HYMN FOR PENTECOST Come Holy Spirit, God and Lord
- Gracia Grindal
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Text: Martin Luther (1483-1546) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tune: Pre-Reformation German tune
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 1.   Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord!
Be all Thy graces now outpoured
On each believer's mind and heart;
Thy fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Thy light
Thou in faith dost men unite
Of every tongue and every nation;
We, therefore, sing with exultation:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
2. Thou holy Light, our Guide divine,
O cause the Word of life to shine;
Teach us to know our God aright,
And call Him Father with delight;
From error, Lord, our souls defend,
That they on Christ alone attend,
In Him with living faith abiding,
In Him will all their might confiding.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
3. Thou holy Fire, sweet Source of rest,
Grant that, with joy and hope possessed,
We always in Thy service stay,
And trouble drive us not away.
Lord, by Thy power prepare each heart,
To our weak nature strength impart,
That firmly here we be contending,
Through life and death to Thee ascending.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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REFLECTION
The lesson for Pentecost Sunday in Series C is from John when Jesus, after the Resurrection, breathes the Holy Spirit on his disciples. This is a different story from the one Luke writes in Acts. However, the effect is the same. Upon receiving the Spirit, the disciples are commissioned to go forth with the Gospel, the good news and the forgiveness of sins.
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Jesus has promised the disciples just before his Ascension in the Acts account, that he must leave them so that the Spirit can come to them. He will not leave them comfortless, and in the Spirit’s coming, Jesus’ presence will be brought to the whole world in word, deeds and sacraments. The Spirit will not be limited to one place and time as Jesus in his body would be.
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He will, however, be at the right hand of his father where he will reign as King in the way he meant all through his ministry while driving the leaders of both Israel and the Romans crazy. They took his kingship as a threat to their authority. And while Jesus did not gather an army to dethrone Pilate of the chief priests, his rule has proven to be greater than theirs. They are all dead and buried, and their empires in the dust, but Christ still reigns. His Spirit gives us power to stand against the worldly powers and speak a higher truth to them, one which ultimately will unseat them all. Halleluja!
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HYMN INFO
Martin Luther’s first hymnal, now 501 years ago, contained about 8 hymns at first, and then a few more in a contemporary hymnal to that. One of the miracles of his works—both poetic and musical—is that several of them are still in use today and can be found in most Lutheran hymnals. This hymn, the Haupt hymn, for German Lutheran when they celebrate Pentecost, goes back to the 1524 hymnals of Luther Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn/A booklet of spiritual songs and Eyn Enchiridion in Erfurt. While it is still used some among non-German Lutherans for Pentecost, in American Lutheran practice, it is the hymn almost required for ordinations.
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This link takes you to a blog of mine on the recent book celebrating the publication of the first Lutheran hymnals.
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 LINKS
The Castle Church Congregation singing the hymn in Wittenberg
 Radial by the Ordharc
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