"Out of the fullness of the heart, the language of each mortal springs.
If you would truly know a man, just listen to the songs he sings."
- Amish hymn writer John Paul Raber, Songs from Within (1991)
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| "Several Beautiful Christian Songs Which Were Written and Sung Through God's Grace by the Swiss Brethren in the Passau Castle Prison" |
The first version of the collection of Anabaptist songs that later became known as the Ausbund was published in 1564, just decades after the beginning of the Anabaptist (free church) movement. Believed to be the oldest hymnal in continual use in history, it has gone through numerous revisions and expansions, and was long the mainstay of early European and American Mennonite congregations. It is still the standard hymnal used by many Old Order Amish groups in the United States.
The 51 hymns published in its first edition were written and compiled by a group of Anabaptists in a notorious prison in Passau, where believers were being held by Reformed (Protestant) authorities and were awaiting possible torture and/or death. Singing these heartfelt pieces together was a vital part of what kept them steadfast and unyielding under severe pressure to deny their new-found convictions.
Here is an example of one of these very earliest hymn texts, "O Herre Gott in deinem Thron" ("O Lord God on your Throne") composed by Michael Schneider, a tailor. It was recently translated and put to verse by Gerald Mast, professor of communications at Bluffton College (used here with his permission), and meant to be sung to the tune of Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," the already popular Reformation hymn in Schneider's time:
O Lord God ruling from your throne,
your laws and statutes gave us
a way to live for you alone
released from selfish blindness.
But now through Jesus Christ
we who have been baptized
know only one command:
to love without demand;
God's call to gracious service.
Against all strife and tyranny
God's love for us is given.
This love endures defenselessly,
though death and devil threaten.
Because of Jesus Christ,
our discord harmonized.
We fear not any foe;
when love is all we know,
no conflict can dishearten.
Sisters and brothers let us take
the path to joy from sorrow.
The cross of costly friendship make
our past and our tomorrow.
We follow Jesus Christ,
who gave for us his life;
came here with us to dwell,
delivered us from hell,
through fierce and faithful mercy.
This hymn is quite similar to Luther's "A Mighty Fortress" in its description of the church's spiritual conflict with evil. However, Luther staunchly defended the use of the literal sword when necessary to combat the enemies of the faith, which to him clearly included Anabaptists who advocated for a church free to practice its faith independent of the rule of the state.
I'm impressed by how Schneider's hymn combines an affirmation of courageous faith with a spirit of unwavering solidarity with fellow believers, and am struck by how different it is in tone and content from many of the hymns, choruses and gospel songs we sing today.
Historically, we can note a significant shift in hymn choices among Mennonites already by 1803, when Lancaster Conference Mennonites published their first collection of German hymns to supplement, and very soon replace, the Ausbund. They included far more songs from Pietist, revivalist and other traditions than those by their Anabaptist forbears. The title they gave the new hymnal, "Unpartheyisches Gesangbuch" (Impartial or Non-Sectarian Song Book) is telling, and suggests that Mennonites were already aligning themselves with more generic forms of Protestantism, marking a shift in focus toward a more personal and inward experience of faith (with lots of I-me-my language) rather than the more communal and discipleship-focused tradition of their spiritual ancestors (who used predominantly plural pronouns in their hymns and other writings).
Another hymnal of that era published for use in more progressive Amish churches, called "Eine Unpartheyisches Liedersammlung," likewise included a majority of hymns that were borrowed from other evangelical traditions. And in subsequent English language hymnals produced by mainstream Mennonites, such as The Church and Sunday School Hymnal, Life Songs, the Church Hymnal, and the Mennonite Hymnal, there are far more hymns by non-pacifist writers like Fannie Crosby (who also wrote patriotic songs in support of the Mexican/American and the Civil War [1]), than those authored by past or present Anabaptists.
It could be argued that this is a good thing, a sign of a kind of openness and ecumenism that should be commended. But were all of our choices of newer hymns made deliberately and wisely, and with a realization that what we sing most fundamentally informs and shapes our faith and the faith of our children--likely far more than the sermons we hear or the authors we read?
Note, for example, the primary emphases in one of the many gospel songs I grew up with (and loved), like "My Jesus, I Love Thee,” written around 1862 by William R. Featherstone, a young Methodist who died at age 27. (found on page 522 of our current Hymnal, a Worship Book):
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus 'tis now.
I am certainly not against our singing this kind of personal testimony piece as long as we remember that our Lord is worthy of praise not only because he “purchased my pardon” and offers me "mansions of glory and endless delight." Rather, he is one whose way of life we are to follow and demonstrate here on earth, by God's grace, as a community of believers who are citizens of God's worldwide "colony of heaven." God is about redeeming and perfecting a people, a body, a bride, a living, unified temple whose cornerstone is Christ, not just about rescuing individual souls.
If this is true, more of the hymns we choose for worship should express our understanding of Anabaptist-based practices such as 1) living as simple, God-governed communities of faith committed to teaching and practicing Jesus' way of radical discipleship, 2) pledging allegiance to Jesus' worldwide kingdom rather than to any nation state, 3) denouncing all forms of violence and taking up Jesus' cross rather than taking up arms, and 4) sacrificially serving and loving neighbors in need both near and far.
In the spirit of the writers of the Ausbund, we would do well as Mennonites to sing more of what celebrates and shapes that kind of life together.
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