HYMN FOR PENTECOST 22 Spirit of the Living God
The Angels in Paradise. William Blake Text and Tune: Daniel Iversen (1890-1977) Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me, Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me. Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. REFLECTION Jesus in the synagogue. James Tissot The debate about marying in heaven is one of the stranger debates between Jesus and the Saducees who did not believe in the resurrection. Their question begins with a premise everyone knows they do not believe: that there is a resurrection. Are they trolling Jesus as the current phrase has it? Then the situation they set up, based on Levitical law, that a woman whose husband dies should marry the brother so her husband's line will continue. On unto the seventh brother. All absurd. Of course, Jesus is equal to their questions, changing the premesis of the whole argument to who God is and what heaven is like. The Son of God knows what they believe and has a better notion of eternal life than they do. There is no marrying in heaven, he says. And God is a living God, and those raised from the dead will be like angels not the marrying types. Besides our God is living, something they should know from the story of Moses and the burning bush, Jesus points out. The Spirit gives life to us. Jesus is speaking of another dimension, of another way of thinking. He has come from eternity to bring us eternal life. What that will look like and what that will be is a mystery as the apostle Paul exclaims in 1 Corinthians. But it will be something beyond our simple legalistic definitions. Way beyond. We will be raised up, not into spirits or ghosts, but into resurrected bodies and all will be new. We get a glimpse of that in Jesus’ conversation as well as in his appearances after his resurrection. So we call for the spirit to “fall afresh on us” so that we can be made new and fresh. This is what we have always been promised, but can only hope for, with brief glimpses into that kingdom when we see and hear Jesus. Methodist camp meeting 1819 HYMN INFO Daniel Iversen wrote tune and text for this chorus, often sung around campfires. He wrote it after hearing a sermon at a camp meeting on the work of the Holy Spirit. It was first printed in small handouts so the people at the meeting could sing it. It was first thought to be anonymous, but by the middle of the last century, Iversen was properly credited for the chorus. Iversen attended the University of Georgia, the Moody Bible Institute and Columbia Theological Seminary and then the University of South Carolina. In 1914 he became a pastor in the Presbyterian church. My hymn is a fanciful set of pictures of who we will meet and what we will do in Paradise with our Lord. It still doesn't come close to what Jesus has come to give us. LINKS Emmaus Music https://youtu.be/19i72kDhm1U?si=3rs6FIBICvezOWXB Sound like reign https://youtu.be/En44FTqOifs?si=nwSq4KdY8211rgaO St. Paul’s Venture https://youtu.be/b3Qcy9tg0xg?si=tkatNDfBMJHW8x3- NB: For those thinking of Christmas gifts, 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
