“Singing the Faith: Abide with Me”
Luke 24:29

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost—November 13, 2016

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

We continue our fall sermon series “Singing the Faith,” looking and the background and meaning of favorite hymns.  Today’s hymn is another that always makes the top ten in surveys of favorite hymns, and is always included in every hymnal of every denomination.  Though written by a man who was the pastor most of his ministry in a humble parish of poor fisherman, it was sung in Westminster Abbey for both the funeral of King George VI, and the wedding of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth.  It is the #1 favorite hymn in Great Britain and is often called the British national hymn.  During World War II it was sung each evening by British prisoners of war in concentration camps.  Still today, just as our ball games begin with the Star Spangled Banner, professional soccer matches in Great Britain often begin with thousands of spectators singing from memory all eight verses of this beloved hymn.

Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!

Though listed in the hymnal under “Evening” hymns, this hymn is really about more than the ending of the day.  It is also a meditation on the approaching end of your life in this world, and the eventual end of the world itself.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see.

O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!

Henry Francis Lyte was an English pastor in the in the early 1800’s.  He was an excellent preacher and also won several poetry contests.  He could have advanced to larger and more prestigious parishes, but he chose instead to serve the common country folk. For most of his ministry, the last 23 years, he very faithfully shepherded God’s flock in a small fishing village. 

He was afflicted all of his life with many severe illnesses.  At the age of 54 he contracted tuberculosis.  The only possible cure was moving away from England to a warm climate.  He reluctantly preached a farewell sermon and prepared to leave for Italy.  He wrote in his diary that for this sermon he was in so much pain, “I was scarce able to crawl to the pulpit.”

That evening he went out into the parsonage garden to watch one last sunset.  It was a beautiful, quiet evening, and as he watched the setting sun, a verse came to mind from the Gospel of Luke, when the disciples on the road to Emmaus say to Jesus, “Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent.”  He sensed that he was very close to death.  He thought it was likely he might never make it to Italy, or back home again.

He went into his study and sat down at the desk where he had written hundreds of sermons, to write one last time, not a sermon, but a hymn.  In his life he had already written 39 previous hymns, including all of the hymns in our service today.  Amazingly, his most famous hymn he wrote that evening in less than one hour, and also composed an original tune, different from the tune we use today.  His descendants still possess the manuscript he gave his wife when he left his study that evening, with the words he wrote and music he composed for the hymn which would be his final testimony and his dying prayer.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;

Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.

Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still if Thou abide with me.

Henry Francis Lyte’s most beloved hymn came out of his experiences on that final, farewell day in his parish: out of his grief at being forced to leave his work; out of the excruciating climax to years of sickness and pain; and finally out of the peace and quiet beauty of watching one last time the setting sun from his garden.

Before mankind harnessed electricity, nighttime was such a fearful time of uncertainty and danger that darkness and night became symbolic of evil itself.  The New Testament describes sin as “the deeds of darkness,” Satan as “the powers of this dark world,” and hell as “blackest darkness.”  As Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” 

So, the plea in this hymn for the Lord’s presence at the ending of the day, “Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent,” is first of all a plea for God to shower down upon us in this dark world of sin his forgiveness and grace and mercy.

Come not in terror, as the King of kings,

But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;

What but Thy grace can foil the Tempter’s power?

Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?

Come, Friend of sinners, oh, abide with me!

Paul writes in Colossians, “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The Good News is, as Henry Francis Lyte put it the opening hymn of our service today:

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;

To His feet your tribute bring.

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.

You are rescued from the darkness of sin, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.  As Peter says, “Declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 

So, the plea in this hymn for the Lord’s presence at the ending of the day, is first of all a plea for God to shower down upon us in this dark world of sin his forgiveness and grace and mercy, a plea fulfilled in his Son, your Savior Jesus Christ.  “I am the light of the world,” Jesus says. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent.”  The plea for the Lord’s presence in this hymn is also a meditation on the approaching end of your life in this world.  Just hours before he wrote this hymn, and just days before he died, Pastor Lyte, referring to his illness which was likely to be terminal, began his final, farewell sermon this way: “I stand here among you today, like one alive from the dead.  I hope to impress upon you, and induce you to prepare, through faith in the death of Christ, for that final, solemn hour which must come to us all.”

Ten days later, while on his way to Italy, Henry Francis Lyte died and was buried in Nice, France.  At the moment of death he pointed to the skies and cried out, “Peace!  Joy!”

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies.

Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

“Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent.”  Finally, the plea for the Lord’s presence in this hymn is also a meditation on the approaching end of the world itself.  “For the world in its present form is passing away,” Paul says.

In 2nd Timothy, Paul describes what the time just before the end of the world will be like: “There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”  Four hundred years ago, Martin Luther read those words and concluded, “Surely the Apostle is speaking of our generation.” 

“Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent.”  If Martin Luther thought, because of the evil of his generation, that they had already reached the evening of the world’s existence, then surely the wickedness of our age means that the day is indeed far spent and the end of all things is at hand.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see.

O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!

For you and all who trust in Christ, the final judgment and the end of the world is not something to be feared.  “When these things begin to take place,” Jesus says, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  For you and all who trust in Christ, the end of the world is the light at the end of the tunnel, the eternal, joyous, heavenly light at the end of this world’s long, dark tunnel of sorrow.  As Revelation says, “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.”

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies.

Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

“Abide with us, for it is evening, and the day is far spent.” The beloved hymn based on that verse written by Henry Francis Lyte is really about more than the ending of the day.  It is also a meditation on the approaching end of your life in this world, and the eventual end of the world itself.

Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.

Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!