The Gift of Scripture and Song

Over the years there have been many lists of the most influential people in history. Martin Luther is listed in the top 100 on more than one list and ranks right up there with Guttenberg, Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein.

The Wikipedia, the Free (online) Encyclopedia, states about Martin Luther:                                        

His translation of the Bible into the vernacular of the people made the Scriptures more accessible to them, and had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity.

Reformation Sunday is celebrated in many congregations the last weekend in October. I was privileged to be asked to read one of the lessons during a Reformation Worship at the National Cathedral in Washington DC this past weekend. The reading was from Deuteronomy 6:1-9. As I walked down the aisle in a processional behind flowing red streamers singing “A Mighty Fortress” with hundreds as it echoed in this cavernous building, I couldn’t help but reflect on what a gift it is to be able to read the Bible and sing hymns of adoration, praise, and scripture every week in worship and everyday in my home. If Martin Luther hadn’t nailed the 95 thesis on the door in Wittenberg, I wonder where I would be today. Would I even be familiar with a scripture verse that has had a major impact on my life and changed my family life?

Memorizing scripture embeds it in the mind and goes straight to the heart. The easiest way to memorize scripture is the way the brain learns through the arts, motion, and music. For more than a decade I have been helping congregations to understand the importance of giving parents tools and a means to be the primary teacher of faith in their own child’s life. The tools are simple: The Bible, scripture songs, and an enjoyable, comfortable setting where we learn together. No one is expected to “know it all”. Everyone is both a student and a teacher. Parents learn to read scripture, pray with, and bless their children at home.                                       

Thank you Martin Luther! Were it not for you we wouldn’t be revolutionizing the way we learn scripture through reading it for ourselves, highlighting it in the Bible, singing and signing it.

I invite you to reflect on the gifts Martin Luther has brought to you in your life and to the life of your congregation. In what ways have you been encouraged to “Keep these words?”             

How do you go about reciting them to the children, binding them on hands, and writing them on the doorposts of homes?

 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deut. 6:4-9