Second Sunday after Epiphany/Reconciling in Christ Sunday

Second Sunday after Epiphany/Reconciling in Christ Sunday

Sunday, January 19 2014

As part of our celebration of Reconciling in Christ Sunday at First Lutheran, our hymns today emphasize themes of welcome and justice.  The Gathering Hymn, We Are Called, invites us to "live in the light," an image appropriate for the season of Epiphany, and calls us to live in justice and unity as "brothers and sisters united in love."  Our Hymn of the Day, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, expands upon the theme of love, focusing upon Jesus as pure compassion and unbounded love.  This hymn text is by Charles Wesley, who together with his brother John, originated the Methodist movement.  Charles wrote over 1000 hymns including Hark, the Herald Angels Sing and O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.  The language and music of the first hymn comes from David Hass, a contemporary hymn writer and liturgist who lives in Eagan, Minnesota.  Hass is one of the primary leaders of the post-Vatican II musical movement in the Roman Catholic Church.

Today we continue to learn a new setting of the Sanctus, or the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, in the Eucharist portion of the service.  The music is from Setting 6 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, a setting rooted in the African American Gospel musical style.  One blessing of ELW is the invitation to embrace styles of music from other times and places; in the singing of this setting, we celebrate our unity with our brothers and sisters whose musical tradition (Gospel) is somewhat different than our Minnesota/Swedish tradition!

The Sanctus, a hymn of praise, is the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer and sings of the glory of God in the highest.  The two parts of the Sanctus reference two biblical texts.  The first part is from Isaiah 6:3 which describes a vision of God's throne surrounded by the seraphim, while the second part is from Matthew 21:9, which describes the Palm Sunday entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Both of the offering music selections today relate to the Gospel lesson, in which John the Baptist declares Jesus the Lamb of God.  Both the Bach organ work O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig and the choral setting by F. Melius Christiansen use the tune (and text in the case of the Christiansen) of Nikolas Decius, a 16th century hymn writer who was a colleague of Martin Luther in Wittenberg.  

Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now

Lord Jesus Christ, be present now; our hearts in true devotion bow.  Your Spirit send with light divine, and let your truth within us shine.

Unseal our lips to sing your praise in endless hymns through all our days; increase our faith and light our minds; and set us free from doubt that blinds.

Then shall we join the hosts that cry, “O holy, holy Lord Most High!”  And in the light of that blest place we then shall see you face to face.

All glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Three in One!  To you, O blessed Trinity, be praise throughout eternity!

Text attributed to Willhelm II, 1598-1662; translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1827-1878.

This hymn, ELW 527, brings to mind questions about learning ways to be flexible with our liturgy.  Can we learn this hymn, by singing it often and in the prominent place as Gathering Hymn, so that it becomes familiar, almost to the point of memorization?  Can we then spring from this comfortable position of familiarity to the point of intentionally using this hymn as the sole member of the Gathering rite? 

The text for this hymn is wonderfully revelatory in a rather concise way.  It describes our prayers for what we hope to happen in our worship, proclaims to whom we are praying, and sings our praise to the Holy Trinity.  This hymn “does” in two minutes what we often do in the ten minute medley of Gathering Hymn, Kyrie, and Canticle of Praise. 

All too often at First Lutheran, we encounter a conflict on Sunday morning.  The conflict centers around our intention to be faithful to form, which butts against our need to be mindful of the passage of time.  Our desire to be faithful to “the liturgy,” (in this sense the received tradition of worship services past,) sometimes causes us to retain portions of “the liturgy,” (in this sense the order described by the rubrics) that aren’t necessary to our worship on that particular day, but omit portions of the liturgy that we really must do every time we gather. 

I experience an inner anguish every time we omit the Great Thanksgiving because the clock is running out, while mindful that our service that morning has included a ten-minute gathering rite that incorporates a five stanza processional hymn, a Kyrie, and a canticle of praise.  In our worship planning, can we anticipate and identify what demands upon time will be present on a given morning, and then be intentional about how we “fill” the vessel of our liturgy?  Can we do so while conveying to the assembly that we aren’t simply omitting important portions of the liturgy, but using texts, anthems, psalms or other songs that also achieve what we intend?