year a number of Protestant refugees from Moravia, who had been compelled to leave their homes because of Roman Catholic persecution, arrived in Saxony and found refuge on Zinzendorf's large estate. They were a remnant of the Bohemian Brethren, a heroic religious communion which dated back to the days of the n.o.ble martyr, John Huss. Though relentlessly hunted and persecuted for more than three centuries, this early evangelical body had continued to maintain its existence in the form of secret religious circles known as "the hidden seed."

Under the protection of Count Zinzendorf, the little band of Moravian refugees established a religious center which they called "Herrnhut."

Zinzendorf, who was a Lutheran, induced them to adopt the Augsburg Confession as a statement of their doctrine, but they continued to exist as an independent church body. People from all over Europe, hearing that religious freedom was enjoyed on the Zinzendorf estates, flocked to Herrnhut in large numbers to escape persecution, and it soon became a flourishing colony.

In 1737 Zinzendorf accepted ordination as a bishop of the Brethren, and thus became the real leader of the organization. He immediately began to impart his own missionary zeal to the Moravian movement. Two of the earliest missionaries, David Nitschmann and Leonard Dober, were sent to the island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies, to preach the gospel to the negro slaves. The blacks were so embittered because of the cruel treatment received at the hands of their taskmasters that they refused to listen to the missionaries, and very little progress could be made. At last, in order to gain their confidence, Dober sold himself as a slave and shared their hardships with them. He soon died, however, as a result of this deed. The story of his heroic sacrifice so moved the heart of Prime Minister Wilberforce of England that he forthwith determined to begin the movement which eventually led to the emanc.i.p.ation of all slaves in the British empire.