Pentecost 12, September 4, 2011
Book of Common Prayer, 1928 service
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149 from BCP
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
GRANT US O LORD, we pray thee, to trust in thee with all our heart; seeing that, as thou dost always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so thou dost not forsake those who make their boast of thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Traditional Collect for Pentecost 12
One of Jesus’ primary concerns was that of unity and camaraderie among His followers. He told parables and prayed at length for the unity of individuals with each other and with God. His great emphasis shows how crucial He felt unity to be and, perhaps even more importantly, how difficult He knew unity is to achieve. The state of the church proves His concerns were correct. As we, at Grace Anglican Church in Boise, are well aware, there are differences between Eastern and Western Christianity; between Catholics, Protestants, and in-betweens; between denominations that may even carry the same name, within synods, between parishes, between groups within congregations, and even within small groups such as choirs and classes.
Our processional hymn on Sunday is indeed, one of Joy! Joyful, Joyful We Adore Three, with words written by Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933). The hymn tune is ODE TO JOY, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). We are called to remember that God is giving and forgiving and we ask Him to help us to love each other—even in our differences, as we sing in the third verse:
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother: all who live in love are thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.
In 1907, Henry van Dyke was invited to preach at Williams College in Massachusetts. At breakfast one morning, he handed the college president a piece of paper, saying, “Here is a hymn for you. Your mountains (the Berkshires) were my inspiration. It must be sung to the music of Beethoven’s ‘Hymn of Joy.’”
When he was later asked about his hymn, van Dyke replied: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.”
Blessed Jesus, At Thy Word will be the sequence hymn surrounding the reading of Romans 13:8-14. The words are so fitting for the gospel reading, as well. In Germany in the seventeenth century when this hymn was written, it was customary for the congregation to sing a “sermon hymn,” part immediately before the sermon and part just after the sermon had ended. We carry that tradition into our Anglican liturgical service as our sequence hymn. The direct statements in the first two lines and throughout this hymn express the desire of the congregation to hear God’s Word, thus preparing their minds to receive the message of the scripture and sermon to follow.
Blessed Jesus, at thy word we are gathered all to hear thee;
Let our hearts and souls be stirred now to seek and love and fear thee.
We would not blame Jesus one bit if the tone of His voice had been cynical or even sarcastic when He spoke the words we shall hear in this Sunday’s gospel—“If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask; it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” Jesus the realist was decrying the divisiveness and uncooperativeness of His followers. Yes, within this lament lies a promise—“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
We surely have a special relationship with God on a one-to-one basis. It is a promise sealed in baptism and crucially important for every Christian life. But over and over we are told of the special presence of Christ with the community—the assembly of people, be it as large as thousands- as in the greater body of Christians- or as small as two or three—Grace Anglican Church’s Evening Prayer on Thursday’s, our Lady’s & Men’s Bible Study Groups or the Singers in the Lofty Pews. That special presence is the reason we assemble for corporate worship time after time. It is precisely in the corporateness of gathering, confessing, hearing, responding, baptizing, communing, speaking, and singing together that this lesson is proclaimed and learned anew. We are people, and we are a people.
The anthem during the Eucharist on Sunday will be O Praise God in His Holiness, John Weldon (1676-1736). Weldon was a chorister at Eton College and studied with the organist John Walter; from 1693 he studied with Purcell. His first appointment was as organist at New College, Oxford (1694-1702). In 1701 he became a Gentleman Extraordinary of the Chapel Royal, and the following year he was appointed organist of St. Bride's, Fleet Street in London. Weldon later acquired the positions of an organist of the Chapel Royal and organist of St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street (1708), organist of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (1714), and second composer to the Chapel Royal (1715). His compositions include several stage works (The Judgement of Paris,1701; The Tempest,ca. 1712), anthems, services, odes, songs, and several instrumental works. Posted below are the words:
O praise God in His holiness;
Praise Him in the firmament of His power;
Praise Him in His noble acts,
Praise Him in His noble acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness;
Praise Him in the sound of the trumpet;
Praise him upon the lute and harp:
Praise Him in the cymbals and dances:
Praise Him upon the strings and pipe.
Let everything that hath breath
Praise the Lord.
Have you noticed that some of the same terms can describe relationships and music? Unison and harmony –singing the same melody all together, or harmonizing in different parts—soprano, alto, tenor & bass—we recognize as positive attributes both inside and outside the Lofty Choir Pews. Dissonance and other off-key descriptions describe something else.
Fortunately, Christ’s promise to be present whenever two or three are gathered in His name is not conditional upon all people being in agreement. At those times of conflict we may be less likely to sense the presence of Jesus, but, regardless His promise remains.
The words of our recessional hymn are based on a prayer traditionally attributed to the medieval mystic St. Francis of Assisi and put to music here by the noted Roman Catholic hymn writer and theologian Rev James Quinn, S.J. The text, which appears in translation among the Prayers and Thanksgivings in the BCP (833, no 62) and expresses the teachings of the revered founder of the Franciscan Order cannot be dated any earlier than the present century.
We need to earnestly pray with St Francis of Assisi as we sing our recessional hymn:
Lord, make us servants of your peace:
Where there is hate, may we sow love;
Where there is hurt, may we forgive;
Where there is strife, may we make one.
Lord Make Us Servants of Your Peace
Our efforts at music-making at Grace Anglican Church to proclaim the word are parables in themselves on what greatness can happen when individuality is offered up for the benefit of the whole body, and when diversity is woven into harmony. For even here, in the midst of us who have gathered in His name, is the Lord.
THANKS BE TO GOD!
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
101 More Hymn Stories
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
"Get Thee Behind Me, Satan!"
Pentecost 11, August 28, 2011
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26 45c from BCP
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
This Sunday we shall be hearing again about Peter in the gospel reading – the rest of Matthew 16. You may recall that last week he was the proclaimer of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God!” This week Jesus gives Peter a stern rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” Why the change? Is Peter, after all, the rock or a hindrance?
Truthfully, he is both for he is very human. Peter receives this strong admonition after a dispute with Jesus. Jesus says He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed and be raised up. Peter is quick to protest, hoping as we all would, that such drastic measures will not be necessary. Jesus’ harshness shows how important He knows His mission to be. He will not let Peter soft pedal it or suggest an easy way out. We should likewise remember Jesus’ admonition whenever we are tempted to proclaim a non-crucified Savior, whenever we encounter a watered-down Christianity, or whenever the ways of the world are embraced as the ways of God.
We will hear the Old Testament lesson about Moses keeping his father-in-law, Jethro’s flock when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush. Moses is amazed that the bush has not burned up and God tells him that he is standing on holy ground. God said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” So, The God of Abraham Praise will be our processional hymn.
The Jewish creed was first formulated by Moses ben Maimonides (1135-1204) and consisted of 13 articles of faith; these were converted to a metrical version about a century and a half afterward. It is known now as the Yigdal, which is the first word of the metrical version and means magnify” or “extol.” A literal translation of the first article is: “extolled and praised be the living God, who exists unbounded by time.” It is sung at synagogues on the eve of festivals and on the Sabbath, and also in Jewish homes at family worship on Friday evening. Thomas Olivers translated the Yigdal from Hebrew into English, and gave it a decidedly Christian character by his very free paraphrase, although his first and last stanzas reflect the original thought of the beginning and the end of this creed. He entitled it “A Hymn to the God of Abraham,” which is our hymn for the day, and nearly every line echoes a Scripture text. There were originally 12 stanzas arranged in three groups of four in each. The hymn was written about 1770 and first published in a tract in 1772.
Olivers was born in early September 1725 at Tregynon, Montgomeryshire, near Welshpool in north central Wales. He lost both parents before he had passed his fifth birthday, and he was cared for by a succession of relatives, moving from one to the other. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but by the time he was 18 years of age he was a godless youth, poor, in debt, and miserable, and was compelled to leave his native village. He went to Bristol and there heard a sermon by George Whitefield on “a brand plucked from the burning” (see Zech. 3:2). He took courage and hope, and was converted. He wished to join Whitefield’s band, but was dissuaded. However, with a changed lifestyle, he went back to Wales, paid his debts, and returned to Bristol to set up in his trade. He met John Wesley, who discerned Oliver’s talents and encouraged him to become one of his itinerant preachers. So in 1753 Olivers went as an evangelist to Cornwall and for 46 years until his death continued in this work. He assisted Wesley for some of this time in editorial work and also wrote a few hymns. He died suddenly in London in March 1799 at the age of 74.
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c will be chanted in plainsong by the cantors in the loft. The refrain, Remember the Marvels God Has Done is placed in several intervals giving the congregation the opportunity to join with the cantors in singing the Psalm. Hallelujah!
The Eucharist will be accompanied from the loft with a duet, Author of Life Divine. The music is written by a contemporary composer, Cecilia McDowall.
Born in London, 1951, Cecilia has been described by the International Record Review as having ‘a communicative gift that is very rare in modern music." Often inspired by extra-musical influences, her writing combines a rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism and is, at times, intensely moving. We think you will find this true in this piece with words written by the great hymnist, Charles Wesley (1707-1788).
Author of life, of life divine,
Who hast a table spread,
Furnished with mystic wine
and everlasting bread,
Preserve the life thyself hast given,
And feed and train us up for heaven
Our needy souls sustain, our souls sustain,
with fresh supplies of love,
till all thy life we gain,
and all thy fullness, fullness prove,
and, strengthened by thy perfect grace,
behold without a veil thy face.
Our recessional hymn with words written by Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984) will be Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service. Bayly submitted this hymn text in June 1961, when the Hymn Society of America asked for new hymns on social welfare. Accepted after some revision, it was used as the conference hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare, October 1961. Here we have another contemporary hymn!
Here is a link to a portion of the hymn tune: http://www.blogger.com/goog_1868135526
God’s ways, as Jesus has shown us again, are often paradox. To follow Jesus one must take up one’s cross. Those who try to save their own lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives for Christ’s sake will find them. Those who gain the world forfeit their lives, and ultimately, to live is to die. Such are the dynamic truths of Christianity. “They must be true” goes the old saying, “for no human could have invented such a preposterous faith.”
In the words of our sequence hymn, bookending the Gospel reading on Sunday:
Take up your cross, then, in His strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
It guides you to abundant life
And leads to victory o’er the grave.
Take Up Your Cross
This, then, is the paradoxical truth to which we witness whenever we gather for worship. Such fantastic and unbelievable truths must be constantly rehearsed and continually proclaimed for us to learn them. Even then, we must ultimately rely on God’s gift of faith to believe such claims and on God’s grace to fulfill them. Such a God is not for us to fully understand—only to trust, serve, imitate, worship and praise.
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
101 More Hymn Stories
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26 45c from BCP
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
This Sunday we shall be hearing again about Peter in the gospel reading – the rest of Matthew 16. You may recall that last week he was the proclaimer of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God!” This week Jesus gives Peter a stern rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” Why the change? Is Peter, after all, the rock or a hindrance?
Truthfully, he is both for he is very human. Peter receives this strong admonition after a dispute with Jesus. Jesus says He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed and be raised up. Peter is quick to protest, hoping as we all would, that such drastic measures will not be necessary. Jesus’ harshness shows how important He knows His mission to be. He will not let Peter soft pedal it or suggest an easy way out. We should likewise remember Jesus’ admonition whenever we are tempted to proclaim a non-crucified Savior, whenever we encounter a watered-down Christianity, or whenever the ways of the world are embraced as the ways of God.
We will hear the Old Testament lesson about Moses keeping his father-in-law, Jethro’s flock when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush. Moses is amazed that the bush has not burned up and God tells him that he is standing on holy ground. God said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” So, The God of Abraham Praise will be our processional hymn.
The Jewish creed was first formulated by Moses ben Maimonides (1135-1204) and consisted of 13 articles of faith; these were converted to a metrical version about a century and a half afterward. It is known now as the Yigdal, which is the first word of the metrical version and means magnify” or “extol.” A literal translation of the first article is: “extolled and praised be the living God, who exists unbounded by time.” It is sung at synagogues on the eve of festivals and on the Sabbath, and also in Jewish homes at family worship on Friday evening. Thomas Olivers translated the Yigdal from Hebrew into English, and gave it a decidedly Christian character by his very free paraphrase, although his first and last stanzas reflect the original thought of the beginning and the end of this creed. He entitled it “A Hymn to the God of Abraham,” which is our hymn for the day, and nearly every line echoes a Scripture text. There were originally 12 stanzas arranged in three groups of four in each. The hymn was written about 1770 and first published in a tract in 1772.
Olivers was born in early September 1725 at Tregynon, Montgomeryshire, near Welshpool in north central Wales. He lost both parents before he had passed his fifth birthday, and he was cared for by a succession of relatives, moving from one to the other. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but by the time he was 18 years of age he was a godless youth, poor, in debt, and miserable, and was compelled to leave his native village. He went to Bristol and there heard a sermon by George Whitefield on “a brand plucked from the burning” (see Zech. 3:2). He took courage and hope, and was converted. He wished to join Whitefield’s band, but was dissuaded. However, with a changed lifestyle, he went back to Wales, paid his debts, and returned to Bristol to set up in his trade. He met John Wesley, who discerned Oliver’s talents and encouraged him to become one of his itinerant preachers. So in 1753 Olivers went as an evangelist to Cornwall and for 46 years until his death continued in this work. He assisted Wesley for some of this time in editorial work and also wrote a few hymns. He died suddenly in London in March 1799 at the age of 74.
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c will be chanted in plainsong by the cantors in the loft. The refrain, Remember the Marvels God Has Done is placed in several intervals giving the congregation the opportunity to join with the cantors in singing the Psalm. Hallelujah!
The Eucharist will be accompanied from the loft with a duet, Author of Life Divine. The music is written by a contemporary composer, Cecilia McDowall.
Born in London, 1951, Cecilia has been described by the International Record Review as having ‘a communicative gift that is very rare in modern music." Often inspired by extra-musical influences, her writing combines a rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism and is, at times, intensely moving. We think you will find this true in this piece with words written by the great hymnist, Charles Wesley (1707-1788).
Author of life, of life divine,
Who hast a table spread,
Furnished with mystic wine
and everlasting bread,
Preserve the life thyself hast given,
And feed and train us up for heaven
Our needy souls sustain, our souls sustain,
with fresh supplies of love,
till all thy life we gain,
and all thy fullness, fullness prove,
and, strengthened by thy perfect grace,
behold without a veil thy face.
Our recessional hymn with words written by Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984) will be Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service. Bayly submitted this hymn text in June 1961, when the Hymn Society of America asked for new hymns on social welfare. Accepted after some revision, it was used as the conference hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare, October 1961. Here we have another contemporary hymn!
Here is a link to a portion of the hymn tune: http://www.blogger.com/goog_1868135526
God’s ways, as Jesus has shown us again, are often paradox. To follow Jesus one must take up one’s cross. Those who try to save their own lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives for Christ’s sake will find them. Those who gain the world forfeit their lives, and ultimately, to live is to die. Such are the dynamic truths of Christianity. “They must be true” goes the old saying, “for no human could have invented such a preposterous faith.”
In the words of our sequence hymn, bookending the Gospel reading on Sunday:
Take up your cross, then, in His strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
It guides you to abundant life
And leads to victory o’er the grave.
Take Up Your Cross
This, then, is the paradoxical truth to which we witness whenever we gather for worship. Such fantastic and unbelievable truths must be constantly rehearsed and continually proclaimed for us to learn them. Even then, we must ultimately rely on God’s gift of faith to believe such claims and on God’s grace to fulfill them. Such a God is not for us to fully understand—only to trust, serve, imitate, worship and praise.
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
101 More Hymn Stories
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Rock Solid in Boise, Idaho!
Pentecost 10, August 21 2011
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124 from BCP
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
In this Sunday’s gospel we will hear a dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples repeat what they have heard as they report, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” But then Jesus digs deeper and asks, “But who do you say that I am?”
Matthew does not indicate how much time passes before Peter responded with his famous confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” “Blessed are you,” Jesus responds. He goes on to pronounce Peter’s confession as a divine revelation and that on this rock will be built His church; hell itself will not be able to prevail against it. This insight must have been of phenomenal importance to elicit such a response from Jesus.
There is nothing warm and fuzzy about a rock. And there is nothing sentimental about the keys of the kingdom and the power to bind and loose which Jesus grants to His disciples. How can we ever with a clear conscience proclaim Christ in minimizing or marginalizing language? Peter has given us an example to follow. Get past what others say; proclaim boldly in word and deed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. We want to stay close to that which is rock-solid, and we pledge our loyalties to a faith so strongly rooted in the living God.
“Rock solid” is a term we often use to describe someone’s personality, dependability, or emotional stability. It is also used in music when describing someone with a strong sense of rhythm. They can keep the beat no matter what others are doing around them. Far from being boring, a steady beat provides the basis from which endless variations can be created. A rock-solid beat is the common language, the steady support, the living pulse.
GRANT WE BESEECH THEE, merciful God, that thy Church, being gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit, may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, world without end.
Those traditional words of Sunday’s opening collect is the inspiration for our processional hymn, Put Forth, O God, thy Spirit’s Strength. The text is a prayer for the Church, written by Howard Chandler Robbins, published in 1937. Robbins was an Episcopal priest and member of the Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal. This text first appeared in the Episcopal Hymnal in 1940. The tune, CHELSEA SQUARE, was hummed by the author of the text to Ray Francis Brown at the General Theological Seminary, Chelsea Square, New York City in 1941. General Theological Seminary in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City was where both the author/composer and harmonizer were all faculty members so the seminary is memorialized in the name of the tune that honors the location of the school.
The sequence hymn will be Take My Life and Let It Be by Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879). Miss Havergal, whose brief life was devoted to religious and philanthropic work, wrote the hymn in 1874 in thanksgiving for the conversion of backsliders and recalcitrants in her church circle. Frances frequently used this hymn in her own devotions. On one occasion, as she pondered the words, “Take my voice and let me sing/ Always only for my King,” she felt she should give up her secular concerts. Her beautiful voice was in demand, and she frequently sang with the Philharmonic. But from that moment, her lips were exclusively devoted to the songs of the Lord. Reflecting the evangelical fervor of the era this hymn has become the most widely accepted of her hymns.
Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken will be our recessional hymn. This famous poem is from the Olney Hymns (1779). The tune, AUSTRIAN HYMN, was composed for the birthday of Francis II, last of the Holy Roman Emperors, on February 12, 1797. The functionary who ordered it wanted an Austrian equivalent of “God Save the King”—and Franz Josef Haydn did not disappoint him. Subsequently, Haydn used the melody with variations as the second movement of a string quartet in C major, now always called “The Emperor Quartet.” Still later, the Germans used it for “Deutschland uber alles.” There is a lovely soprano descant printed in our hymnal that you will hear sung from the Lofty Pews on the last verse.
Psalm 124 will be chanted in SATB Anglican Chant by the singers in the loft. Join the choir in the refrain as printed in your scripture insert.
The Eucharist anthem will actually be a combination of two hymns. Bread of the World, in Mercy Broken and Father, We Thank Thee Who Hast Planted. They are both listed in our hymnal (#301 and #302) as Holy Eucharist hymns and they have the same hymn tune, RENDEZ A DIEU. The first part of Bread of the World, is a brief but evocative hymn based on John 6:51, 54-58 and addressed to Christ as revealed through the elements of the Eucharist and then as the one who has given us the words of life and died for our sins. The second half is a prayer to Christ for mercy to be granted to sinners and for God’s sustenance in the Eucharistic feast. In its earliest printing, the words “Before the Sacrament” were placed above this hymn.
Father, We Thank Thee is a metrical paraphrase of several brief traditional prayers found in the ninth and tenth chapters of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, an important manual of the early Church. It was an attempt to write in apostolic language an account of the customs of the Montanists, differing from the Apocryphal Gospels in that there is no fictitious setting, no attempt to convey the impression that Christ and the Apostles are speaking. The prayers that were used in the paraphrase are considered still older than the main work and may very well date to the first century, from which the Gospel Canticles are also derived.
Is it not interesting that our gospel lessons --old as rocks and solid as stone-- as well as some of our prayers and hymns date back to the first century and are still being sung in churches around the world and here in Boise, Idaho. However, note that our processional hymn is contemporary—we continue to create prayers and praise based on our rock solid faith as we proclaim Christ to a needy world.
May our music, our worship, and our lives find their foundation and inspiration in the solid presence of the living God.
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
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124 from BCP
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
In this Sunday’s gospel we will hear a dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples repeat what they have heard as they report, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” But then Jesus digs deeper and asks, “But who do you say that I am?”
Matthew does not indicate how much time passes before Peter responded with his famous confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” “Blessed are you,” Jesus responds. He goes on to pronounce Peter’s confession as a divine revelation and that on this rock will be built His church; hell itself will not be able to prevail against it. This insight must have been of phenomenal importance to elicit such a response from Jesus.
There is nothing warm and fuzzy about a rock. And there is nothing sentimental about the keys of the kingdom and the power to bind and loose which Jesus grants to His disciples. How can we ever with a clear conscience proclaim Christ in minimizing or marginalizing language? Peter has given us an example to follow. Get past what others say; proclaim boldly in word and deed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. We want to stay close to that which is rock-solid, and we pledge our loyalties to a faith so strongly rooted in the living God.
“Rock solid” is a term we often use to describe someone’s personality, dependability, or emotional stability. It is also used in music when describing someone with a strong sense of rhythm. They can keep the beat no matter what others are doing around them. Far from being boring, a steady beat provides the basis from which endless variations can be created. A rock-solid beat is the common language, the steady support, the living pulse.
GRANT WE BESEECH THEE, merciful God, that thy Church, being gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit, may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, world without end.
Those traditional words of Sunday’s opening collect is the inspiration for our processional hymn, Put Forth, O God, thy Spirit’s Strength. The text is a prayer for the Church, written by Howard Chandler Robbins, published in 1937. Robbins was an Episcopal priest and member of the Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal. This text first appeared in the Episcopal Hymnal in 1940. The tune, CHELSEA SQUARE, was hummed by the author of the text to Ray Francis Brown at the General Theological Seminary, Chelsea Square, New York City in 1941. General Theological Seminary in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City was where both the author/composer and harmonizer were all faculty members so the seminary is memorialized in the name of the tune that honors the location of the school.
The sequence hymn will be Take My Life and Let It Be by Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879). Miss Havergal, whose brief life was devoted to religious and philanthropic work, wrote the hymn in 1874 in thanksgiving for the conversion of backsliders and recalcitrants in her church circle. Frances frequently used this hymn in her own devotions. On one occasion, as she pondered the words, “Take my voice and let me sing/ Always only for my King,” she felt she should give up her secular concerts. Her beautiful voice was in demand, and she frequently sang with the Philharmonic. But from that moment, her lips were exclusively devoted to the songs of the Lord. Reflecting the evangelical fervor of the era this hymn has become the most widely accepted of her hymns.
Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken will be our recessional hymn. This famous poem is from the Olney Hymns (1779). The tune, AUSTRIAN HYMN, was composed for the birthday of Francis II, last of the Holy Roman Emperors, on February 12, 1797. The functionary who ordered it wanted an Austrian equivalent of “God Save the King”—and Franz Josef Haydn did not disappoint him. Subsequently, Haydn used the melody with variations as the second movement of a string quartet in C major, now always called “The Emperor Quartet.” Still later, the Germans used it for “Deutschland uber alles.” There is a lovely soprano descant printed in our hymnal that you will hear sung from the Lofty Pews on the last verse.
Psalm 124 will be chanted in SATB Anglican Chant by the singers in the loft. Join the choir in the refrain as printed in your scripture insert.
The Eucharist anthem will actually be a combination of two hymns. Bread of the World, in Mercy Broken and Father, We Thank Thee Who Hast Planted. They are both listed in our hymnal (#301 and #302) as Holy Eucharist hymns and they have the same hymn tune, RENDEZ A DIEU. The first part of Bread of the World, is a brief but evocative hymn based on John 6:51, 54-58 and addressed to Christ as revealed through the elements of the Eucharist and then as the one who has given us the words of life and died for our sins. The second half is a prayer to Christ for mercy to be granted to sinners and for God’s sustenance in the Eucharistic feast. In its earliest printing, the words “Before the Sacrament” were placed above this hymn.
Father, We Thank Thee is a metrical paraphrase of several brief traditional prayers found in the ninth and tenth chapters of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, an important manual of the early Church. It was an attempt to write in apostolic language an account of the customs of the Montanists, differing from the Apocryphal Gospels in that there is no fictitious setting, no attempt to convey the impression that Christ and the Apostles are speaking. The prayers that were used in the paraphrase are considered still older than the main work and may very well date to the first century, from which the Gospel Canticles are also derived.
Is it not interesting that our gospel lessons --old as rocks and solid as stone-- as well as some of our prayers and hymns date back to the first century and are still being sung in churches around the world and here in Boise, Idaho. However, note that our processional hymn is contemporary—we continue to create prayers and praise based on our rock solid faith as we proclaim Christ to a needy world.
May our music, our worship, and our lives find their foundation and inspiration in the solid presence of the living God.
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
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tear Down Those Walls
Pentecost 9, August 14 2011
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133 from BCP
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
Last year, Grace Anglican Church was involved in a project at the Boise Rescue Mission. Several of our parish donated time, money and muscle to remodeling and furnishing a room at the mission on the Veteran’s wing. The new room had shelves and cabinets custom made, walls painted, curtains hung, furniture moved in along with bedspread, pillows and pictures on the wall. This new room had a new and different feel all its own. It is still at the mission, on the same hall, probably with the same door as all the other rooms and the same walls, but it is a new creation.
Walls serve many import practical purposes. They provide protection from elements and enemies, they reflect sound and light, and give us a place to hang our pictures. They provide a rich metaphoric purpose, as well. Whenever people are divided by race or religion, culture or custom, we inevitably turn to “wall-talk” to describe the situation. And how vivid the image is in our minds whenever we hear of walls coming down.
Jesus tore down many walls during His earthly ministry. This Sunday’s gospel tells of a particularly tough wall, breaking it down gives a new, panoramic view of His ministry. Jesus and His disciples are confronted by a woman who requests healing for her daughter. That should sound familiar, for such requests are plentiful in the Gospels. But this woman is a Canaanite, and one of the thickest, tallest walls in all history existed between her people and the Jews. The disciples knew of this wall, and they presumed it was impenetrable. “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us,” they plead. Jesus’ response is also shocking. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He says, defending His refusal. But she persists, provoking an even more scandalous response from Jesus, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Was He serious in His protests? Were there other incidents, perhaps unrecorded, where He refused healing when He was asked? Did He actually change His mind? Was He playing along just to make a point?
Perhaps those questions will be answered in the Sunday sermon. What we will note here is how her clever response caused Jesus to pronounce her faith great and her daughter healed. This episode signifies walls of huge proportions being scaled, shot full of holes, and brought crashing to the ground. The walls of racism, classism, sexism, and sectarianism have their very foundations undermined by this outrageous act of Christ.
Many of those same walls are still standing, we argue, and some seem stronger and taller than ever before. We may sing and hope for a world described in John Oxenham's hymn:
In Christ now meet both east and west,
In Him meet south and north;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
“In Christ There Is No East or West”
But are we naïve or even mistaken to believe it?
The processional hymn at Grace Anglican Church on Sunday will be Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, written in 1834 by Henry Francis Lyte. This wonderful hymn is paired because of the message of God’s grace as it relates to the Epistle reading for Sunday. It is based on Psalm 103 and was chosen by Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, for her wedding hymn in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947—the one hundredth anniversary of Lyte’s death.
If you’d like to spend the night in the home of one of England’s greatest hymnists, reserve a room at the elegant Berry Head Hotel in Brixham, on England’s southern coast. Years ago, this was the home of Henry Lyte, the author of our opening hymn as well as Abide with Me, Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken, and God of Mercy, God of Grace, all hymns we have in our Hymnal ’82 and have sung at Grace Anglican Church. For twenty-three years, Henry pastored the local church in Brixham, on the “English Riviera.” How Henry and his wife, Anne, acquired this elegant estate is something of a mystery, but it was most likely provided for the by the King of England in appreciation for Henry’s ministry. The estate was at water’s edge, and there in the tranquility of that house and grounds Henry wrote most of his sermons, poems and hymns.
The Old Testament reading will be more of the story of Joseph and how he confronted his brothers when he made himself known to them after they had sold him into slavery. When he asks if his father is still alive they cannot answer him, they were so dismayed at his presence. But, Joseph tells them not to be distressed or angry with themselves because God had sent him to preserve life during the great famine across the land. Surely Joseph, himself, marveled that God Moves In A Mysterious Way, His Wonders to Perform. We sing this hymn by William Cowper, as our sequence hymn this Sunday.
William was born in Hertforshire, England on November 26, 1731. He pronounced his name Cooper, as did his forbears (his great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was lord mayor of London in the mid-sixteenth century). When Cowper was only 6 years old, his mother died; this upset his highly strung and sensitive nature, all the more so as he was sent to a boarding school at Markyate, where he was mercilessly bullied. He suffered bouts of depression all his life. He eventually moved to Olney in Buckinghamshire, where John Newton was the Anglican curate. Cowper recovered and collaborated with Newton, whom he assisted in his ministry; 348 Olney hymns (68 by Cowper) were composed and used in their revival meetings in the town.
O Zion Haste will be our recessional hymn and the words that will send us out into the streets of Boise. Untold numbers of missionaries have been sent off to the regions beyond by congregations singing this rousing Episcopalian missionary hymn that exhorts the church (“Zion”) to hurry and fulfill its mission of telling “all the world that God is light.” But few realize it was written by a worried mother sitting at the bedside of her dangerously ill son. Mary Ann Fulkner was born in London in 1834 and her family immigrated to America when she was young. After marrying John Thomson, the first librarian of the Free Library in Philadelphia, she and her husband joined the Episcopalian church in Philadelphia, where they served many years. This is what she had to say about writing her most famous hymn:
“I wrote the greater part of the hymn “O Sion Haste,” in the year 1868. I had written many hymns before, and one night, while I was sitting up with one of my children who was ill with typhoid fever, I thought I should like to write a missionary hymn…..I left the hymn unfinished and about three years later I finished it by writing the refrain which now forms a part of it.”
The singers in the Lofty Pews will chant a short Psalm 133 in Anglican Chant SATB. The anthem during Eucharist will be a more contemporary (1923) and favorite hymn of many, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, by Thomas Obediah Chisholm.
Here I’ve placed a link to a mixed quartet in a small liturgical church singing this wonderful hymn.
http://youtu.be/ZUwKbD0x7J0
Thomas was born in a log cabin in Kentucky. At age 16, he began teaching school, despite the paucity of his own education. His health was unstable and he alternated between bouts of illness and gainful employment. Through all the ups and downs, he discovered new blessings from God every morning. Thomas sent several poems to his friend, musician William Runyan, who was so moved by the words of this hymn that he prayed earnestly for special guidance in composing the music. Eventually, it became an unofficial theme song for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Still, it remained relatively unknown until popularized around the world by George Beverly Shea and the choirs at Billy Graham Crusades.
The music of hymnody often carries comforting words to remind us of Christ’s enduring mercy. Sometimes these words are only remembered by singing them. I am transported back to my childhood by this wonderful hymn sung at my grandfather funeral in 1957 when I was only 8 years old.
The world that does not recognize Christ is also yet unaware that its walls are hollow. The chipping away goes slowly, it seems. But every deed of mercy done in Christ’s name loosens a stone or two. Every note of music that proclaims God’s way over the world’s way leaves a dent in the plaster. The barriers are doomed; we can live as if they don’t exist, walking freely the paths cleared by the wall-demolishing Christ. The new room looks marvelous, and the possibilities it opens up are exhilarating!
Sources:
Youtube
A Treasury of Hymns
Tune My Heart to Sing
Then Sings My Soul
Companion to the SDA Hymnal
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133 from BCP
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
Last year, Grace Anglican Church was involved in a project at the Boise Rescue Mission. Several of our parish donated time, money and muscle to remodeling and furnishing a room at the mission on the Veteran’s wing. The new room had shelves and cabinets custom made, walls painted, curtains hung, furniture moved in along with bedspread, pillows and pictures on the wall. This new room had a new and different feel all its own. It is still at the mission, on the same hall, probably with the same door as all the other rooms and the same walls, but it is a new creation.
Walls serve many import practical purposes. They provide protection from elements and enemies, they reflect sound and light, and give us a place to hang our pictures. They provide a rich metaphoric purpose, as well. Whenever people are divided by race or religion, culture or custom, we inevitably turn to “wall-talk” to describe the situation. And how vivid the image is in our minds whenever we hear of walls coming down.
Jesus tore down many walls during His earthly ministry. This Sunday’s gospel tells of a particularly tough wall, breaking it down gives a new, panoramic view of His ministry. Jesus and His disciples are confronted by a woman who requests healing for her daughter. That should sound familiar, for such requests are plentiful in the Gospels. But this woman is a Canaanite, and one of the thickest, tallest walls in all history existed between her people and the Jews. The disciples knew of this wall, and they presumed it was impenetrable. “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us,” they plead. Jesus’ response is also shocking. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He says, defending His refusal. But she persists, provoking an even more scandalous response from Jesus, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Was He serious in His protests? Were there other incidents, perhaps unrecorded, where He refused healing when He was asked? Did He actually change His mind? Was He playing along just to make a point?
Perhaps those questions will be answered in the Sunday sermon. What we will note here is how her clever response caused Jesus to pronounce her faith great and her daughter healed. This episode signifies walls of huge proportions being scaled, shot full of holes, and brought crashing to the ground. The walls of racism, classism, sexism, and sectarianism have their very foundations undermined by this outrageous act of Christ.
Many of those same walls are still standing, we argue, and some seem stronger and taller than ever before. We may sing and hope for a world described in John Oxenham's hymn:
In Christ now meet both east and west,
In Him meet south and north;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
“In Christ There Is No East or West”
But are we naïve or even mistaken to believe it?
The processional hymn at Grace Anglican Church on Sunday will be Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, written in 1834 by Henry Francis Lyte. This wonderful hymn is paired because of the message of God’s grace as it relates to the Epistle reading for Sunday. It is based on Psalm 103 and was chosen by Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, for her wedding hymn in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947—the one hundredth anniversary of Lyte’s death.
If you’d like to spend the night in the home of one of England’s greatest hymnists, reserve a room at the elegant Berry Head Hotel in Brixham, on England’s southern coast. Years ago, this was the home of Henry Lyte, the author of our opening hymn as well as Abide with Me, Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken, and God of Mercy, God of Grace, all hymns we have in our Hymnal ’82 and have sung at Grace Anglican Church. For twenty-three years, Henry pastored the local church in Brixham, on the “English Riviera.” How Henry and his wife, Anne, acquired this elegant estate is something of a mystery, but it was most likely provided for the by the King of England in appreciation for Henry’s ministry. The estate was at water’s edge, and there in the tranquility of that house and grounds Henry wrote most of his sermons, poems and hymns.
The Old Testament reading will be more of the story of Joseph and how he confronted his brothers when he made himself known to them after they had sold him into slavery. When he asks if his father is still alive they cannot answer him, they were so dismayed at his presence. But, Joseph tells them not to be distressed or angry with themselves because God had sent him to preserve life during the great famine across the land. Surely Joseph, himself, marveled that God Moves In A Mysterious Way, His Wonders to Perform. We sing this hymn by William Cowper, as our sequence hymn this Sunday.
William was born in Hertforshire, England on November 26, 1731. He pronounced his name Cooper, as did his forbears (his great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was lord mayor of London in the mid-sixteenth century). When Cowper was only 6 years old, his mother died; this upset his highly strung and sensitive nature, all the more so as he was sent to a boarding school at Markyate, where he was mercilessly bullied. He suffered bouts of depression all his life. He eventually moved to Olney in Buckinghamshire, where John Newton was the Anglican curate. Cowper recovered and collaborated with Newton, whom he assisted in his ministry; 348 Olney hymns (68 by Cowper) were composed and used in their revival meetings in the town.
O Zion Haste will be our recessional hymn and the words that will send us out into the streets of Boise. Untold numbers of missionaries have been sent off to the regions beyond by congregations singing this rousing Episcopalian missionary hymn that exhorts the church (“Zion”) to hurry and fulfill its mission of telling “all the world that God is light.” But few realize it was written by a worried mother sitting at the bedside of her dangerously ill son. Mary Ann Fulkner was born in London in 1834 and her family immigrated to America when she was young. After marrying John Thomson, the first librarian of the Free Library in Philadelphia, she and her husband joined the Episcopalian church in Philadelphia, where they served many years. This is what she had to say about writing her most famous hymn:
“I wrote the greater part of the hymn “O Sion Haste,” in the year 1868. I had written many hymns before, and one night, while I was sitting up with one of my children who was ill with typhoid fever, I thought I should like to write a missionary hymn…..I left the hymn unfinished and about three years later I finished it by writing the refrain which now forms a part of it.”
The singers in the Lofty Pews will chant a short Psalm 133 in Anglican Chant SATB. The anthem during Eucharist will be a more contemporary (1923) and favorite hymn of many, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, by Thomas Obediah Chisholm.
Here I’ve placed a link to a mixed quartet in a small liturgical church singing this wonderful hymn.
http://youtu.be/ZUwKbD0x7J0
Thomas was born in a log cabin in Kentucky. At age 16, he began teaching school, despite the paucity of his own education. His health was unstable and he alternated between bouts of illness and gainful employment. Through all the ups and downs, he discovered new blessings from God every morning. Thomas sent several poems to his friend, musician William Runyan, who was so moved by the words of this hymn that he prayed earnestly for special guidance in composing the music. Eventually, it became an unofficial theme song for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Still, it remained relatively unknown until popularized around the world by George Beverly Shea and the choirs at Billy Graham Crusades.
The music of hymnody often carries comforting words to remind us of Christ’s enduring mercy. Sometimes these words are only remembered by singing them. I am transported back to my childhood by this wonderful hymn sung at my grandfather funeral in 1957 when I was only 8 years old.
The world that does not recognize Christ is also yet unaware that its walls are hollow. The chipping away goes slowly, it seems. But every deed of mercy done in Christ’s name loosens a stone or two. Every note of music that proclaims God’s way over the world’s way leaves a dent in the plaster. The barriers are doomed; we can live as if they don’t exist, walking freely the paths cleared by the wall-demolishing Christ. The new room looks marvelous, and the possibilities it opens up are exhilarating!
Sources:
Youtube
A Treasury of Hymns
Tune My Heart to Sing
Then Sings My Soul
Companion to the SDA Hymnal
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Friday, August 5, 2011
Performance Anxiety
Pentecost 8, August 7, 2011
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28~~Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22 from BCP~~Romans 10:5-15~~Matthew 14:22-33
Book of Common Prayer, 1928 service
Have you ever experienced performance anxiety? Even soloists who always appear calm and collected admit to being nervous at times. I’ve been around performers of music all my life, having been born into a very musically oriented family. I know about performance anxiety. We worry about our voice giving out, not getting enough breath to carry over a phrase, messing up the words, FORGETTING the words….just any number of things! Why do we put ourselves through such anguish? Psychologists tell us that the worst nightmare for many persons is the fear of performing music in public. They also tell us what is the ultimate goal of these same people—it is to perform music in public! It is a strange paradoxical force that drives us to embark on that first performance. It fulfills deeply, but what separates success from failure is only a thin layer of confidence. It can feel much like walking on water.
This Sunday it is Peter who is going “solo”. The scene is familiar—Jesus’ disciples are in a boat when a storm hits. Seeing someone walking toward them on the water, their fear is magnified. “It is a ghost!” they cry out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I do not be afraid.” What a comforting response from their master. But Peter needs more assurance that this is really Jesus and suggests, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus’ response is brief. “Come,” He says.
We wonder what was going through Peter’s mind as he took those first tentative steps? He was probably bouncing around between confidence and doubt, much like we would do. I’m recalling when we first started Grace Anglican Church needing to add music to our services. Who was going to do this? HOW IN THE WORLD would we accomplish this important aspect of an Anglican service without someone who really knew how to direct us. I took it on with the encouragement and assistance of several friends, but my own mental conversation went something like this: “Who do I think I am that I can do this? Well, maybe I can do it. No, I have no idea what to do. But, if we can pull this off, it would make our services so lovely. I know I can count on Jesus to help us, but I’m just not sure of myself…..” And all of those thoughts went on in my mind before we even considered chanting the Psalms!!
We know how the story in the gospel turned out. Peter did get wet, but let’s not forget those first few steps he took before his focus shifted from Jesus to his own fear. Jesus called his faith “little,’ but by doing so He did acknowledge its presence. And by testing it He gave Peter a valuable lesson. Yes, even a little faith can work wonders, and it can be the ripple that grows into a wave. But, ultimately, we must take no pride in the magnitude of our faith, for it is not of our own creation. It is a gift from the Master who calms the storms, holds out a gracious hand, and bids us come.
We open our service this Sunday with O Worship the King, All Glorious Above, a hymn of such stature in the minds of most congregations as to be thought of as a “classic.” The words were written by Sir Robert Grant and the rousing tune, had long been attributed to William Croft and before that to Handel. But now we must regretfully consign it to the “Anonymous” list. The popularity of this tune has been phenomenal throughout its history. Since about 1750 it has been in almost every major hymnbook I the English-speaking world. It was the sixth most frequently printed sacred piece in American tunebooks up to the year 1810. Second only to OLD 100TH , it was the tune most frequently found on English organ barrels in the period of their widespread use (ca. 1790 to 1860). We will hear at the very end of the Gospel reading that “those in the boat worshiped Him” as in the words of our hymn, we too, will “worship the King” as we process in to the sanctuary.
Out of the Depths I Call will be our sequence hymn, sung before and after the Gospel reading this Sunday. It was chosen to echo the thoughts of Joseph in the Old Testament reading of Genesis, when he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Perhaps you can imagine being a 17 year old Joseph in those endless days away from his family, calling out to God to hear “my supplicating voice and graciously reply.” The wonderful thing about planning for liturgical services is that everything is meant to fit. Can you also hear a frightened Peter crying out to Jesus as he is about to sink, “Lord, save me!” from our Gospel reading? The tune, ST. BRIDE, was composed in 1760 for use with this text and has been included in Episcopal tunebooks sice 1851.
O God Our Help In Ages Past is our recessional hymn. The melody of this hymn will already have been sung when we sing the antiphon to the Psalm for the day in SATB Anglican Chant. 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. Its matching with this tune occurred early in the nineteenth century. John Wesley altered the opening from “Our God, our help” to “ O God, Our help”. Today it is considered to be one of the finest texts in the English Hymn literature and is considered the finest hymn paraphrase written by Isaac Watts.
Our guest organist this week will be Gene Arner. Gene and his wife, Mary, have visited at Grace Anglican Church and have great appreciation for classical music and worship services. When I was told that Gene had been a church organist in years past, I asked him if he would consider accompanying our services on occasion. We’ve had a great time preparing the music from the Lofty Pews for this week. I’m sure Gene isn’t wondering (like Peter) why he thought he could do this, after so many years away from his regular organ position! Welcome Gene. We look forward to future times we can raise our voices in praise with your accompaniment on the organ at Grace Anglican Church. It’s been a pleasure.
The Eucharist anthem this week is Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s, “How Lovely Are the Messengers”, from his oratorio, St Paul. The text of the work is based largely on the Acts of the Apostles and is a paraphrase of our Epistle for today, Romans 10:15. The anthem that the singers will sing is one of the oratorio’s best-loved choruses.
Following are a couple of links to more about this piece. You can hear a choir in Stockholm singing it or read more about Felix Mendelssohn’s life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ExwoK4j-w
Sung by choir at the Anglican Episcopal church in Stockholm on Sunday 6Th Dec 2009
Sources:
St Paul – Felix Mendelssohn, John Bawden
Tune My Heart to Sing
Deacon Ron Jutzy
The Hymnal 1982 Companion
Youtube
Saturday, July 30, 2011
"I WANT TO BE ALONE!"
Pentecost 9, July 31, 2011
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133 from BCP
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
“I vant to be alone!” was the dramatic cry of legendary actress Greta Garbo. Most of us will never experience or understand the intense pressures faced by celebrities, but at least their fame and financial means often give them the opportunity to get the solitude they want.
I’ve been known to utter the same cry at times in my life. “I want to be alone,” might be the plea of our organist upon hearing the janitor entering with the vacuum cleaner. “We want to be alone,” complain the singers in the Lofty Pews when they hear the Altar Guild arrive to set up for a service. Music coordinators or worship leaders are usually happy when they are left alone to decide on music for a service, yet often feel pressure from many directions to alter the selection of music and hymns. Wanting to be left alone can be a cop-out at times. But being alone can also be a time of retreat, reflection, and renewal. I look forward to Saturdays when I am “left alone” to write the Lofty Pew Notes and polish the music for the next day.
Jesus also desired alone time on earth. Our Lord is presented to us in a very human fashion as this Sunday’s gospel reading opens. He has just heard of the tragic beheading of John the Baptist. Matthew records that Jesus withdrew into a boat to a deserted place by Himself. He had much to contemplate. John was his relative, His forerunner, His baptizer, His preacher! How different John’s life would have been had he not gotten involved with Jesus! What did this mean for all the others who proclaimed Him as the Savior? Was he signing their death warrants, too?
But Jesus’ retreat time, deserved as it was, was cut short; the crowds heard where He was headed and followed. Seeing them, He had compassion and cured their sick. And there is even more work to do, for the crowd stays through the evening. The disciples are concerned for the people’s mealtime, for the high cost of providing enough food, and for the chaos that could ensue. Shouldn’t they give a supper break so the people can go into the villages to buy food? Jesus chooses another storyline, one that creates a sensation of its own and proclaims the kingdom of God in a most profound way. More than five thousand are fed from five loaves and two fish, and the copious leftovers are a sermon in themselves! There is nothing reposeful about this day!
Sorrow and joy stand side by side on this day in Jesus’ life. It is a day of weariness and great activity, of retreat and full charge ahead, of solitude and massive crowds, of bad news and exuberant Gospel. Is it that Jesus cannot make up His mind? No, His day is one of contrasts because He is responding to the diverse needs around Him. As His messengers in this world, we want nothing other than this for ourselves.
We will sing O God of Bethel, By whose Hand as our processional hymn and present, in this hymn, our vows, our prayers before the throne of grace and ask God to spread His sheltering wings around us till all our wanderings cease and we unite with Him in peace at our “Father’s abode.”
The words of this hymn were written by Phillip Doddridge (b 1702). Phillip was an English independent theologian, writer, and poet. He became minister of Kibworth chapel in 1723, though was not ordained until a few years later. He founded his own academy for the training of Independent ministers in 1729 and was known and respected by fellow independents such as Watts, Anglicans such as bishops William Warburton and Thomas Secker, and “Methodists” such as the Wesley brothers.
The hymn has two versions printed in our hymnal. The first one is a unison setting, the second is in harmony (SATB) with the melody in the tenor line. This is the musical term fauxbourdon. In hymn singing there is a treble descant superimposed upon the melody being sung by the congregation. Listen for this from the singers in the loft.
God Has Spoken To His People, the sequence hymn, was well received when we had this hymn in our service recently. It is a stirring hymn by the Rev. Dr. Willard F.. Jabusch, set to a very engaging Hasidic folk melody, TORAH SONG, challenging God’s people to action in response to the Creator’s word. The text was altered for use in Hymnal ’82 to make its imagery totally consistent with Hebrew scripture and thus an even more authentic partner of the Hasidic melody. The emphasis on joy, of which music is an essential component, is a characteristic feature of the Hasidic movement of Judaism, founded by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760). We find this fun to sing, yet the words call us to open our ears to hear God’s word being read to us -- the people -- as we bookend the reading of the Gospel with verses 1&2 before and 3&4 after. HALLELUJAH!
Now Let Us All Praise God and Sing will be the anthem sung from the Lofty Pews. Here it is on Youtube at “Festival of Pipes", an organ dedication concert of worship presenting the newly renovated 1875 George W. Ryder tracker organ. Organist: Peter Vantine. Choir: MCC Choir. Date: May 4, 2008. Location: Middleton Congregational Church.
Psalm 17:1-7, 16 from BCP is the appointed Psalm for Sunday and will be sung in SATB Anglican Chant. Please feel free to join in the antiphon when we sing it. You have the words printed in your insert. I think you will catch on to the melody when we sing it for you at the beginning.
Have you noticed that we have had some new faces in the Lofty Pews recently? This week we will be joined by Abbe Adam’s daughter visiting from California. We are thrilled to have her as an alto with us while she is visiting Boise.
Also, we have enjoyed having Rick Capezza in the Lofty Pews the last few weeks. Rick is taking the Chaplain’s course this summer at St Luke’s Medical Center and is a member of Christ the King Anglican Church in Spokane, one of our sister churches in the Western Diocese of ACNA. He and his wife, Rachel have 3 adorable children. The children were thoughtfully named, Kyrie Eleison (“Lord, have mercy!”), Antonio Giovanni (priceless grace of God”) and Epiphany Joy (“revelation of joy”). It’s been a pleasure singing with you, Rick and having your tenor voice blend with our quartet.
Thank you also to Darrell Ludders and Bruce Moberly for joining us when they can and the faithful soprano, Sharon Helppie. What a blessing! Abbe Adams and Mary McGuire join us regularly to make music from the Lofty Pews with Pat O Neil on the organ.
I Come with Joy to Meet My Lord is our recessional hymn. The words of this wonderful hymn were written by the contemporary English hymn writer, theologian, and activist for world development, the Rev. Brian Wren (b. 1930). He wrote it for his congregation at Hockley, Essex, “to sum up a series of sermons on the meaning of communion.” The text begins with the individual worshiper, who comes “with joy to meet my Lord”; moves into the corporate dimension, “the new community of love”; and ends in the spirit of the dismissal in the Eucharist, “together met, together bound, we’ll go our different ways, and…in the world we’ll live and speak His praise.”
Yes, we want to be alone at times. But, more importantly, we want to join with Jesus in His daily routine of meeting needs in the world around us. As we sing this hymn, contemplating the meaning of the words, let us consider “going our different ways” to meet the needs of our friends and neighbors as we “live and speak” praise to our Lord and Savior by telling others about Him. HALLELUJAH!
Sources:
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Faith Looking Forward
Facebook
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Tune My Heart to Sing
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Metaphors, parables, hymns and psalms
6 Pentecost
Proper 12
July 24, 2011
This past week I had a friend send me one of those emails that wants you to come up with a description of the sender with the 3rd letter of your last name. My friend happened to be an Episcopal Priest so I labeled her “trinitarian” since “t” is the letter I needed to use. Another email this week asked me to fill in the blanks on what I was doing in the moment with one and ONLY ONE descriptive word.
Sunday’s gospel reading may sound as if Jesus has just been asked to explain God’s kingdom in ten sentences or less, as Matthew has recorded for us a series of mini-parables. We’ll hear about the mustard seed, some yeast, a treasure in the field, a pearl and a fishing net. We’ll hear about sowers, birds, bread bakers, treasure hunters, pearl merchants and fish.
Christians need not be ashamed of the many ways we think and speak of the triune God and the working of the kingdom. May of our metaphors come right from scripture; others from disciples of distant times and cultures. And many new ones are graciously offered to us for our consideration and inspiration. We continue to discover that good metaphoric language does not disguise or distort the truth-- reveals it.
There is even one more mini-parable in this package from Matthew. Jesus tells the crowd, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” We, too, are truly rich when we treasure the best poetic images from the past as well as make room for new ones that express the wide diversity of God’s world and God’s people. Hymnody continues to be both a classroom and a playground for new images to mingle with the old. We will experience the old and the new in the music at Grace this Sunday.
Our processional hymn, God of Grace and God of Glory is one of the most popular hymns of the twentieth century. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a preacher of international acclaim, wrote the words at his summer home at Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The hymn was sung the following fall at the opening of the Riverside Church in New York, October 5, 1930. So, this is a fairly contemporary hymn, especially when we consider the sequence hymn next.
God Moves in a Mysterious Way – our sequence hymn -- was written by William Cowper in the year 1772. Unfortunately, this was about a year before the onset of an intense period of depression that led to attempted suicide in October1773, and brought his major hymn writing to an end.
The Lofty Pew Singers will chant Psalm 105 in SATB Anglican chant. You are invited to join them in singing the printed antiphon available at the door.
What God Ordains is Good Indeed (Was Gott tut, das ist woblgetan), by JS Bach will be the Eucharist anthem. While Bach, sung in German or Latin might be preferable from a stylistic and musical standpoint, it is perhaps not always the best choice. For that reason we will sing this Bach piece in both German and English, in case you don’t understand or speak German. Following is the text in English:
What God ordains is good indeed,
For all life well providing.
The will of God is best for me,
The ground of my confiding.
My faithful God,
On every road
You know the way unfolding;
Your strong hand I am holding.
What God ordains is good indeed.
My friend will never fail me
On danger’s path, in deepest need,
When death in grief shall veil me.
My God so dear,
O, draw me near;
In loving arms now hold me;
At last in light enfold me.
Here is a link to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Slidell,La, singing this piece, October 25, 2009 on YouTube: If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee will be our recessional hymn. This hymn is a classic example of the hymns of “German Pietism,” but that is misleading, since it was written at least a generation before the Pietist movement was begun by Philipp Jacob Spener in the mid-1670s. It is rather a classic example of the intense and personal hymnody that developed and grew during and following the devastation of the Thirty Years War.
Both the text and melody of the hymn were written by Georg Neumark in the winter of 1640-41. The original 7 stanzas appeared after the heading: “A Song of Comfort. That God, in His own time will care for and preserve His own. After the verse: ‘Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee’ [Ps. 55:22].” Catherine Winkworth translated the hymn which has had extensive use, especially in American Lutheranism from the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Will all the metaphors in Sunday’s lessons bring even more confusion to our task of understanding God’s kingdom? Not if we realize that it is not an identity complex we have—what we have as Christians are richly complex identities. Serving God is a mystery. May god guide our paths as we serve him in submission and mystery and trust God to guide us as we process into the streets of Boise this week.
Sources:
Youtube
Hymnal 1982 Companion
Tune My Heart to Sing
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Bach for All Seasons
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