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Text: Charles Wesley (1707-1788) Tune: HURSLEY Katholisches Gesangbuch, Vienna 1774 The King's Banquet 1 Come, sinners, to the gospel feast; let ev'ry soul be Jesus’ guest. Ye need not one be left behind, for God hath bid all human-kind. 2 Sent by my Lord, on you I call; the invitation is to all. Come, all the world! Come, sinner, thou! All things in Christ are ready now. 3 Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed, ye restless wand'rers after rest; ye poor, and maimed, disabled, and blind, in Christ a hearty welcome find. 4 Come and partake the gospel feast, be saved from sin, in Jesus rest; O taste the goodness of our God, and eat His flesh and drink His blood. 4a His love is mighty to compel: His conqu'ring love consent to feel; Yield to his love's resistless power, And fight against your God no more. 5 This is the time, no more delay! This is the Lord’s accepted day. Come thou, this moment, at His call, and live for Him who died for all. REFLECTION The King's Banquet Jesus’ parable on the king’s feast attracts most attention for the guest who has come without the proper garment and is not allowed into the feast. The part where the first invited refuse the invitation rather briskly and shockingly is passed over and the talk is all about why this one is refused entrance. Whatever the required wedding garment was—baptism, good works or faith—is not quite as germane as the fact the wedding guest wants to come on his own terms, an excuse not unlike those initially invited--they all have other things to do. In other words, I and my affairs come first. A rather clear picture of idolatry, against which Scripture rails from the fall in Genesis on to the end. What we wear is a deeply personal choice, and anyone who has tried to force a child to wear something they don’t want to wear knows how that goes. It is a contest of wills between the child and its parents. Anyone, however, who has ever been invited to a meeting with royals even now knows they have to dress appropriately. At the funeral of King Harald of Norway in September, 2026, everyone who attended the church service or other ceremonies had to wear all black from head to toe or they could not be admitted. And the funny thing is, everybody did. They submitted because they desired to honor the late king. Dante And while clothes are the issue here, they simply stand for our wills. We do not want to give in to anyone who wants to rule us. What we hold out for is our own will; not the will of God. That is idolatry. Dante in his great poem The Divine Comedy makes clear that for the people in hell, it is their heaven. It is what they wanted. God has said to them, Thy will be done! They would not submit to obeying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. While I was teaching The Inferno to freshmen who were appalled at the treatment of the inhabitants in the Inferno, it was difficult to teach this lesson. Their call for mercy to the sinners, however, would not have interested the denizens of hell. They preferred their sins to the joys of Paradise. Sigrid Undset, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1928, argued in many places that civilization could not survive if people did not submit dutifully to the requirements of the civilization they had inherited. Arguing for one’s rights over against one’s duty to submit to the demands of their flesh—that is, their children—makes for anarchy, she argued. And we can see that anarchy all around us today. Given the mores of the day, we are taught to be our own gods, hold our own truths and worship ourselves as we will. It doesn’t make for a flourishing culture. The Bible shows us what happens when as Judges 21:25 has it, there was “no king so people did that which was right in their own eyes.” Better to "yield to him," as Wesley has it, than "fight against thy God." HYMN INFO Charles Wesley wrote this hymn called “The Great Supper an Invitation to Sinners in 1747 for a collection of Hymns for those who seek and those who have Redemption. It is among one of the more popular of Wesley’s hymns. Unlike many of Wesley’s most well-known hymns, which are drenched with Scriptural references, this is very specific to a Bible story. The editors of hymnals through time, removed a stanza that hints at the guest without a robe--which I added. "And fight against your God no more." For more on Wesley see the information on "Forth in thy name I go." The tune, HURSLEY, comes from a French Huguenot hymnal. The composer is anonymous. LINKS Panoplyimaging https://youtu.be/jEIdVSHAomg?si=me8gszoZtmsSB8FB Polk Street Methodist Church https://youtu.be/CkOonj8rKgs?si=o1ct9pRkWAa0wJb_ Summit Church—contemporary version https://youtu.be/6Ep02iPk600?si=YL_PVfbtf57BBxo_

Text: Isaac Watts (1674-1748) Tune: Lowell Mason (1792-1872) Isaac Watts 1 The heav'ns declare Thy glory, LORD; in every star Thy wisdom shines; but when our eyes behold Thy word, we read Thy name in fairer lines. 2 The rolling sun, the changing light, and nights and days Thy pow'r confess; but the blest volume Thou hast writ reveals Thy justice and Thy grace. 3 Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise round the whole earth, and never stand; so when Thy truth began its race, it touched and glanced on every land. 4 Nor shall Thy spreading gospel rest till through the world Thy truth has run; till Christ has all the nations blest that see the light, or feel the sun. 5 Great Sun of righteousness, arise, bless the dark world with heav'nly light: Thy gospel makes the simple wise; Thy laws are pure, Thy judgments right. 6 Thy noblest wonders here we view in souls renewed and sins forgiv'n; Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew, and make Thy word my guide to heav’n. REFLECTION The Parable of the Wicked Tenants. Marten van Valckenborch Psalm 19, considered by many to be the most glorious poetry in the Psalter. It is recommended by some lectionaries for this Sunday as is Psalm 118 to which Jesus refers when discussing his parable of the owner of the vineyard. The message of the parable is the wonder of God’s unending and passionate love for us. The parable makes me catch my breath when the landowner says he will send his son because, surely, they will not hurt him. If he wasn’t suspicious of the evil the tenants were capable of by then, he is certainly trusting and loving, beyond anything we might expect. Despite all that, he sends his son and the wicked tenants kill him as well. This is love indeed and tells us much about God in Christ. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen Codex Aureus of Echternach 1030 Watts shrewdly uses the trope of comparison to shape his hymn into a psalm of praise for the Son/Sun who has come to “make the simple wise.” Watts does what the church has done since Peter and Paul—he uses the Psalms to say who Jesus is. In Jesus we see more clearly how God’s “Word touched and glanced in every land.” The Isaiah lesson for this Sunday shows another side of our God as he works to cleanse the vineyard and leave only a stump to flower again. This account may well have been in the minds of Jesus’ audience when he told this parable. As the Advent hymns foretell, it is from this branch our Savior will come to save us from the wreckage we have visited on the our world. While Jesus tells this to his contemporaries to convict them, we should be careful to see that these words can well be applied to our feckless generation. We can apply it to our day as we watch the perfidy one generation has visited on its descendants now being turned around. I am writing this just after watching Pope Leo XIV saying mass to over 700,000 people in Paris. Generation Z, statistics show, may be turning to the Christian faith in astonishing numbers. God is working in many and surprising ways to awaken faith in the most barren places, much to our surprise and joy. Pray we do not seek to kill it. HYMN INFO Isaac Watts is without doubt the father of English hymnody. Raised in the Calvinist tradition of strictly paraphrasing psalms as the only hymn book allowed, he began a new tradition of writing hymns based on the psalms, adding images from the New Testament as well. His use of traditional English poetic meters established a sense that all hymns are to be in Small, Common or Long Meter, plus a couple other ballad like forms. Some say he taught poets like William Blake and Emily Dickinson how to write poetry as almost all their poems can be sung to tunes from the Watts’ hymnal. Lowell Mason Lowell Mason is the most influenctial composer of hymn tunes in 19th century America. A native of Massachusetts, he moved to Savannah, Georgia where he worked in a dry goods company and bank. Meanwhile he served as church musician and worked to bring the best of European melodies into the hymnals of the day. He traveled to Leipzig, Germany where he was deeply affected by the congregtional singing in Thomas Church where Bach had served. He resolved to teach congregations to sing hymns better. His Fifth Avenue Presbyterian church in New York became known as the best singing congregation around. In 1859 he published Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, which became a popular and fundamental hymnal for all church musicians in America. The hymn below begins with Isaiah 7 and ends with the Matthew 21 parable. LINKS Martijn de Groot https://youtu.be/awEvlCRZ3WQ?si=-Uemwm6mo7FGEQql Hymns of Grace https://youtu.be/nOHPBj7bprM?si=88KO0kApzHJL5JN1 Biblogic https://youtu.be/m3cN328bYwc?si=LYF0TT-x9kWAmcbp

Text: Charles Wesley (-1707-788) Tune: Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Jesus in the synagogue. James Tisso 1 Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go, my daily labor to pursue; Thee, only Thee, resolved to know in all I think or speak or do. 2 The task Thy wisdom hath assigned, O let me cheerfully fulfill; in all my works Thy presence find, and prove thy good and perfect will. 3 Thee may I set at my right hand, whose eyes mine in-most substance see, and labor on at Thy command, and offer all my works to Thee. 4 For Thee delightfully employ what e'er Thy bounteous grace hath giv'n; and run my course with even joy, and closely walk with Thee to heav'n. REFLECTION This account in Matthew of Jesus sparring with the Pharisees and scribes is one of the odder ones. What are we to make of the man and his two sons? When Jesus poses the question of which son was the good one, they all know it was the one who said no but then went. We understand the human psychology and emotions here very well. What does that have to do with this parable, true as it is to human behavior? What Jesus is getting at in the parable is not quite so easy. Is the son who says no, but then later goes in obedience to his father’s command, like the tax collectors and prostitutes? It sounds like it. Not that all tax collectors and prostitutes are saved or damned. It is because they believed in him that they receive eternal life. This is another lesson in the hierarchies of the heavenly kingdom. The first shall be last, the last first. The Christian faith is very weird as religions go. It is not about gods like the Greek gods, vain and petty, interested in us only because of some slight they perceive from humans. The Christian faith is about the weakest, the least in heredity and wealth. It is for the poor fishermen like Peter and Andrew, the simple peasant girl Mary, to whom God gives faith. And when they believe, as we see in Acts and early church history, they change the world. The aristocrats--who can be saved when they believe--come late to the party. It is their slaves and soldiers who get it first. They get it because God has come as one of them. So no one is favored on acccountof their worldly status ; it is whoever believes. And on hearing the good news and believing it, they go forth to spread the gospel and change the world. And so our hymn “O let me cheerfully fulfill;/in all my works Thy presence find,/and prove thy good and perfect will.” Anyone who believes and follows this Lord becomes a professor of the faith and spreads it abroad. It is our duty and delight to do so. Susannah Wesley HYMN INFO This is one of Charles Wesley’s most beloved hymns, ranked among the top twenty. Wesley, the 18th of Samuel and Susannah Wesley’s nineteen children, was born prematurely, and thought to be dead when he was born. His father was a a clergyman in the Anglican church; his mother, Susannah, a force to be reckoned with. A woman with an unusually good education for the time—she knew Latin, Greek and French--she made sure her children learned, teaching them for six hours every day. Rightly, she is called the Mother of Methodism. When Charles went off to school at Westminster, he had been well prepared by his mother to speak Latin, the only language allowed in the classroom. Charles excelled; after six years he went to Oxford where he studied for the next nine years, earning a Masters Degree. Spiritual conditions at school were tepid so Charles and his brother John formed a club dubbed the Holy Club by others. Members gathered daily. Because of their regimen of early rising, Bible study and prayer, and weekly communion, plus their active work ministering to those in prison, they became known as Methodists. In 1735, Charles and John, both ordained into the Anglican ministry, felt called to be missionaries to Georgia, Governor Oglethorpe’s colony. They sailed to America with Moravians whose piety impressed especially John. While he was malingering from violent seasickness, they were singing hymns, which made him curious about what they were singing. John learned their hymns in German and translated some into English. The brothers continued to work with the Moravians. In 1738, Peter Böhler, their leader, urged Charles to look more deeply into his own soul. In May 1738, Charles, while reading Martin Luther’s book on Galatians, had an experience of conversion. “I labored, waited, and prayed to feel ‘who loved me, and gave himself for me.'” Not long after that he came to assurance and “rejoiced in hope of loving Christ.” A few days later, at the Moravian chapel in Aldersgate, his brother John, on hearing Luther's commentary on Romans, found his heart to be "strangely warmed." Two days after his conversion, Charles wrote his first hymn, "O for a Thousand Tongues" which has traditionally been the first hymn in every Methodist hymnal. From that time on it is thought he wrote at least ten lines of poetry a day, ending up with almost 7,000 hymns to his credit. Charles Wesley This hymn was written to be sung before work. Wesley believed the Christian faith had to do with more than Sunday and wrote hymns to be sung through the week and before work. This first appeared in 1749 with six stanzas, but these were abridged to the text we have today. There have been some changes of language, especially the original “And prove thy acceptable will.” The change most widely accepted is “and prove Thy good and perfect will.” The most widely used tune is Canonbury taken from Robert Schumann’s Nachtstucke, Opus 23. LINKS Chet Valley Hymns https://youtu.be/AUVAbXgJyqQ?si=62BG2yv0kx59HT5w The Compton Organ https://youtu.be/2alTux8AaVI?si=49-ag6Urf7jOw4Jf Release Topic https://youtu.be/q_NIiDVejXs?si=49IKaMKfWDf1F-bp NB: For those planning for Bible study during the coming new church year you might consider the book Jesus the Harmony. It has a poem for every day of the year and Bible references for 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

Text: Charles Wesley (1707-1788). Tune: Abridge Isaac Smith (ca/ 1770) Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712–1774) 1 O for a heart to praise my God, a heart from sin set free, a heart that always feels Thy bloodso freely shed for me. 2 A heart resigned, submissive, meek, my great Redeemer's throne, where only Christ is heard to speak, where Jesus reigns alone. 3 A humble, lowly, contrite heart, believing, true, and clean, which neither life nor death can partf rom Christ who dwells within. 4 A heart in ev'ry thought renewed and full of love divine, perfect and right and pure and good, a copy, Lord, of Thine. 5 Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart; come quickly from above; write Thy new name upon my heart, Thy new best name of Love. REFLECTION The parable of the laborers describes the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says. While its main message is the freedom of God to bestow grace on everyone, no matter how long or well they have served, its insight into the character of human beings is what makes it so compelling and outrageous. Envy, one of the seven deadly sins, is the besetting sin of us all. Envy is addressed by the last commandment on covetousness. Do not covet anything that is your neighbor’s, it says. The sin is fundamental to us. We see it as early as in the nursery—a toy that was not of interest to a child, suddenly becomes a deeply desired object for him or her when they see another value it. René Girard’s work shows how our deepest desires are caught from envy of our neighbors. When we see what our neighbor has or does, something within us wants that too. Thus, the cry from the vineyard when the last laborers receive their pay which will be the same as the first, “that is not fair!” Flannery O'Connor Flannery O’Connor’s story “Revelation” treats the theme of this parable. To make a long story short, it is about Mrs. Turpin who spends her days imagining who is better or worse than she. Sometime after an attack on her by a young woman named Mary Grace, who throws a book at her and calls her “a wart hog from hell,” she has the revelation of a line of people entering heaven—ahead of her are the people she has looked down on, and she along with other proper people like her are last in line. It is a devastating revelation. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like: we are all sinners. God doles out the same amount of grace to everyone. Our worldly sense that the first should be first is dashed. Jesus says it plainly, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The only way we can bear this, given our deep-seated envy, is to be changed. And while this parable can really change the way we see the kingdom of heaven on earth among us, the old envious nature is hard to fight. My mother, after a nasty fight in the church my father served, commented that if all those people who had treated my father badly were going to heaven she didn’t know if she was interested. A friend heard her and said, Well, they will be changed, it says. And for a moment, that comforted her. And then her friend added, and so will you! While that is a mercy, that wasn’t quite as good news. But change is what the whole business is about. The rules are different in the kingdom of heaven. Fortunately. The battle between the old and new rages on in our lives. While we can hear the good news in the parable, we can also see it is an assault on our old natures. We need new hearts, something Jesus came to do. As our hymn has it Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;/come quickly from above;/write Thy new name upon my heart,/Thy new best name of Love. HYMN INFO This is one of Charles Wesley’s most beloved hymns. Written in 1742, it was based on Psalm 2:10. Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, is still one of the most popular writer of English hymns. He is thought to have written over 5000 hymns and some 600 are still in use around the world. For more on Charles Wesley click here. https://www.hymnfortheday.com/post/hymn-116-love-divine-all-loves-excelling There are several tunes that have been used for the text, ABRIDGE by Smith is the one that appears most often on Youtube. Charles Wesley LINKS Martijn de Groot Tune: Abridge https://youtu.be/0MWRgPxwtMs?si=8RAuxu1KUuG_etbc The Choir of Tewksbury Tune: Stockton https://youtu.be/Z4MjdsndlBI?si=CfN8qfXQjHdbReUc Concord Wesley UMC. Tune: Concord https://youtu.be/9MJtrxjYB1Y?si=rRWvuymfH8PDw5ld Another hymn that fits the text more closely.

Text: Thomas Ken (1637-1711) Tune: Thomas Tallis (ca. 1508-1585) Thomas Ken 1. All praise to thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath thine own almighty wings. 2. Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, The ills that I this day have done; That with the world, myself, and thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be. 3. O may my soul on thee repose, And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close; Sleep that may me more vig'rous make To serve my God when I awake. 4. When in the night I sleepless lie, My soul with heav'nly thoughts supply; Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, No pow'rs of darkness me molest. 5. O when shall I in endless day Forever chase dark sleep away, And hymns with the supernal choir Incessant sing, and never tire! 6. Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heav'nly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. REFLECTION Unjust Steward “Forgive us our trespasses/As we forgive those who trespass against us.” This petition from our Lord’s prayer is what Jesus is illustrating in this parable. Forgiveness is at the heart of the faith—Jesus came proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, he died to reconcile us sinners with a holy God, and commands us to forgive, even as we are forgiven. The parable is a vivid lesson in the two way nature of the gift—because we have been forgiven by God, forgiveness should flow out of us to the neighbor. God’s holiness cannot abide sin in us, but his command to live the Christian life is not simply a pact between God and me. Many people seem to think that the commands of God were made just between him and humanity to make their lives difficult. But living a life of forgiveness is for the good of the whole as Jesus is teaching in these past Sunday texts. A friend of mine whom I had sinned against died before I could ask forgiveness from her. While I am confident God forgives me for the sin, the healing that could have come if I had gone and asked her for forgiveness did not and it plagues me to this day. Life would have been so much better for both of us. There are those antinomians who flout the law and regard their faith as enough to save them no matter what, but Jesus in this account is not very reassuring about that. The unjust servant is taken away and imprisoned, even tortured Jesus says. In a way, antinomianism is really nihilism—there is no God, there are no consequences, and the healing that could come from reconciliation scorned. Nothing we do, then, really matters, not to ourselves, our society, or God, even. Chaos is the result. Unforgiven sin festers and infects our whole spirit. Let not the sun go down on your wrath, says Scripture. Therefore at morning and evening we are to pray the Lord’s Prayer to ask for forgiveness and remind ourselves to seek forgiveness from our neighbor. The prayers and hymns appointed for evening and morning by the church always include, especially at night, prayers for forgiveness, as Thomas Ken did in this famous evening prayer. “Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,/The ills that I this day have done.” Like many older people I am finding that “when at night I sleepless lie” my sins loom larger as the end draws nearer. I know God forgives me. How much better I might feel if I had dealt with some of those sins with the ones I had hurt? God, forgive me! HYMN INFO Bishop Thomas Ken lived in a time of religious turmoil that could mean death, or imprisonment, if one were found on the wrong side. His parents died when he was young, so he ended up living with his stepsister and her husband, Izaak Walton, the writer of The Compleat Angler, a kind and decent man who raised Ken well. Ken studied at New College in Oxford where he earned his B.A. and M. A. He served several parishes of the Anglican church; in 1672 he came to Winchester College. There in 1674 he wrote a collection of prayers for morning, noon and night, with three hymns to attend them. In doing this, he was, like Luther, making use of the tradition of the daily hours from the monastery, reducing them to three for home devotions. Thomas Tallis' Canon is one of the greatest tunes to come out of England. A musician in even more turbulent times than Ken, Tallis served under King Henry VIII. He remained an unreformed Catholic, people thought, but he skillfully managed to satisfy both Henry VIII, and his establishing of the Anglican church to serving Mary, who worked to bring Catholicism back to England, and then Elizabeth who restored her father’s Anglicanism. Tallis could write complicated pieces of polyphony when the Catholics were in charge; and tunes for the Protestants that did not obscure the words, an important feature of hymn texts set for congregational song. Tallis’ Canon, as it is called, can be sung as a round which gives people singing it an easy way to sing in harmony, while yet singing the same melody. NB: Some scholars think the first line started Glory to thee, my God, this night. LINKS Kings College Choir/wonderful pictures of the people I wrote about above https://youtu.be/thMQEuKYTLE Music at Liebfrauen/Cappuccinis/The first line is Glory to thee... https://youtu.be/olZC043rdTc New Cambridge Singers/Choir Audience and Orchestra https://youtu.be/bYJ8SneHfT4 St. Philips Boys Choir https://youtu.be/2RX9AjL8RK8

The Unjust steward Text: Rosamond E. Herklots (1905-1987). Tune: American tune Detroit (Because of copyright I cannot print the text, but you can find it in the links below with the music) REFLECTION Most congregations I have belonged to have in their constitutions a section on dealing with conflict in the congregation and they always refer to Matthew 18, the lesson for next Sunday. The process Jesus outlines in the passage is constitutionally required. Anyone with long experience in any congregation will have accounts to share about some conflict in the congregation that threatened to destroy it. The matter is frequently baffling in its triviality. The color of the paint in the kitchen can easily become destructive. We all know this. But this is not quite the situation Jesus is describing. He is talking about a situation where one of us notices that someone in the fellowship is acting sinfully. While disagreeing about the color of the paint can be awful, it is not sinful, although one’s actions in response to the disagreement can be. Jesus teaching James Tissot Jesus’ advice here has to do with the health of the body. Someone needs to be dealt with for their sake as well as the sake of the fellowship.. It is love that drives this procedure, concern for the person’s salvation, and the flourishing of the fellowship. As I read Jesus’ words, a congregation cannot be a lively testament to the faith if it does not work to assure that its members remain faithful. Our unity is in Christ, not in our selves. If there are no boundaries—that is to say, if anyone can be involved in the fellowship without confessing Christ, or flagrantly living out of sync with the boundaries of the Christian faith, the group needs to deal with it, as one does an infection. To use the bodily imagery, it neds to deal with the infection before it goes septic. Thus, the urgency of Christ’s message. If he is not Lord over everyone in the group, there can be no unity. So, if the one on one conversation does not produce a solution, two or three need to address the issue with the sinner. Then the council, then the entire congregation. While awful, these conversations may be salutary for in the process they will inform the person and the membership what is at stake in the Christian life. Ultimately that means bowing to the Lordship of Christ Jesus. To be sure the church is made up of sinners, that is all God has to work with, but as Christians they know they are sinners and work to live as forgiven sinners, under the Lordship of Christ who is our unity.. See also I Corinthians 5:12-13. We do not like discipline much these days, but we all know how awful it is to live with the undisciplined. Christ is showing us a way that is kind and loving, and concerned for the welfare of the person as well as the congregation. Words we need to hear. HYMN INFO Rosamund E. Herklots was born in North India to missionary parents from Britain. She received her education at Leeds University and was a secretary in the field of medicine, ending her career working for the Association for Spinal Bifida and Hydrocephalus in London. Toward the end of her life she began writing hymns. Of the more than 70 she wrote, many for children, her most well-known is this hymn. She wrote this hymn after weeding in her garden and realizing how difficult it was to make it free of weeds, a parable of her own as she wrote the hymn text. The American tune is among the treasures we have from the Sacred Harp tradition. It appeared in the 1820 Southern Harmony and attributed to Bradshaw, although nothing is known about him. LINKS Koine https://youtu.be/HixCQUirJxg?si=eF42fjtvzG2vSjFy Westminster Presbyterian https://youtu.be/0pme3M50tyM?si=_ljOo83kktjgczem St. Paul’s Episcopal Milwaukee https://youtu.be/AEEtSqlenKU?si=eSghlUR43C7-z3wL UMH https://youtu.be/21yuRm3buvs?si=QdfTOzc4hardkwNA This hymn treats the text in the last stanza. A lovely tune. This hymn treats the text in the last stanza. A lovely tune. NB: For those planning for Bible study through the year, you might consider the book Jesus the Harmony. It has a poem for every day of the year and Bible references for 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

Christ carrying his cross. Bosch Text: Charles W. Everest (1814-1877). Tune: Breslau or Quebec by Henry Baker (1835-1910) 1. "Take up thy cross," the Savior said, "if thou wouldst my disciple be; deny thyself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after Me." 2 Take up thy cross, let not its weight fill thy weak spirit with alarm; His strength shall bear thy spirit up, and brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm. 3 Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame, nor let thy foolish pride rebel; thy Lord for thee the cross endured, to save thy soul from death and hell. 4 Take up thy cross, and follow Christ, nor think till death to lay it down; for only they who bear the cross may hope to wear the glorious crown. REFLECTION Mother Teresa To take up one’s cross and follow him, as Jesus says we must do to find life, is something we vaguely understand as self-denial and suffering, but maybe cannot be very specific about. Some people hear it as being resigned to the weight our sin and shame have brought us, and bearing them now, not to our ruination, but our salvation because now we are following the Savior, not our own destruction. Others might think of it as choosing, actively, to suffer for a cause one has chosen, like Mother Teresa, for example, embracing the poorest of the poor in Calcutta for the sake of her Lord. Either way to take up one’s cross is to give up one’s own pride in order to follow a greater Lord. In leaving ourselves behind, we will find life, Jesus promises us, as the hymn has it, a “glorious crown.” This way is a mystery and scandal to the world. People talk of finding themselves, of obeying their own selves, which really means what the faith calls idolatry And what most secular people today do not quite realize is that idols are hard taskmasters, even if we worship ourselves. Happiness comes as a result of other virtues not as a goal in itself. Idols demand absolute obedience and their rewards are the desecration of our relationships and society that lead to death. The seven deadly sins are deadly not simply because they deny the command of God, but because God’s commands are for our own flourishing. He made us and knows what will fill us with joy and the satisfaction of a life well lived. Way to Calvary. Andrea di Bartolo, There is a hunger in our world today for meaning, connection to greater purpose and a larger world. Jesus is telling us here that the good life comes when we submit to the necessities of life and serve our neighbor. Both my grandmothers died in childbirth. The aunts, uncles, fostermothers and fathers who cared for my mother and father because of familial obligations or their baptismal sponsorship gave up some of their dreams for self-fulfillment to care for my parents. They submitted to the duties they accepted as necessary for the welfare of my parents. It made a huge difference to me and my siblings and many others. As one who has lived near the artistic world my whole life, I know the stories of many artists who in following the demands of their talents, put them first, refusing to submit to the needs of their spouses, their children or their communal responsibilities. Unfortunately, that has become the model for many, not just artists, today. One’s own life matters more than that of others. Many accept it as the irresistable way of the world. Christans should not. Jesus shows us the better way in this passage. Not only are the eternal rewards glorious, but so are the rewards in the current day. Tolstoy’s great novel Anna Karinina gives us a perfect picture of the wrath and destruction passion wreaks on everyone around Anna, while also showing us in the good life of a relative, Kostya Levin. He is married to a sister of Anna's brother's wife, and after becoming a believer discovers the genial joys of faithfulness and responsibility to family and God. HYMN INFO Charles Everest Charles William Everist was born in Windsor, Connecticut. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford CT and became a priest in the Episcopal church in 1842 serving as rector in Hampden CT almost until the end of his life. This, his most well-known hymn, was first published in the hymn collection Following Jesus. The hymn in the version we have here received recognition and fame when it was included in the greatest hymnal of the age, Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861. Breslau is a popular tune for this hymn. Scholars think it comes from the Lochamer Gesangbuch, 1450?, in included in the Hymnodus Sacer, Leipzig (1625). Felix Mendelssohn is said to have arranged it. LINKS OCP https://youtu.be/eFHdtVFtm64?si=T2dxGpA18D19xOn8 Chet Valley Hymns and Song (Breslau) https://youtu.be/OS3q4uTEAik?si=eHDQ0QJJpuRhuNVc United Church of Hyde Park https://youtu.be/JeqbiyrGvAE?si=cFnMV9uTpgrKh5eO It is a good time to order this series of poems on the life of Jesus. A sonnet for every day including leap year, it shows how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies and meditates on who he is and what he did using the traditional texts from what was known as The Harmony, an effort to tell the life of Jesus in one account. Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fortress Press and others.

Text: Samuel John Stone (1839-1900) Tune: Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876) Christ giving the keys to Peter 1. The church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ, her Lord; She is his new creation By water and the Word: From heav'n he came and sought her To be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought her, And for her life he died. 2. Elect from ev'ry nation, Yet one o'er all the earth, Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With ev'ry grace endued. 3. Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed. By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed,Y et saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, "How long?" And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song. 4. 'Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace forevermore; Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest, And the great church victorious Shall be the church at rest. 5. Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won: O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we, Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with thee. REFLECTION Jesus giving the keys to Peter. Rubens When Jesus commends Peter’s confession of who he is he uses a pun on Peter’s name: on this rock I will build my church. The church has debated for centuries what he meant: does he mean Peter is the rock, or his confession? Given that Jesus upbraids Peter within minutes of his confession and calls him Satan, I tend to go with the confession. One could also interpret this to mean that those who are leaders in the church are as much traitors as saints. This great hymn of the Christian faith chooses the former. The barrels of ink spilled on the issue flow freely through the theology of the church. But there are always things in Scripture no matter how many times we have heard it that we hear as if for the first time. I had forgotten Jesus’ comment as he praises Peter “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Jesus is filled with blessings for Peter because he is speaking out of the faith that has been given to him, not his own experience and reason. This means also that none of the rest of us can profess and proclaim Christ’s as the Son of the Living God without that gift. Then, a little grammar issue when Jesus says on hearing Peter’s confession that yes, now I will build my church on that confession That is a different picture from our building on Christ—although Scripture has plenty of sentences that advise us to build on solid foundations, i. e. Christ. But here it is Christ who builds, as it is in the hymn. I hear an echo of Psalm 127, “Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain.” While we are builders, we are not the chief builders, we are the servants, not the architects. That comforts me. As does verse 3 in the Psalm which scoffs at the idea that we are in charge and that being anxious, “eating the bread of anxious toil” is silly since “he gives to his beloved sleep.” Maybe those anxious cares are what can make life in a congregation rather fractious? We want to do the right thing and work hard for Jesus, but in our way, which is not pleasing to Christ or our neighbor. Anyone who knows the “tumult of war” that can break out in congregations knows of what I speak. Maybe we need to attend to the words we speak about Christ, the Son of the Living God, and then follow him. We talk so much about leadership these days about which the Bible has little to say. The Christian life is all about following. In this exchange following is what we are to do: get behind me, Satan! The keys of the kingdom which Jesus gives Peter, and thus the church, are not to be thought of as Peter standing at the pearly gates judging us by deciding who can come in or not, As Matthew Bruner argues in his commentary, it is the proclamation of Christ which Peter and his heirs preach that does the judging. If you can’t profess Christ, there is no way in (why would you want to enter in?), and if you do, Come in, O blessed of my Father. And so, we wait this “blessed consummation” as the hymn has it, struggling to be faithful, already one in that union which only comes from the Savior not our efforts. HYMN INFO Samuel Wesley Samuel Stone was the son of an Anglican priest. He got his degree from Pembroke College at Oxford, took holy orders and ended up serving with his father at Haggerstown church. He continued to write and translate hymns. Like many of his contemporaries he was taken with the high church wing of the Anglican Church, known as the Oxford Movement. This hymn grew out of the shock he experienced on hearing of Bishop Colenso's denying fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. Samuel Wesley, the grandson of Charles Wesley, learned music from his father. He earned a doctorate in music at Oxford University and played the organ at Hereford, Exeter, Winchester and Gloucester cathedrals in succession. He spent his life composing and working for the improvement of church music in England. He wrote books for that cause and composed the tunes for over 700 hymns. Because of its ecumenical theme this hymn can be found in most hymnals around the world today. It appears in English in the latest Norwegian hymnal. LINKS Cambridge College choir https://youtu.be/OQv4EAwMFoQ First Plymouth Congregational of Lincoln https://youtu.be/pqkJKQOyZ_k WELS Convention https://youtu.be/TKnvCO0batc Himmelborgen/Uranienborg Vokalensemble https://youtu.be/9ASIlHplalI SKRUK https://youtu.be/PsynbbE2T7o It is a good time to order this series of poems on the life of Jesus. A sonnet for every day including leap year, it shows how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies and meditates on who he is and what he did using the traditional texts from what was known as The Harmony, an effort to tell the life of Jesus in one account. Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fortress Press and others.

Text: Peder Hygom (1692-1764) Tune: Folk tune from Ryfylke Christ and the Canaanite Woman. Annibale Carracci1. Jesus, I long for your blessed communion, 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. He had a purpose in this trip. 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. Maybe what Jesus is doing here is pushing against her and watching her faithfulness become more fervent. 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, really faithfulness, 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. LINKS Sissel—singing with the Norwegian tradition of quarternotes https://youtu.be/nINI6X0FW5c?si=DpAKvdMBAtUiwGyo Tono Holbækmo https://youtu.be/lG3Dkr0TEY4?si=KvOBlhEThTb6JC8x For more on Hauge see https://www.hymnfortheday.com/post/hymn-20-jesus-i-long-for-your-blessed-communion NB: Another hymn on the text

Jesus Walks on Water. Ivan Aivazovsky Text: Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993). Tune: Martin Luther (1483-1546) (For reason of copyright I cannot print the text. It can be found in the Chalice Hymnal, but you can also see it on hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/text/the_storm_is_strong_we_face_the_wind REFLECTION In this account of Jesus stilling the storm, we have echoes of the entire Scripture. The past few years, to my joy, scholars have been seeing the entire Bible as one complete narrative that begins in Genesis 1 and ends in Revelation. This has enriched and made sense out of the Bible and the meaning of Jesus that has thrilled me who long ago had wearied of the historical critical method of Scriptural interpretation that took the accounts apart to find the parts of the narrative, but also erased the mega-narrative. Jonathon Pageau, a Greek Orthodox thinker and artist, looks for patterns in Scripture and creation which we have lost track of today, but which unifies the Biblical narrative in powerful ways. Jesus rescuing Peter. Armenian icon He remarks that Jesus has just come down from the mountain where he went to pray. The mountain is the peak, really temple, which from Eden to Revelation, is the place where heaven and earth meet. From it the priest, prophet and king can see all and practice their vocations. Christ has ordered the disciples to take the boat across the lake during the night. During which they encounter a raging storm. They are terrified. Jesus comes down and walks on the water toward them. They see him as a ghost, really something from heaven, until he says that he is I AM who has always been there. Peter asks to be commanded to walk on the water, which Christ does. Of course, he loses faith and begins to sink beneath the waves. He then cries out to Christ for help, who does save him, while upbraiding him for his lack of faith. When he enters the boat, an image of the ark, or the church, the storm subsides. This scares the disciples even more as they realize who Christ is. So this is more than an account of a miracle of Christ. It is a parable of God’s creative work among us to bring order to the chaos of the waters. He rules the wind and waves. Without belief in him, our world falls apart. We feel ourselves drowning in the chaos of the worlds of doubt and unbelief. All we can do is look up through the storm and see our creator and redeemer appearing in the chaos and cry out for help. He is there to rescue us and save us. And like the disciples we will celebrate this salvation and rush to tell the whole world. It needs to hear of the one who ordered the world and keeps it for us. HYMN INFO Sylvia Dunstan was a Canadian pastor in the United Church of Canada who also served as a prison chaplain. She wrote a number of hymns that are still in use. She died after difficult struggle with cancer. This is among her less well known hymn, but it does deal with the miracle. The tune, arranged by Johan Sebastian Bach, is one of Martin Luther’s more famous tunes, Erhalt uns Herr, which was for one of his more famous texts, Lord, Keep us steadfast in your word. This hymn appears in three current hymnals The Chalice Hymnal, The Book of Praise, and Worship, 4th edition. LINK Bach’s version of Luther’s tune. https://youtu.be/LV0iKx2s5IY?si=BhSm6leQVHMhqgsy __________________________________________ As you plan for Bible study in your congreegation or in your own personal devotions this coming year, this collection of sonnets on the life of Jesus drawn from all of Scripture might be a resource for you. Scholars are coming more and more to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the OT prophecies and this book helps with that study. "With these 366 sonnets, remarkable in artistry and number, Gracia Grindal has made literary history. The scriptural and theological knowledge that supports these poems is vast, but it is the imagination infused with the holy in poem after poem that reveals the poet's grace and skill and the astonishing work of the Spirit." --Jill Baumgartner, Poetry Editor, Christian Century, and professor of English emerita, Wheaton College https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145

Welsh: Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r Miracle of the Bread and Fish. Giovanni Lanfranco Exodus 13,16-17; William Williams Text: William Williams (1717-1791) Tune: John Hughes (1873-1932) 1. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; Hold me with thy powerful hand: Bread of heaven, bread of heaven Feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. 2. Open thou the crystal fountain Whence the healing stream shall flow; Let the fiery, cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through: Strong deliverer, strong deliverer Be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my strength and shield. 3. When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death, and hell's destruction, Land me safe on Canaan's side: Songs of praises, songs of praises I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee. Tr. Peter Williams (1722-1796) MEDITATION This very popular hymn appears frequently in festivals in Wales and wherever there are Welsh people. Because my eyes are a bit blurred after my transplant, I am once again repeating an old blog which uses this great hymn for its center. Here are some events where the hymn has been used. This hymn has been sung at grand public events in Britain for some time, like the funeral of Queen Mother Elizabeth. It was a key hymn at the memorial service for Diana in 2007. Not surprisingly it was sung at both Prince William’s and Prince Harry’s weddings. The many textures of their experience with the hymn are overwhelming to feel as we watch them during these various ceremonies. The hymn uses the imagery of the Exodus pilgrimage to describe the Christian’s daily journey forward. Led by a pillar of fire and a cloud, the pilgrims received bread from heaven. As Jesus feeds the 5,000 they also receive bread from heaven. Jesus himself is the bread from heaven which we also receive at the Lord's Supper. He feeds us and through his body inhabits us. He guides us until we stand on the verge of Jordan, waiting to be brought over to Canaan. The hymn helps us pray for the Lord to guide us in our pilgrimage through the wilderness to the promised land. On the way, as we sing, we connect with the Exodus and Jesus. And also our ownmemories of times in which we received the Bread from Heaven. These memories gather up in us and flood over us; every moment, whether sweet or tragic, and are present all at once as is clear from the use of the hymn by the British royals. As we grow older, there are more and more such moments; they go deeper and deeper. No wonder sometimes we can barely sing. HYMN INFO Written by Wales greatest hymn writer, William Williams, this became something of a national anthem for the Welsh. Williams, who was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church, was refused ordination as a priest because his theology had moved toward Methodism and its revivals. He suffered for this the rest of his life. Translated into English by Peter Williams, also involved with Methodism, the version has been sung boisterously at Rugby matches, in addition to many solemn and national celebrations or memorials. The tune by John Hughes has been the favored one. Other texts also are associated with it, but this one takes special place. Cwm Rhondda, the name of the tune, meaning the Valley of Rhonndda, is the name of a place in Wales. It is a central hymn for the Welsh hymn festivals called Gymanfa Ganu, especially on March 1, St. David's Day, the patron saint of Wales. LINKS Diana’s memorial service 2007 https://youtu.be/2o5FM8FxMco Kate and William’s wedding https://youtu.be/SwvpTl88jwI Massive choir/congregation https://youtu.be/Ofp6rdAgRrY Michael Ball at Wembley https://youtu.be/rshc59H-iKM Swansea choir https://youtu.be/7s1suWhb5KA

Danish: Jeg ved et evigt himmerig German: Ich weiss ein ewiges Himmelreich Norwegian: Eg veit i himmelen ei borg Text: Hans Christensen Sthen (1544-1610) Tune: Hallingdal Folktune Malmö fortress Congregation: 1. I know a kingdom without end, Where shines a bright tomorrow. There is no weeping there, nor sin, No any tears of sorrow. Congregation: 2. Within it dwells God’s only Son In splendor and in glory; My hope and comfort, he’s the one Who waits in heaven for me. Congregation: 3. A pilgrim here, I’m on my way, Away from my deceiver. I’m bound for heav’n, I long to be Beside the crystal river. Christ: 4. I have redeemed you with my blood And I will come to greet you. I’ll fill your heart with all things good, With joy and gladness meet you. 5. My word and holy sacraments I graciously have given. I take into myself your sins To make your home in heaven. 6. When gold and joy lose their allure And worldly things assail you, I’m waiting here to reassure Your faith, for I’ll not fail you. Congregation: 7. Into the world I naked came. Now all that I have gathered I leave behind without a claim When passing through death’s waters. 8. And this I know, one morning bright When death’s dark night is over, My body will arise from night And heav’nly joys discover. 9. So help us, dear Lord Jesus Christ; Your blood for us was given, Your bitter death and sacrifice Has won for us bright heaven. 10. I thank you Lord eternally, My gracious God forever, For you have been so kind to me In Jesus Christ our Savior! Tr. Gracia Grindal MEDITATION (Once again I am using an older blog as my eyes make writing difficult. I am having a corneal transplant on July 22 so things should be better next week.) Jesus in the parables for next Sunday speaks of how precious the kingdom of heaven is by showing how people in this world desire great and beautiful treasures. The hymn shows the kingdom in different images. When hymn texts are translated from one language to another, it is probably not mainly for what they say, but the tune they are associated with. A beautiful melody is universal and people want to sing it. They need words. Poets who love music want to make it available to people in their own language. This hymn was on the lips of many medieval people in Northern Europe, scholars say. Where it started is vague. It clearly had German roots. The melody, however, was not this one. The text has been in the hymnals of Danes since the Reformation. I grew up with it in the Concordia Hymnal. It is where I first saw the strange name of the Danish pastor Hans Christensen Sthen. The spelling always interested me. He preceded the three great Danes of hymnody, and was a worthy poet. Then I started seeing it on CDs of religious folk/pop and choral singers in the north. The text was longer than what was in our hymnal and involved a dialogue between Christ and the congregation. But what grabbed me was its beautiful folk tune. Its beauty and longing for the heavenly kingdom are simply transfixing. Performances range from classical choral to rock and roll. A text longing for release from this world is not what the hedonists of our generation might be interested in, but here we have it. It has been very popular. Up against death the song teaches, the allures of the world do not count for much. We need something eternal. I am glad it is popular. Beauty is a tool for evangelism. And the church has much beauty to tell. It is likely that as some of those who came to love the hymn face their pilgrimage over the river, the words they sang in their youth will sound in their heads as they begin the journey. We know how even those with severe Alzheimers can remember words of songs long after they have lost the ability to have a conversation. What better reasons to have beautiful melodies with gospel words for people to sing: “When death’s dark night is over, /My body will arise from night/ And heav’nly joys discover.” The words teach them the way of salvation, how Jesus' sacrifice has won us heaven. So lovely, so true. God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform! St. Petri Church in Malmö where Sthen served HYMN INFO Sthen was a pastor in the kingdom of Denmark, which at the time included much of southern Sweden, or Skåne, right across the water from Copenhagen. He heard the German version of this and translated it for inclusion in his En liden Vandringsbog before 1600. It was included in Danish collections until Kingo in 1699 who did not use it, but it remained in the memory. It was translated into Nynorsk by Bernt Støylen in 1905 and has become a constant presence in the repertoires of Gospel singers. It is a little difficult for a congregation, but people love to hear it. LINKS Sissel with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir https://youtu.be/f1FoX_llovk Embledamene/Woman’s Choir https://youtu.be/BnlibFNTY88 Anne Lise Berntsen and Nils Asheim https://youtu.be/3-akPXtkges Tor Gustafson Quartet/jazz version https://youtu.be/DGfqm1CHXao SKRUK https://youtu.be/xp398Dt1VOI Saxophone and Organ https://youtu.be/CQafteL1Qd8 Sissel in 1995 https://youtu.be/y4eRS64nooo __________________________________________ As you plan for Bible study in your congreegation or in your own personal devotions this coming year, this collection of sonnets on the life of Jesus drawn from all of Scripture might be a resource for you. Scholars are coming more and more to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the OT prophecies and this book helps with that study. "With these 366 sonnets, remarkable in artistry and number, Gracia Grindal has made literary history. The scriptural and theological knowledge that supports these poems is vast, but it is the imagination infused with the holy in poem after poem that reveals the poet's grace and skill and the astonishing work of the Spirit." --Jill Baumgartner, Poetry Editor, Christian Century, and professor of English emerita, Wheaton College https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145