Our Very Best

Pentecost 24, October 16, 2011

1928 Book of Common Prayer Service

Exodus 33:12-23

Psalm 99 from BCP

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:15-22



Offering our best….Some people keep separate sets of clothes just for church. Perhaps they do not dress up much on other days of the week, or perhaps they just want to keep something special for such a special place. Some do the same with their manners, speech and behavior. Singers often have different voices for “church-singing,” using other voices for chorale, jazz, singing in the shower or along with the radio in the car. Sometimes what we reserve for church really is our “Sunday best.” Other times, we may feel like second-and third-rate stuff is good enough. We can be tempted to treat the church as one small organization among the millions that make up this world. And we can be tempted to compartmentalize our Christianity as just one activity among the dozens in which we participate. We hang up our Christian identity right next to our Sunday clothes; there they wait until the next time we need them.

It is not easy to define and identify what is truly sacred in this world and what is purely secular. The Pharisees were dealing with such labels when they tried to trick Jesus into speaking out against the government. In this Sunday’s gospel, we hear them ask if it is lawful for religious people to pay taxes. Jesus chooses to not answer the entrapping question; instead tells them to show Him the money. The King James Version says, “…they brought unto Him a penny…and Jesus said unto them, “Whose is this image?” When they told Him it was Caesar’s, Jesus’ memorable reply was, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” At first hearing, He seems to be making a clear distinction between sacred and secular. But just what, we might ask, are God’s things? Do Christians own anything or are all things owned by God and just loaned to us?

Our processional hymn, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!, is a metrical paraphrase of Revelation 4:8-11: “They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty…” Here we see that praising God is not just something that the angels reserve for one special day a week, but they continually praise Him day and night, “forever and forever.” God, the creator and owner of all things is to be continually praised. This hymn of four stanzas was written for Trinity Sunday by Reginald Heber (1783-1826). The hymn tune NICAEA was composed especially for these words by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) in 1861. It is named after the ancient city in Asia Minor where a church council of 300 bishops assembled in A.D. 325. They had met to decide the controversy regarding the Godhead and the position of Christ. Arius maintained that Jesus was not equal to, or of the same substance, as God the Father. His doctrine was condemned by the council, and the teaching of Athanasius supporting the Trinity and the unity of the Godhead was incorporated as an article of the true faith. The words of the last line recall the Nicene Creed, which we recite every Sunday and John Dykes obviously supported by his choice of tune name.

A link to hear the hymn played on the organ: http://youtu.be/una7Q2z0WME

Exodus 33:21-23 tells of conversation between God and Moses. God tells Moses that there is a “place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover you with my hand….” This text is paired with our sequence hymn, Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me which has shared the fate of many popular hymns with “revisions” and “improvements” from numerous editors and authors. The original text was written by Augustus Montague Toplady. This hymn first appeared in The Gospel Magazine for March, 1776, of which Toplady was editor. Under the heading, “A living and dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World,” it concluded a curious statistical essay on sin. Calculation of one sin per second, Toplady (graciously omitting the extra days of leap year) reckoned that at eighty each of us is “chargeable” with 2,522,880,000 infractions of God’s laws. The hymn indicates that by Christ’s blood the debt is paid, though Toplady—a fanatical Calvinist who never wearied of attacking the gentler doctrines of John Wesley—thought that salvation applied solely to the predestined elect. From 1776 to 1810 Rock of Ages was only in a limited number of hymnbooks. After 1810 interest in the text grew rapidly and today the hymn is included in virtually all English–speaking hymnal publications.

While Rock of Ages can no longer claim that pre-eminence which led a great authority to say, sixty years ago, that “no other English hymn can be named which has laid so broad and firm a grasp upon the English-speaking world,” it is still immensely popular. To the Victorians it was a touchstone: Prince Albert repeated it constantly during his last hours, and it was sung at Gladstone’s funeral. All of which proves that a popular hymn does not have to be simple, for Rock of Ages is admittedly complex and even difficult to understand thoroughly. But it’s passionate, “heart-piercing” note carries it into the small kingdom of great religious poetry.

To hear the hymn, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7gt_cSxjw&feature=BFa&list=PL121732FFBDFBCA3A&lf=rellist

Our recessional hymn, God of Grace and God of Glory was written by Harry Emerson Fosdick, an American preacher of international acclaim, at his summer home at Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The hymn was sung at the opening of the Riverside Church, New York City, October 5, 1930. It was also sung at the dedication of the building, February 8, 1931. In addition to teaching theology and homiletics at Union Theological Seminary, Fosdick conducted the National Vespers radio broadcast from 1926 to 1946 and was the author of some 30 inspirational books. He died at Bronxville, New York, October 5, 1969.

So, back to our question, “what are God’s things?” Churches, following secular models, encourage us to pay taxes--tithes and offerings—for the work of the church—buildings, transportation, charity, evangelism and outreach. Some of our taxes feed the hungry, help the sick and keep world peace. Do we confuse the sacred (all belongs to God) with the secular (the “social gospel”)? Jesus was aware that the Temple offerings were not used righteously in His time. He also recognized that secular government has a legitimate role in Christian life. He asks us to always carefully divine each separate role of church and state.

Hymn writer Fred Pratt Green turned this dilemma into a prayer which will be sung during Eucharist from the Lofty Pews at Grace Anglican Church in Boise, Idaho. Referring to what happens at worship, he writes and we sing:

Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore

What it means in daily living to believe and to adore.

“God Is Here”

In Christ’s incarnation, God has placed a blessing on the things of this world. God makes holy the skills, arts, voices, labors and all good works done to God’s honor. We give to God not our dregs, nor our second-best nor even our Sunday best. We offer every part of our lives—our very best—to honor and to serve.





Sources:

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Tune My Heart to Sing

Youtube.com

Companion to the SDA Hymnal

An English-Speaking Hymnal Guide, E Routley

A Treasusry of Hymns