HYMN FOR PENTECOST 12 Jesus, I Long for your Blessed Communion

Gracia Grindal
11 hours ago
5 min read

Text: Peder Hygom (1692-1764) Tune: Folk tune from Ryfylke

Jesus, I Long for your blessed communion,

Yearning possesses my heart and my mind.

Break down all barriers that hinder my union.

Draw me to you, O Redeemer most kind!

Show me now clearly my need that is crying.

Show me the pain of the wrongs that I do.

That unto sin I may daily be dying,

And in the Spirit live only to you.

2. Quicken my soul thro’ your blood and your merit.

Send me your Spirit and help me to prove

I am your captive in soul and in spirit.

Lead me and draw me to you with your love.

Come, let my heart from all idols be severed;

So that you only can dwell in my soul.

Grant me your peace that continues forever,

Peace beyond all I can fathom or know.

3. Jesus, when shall I find rest in your haven?

Take up my burden, Lord, lift it from me!

When shall I see you, my Savior, in heaven?

Waken and quiet the wild, troubled sea.

O loving Jesus, come help me, be speedy;

Hide not your face from me, always be near.

You are the wealth of the inwardly needy.

Come, fill my heart with your mercy and cheer.

4. Jesus, let not my love go unrequited:

See my poor soul growing weary, O Lord,

Let us, Immanuel, now be united,

When you are with me, my soul is restored.

Once you did say, “They will hunger and perish,

If I permit them to go on their way!”

Love everlasting! Refuse not to nourish

Souls that are hungering for crumbs for today.

5. Merciful Jesus, I pray, hear my pleading.

Do not forget what you said in your word:

“Ask and receive; you will find when you seek me

This you have said and your people have heard.

I, like the woman at Cana, keep pleading,

Crying to you till my longing is stilled.

And you have spoken with grace to my needing,

“Amen, yes, Amen; be done as you will.”

Tr. Carl Døving; Georg Rygh;

REFLECTION

The text for next Sunday gives some readers the willies and drives preachers to other lessons. Jesus is recorded as saying rather harsh things to this desperate woman. He was not sent to her, she is not part of his mission, is she like a dog? One might ask then why did he go to SyroPhoenicia? It was, for his people, the center of paganism. He very well knew he would be confronted in this way by needy people. And indeed he was.

There is an intense exchange between the woman who wants Jesus to heal her possessed daughter and Jesus. Her logic is impeccable and Jesus realizes that, so much that he changes his mind? That is tricky for many. As God, would Jesus not have known that? My favorite NT scholar on Matthew, Frederick Dale Brun argues that indeed Jesus learns from her that his mission is to the whole world. That is something of a shocking exegesis, but something does happen here. If the food should go to the people it is intended for, she says, one also has to remember that at great meals, crumbs drop to the ground and feed the family pets. More are fed than those intended, is her basic argument. All she wants it a crumb. Jesus is persuaded and marvels at her great faith and tells her that her daughter is healed.

Jesus exorcising the Canaanite Woman's daughter. From Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 15th century.

While this may be the deeper meaning of the account, the focus on the faith of the woman needs attention. I know of only one hymn that treats this woman, the German/Danish hymn Jesus I Long for your blessed communion, (in the original)to taste your communion, sung by Hans Nielsen Hauge, the great lay evangelist whose work changed Norway. While he only got to stanza two before being struck down by a light from heaven, the rest of the hymn uses images from this chapter in Matthew. Stanza four tells the story of this woman and her faith, especially her prayers. Its conclusions urges us to use her as a model for our prayer—and not give up in our quest for healing. THe surprising end of the stanza is that God says Amen to our prayers!

Faith is our relationship with Jesus Christ, a two way relationshhip. As in any relationship that is worthy, we long for closer communion with the beloved. That closer communion with Jesus is our prayer. While this woman has one goal in mind—the healing of her daughter—we may simply have a longing to be closer to Christ. Thus the first stanzas which stress that we need to confess our sins and let Jesus heal that rift to bring us comfort. On the second hand, our relationship, like any, ebbs and flows. God knows that we tend to cry out more to him when we need something. Our need is not a failure of faith, but it usually drives us to the source of our faith more quickly than a sunny day. Crying out to Jesus for help brings him to us quickly, with healing in his wings.

The Canaanite Woman and her Daughter

In a far country, out of Israel,

Jesus meets a woman who believes

He is “the Lord, the Son of David.” She yells

For him to heal her daughter, she needs reprieve,

The demon never lets her rest; her cries

Irritate the disciples who beg the Lord

To send her away. He’s silent. Then replies

“I was not sent to you.” She sinks to the floor,

“Help me!” A cry as plaintive as it gets.

“Even the dogs eat the table crumbs!”

Her faith surprises him. He sees a net

Singing across the waters, the kingdom come,

Her parable opens him to all the earth,

Stunned as she sees his wonder show its worth.

(From Jesus the Harmony Gracia Grindal Fortress Press 2021

HYMN INFO

This hymn comes from German pietism which sees Jesus as Wisdom, Jesus Sophia. It was translated by a friend of Hans Adolph Brorson, Peter Hygom, a pastor near Brorson’s home. It went north quickly and received many Norwegian folk tunes. The one most popular today is a folk tune from Ryfylke in Norway. The second hymn, Just a Crumb, focuses on what poets call a synecdoche, a trope Martin Luther loved—in a small piece of bread one receives the entire kingdom of God.