April 10, 2011
Have you noticed the gospel readings getting lengthier these last Sundays in Lent? They contain so much drama, so much power, and so many facets of faith that hours could be spent unpacking just a few of their treasures. Even then we still could not find all that is there for us in these endless wells of gospel riches.
This Sunday’s gospel of 45 (yes I typed 45) verses recounts the drama of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1-45) We encounter his sisters, Mary and Martha and try to experience the events through the anxious eyes of the disciples. We read about his arrival in Bethany, how he weeps on his arrival, then performs the raising of the dead-for-days Lazarus in full drama. The same Spirit that was at work that day in Bethany is still present among us, and a command from that same Jesus still works the miracle of calling life from death. More later….
Our opening hymn today will be “Thine arm O Lord, in days of old” by Edward Hayes Plumptre (b.London, 1821). The Companion to the Hymnal 1982 says of this hymn, “Readings of the healing miracles of our Lord as related in the Gospels appear with regularity in both the Eucharist and the Office and therefore call for hymnody that is contextual. This nineteenth-century text, rich in references to Christ’s healing ministry, helps satisfy this need.” Mr Plumtre was a fellow at Oxford, chaplain of King’s College . Appointed Dean of Wells Cathedral in 1881, he served in that capacity until his death in 1881.
Our Sequence Hymn today, “Holy Spirit, Ever Living” is only two verses. The words, written by Timothy Rees, Bishop of Llandaff, appear in many British hymnals and in our “Hymnal 1982”. The hymn tune, Abbot’s Leigh, is one of the most successful English tunes to appear since WWII. It was composed on a Sunday morning in 1941 by Cyril Taylor. Canon Taylor, a priest of the Anglican Church, was then Assistant to the Head of Religious Broadcasting of the BBC in their wartime headquarters in Abbot’s Leigh, a village across the Clifton suspension bridge from Bristol, England. Erik Routley writes of the tune as:
“The archetypal example of a hymn tune taught to the whole of Britain through broadcasting. Its secret, which gives it a sort of timeless authority that makes one feel as soon as one has heard it that one knew it all one’s life, comes from the fact that its composer remembered what it was like to be in a pew singing. It has a kind of universal appeal.”
Charles Wesley wrote the words for our Recessional Hymn, “O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing”. I thought you’d enjoy the story as written in one of my resources as it relates to this hymn.
The Wesley brothers sent word of their conversion to their sainted mother, Susanna, who didn’t know what to make of it. “I think you have fallen into an odd way of thinking,” she replied. “You say that till within a few months you had no spiritual life and no justifying faith…I heartily rejoice that you have attained to a strong and lively hope in God’s mercy through Christ. Not that I can think that you were totally without saving faith before, but it is one thing to have faith, and another thing to be sensible we have it.”
Well, Charles was now very sensible of having it. His life changed, and he gained victory over both his temper and his unfortunate drinking habit. He also began to spread the news of what had happened to him. “In the coach to London,” he wrote, “I preached faith in Christ. A lady was extremely offended ….(and) threatened to beat me. I declared I deserved nothing but hell; so did she; and must confess it, before she could have a title to heaven. This was most intolerable to her.”
New vitality came into Charles’ public preaching. He discontinued the practice of reading his sermons, and began preaching extemporaneously. He found a fruitful arena for ministry at the infamous Newgate Prison, and allowed himself to be locked up with condemned men on nights before their executions, that he might comfort and witness to them during their final hours.
As the first anniversary of his conversion approached, Charles wrote an 18 stanza hymn describing his praise to the Lord. Verse seven began, “O for a thousand tongues to sing.” Congregations today usually sing seven, eight, nine and ten of Wesley’s original hymn, which we sing as our recessional hymn today.
So, back to our gospel reading of Lazarus. Does this story speak so powerfully because it is good drama, or because it portrays supernatural powers, or because it has characters we already know and has a happy ending? Yes, and much more; for it is a sory about us. We are the bystanders, takeing it all in. We are the disciples, knowing who Jesus is, yet still suruprised by his words and actions. We are Mary and Martha, mourning our loved one, having faith that Jesus could have healed, yet confused and even angry over his delay. And we are Lazarus, repulsive by the stench of disease and decay, dead beyond every power except the potent, life-giving call of the Savior to “come out!”
We may worry that our meager attempts at praising and proclaiming these truths will not be up to the task. But we need not worry! To claim ability on our own to be worthy and capable of such a task is utter arrogance. A well-known Eucharistic prayer reminds us that we make our offerings “not as we ought, but as we are able.” It is only as God’s Spirit blesses our offerings and speaks through them that we participate in the noble calling to proclaim to a dying world the resurrection that God has planned for it.
Resources:
Tune My Heart To Sing, Wold
Companion to the 1982 Hymnal
Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal
Then Sings My Soul, Morgan
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