Last Sunday of the Church Year

Wake, Awake!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This Sunday we sing the traditional hymn for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying. 

This wonderful hymn was written by Philip Nicolai, an early Lutheran hymn writer. The hymn is a paraphrase of the Gospel text from Matthew 25:1-13 which is the Parable of the Ten Virgins. 

Nicolai wrote regarding this hymn and parable:
In [Scripture], this life of paradise is called a wedding to which Christ, with His chosen children of light (who have died a blessed death in the Lord), looks forward; and to this place He will also call back from this vale of tears all who await His coming with believing hearts, as though with burning lamps (Matthew 25). For He compares Himself to a bridegroom who knocks at midnight and whom His devout Christians, like virgins, come to meet with burning lamps, going with Him to the wedding; and He exhorts us to constant readiness of His arrival, saying, “Belike those who wait for their lord to set out from the wedding, so that when He comes and knocks they open the door for Him at once. Blessed are the servants of the lord, when He comes, finds awake. Truly I say to you, he will prepare himself for service, and will seat them at the table, and will go before them and serve them (Luke 12).”

The parable and hymn are about readiness for the Lord’s return. 

As we hear the Gospel and sing the hymn, Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying this Sunday, reflect on how you are encouraged to be ready for your Lord’s return and how He comes to bring you into His eternal wedding feast of joy!

In Christ,
Pastor Rogness