Gather in Faith, Celebrate God’s Love,                  Serve in Jesus’ Name…

Scandia Lutheran’s Centennial Celebration is not about the wonderful things we have done over the last 100 years; rather the wonderful things that God has and continues to do through the hands and feet of the people who enter these halls.  All of the planning and time spent at the church will culminate in a wonderful weekend of praise to the Living Lord who makes all things new – even you and me.  To prepare ourselves for the coming celebration, I’ve done some research into the hymn “A Mighty Fortress”, written by Martin Luther. This will be one of the magnificent praise songs we offer to the Lord the weekend of September 13^th and 14^th.  I pray you will join your voice in singing this tune…

 OVERVIEW OF THE HYMN  Like Psalm 46, the hymn begins by proclaiming that God is our refuge (a fortress is a military fort or a fortified place) and strength (a bulwork is a wall that defense or even a shield) who is our constant source for help in time of trouble—even when trials seem to be flooding over us.  But then our great adversary is mentioned as our greatest threat who still strives to do us harm. He—Satan—is clever and powerful and filled with hate.  And on earth Satan has no equal. (1 Peter 5:8)

 The second stanza, however, makes it clear that though we cannot win the spiritual battle by our own strength (Eph 6:11-12), God has provided us with the One who can and will win the battle. And that One is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.  His name is “Lord Sabaoth”, which means “Lord Almighty”, “Lord of Hosts” or even “Lord of Armies”.  Luther is referring to Psalm 46:7 and 11, in which God is named the Lord of Hosts. This means the Lord of Armies—meaning both earthly armies and the Lord’s angelic armies (see 2 Kings 6:15, where Elisha prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened to see the hosts protecting them).  The point being that the Lord over all spiritual hosts is the Man—Jesus Christ—who will win the spiritual battle. Note that Luther also is making a clear proclamation of Christ’s deity by both calling him Lord Almighty and saying He is the same from age to age (He is eternal—the same yesterday, today, and forever—Heb 13:8).

 The third stanza expresses that though the demonic forces against us are great, we have no need to fear because our God has willed that His truth would triumph through us.  And though Satan is ferociously evil, we can endure his anger because we know he is a defeated foe.  Our Lord is infinitely greater! So much so  that “one little word” uttered from our Lord will ruin him. (Ps 46:6 says “He uttered His voice, the earth melted”).

 The final stanza uses a play on words—“word” was used in the last line of stanza three and now “Word” is used to represent Christ.  Christ is above all earthly powers and is there for us.  Also, God—who is on our side—has given us His Spirit and His gifts.  So we have nothing to fear and nothing to lose! The evil one may be allowed to take our earthly goods and family (“goods and kindred”). He may even be allowed to take our earthly life! But the worst the enemies of truth can do is really nothing.  They are all perishing. But the Lord, His truth, His kingdom, and all those who belong to Him will endure forever.  Therefore, as Psalm 46 concludes:

 ¹⁰Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.                                       —Psalm 46:10-11