Good Ole Hymn

The Gloria in Excelsis is a Christian hymn that comes to us from the fourth century (or perhaps even earlier) and is still sung in Lutheran worship today. And there is a beautiful relationship between its contents and the Lutheran understanding of worship expressed in The Defense of the Augsburg Confession (Ap), IV, 154. For those of you who do not know, the Defense was written by the Lutherans in 1531 against the Roman Catholics who disagreed with many of their positions. The Gloria in Excelsis and Ap, IV, 154 both contain the person and work of Christ at the center, where sinners seek mercy and the forgiveness of sins from Him. Ap, IV, 154 says concerning the sinful woman of Luke 7:36-50, “[She] came with this conviction about Christ: that she should seek the forgiveness of sins from him. This is the highest way to worship Christ.” It truly is the highest way to worship Christ when we approach Him with contrition and faith in order to receive the forgiveness of sins. The Gloria in Excelsis truly captures this evangelical Lutheran understanding of worship as it exclaims, “Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God: You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us…You alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord.”

Where did the Gloria in Excelsis come from? Also known as the Hymnus Angelicus (The Hymn of Angels), it is first found in the Apostolic Constitutions (VII:47), and Athanasius references it. The Lutheran liturgical historian, Luther Reed, documents that it “was a ‘private psalm’ sung in Greek in the morning office but not as a part of the Mass.” Liturgical historian Theodor Klauser states that it was not until Pope Sergius of the 7th century that it became an integral part of the Mass. This was due to it being an enthusiastic hymn of praise, which was not suitable to the popular Roman understanding of worship at that time, which was more somber. Prior to this, Pope Symmachus (5th century) only allowed the Bishops to chant it, while the Priests were only allowed to do so on Easter. Reed records that it was even later (11th century) that celebrants began chanting the opening phrase during the Mass, while the choir chanted the rest.

What is contained in the Gloria in Excelsis? It begins by quoting the angels in Luke 2:14 who exclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest." It immediately centers everything upon the Triune God. Reed states that it “lifts the worshipers from thought of self to contemplation of the divine.” It also echoes the words of the angels so that the worshipers on earth join the angels who are worshiping God in heaven. Luther realized this and it caused him to say that the Gloria “did not grow, nor was it made on earth, but it came down from heaven.” The middle section contains a confession of the deity of Jesus Christ where it says that He is the “Only begotten Son.” Here it recognizes that the God-man Jesus Christ is the only person who can forgive our sins. It does this again when it quotes John the Baptist from John 1:29 who said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" It also recognizes that Christ did not remain dead. But he arose from death and is sitting at the right hand of the Father. The Dean of Chapel at Concordia Seminary, James Brauer, affirms this when he wrote, “Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of him. Rather, he now sits at the right hand of the Father, watching over the universe, over the church, and – joy of all joys! – over us.”

This glorious hymn of praise theologically contains the person and work of Jesus Christ and ascribes salvation through the Triune God alone. It causes our hearts to be lifted up to heaven, worshiping God by ascribing to Him glory, the forgiveness of sins, mercy, and holiness. Reed writes, “The Gloria in Excelsis is not merely a hymn of praise to the Father, but a‘jubilant anthem of redemption…’ it grounds our faith and worship again on the incarnation, the atonement, and the perpetual intercession of our Lord.” It seeks mercy and forgiveness from the Triune God alone and is therefore in accordance with the evangelical Lutheran understanding of worship as articulated by Melanchthon in Ap, IV, 154.