Use It or Lose it!

Pentecost 22, November 13, 2011

Judges 4:1-7

Psalm 123 from BCP

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

~~~

Use it or lose it

This Sunday’s gospel is Jesus’ parable of the talents. We will read of a wealthy man entrusting his worker with varying amounts of cash as he leaves on a trip and how they invest it-- or not.

Though “talents” here refers to money, Christians of every era have understood the connection to skills and abilities. There are many important lessons that we can learn from this parable. First of all, talents are not given so much as gifts but as loans. Repayment is assumed; interest is expected. Secondly, not all are given the same amount. We need not waste time worrying about or lamenting our portion; our time is best spent using and increasing what we have been given. Sharing is preferable to comparing. Lastly, those who make good use of their talents receive even more abilities and more opportunities altogether. Jesus has described for us the proverbial admonition, “use it or lose it.”

The people at Grace Anglican Church have many talents. We have been provided a wonderful arena in the church for our talents to be shared, invested and returned with dividends. We depend on each other, encourage each other, honor each other and pray for each other in our various ministries. As Anglicans we come together with our varied talents to mysteriously portray what God has loaned to each of us in worship to proclaim and praise the source and inspiration for all our gifts.

Rise Up Ye Saints of God, one of our hymns this Sunday and suggested to go with the parable of the talents. We are admonished in the hymn to:

“have done with lesser things

Give heart and soul and mind and strength

to serve the King of kings.”

The hymn by William P. Merril, was originally written as an urgent need of a brotherhood hymn. At a time when the brotherhood movement was strong in the Presbyterian Church, this hymn was a trumpet call to men to stand up and be counted for God with the opening words of, “Rise up, O men of God!” Some of us may recall singing those words. For reasons of inclusive language, certain changes have been made. In addition to the substitution of “ye saints” for “O men,” the concluding stanza included the phrase “As brothers of the Son of Man.” It now reads, “and quickened by the Spirit’s power.” Today this hymn is found in most mail-line American hymnals, giving it a strong ecumenical thrust.

Our service at GAC always opens with the Collect of the Day read by the priest after we sing the “Gloria”. You will always find it at the top of the insert page that has all the scriptures for that Sunday. Our clergy usually read it in contemporary language. Here is what it says this week in traditional language:

“Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that, by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou has given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

To go with this collect we will sing, O Christ the Word Incarnate, one of the best-known of all hymns for Holy Scripture. This hymn has been in the Hymnal since 1871. Again, there have been some alterations to clarify the misunderstanding of the use of “Word” as it appeared in the original first line of the text, “O Word of God Incarnate” meaning Christ, the Word Incarnate.

Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round will be the hymn we sing before and after the Gospel is read, but here corresponds to the New Testament reading in Thessalonians, encouraging us to “build up each other.” John W. Chadwick, an American poet, wrote the hymn for his graduation from Harvard Divinity School on June 19, 1864. Composed at a time when there was much anxiety concerning the outcome of America’s Civil War, the hymn is a call for unity, clearly articulated in st. 2, which begins: “We would be one in hatred of all wrong.”

The composer of the hymn tune, Song 1, was Orlando Gibbons. He was baptized Christmas Day, 1583, at St. Martin’s Church, Oxford. His father was one of the town musicians. Orlando was in King’s College Choir, Cambridge, at age 13, and in 1605 became organist of the Chapel Royal. He held that position for the rest of his life (20 years). He received the B. Mus. From Cambridge in 1606, and in 1622 the honorary D.Mus. was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford. Becoming organist at Westminster Abbey on 1623, he conducted the music for the funeral of King James I. Unfortunately, he fell ill and died at Canterbury Cathedral, June 5, 1625, at the early age of 41, and was buried there. His compositions include anthems, several services of worship, and a wealth of polyphonic choral music. Somehow, his hymn tunes were not appreciated until Ralph Vaughan Williams introduced them in the English Hymnal, 1906; this brought about their revival, which has lasted until the present time.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on the verses taken from Habakkuk 2:20. The original was composed in Greek as a Cherubic Hymn in the fourth Century AD. In modern times, the Ralph Vaughn Williams arrangement of a translation from the Greek by Gerard Moultrie to the tune of Picardy, a French medieval folk melody, popularized the hymn among Christian congregations that worship liturgically.

Below you will find a link to this beautiful piece as sung by the choir and orchestra of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch, New Zealand in June of 1999. The recent earthquake did tremendous damage to this magnificent cathedral. You will see pictures of the beautiful interior if you click on this link as you listen to the music:

http://youtu.be/ufb9_He0EPg

Here is an organ and English Horn playing it as well. Filmed in what looks to me like an ancient church in St Andrews, Kimbolton…just beautiful!

http://youtu.be/p-4nuLjkIPk

What a marvelous piece of work is each and every person God has created! As we see in just looking over the music we are privileged to use in our services at GAC, men and women throughout the ages have used their God given talents to provide His church with beauty in music. But we all have something important to contribute to the whole.

Do we want more talent? Then let us wisely and generously use what we have. We may discover that we already have more than we ever imagined.

What is your unique role? Are you using it?



Sources:

Wikipedia.com

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Companion to the SDA Hymnal

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Then Sings My Soul

A Treasury of Hymns

Tune My Heart to Sing

YouTube.com

Give Me Oil in My Lamp, Keep Me Burning....

Pentecost 21, November 6, 2011
1928 Book of Common Prayer Service
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7 from BCP
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
~~~


Give me oil in my lamp, keep my burning…

On this Sunday after All Soul’s/All Saint’s Days we come together to celebrate with believers of all time. Anglicans stress community, remaining intentional in worship, study and communion with each other as we prepare for the return of our Lord.

Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers will be the processional hymn this Sunday at Grace Anglican Church in Boise. Watching for the Lord to come is the subject of this hymn, based on Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins, our Gospel reading. This hymn has been in our Hymnal since 1871. It was first published by Laurentius Laurenti in his Evangelica Melodica, 1700, a collection of words and music for the entire Christian church year.

Lorenz Lorenzen was born June 8, 1660, in Schleswig (at that time a duchy ruled by Denmark). His father was a town burgess and loved music, so he saw to it that his son was musically educated. Lorenzen studied at the University of Rostock, where he changed his name to the Latin version, Lauarentius Laurenti. In 1684, at the age of 24, he became cantor and director of music at the Cathedral Church of Bremen, Germany, and held this position for 38 years until his death on May 29, 1722. He was 62 years old. Rather young, I must say.

The tune, LLANGLOFFAN is a melody from Hymnau a Thonau er Gwasanaeth yr Eglwys yng Nghymr (Hymns and Tunes for the service of the Church in Wales, edited by The Rev. Daniel Evans, rector of Corris). David Lewis was well known for collecting and arranging of old Welsh tunes. The resemblance between this tune and the English folk song “The Jolly Miller of Dee” has been noted.

Here is a link to that tune: http://ingeb.org/songs/millerof.mid

The New Testament reading of 1 Thessalonians is complimented by our sequence hymn, Jerusalem, My Happy Home. We will sing of all the saints being united to joyously welcome Jesus’ return to earth.
The author of this hymn was identified simply by the initials of F.B.P. This probably refers to Francis Baker, pater (or priest), a Roman Catholic imprisoned for his faith in the Tower of London during the sixteenth century. Some authorities state that the author was Father Laurence Anderton, who lived during the reign of King Charles I. A British Museum manuscript, which is undated but of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, gives a text of 26 four-line stanzas under the title “A Song Made by F.B.P. To the Tune of Diana.” The editors of Hymnal ’82 employ, respectively, stanzas 1, 12, 22, 23 combined with 25, and 6, slightly modified, of the “F. B. P.” version. This text has been in the Hymnal since 1865.

The music for this hymn is named LAND OF REST. It is to Ralph Vaughan Williams that musicians look with deep admiration for his matching of English Folk tunes with texts in the English Hymnal. A similar sense of gratitude is due Canon C. Winfred Douglas for his extensive use of American folk hymnody in the Hymnal ’40, of which this matching of a classic text with a beautiful American folk hymn tune is an example and a stroke of sheer genius. Perhaps this was paving the way for American Anglicans and British Anglicans to share in the rich tradition of Anglican hymnody.

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, again, a hymn reflecting the saints witnessing the final completion of the restoration with our Lord. The text, originally intended for the first Sunday of Advent, has been in the Hymnal since 1892, however it has a broad use for other Sundays as we match it here with Sunday’s Gospel reading in Matthew.

Psalm 78:1-7 and the anthem, Jubilate will be the music the singers in the loft present. Jubilate Deo (Let Us Praise You) is attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and arranged by Alan Bullard. It is correlated with the Old Testament reading, reflecting the command of Joshua to the people of Israel to serve and praise the Lord at all times.

Let us praise you,
Let us praise you,
Father, let us praise you,
We rejoice in you,
O Father,
Let us give you praise.
         Jubilate, Jubilate, Jubilate Deo


Remember the Sunday School song, “Give Me Oil In My Lamp, Keep Me Burning?” As we remember and honor all the souls and saints of the church now and all time….We are admonished to keep oil in our lamps. We refuel in our worship, reading the word and coming to the table to form disciples to share the gospel message in our community.

As we approach Advent, the tension rises in expectation of something we look forward to but “see through a glass darkly.” God has promised to be with us and to fill us, even in our waiting. May our prayer be,
“Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.”

Sources:
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Companion to the SDA Hymnal
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Then Sings My Soul
A Treasury of Hymns
Tune My Heart to Sing
YouTube.com

ARE YOU PROUD TO BE HUMBLE?

Pentecost 20, October 30, 2011

Joshua 3:7-17

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 from BCP

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Matthew 23:1-12

~~~

Are you proud to be humble?

It really is hard to be humble, isn’t it? We are so filled with pride to be called the sons and daughters of God. Our best hope is to stop trying so hard to be humble and strive rather for consistency—our actions consistent with our thoughts, our words consistent with our deeds, our lives consistent with the example of Christ. With this kind of humility we need never worry that we will start to take pride in ourselves.

Bianco da Siena prayed for this humility in the early 15th century in the sequence hymn for Sunday:

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,

And lowliness become my inner clothing –

True lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,

And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

                           “Come Down, O Love Divine”

Our Hymnal ’82 does not have the above verse, however it was one of the four stanzas that R.F. Littledale included in The People’s Hymnal (London 1867), prepared for Anglicans who felt, as he did, that they might benefit from many Roman Catholic teachings and practices without quitting their own church.

Richard Frederick Littledale, born September 14, 1833, in Dublin, Ireland, was virtually at the top of his class all the way through his education. He received a B.A., M.A., LL.B and LL.D and if that were not enough, the Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford. Along the way he became a University Scholar First Class, gold medalist in classics and gold medalist in Greek. After ill health forced him to retire from two parishes, he distinguished himself by writing 50 books on theology, history, the liturgy, and hymnology. The hymn tune DOWN AMPNEY, is named after its composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, place of birth, near Cirenchester, Gloucester, England. He wrote it especially for this text and it was included in the English Hymnal, 1906.

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, our processional hymn, has been chosen to amplify our Old Testament reading of how Joshua is receiving from God the message that he is going to take over leading the children of Israel from Moses. He will be the authority figure, but must remain humble.

The text, written by William Williams, first appeared in the Hymnal 1826, and is one of the truly great Welsh hymns to come into use in English. It is universally popular and has been further translated into some seventy-five languages and here matched with the vigorous and widely used Welsh tune CWM RHONDDA.

Williams, son of a wealthy farmer, graduated from the university as a physician, intending to become a medical doctor. But hearing a sermon that Howell Harris preached while standing on a gravestone in Talgarth churchyard, he was converted. Soon thereafter, he changed professions to become a physician of the soul—a preacher. He is best remembered, however, for his hymns. He has been called the “Sweet Singer of Wales,” and the “Watts of Wales.” As an itinerate evangelist, he lived as a pilgrim, pressing through the snow of winter, the rains of springtime, and the heat of summer. He was both beaten by mobs (once nearly dying) and cheered by crowds, but in all his travels he sought only to do the will of God until his death at age 74.



Tell Out, My Soul the Greatness of the Lord, our recessional hymn is paired with the day’s Gospel reading. We will sing in v 3:

Tell out my Soul, the greatness of His might!

Powers and dominions lay their glory by.

Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,

the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Since its first publication in 1965, this text has found such extensive acceptance and use that it is now found in almost every major English-language hymnal around the world. The text “Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord” was composed by Timothy Dudley-Smith while he was serving in the Church Pastoral Aid Society, a home missionary society of the Church of England. He describes his inspiration was based on the Song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55: “I was reading a review copy of The New English Bible, New Testament, in which the line, ‘Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord’ appears…I saw in it the first line of a poem, and speedily wrote the rest.”

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 will be chanted in Anglican chant by the singers in the Lofty Pews.

During communion, Non, nobis Domine is the anthem that will be sung from the loft .

The Latin words translate to:

Not to us, not to us, o Lord,

But to your glory.

Link to hear it: http://youtu.be/3Q8B43TcXwY

The 'Non nobis Domine' text to which the canon is sung today was apparently taken from the first collect from the thanksgiving service added to the Book of Common Prayer to celebrate the thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605. The earliest source of the canon dates from 1620 to 1625 and is preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, in the "Bull" manuscript, MS 782, f.122v, where it is anonymous, unbarred and untexted. It is however clear from the repeated notes and the contour of the melody that this version was already designed to fit the 'Non nobis Domine' text, which was evidently sung in a spirit of thanksgiving for deliverance. The canon was published anonymously in three 17th century collections, yet the earliest attribution to a specific composer was made as late as 1715 by Thomas Tudway, who ascribed it to Morley; the woefully inaccurate Dr Pepusch ascribes it to Byrd in his 1731 Treatise on Harmony; and in 1739 the theme is quoted in a concerto by Count Unico Willem van Wassenaer (formerly attributed to Pergolesi) as Canone di Palestrina! The canon is known to have been admired by Mozart and Beethoven, whomever its composer was.

The theme of the Word on Sunday is cautionary. We must be proud of the gospel in our lives—we are restored to full glory in God’s view. We must be proud of our message to a bewildered world—our mission. But we must remain humble to be effective and true servants to our mission and eternally grateful for God’s grace in our lives

Sources:

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Companion to the SDA Hymnal

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Then Sings My Soul

A Treasury of Hymns

Tune My Heart to Sing

YouTube.com

Web : http://www.cpdl.org

Either/Or or BOTH?

Pentecost 19, October 23, 2011

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 from BCP

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Matthew 22:34-46



Watch the priest or read the liturgy? Watch the choir director or the music? Diet or exercise? Love or discipline? Obviously, the answer in each of these questions is “both.” That quick response would likely be followed by a longer explanation to point out that the two parts of each question are not options or in competition with each other but different aspects of the same truth. Simplistic and legalistic minds always want one correct answer. But simple answers have one thing in common—they are usually incomplete.

So it is in Sunday’s gospel when the Pharisees ask, “Which commandment of the law is the greatest?” Jesus answers, “You shall love he Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” But He cannot let it drop there; He needs to tell them the rest of the story, adding, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus refuses to separate these two pillars of the faith. Neither is quite right without the other, He wants them to know.

Some think there is no way to do both, so they will choose to do ONE and try to do it really well. We need not look far to see those who try to ignore the distractions of the world so they can concentrate on being holy, or those who are so busy doing for others that they forget the source and sustainer of life. Or parents who discipline without love or love without discipline. What about Christians who are undernourished from refusing the promised means of grace? Such people are all around us, and they are often in us.

Is it, then, simply a matter of valuing both sides of the issue and trying to balance them? Still not quite right. Jesus tells us that upon these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. This is one ultimate commandment with two, interdependent sides. Love of God results in love of neighbor; we can love our neighbor only because God loves us. Such a balanced faith frees us from attempting the balancing act, frees us from keeping track of points, frees us from ourselves, and frees us for service.

How can such a faith be ours? It is given as a gift from the one who proclaimed and lived a life of integrated love and service.

Our Deuteronomy text shows Moses devotion to God and Israel. Moses, at age 81 was ready for retirement when he persuaded Pharroh to let God’s people go. He further had such deep faith in God and God’s chosen people that he chose to lead them for another 40 years to the promised land even though he was not allowed to go with them. The people he led unselfishly, reached their goal. Moses, even in his headstrong ways, was allowed by God to reach the heavenly goal. What an example! O God, Our Help In Ages Past will be our processional hymn. The text by Isaac Watts is probably not only his best-known work, but one of his finest. A masterful paraphrase of Ps. 90:1-5, it can be found in practically every English-language hymnal around the world. John Wesley, who altered the opening from “Our God our help” to “O God, our help” printed the original 9 verses in his Collection of Psalms and Hymns (London, 1738). The Hymnal 1982 presents us with 6 verses. Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 will be sung by the choir in Anglican Chant.

Link to Westminster Cathedral, complete with Boys Choir, singing this hymn:

http://youtu.be/asrwlIxLeko





God of Mercy God of Grace, our 2 verse sequence hymn, was written by Henry Francis Lyte, born in Ednam Scotland in 1793 and died in Nice, France in 1847. Deserting an early intention to pursue a medical career, Lyte took holy orders in 1815 and served several curacies before being appointed perpetual curate at the fishing village of Lower Brixham, Devon, in 1823.

Ubi Caritas by James Biery, will be our Eucharist anthem. Biery (born 1956) is an American organist who is Minister of Music at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. He was Director of Music at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1996-2010. Biery was featured regularly as a performer on the Cathedral's monthly concerts. He and his wife, Marilyn, shared the organ and conducting duties at the Cathedral. Before moving to Minnesota, James Biery was Director of Music at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, where he performed often on the 140 rank Austin organ.

                                                                  Figure 1 James Biery



This is a setting of the complete traditional Maundy Thursday Latin text possibly written by Paulinus of Aquileia to support his address at the Synod of Forum Julii in 796 or 797. Using sumptuous harmonies, Biery’s musical setting of Ubi Caritas features a recurring statement of the text, “Where true love and charity are found, God is there.” The chant-like verses inspires us to set aside petty quarrels and to experience, as one family, God’s limitless and pure joy. Ubi Caritas can be used throughout the year. We have often done the beautiful Durufle version at Grace Anglican Church in Boise.



The Love of Christ has gathered us into one

Where true love and charity are found, God is there.

The love of Christ has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be glad in Christ.

Let us fear and love the living God

And care for one another with sincere hearts.



So when we gather as one,

We must take care not to be divided in mind.

Let petty quarrels end, let bickering cease,

And let Christ our God be in our midst.



So, too, in the company of the saints, let us see

Your face in glory, Christ our God –

Joy that is limitless and pure

Through endless ages. Amen.

-translation by Maryann Corbett





Here is a link to this beautiful anthem:

James Biery - Ubi Caritas - YouTube





Our recessional hymn, When in our Music God is Glorified was written by Fred Pratt Green in 1972 after a request for new words for Stanford’s festive tune ENGELBERG. That tune had been written in 1904 for use with the words “For All the Saints,” but it was eclipsed almost immediately by Vaughan Williams’s SINE NOMINE, the tune to which we sing that marvelous hymn. The hymn is loosely based on Psalm 150, Mark 14:26 and Matthew 26:30.

History suggests that it is very difficult to write a real hymn on the subject of congregational music-making. Usually there is insufficient weight and development to support the effusiveness that this theme seems to generate. Here, however, we have an honest hymn of substance and scope that is never self-congratulatory or platitudinous and is always grateful and worthy.

This Sunday, we will have guest singers in the Lofty Pews who have all been brought together by love of beautiful music. Some of us are members of Grace Anglican, some regular attenders and some members of other churches or denominations or perhaps not members of any church. However, the opportunity to sing such a lovely piece of music with each other has inspired us to spend time together in a retreat in Oregon recently and then here in Boise, over dinner and then practice around the piano, and again Sunday morning to polish it all up in the Lofty Pews. Join us in the Fireside Room after the service to meet these singing friends.

Our desire is to give praise to the Lord of Life, honor those musical messengers of past days, bear witness to the creative Spirit who ever inspires new creativity and declares to the world the power, grace and peace of God. We add our voices to the song that began at creation and will continue into eternity. A hymn by Wayne Wold:

1. God is praised in music ancient; liturgies and chants and hymns

show a God beyond our culture, greater than our passing whims.

2. God is praised in music modern; new, creative textures, sounds

show a God beyond our limits, broader than our human bounds.

3. God is praised in music humble;’ simple, honest melodies

show a God who dwells among us, sharing joys and miseries.

4. God is praised in music mighty; organs, choirs, and instruments

show a God beyond our knowing, larger than our measurements.

Refrain Let us then make music boldly, as an offering true and strong.

God is praised, proclaimed, and honored as we join the eternal song.





Sources:

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Companion to the SDA Hymnal

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Tune My Heart to Sing

YouTube.com

Morningstar Publishing

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

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Pentecost 23, October 9, 2011
Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106 from BCP
Phillipians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

“It was the best f times; it was the worst of times” penned Charles Dickens in referring to the French Revolution. But he could have just as appropriately been writing about another event that can involve battles, bayonets and even beheadings—weddings! Having been the parents of the groom recently in Bordeaux, we can attest to that! However, there were no beheadings in France that we were aware of. A wedding can certainly be times of high emotions, high expectations and high anxieties—all pointing to the importance we place on them. For a marriage ceremony is a most important rite of passage, a sign of ongoing life, and an embodiment of divine and human love. If only the details of guest lists, invitations, witnesses and families weren’t so complicated!
Jesus tells of a highly complicated wedding in this Sunday’s gospel. Though many customs differed in His day, guest lists and food preparations were as crucial then as they are now. But this father-of-the-groom is having trouble. The slaves he sends out to gather the invited guests are receiving troublesome responses. Some treat the invitation lightly, others are too stuck to their work, and some are so hostile that they actually kill the messengers. What would the host do after being treated so badly?
Since the banquet was already prepared, there was no time to get on the internet and Google around for an answer. After sending troops to take revenge on those who killed his messengers, he gives his slaves new orders. This time they are to go into the streets, inviting anybody and everybody to come. Even after the hall is filled, there is yet one more episode—someone is there without a wedding robe, and he must be punished and banished. I wonder if that is something like showing up at Prince Charles’ wedding without a hat? Well, anyway, Jesus’ closing words are brief, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Is that all he can say to us after such a complicated story about such a complicated wedding banquet? We’ll get back to the wedding after we read about the music that will be heard and participated in at Grace Anglican Church on Sunday.
Sharon Helppie and I will be at a choral retreat in the Wallowas for the weekend. We are very grateful for Pat and Bruce to be willing to carry on with music from the Lofty Pews. The music at Eucharist will be Seek Ye The Lord, by Dr. John Varley Roberts, sung from the loft by Bruce Moberly, our ‘resident’ Bass . This is a setting of a famous invocatory text from the prophecy of Isaiah and the work of famed 19th century choirmaster and organist John Varley Roberts. Successively at Halifax Parish Church and Magdalen College Chapel, Dr Roberts was a native of Stanningley between Pudsey and Leeds and the donor of the fine organ in the Parish Church of his home village. Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 will also be done in Plainsong Chant from the loft.
One of the enrichments of the hymnody of the Episcopal Church came in the Hymnal 1940 with the addition of a number of German Church songs, including two that we will be singing this Sunday. Our processional hymn this week will be Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above and is suggested to go with our Old Testament reading. Described by the German hymnologist Eduard Emil Koch “as outweighing many hundred others; and a classical hymn which from its first appearance attracted unusual attention”, this buoyant hymn of Johann Jacob Schutz is found in nearly every German hymnal and translated into many English service books. Johann Schutz is interesting in that he was, in addition to being a lawyer, heavily involved in the German Pietistic movement. He became a Separatist and severed all ties with the Lutheran Church. The present hymn, however, is surprisingly devoid of the intensely personal and decision-oriented devotional content of most pietistic hymnody.
Saviour, Again To Thy Dear Name We Raise, our recessional hymn was written by John Ellerton (1826-1893). Ellerton is well represented in many hymnals and this is probably the most popular of the fifty or more hymns that he wrote. It was designed for a choral festival. The last stanza was sung at his funeral.

Back to our wedding parable. If we have spent time with this parable before, we probably already know that this is not about an average, every-day wedding. This is the messianic banquet, the supreme fulfillment of God’s own kingdom, the ultimate Holy Communion, the marriage feast of the Lamb.
This is one wedding we do not want to miss; it truly will be one to remember. Just how can we properly acknowledge the invitation and be best prepared to honor the host? Forget shopping for the perfect hat, choosing the right suit and tie and worrying about your shoes. Just what is the proper wedding robe?
The robe is that of Jesus’ righteousness given to us in baptism. Any further adornments spring from our joy at being invited. In our sequence hymn, Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness, Johann Franck bids us:
Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness,
Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness,
Come into the daylight’s splendor,
There with joy thy praises render
Unto him whose grace unbounded
Hath this wondrous banquet founded;
High o’er all the heavens he reigneth,
Yet to dwell with thee he deigneth.
“Deck Thyself, My Soul with Gladness”
For all who accept the invitation, this wedding will surely be the “best of times!”
Sources:
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Tune My Heart to Sing
Youtube.com
Bardon Music
PipeChat Digest

Twenty-twenty hindsight

Pentecost 22, October 2, 2011
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Psalm 19 from BCP
Phillipians 3:4b-14
Matthew 21:33-46

MORNING PRAYER SERVICE
Deacon Mason Clingan officiating
Deacon Ronald Jutzy presenting the sermon
NOTE: Our usual 1928 Book of Common Prayer service has been postponed to October 16.

Twenty-TWENTY HINDSIGHT is the term often used to describe our ability to look back on a past event and know now what we should have done. In 1972, on a trip up Highway 1 on the California coast, Ron and I saw a parcel of land in Mendocino for sale for $5000. Ron frequently says, “We should have bought that place in Mendocino!” Our lists could be endless, but since clairvoyance is not within the grasp of most us, we are destined to win a few and lose a few, to make some wrong choices and even some right ones, all based on our best judgments at the time. But are these choices made with Christ or the Kingdom as our goal?

Our family has just returned from Bordeaux, France, in ancient vineyards, so this Sunday’s gospel took on new meaning for Ron and me. Jesus’ parable is about people who made self-centered choices. We will hear the story of tenants, tending a vineyard, owned by a man who planted the vineyard, fenced it, dug a wine press in it and built a watchtower to guard it. Yet, when the vineyard owner sends messengers to collect his produce, they are treated shamefully. The tenants seized the messengers and beat one, killed another and stoned another. The ultimate blow comes when the owner’s son is sent as a special emissary. The tenants said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Will the tenants now get to keep what they fought for? Certainly not! Because of their rebellion even what they had worked for will be taken away. Had they known the consequences they surely would have done things differently, don’t you think?

We who live on this side of the resurrection have the benefit of this 20-20 hindsight. We need not doubt His words, actions, commands, and promises which are proclaimed through the church in word, sacrament and song. Still, in the light of our tendency to not choose Jesus, the Kingdom or others above self, at times, we cannot help but wonder and pray with the hymnic words of W. Russel Bowie:
New advent of the love of Christ,
Will we again refuse you,
Till in the night of hate and war
We perish as we lost you?
“Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth”

The Morning Prayer Service opens tomorrow, a little differently, with a Processional Introit of The Heavens Resound, by Beethoven, sung by the singers in the Lofty Pews. This anthem is a based on Psalm 19, our appointed Psalm for the day to be later sung in SATB Anglican Chant from the loft.

Here is a link to a choir singing the Phos Hilaron and Psalm 19 in Anglican Chant SATB by S.S. Wesley. We will sing Psalm 19 from A Hymn Tune Psalter, 2007, by Carl P. Daw, Jr. and Kevin R. Hackett.
http://youtu.be/YnwNNa2uYj4


The Choir will also sing, in Anglican Chant the Venite, the First Song of Isaiah and A Song to the Lamb at appointed places in our worship folder.
The Venite, Psalms 95 and 100 serve as a summons or invitation to worship. They contain no particular reference to the morning, and the BCP 1979 permits their use at Evening Prayer as well as at Morning Prayer. If you attend our Evening Prayer Services at Grace Anglican Church, these words would be familiar to you, as we read them instead of singing them every Thursday evening at 6:30 PM. Psalm 95 was used as the invitatory Psalm for the morning vigil in The Rule of Benedict and in the somewhat earlier Rule of the Master. This use of the psalm is unique to traditions that derive from these two documents. The Orthodox use Ps. 95 as the entrance antiphon at the Eucharist. When Cranmer created Morning Prayer out of the three older morning services (“Matins,” “lauds,” and “prime”), he used this Psalm as the invitatory psalm for the office. In the first American BCP verses 8-11 of Ps 95 were dropped and verses 9 and 13 of Ps 96 were substituted, creating the present form of this invitatory.
Chant composition held a certain attraction for “gentlemen amateurs” in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There are a number of chants written by such “gentlemen amateurs” as Major Lemon and Sir Christopher Teesdale that entered the general repertory. The latter appears in the subscriber list of Bennett and Marshall’s Cathedral Chants (London, 1829) as Christopher Teesdale, Esquire, of Binderton House, Sussex. We will be singing the Venite to his chant harmony.
The First Song of Isaiah (Ecce Deus) will also be chanted by the singers in the loft. This canticle, from Isaiah 12:2-6 is an expression of confident trust in God and probably dates from the exile. The canticle was used at lauds on Mondays in the Roman and Benedictine traditions; this is its first appearance in the Book of Common Prayer. The table in the BCP suggests the use of this canticle after the first lesson of Morning Prayer on Mondays, as in the Roman tradition, which is where we will sing it tomorrow.
A Song to the Lamb (Dignus es), with texts from the Book of Revelation (4:11; 5:9-10, 13) form a hymn of praise to the One seated upon the throne and to the Lamb. The 1926 Irish Prayer Book first brought this cento into the Anglican BCP. We will be chanting it in Anglican chant after the second lesson.
Our recessional hymn, Christ is Made the Sure Foundation, has been a favorite hymn since it first entered the Hymnal in 1871. If you were not familiar with this hymn before now, it is not because you have not heard it sung at Grace Anglican Church in Boise. We have used this hymn numerous times this past year alone. It is one of the oldest Latin hymn texts, and found in manuscript collections of hymns from the ninth century, but perhaps dates back as early as the sixth century. In doing preparation for Sunday’s service, I made a change to this hymn for our recessional hymn, as it fits so perfectly with the Gospel lesson and sermon topic.
We have one more, even greater, gift from now on—the gift of 20-20 foresight. Jesus has shown us that He is this one who was once rejected but now is the cornerstone of our lives in the present and in the future. We live our lives, do our deeds, sing our songs, proclaim the promises and trust the future to this one who is the sure foundation. We must make all our decisions with Jesus as our cornerstone—our solid foundation.

THANKS BE TO GOD! ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!!

Sources:
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Tune My Heart to Sing
Youtube.com
A HymnTune Psalter, RCL Edition