December 7
Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
TEXT: Jaroslav J. Vajda
b. April 28, 1919, Lorain, Ohio
d. May 10, 2008, Webster Groves, Missouri
Jaroslav Vajda was a frail child who had chronic bronchitis. Yet by the age of twelve, he was playing the violin in the Chicago Youth Symphony. At the age of eighteen, Vajda translated classical Slovak poetry into English. He became a Lutheran pastor and the author of 225 hymns, although he did not write his first hymn until age forty-nine. Today his hymns are found in almost fifty hymnals. A friend and Lutheran educator said of Vajda’s texts: “One is always struck by the strong theological thrust of Jary’s texts—biblically grounded, theologically informed, and rooted in Trinitarian theology.”21
At his death, Vajda was lauded as “the dean of hymn writers in North America” and “the poet laureate of the hymn world.” He claimed he learned to write hymns by translating poetry. He humbly stated, “My hymns are what they are: poetic expressions of thanks to God. They are my grateful reaction—my praise and wonder and exclamation—to the love and glory of God.”22
TUNE: Carl F. Schalk
b. 1929, Chicago, Illinois
Carl Schalk is a noted composer, author, and lecturer and a professor of music emeritus at Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, where he taught from 1965 until his retirement in 1994. Schalk was a member of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, which produced the Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978. He is a fellow of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada and was made an honorary life member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. His numerous choral compositions are published by a wide array of publishers, and he has written over eighty hymn tunes and carols. This tune was originally written as a choral work but is now sung as a hymn and loved worldwide by Lutheran worshipers.
As you sing this hymn … you are walking in the shepherds’ sandals. You have heard the angels’ announcement and come in this modern day to see for yourself. Perhaps initially you came with “half-belief” and “pounding heart,” only grateful for the opportunity to join them. But today, we come to the manger with hindsight, for we know that baby did cry for us. You too remember the prophecies of Isaiah and the anticipation of a Messiah. But today you understand that this has been fulfilled, and this child is the Son of God and the Prince of Peace who wants to enter your life.
The final stanza describes Jesus burning His way into our heart, “unasked, unforced, unearned.” What a great deal of theology is implied in just three words. Meditate for a few minutes on this wonder that the King of the Universe comes to you in such a powerful but gentle way.
The story of the shepherds is an analogy of our lives. They heard the message from the angels, and they believed it. So they went to Jesus, and then went out and told everyone. Similarly, God reveals Himself to us through a sermon, or someone sharing, or reading His Word. We hear it, we believe, and we act on it, telling others what we have learned—just as the shepherds did.