Reformation Lutheran Church

The song “Fling Wide the Door”, found in both the LBW and ELW, is among one of my favorite Advent hymns. The hymn “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” from the Service Book and Hymnal (Red Book #8) is similar in content, if not musically, because both hymns are based on the words found in Psalm 24:8-10. The writer of Fling Wide the Door was Georg Weissel and was written during the very difficult period following the Protestant Reformation, known as the Thirty Years War.

This hymn reveals an unexpected spirit of hope and praise born out of the death and destruction that occurred from 1618-1648 in Germany and the rest of Europe. Nearly a generation after the Protestant Reformation, there existed a climate of political and religious polarization that resulted in intolerance, brutality, and bloodshed. Germany was not only at odds with various forces throughout Europe, it’s unity had disintegrated into warring factions within its own borders.

The people of this era were overcome with gloom and despair. “I was born in war,” one said, “I have no home, no country, and no friends, war is all my wealth and now whither shall I go?” Someone else was heard to say, “God send that there may be an end at last; God send that there may be peace again. God in heaven send us peace!”
Historians estimate that nearly 7.5 million people lost their lives during that period.

So, how in the world – in the midst of such turmoil and unrest – could someone sing such words? Fling wide the door, unbar the gate – THE KING OF GLORY COMES IN STATE!

I wonder if the same could be said of our present circumstances, both at home and abroad. How do we sing such hope-filled words when faced with social fragmentation and polarization in our land? What kind of songs are being sung as people lose their homes, their jobs, their dignity? How can people sing such glorious words in places like Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, or Iraq – where people have been displaced from their homes and warring factions are a way of life? What kind of songs are sung in places where the brutalization of humanity has become the norm?
Like countless yesterdays, I’ll bet they long to “fling wide the door” into a hopeful future, to shed the “bars and chains” that bind and behold the KING OF GLORY who comes with everlasting peace.

Maybe our circumstances aren’t so dire, but we all have our own “chains” that hold us captive to heartache and compel us to long for that elusive peace. Advent reminds us of our own longing for renewal. It is a time for reassessing where we have placed our hope and trust. It is a time for us to reinvigorate our relationship with THE KING OF GLORY – Jesus Christ!

Christ promises to come to us no matter what may come -- be it personal pain, shattered dreams, financial ruin, broken relationships, sickness, natural disasters, terrorism, … yes, and even death. Nothing can stop Christ from bursting through the door of our fragmented lives with a peace beyond our wildest imagining. Our frail existence is never beyond reach of the One who comes to us with salvation. As he stands on the threshold of the door of our lives, will we fling wide the door and allow him to embrace us with grace. That is the promise of Advent. That is truly our hope. May you be blessed with the presence of the One who is THE KING OF GLORY.
Lift up your heads!

Peace,

Pastor Barb