Notes on the Notes – November 26, 2023
Reign of Christ Sunday
This week’s music:
“Come and Find the Quiet Centre” (VU #374)
“Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, face to face,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare!”
This hymn was written by Shirley Erena Murray for a Presbyterian Women’s Conference on the theme of “Making Space.” In our busy and chaotic world, it is a reminder to take the time to “be at peace, and simply be.” When we give ourselves the space, we welcome in God and the Spirit.
Hear the Harmony Singers at:
“Jesus Christ is Waiting” (VU #117)
“Jesus Christ is waiting, waiting in the streets;
No one is his neighbour, all alone he eats.
Listen, Lord Jesus, I am lonely too.
Make me, friend or stranger, fit to wait on you.
Jesus Christ is raging, raging in the streets,
Where injustice spirals and real hope retreats.
Listen, Lord Jesus, I am angry too.
In the Kingdom’s causes let me rage with you.
Jesus Christ is healing, healing in the streets,
Curing those who suffer, touching those he greets.
Listen, Lord Jesus, I have pity too.
Let my care be active, healing just like you.
Jesus Christ is dancing, dancing in the streets,
Where each sign of hatred he, with love, defeats.
Listen, Lord Jesus, I should triumph too.
On suspicion’s graveyard let me dance with you.
Jesus Christ is calling, calling in the streets,
‘Who will join my journey? I will guide their feet.’
Listen, Lord Jesus, let my fears be few.
Walk one step before me, I will follow you.”
This hymn was written by John Bell (1984) in support of youth work in Glasgow. The words bring to mind the many ways that Jesus can be seen: as waiting, raging, healing, dancing and calling. It also speaks to our response as we identify with Jesus. While more contemporary in its message, its tune comes from an old French Christmas carol (NOEL NOUVELET). This arrangement is from the Iona community in Scotland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai-OydgMLSs
“Lift High the Name of Jesus”
“Lift high the name of Jesus, of Jesus, our King.
Make known the power of His grace, the beauty of His peace.
Remember how How mercy reached as we cried out to Him
He lifted us to solid ground, to freedom from our sin.
O sing, my soul, and tell all He’s done,
Till the earth and heavens are filled with His glory.
Lift high the name of Jesus, of Jesus, our Lord.
His power in us is greater than, is greater than this world;
To share the reason for our hope; to serve with love and grace;
That all who see Him shine through us might bring the Father praise.
O sing, my soul, and tell all He’s done,
Till the earth and heavens are filled with His glory.
Lift high the name of Jesus, of Jesus, our Light.
No other name on earth can save, can raise our soul to life.
He opens up our eyes to see the harvest He has grown.
We labor in His fields of grace as He leads sinners home.
O sing, my soul, and tell all He’s done,
Till the earth and heavens are filled with His glory.
Till the earth and heavens are filled with His glory!
Lift high His name!”
This week’s anthem has words and music by Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, Fionan de Barra and Ed Cash. It has been arranged by Mary McDonald (2013).
A thought from Kristyn
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
Is the hope I profess with my lips written in my life? And then when I am asked about it, do I have something to say? When I’m sitting at the hair salon, when I’m paying for my groceries, when I talk about things around the dinner table, when I am in a meeting at work, when I’m playing sport, when I’m planning my daily schedule… Can people see the Lordship of Christ in my heart?
This verse in 1 Peter presupposes that my life reveals my hope to be in Christ in such a way that people notice and so ask questions. It seems that while there are Bible verses that exhort us to plainly share our faith, we are told even more that a greater part of the ‘telling’ is the significance of the witness of a Christian life sincerely and purposefully lived, of a life that makes the gospel beautiful and attractive to people around them. Then as we do this, we remember all the while that He is the Lord of the harvest; He makes things grow; He saves so that we’re neither discouraged nor arrogant but know the privilege of being part of the work of His kingdom.
These were some of the key thoughts behind the writing of this song – lives sharing the new life they have been given with those around them. I remember going as a young girl to a friend’s house and seeing this little phrase on their kitchen notice board: “blossom where you’re planted.” I always thought that was a helpful way of thinking about the Christian life and evangelism – making the most of the path beneath your feet, serving best the people immediately around you, seeing the light of eternity in the ordinary of your life. A life that lifts high the name of Jesus will always bear the best and most enduring fruit.”
See Kristyn Getty sing the song at: https://youtu.be/M8ZULrY9HlI
“He came Singing Love” (VU #359)
Colin Gibson is a composer, organist and professor of English at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He wrote this song in 1972 for a national hymn competition sponsored by Television New Zealand. In the book, “Preaching as Theological Task” (ed. Thomas G. Long & Edward Farley), Mary Lin Hudson writes, “The hymn writer Colin Gibson has captured the idea (of life in new forms) in the recently published song “He Came Singing Love.” The word “love” changes verse by verse to “faith,” “hope,” “peace,” and the lines will accommodate any word that describes the reality of God’s new order for creation. It is the structure of the poetry, however, that captures the parabolic nature of Jesus’ ministry:
“He came singing love and he lived singing love,
He died singing love,
He arose in silence.
For the love to go on, we must make it our song.
You and I be the singers.
He came singing faith and he lived singing faith,
He died singing faith,
He arose in silence.
For the faith to go on, we must make it our song.
You and I be the singers.
He came singing hope and he lived singing hope,
He died singing hope,
He arose in silence.
For the hope to go on, we must make it our song.
You and I be the singers.
He came singing peace and he lived singing peace,
He died singing peace,
He arose in silence.
For the peace to go on, we must make it our song.
You and I be the singers.”
The reality of Jesus cannot be forced onto humanity, but human community can find Christ’s freedom taking shape within it. While the silence following proclamation provides room for Christ to emerge in a new form within community, the Spirit of Christ comes to life in the speech of the community as the word becomes embodied in its voice.”
Hear the hymn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWq_9NfuwvY
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” (VU #541)
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures high and low;
Give thanks to God in love made known:
Creator, Word and Spirit, One. Amen.”
The words for this traditional Doxology were written around 1674 by Thomas Ken, and updated for Voices United. A Doxology is a short hymn of praise to God, which is often used as an offering response. The music, OLD 100th, is from the Genevan Psalter (1551).
“Jesus Shall Reign” (VU #330)
“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does its successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song,
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.
Blessings abound where’er he reigns;
And prisoners leap to lose their chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all who suffer want are blest.
Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honours to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud Amen!”
With words by Isaac Watts, this hymn is from the second half of a longer paraphrase of Psalm 72, included in Watts’ Psalms of David (1719), a collection of psalm-based poems with New Testament orientation. “Jesus shall reign” reflects an 18th-century vision of the world church. Rooted in the language of Psalm 72, Isaac Watts (1674-1748) paraphrased this psalm in ways that reflected his time and the geo-political position of England and the rise of the British Empire. Watts was not afraid to depart from the biblical text and commonly referenced the Christian experience in his work.
The tune, DUKE STREET, is attributed to John Hatton, who once lived on Duke Street in St. Helen’s, Lancaster, England (1793).
Hear the congregation of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California sing the hymn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCcX8frsWr0
“Amen, Hallelujah” (VU #974)
“Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!”
Our benediction response this week was written by Jim Strathdee (1985).
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