HYMN FOR PENTECOST 12 I cannot come to the banquet
- Gracia Grindal
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Text and tune: Miriam Therese Winter (1938-)
(for reasons of copyright I cannot include the text, but it is available here
REFLECTIONS
Luke 14 has several parables and sayings about being invited to a feast. For some reason the lectionary does not use the main parable. It is to my mind, and others, the key to Luke’s understanding of Christ’s mission on earth as he shows the vertical meaning of the gospel—God coming down to save his people; Acts, according to scholars, is where Luke shows how this parable, its horizontal meaning, is fulfilled with the work of Peter and Paul going to the uttermost parts of the world to gather in the poor and needy.
In the remarkable Viborg Cathedral in Denmark, Joachim Skovgaard (1854-1933) has painted frescoes of major Bible stories throughout the entire building, from top to bottom. One can follow the red thread of salvation from Adam and Eve to the crowning of Jesus at the ascension where he now rules as the King of Heaven. It is well worth a trip there to see and read the walls, so to speak. Skovgaard, a devout follower of N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), the great Danish thinker and hymn writer, made a proposal to cover the cathedral with paintings of significant scenes from the Bible. The most significant parable, to him, the one that gets major attention, is this one from Luke 14, about the king who gives a feast (in the painting it is clearly Jesus who is the king) and sends out his servants to invite them to the feast. But as the Sunday school song has it, everyone on the guest list has something else to do and demurs.
This upsets the king who then sends his servants out to bring in the poor, the ill, the handicapped, all who have reason to feel uninvited to the banquet. Skovgaard’s colleague, Nils Larsen Stevns (1864-1941), helped with this huge painting, and gives us a picture of the one who has bought a cow, or who has just married, or has just bought a field. And then the servants going to the others poor and needy.
The book of Acts shows Peter and Paul following the words of Jesus Great Commission, as they go out on their mission. They go first to the synagogue and preach the gospel, and then when they are thrown out, they to the Gentiles. Paul is often silenced, even violently persecuted for his preaching. What he has to give his listeners is an invitation from the resurrected and ascended King Jesus to everyone. Many come and believe, but many others refuse the invitation, some even violently.
We are the servants our king has sent out to deliver his invitation. All should receive it from us; some will accept it, others will not. Christ will do the persuading, the feeding and the nourishing. But he needs us to go through the entire world with the invitation. It is our privilege to do so, and an urgent mission. God would that all come to his banquet. He has so much to give, treasures that last forever!
HYMN INFO
Miriam Therese Winter was a medical missionary. She received her education in music after becoming a Medical Mission Sister in the Roman Catholic church. Serving her Lord in places like the Thai-Cambodian border, or in Ethiopia in refugee camps, in Botswana, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, she has also been a very active composer of teaching songs. Her most popular album is "Joy is Like the Rain.” This song is a rollicking song that kids love to sing. Sister Miriam received her B. A. in Music from Catholic University and a M.A. from McMaster Divinity College in religious education. She later received a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. She has been a strong feminist who founded the Women’s Leadership Institute. Her book The Singer and the Song: an Autobiography of the Spirit published in 1999 is one of her more popular books.
LINKS
St. Matthews Lutheran children’s choir
Medical Mission Sisters
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NB:
For those planning for Bible study through the next year, you might consider the book Jesus the Harmony. It has a poem for every day of the year and Bible references on each poem that put Jesus in what has been called "the red thread of salvation." Many have been using it for daily devotions; others in group Bible studies.
Click here to check it out. https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145