COTM Music and Stories for Sunday, February 14, 2021 Transfiguraon Sunday

y Story behind “Christ Upon The Mountain Peak” Hymn #129

As today is Transfiguration Sunday, the final Sunday of Epiphany, we hear a lot about Elijah. The first reading is the story of his fiery exit into glory in a chariot of fire ---- with apprentice Elisha looking on. This is the last time we see Elijah --- until today’s story. Peter, James and John have the fabulous privilege of seeing Elijah and Moses, gloriously arrayed with Jesus who is transformed, speaking on the mountain. They are speaking of the coming events: Jesus’ death, resurrection, the culmination of all the law and the prophets. It’s the best “Bible Conference” ever held! This hymn was written by a modern writer, Brian A. Wren (1956). I’m so thankful we still have modern hymn writers who hold fast to theology and sound teaching in their music. He beautiful tells the entire story from a first-hand account, as if we were also with the three disciples. Each verse ends as it should ---- with an exclamation of Alleluia!

Brian A. Wren is an internationally published hymn-poet and writer. Wren's hymns appear in hymnals of all Christian traditions and have been influential in raising the awareness of theology in hymns. Brian Wren is married to Rev. Susan M. Heafield, a United Methodist pastor. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot ---- African American Spiritual

Story behind Swing Low Sweet Chariot (African American Spiritual)

As we read the story of Elijah’s chariot today, it’s only fing that we sing it! As the Chariot of fire swept up Elijah into God’s unseen kingdom, Chrisans have marveled at God’s choice of transportaon. Have you ever been so down, so grieving, so sick, that you said, “Lord, send your chariot to pick me up! I wanna go home and be with you.” African American slaves oen sang this cry --- this song is one of them. In great distress and longing for peace, the song says, “Hey, is there room for one more, Elijah? Can I ride shot gun?” Caroline Lowbridge compiled this informaon on the spiritual: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is thought to have been composed by a slave called Wallace Wallis with his wife Minerva in the mid-1800s.

There are several theories about its meaning, including that it conveyed a coded message to slaves, instructing them to escape. However, Horace Clarence Boyer, a prominent scholar of African-American music, believed the song was about death. Prof Boyer, who died in 2009, told a BBC documentary that the song fits into a group of spirituals that say: "I would rather die than be here. Lord, just come and take me right now." He explained: "Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.' Where's home? That's heaven. Or at least not here."

The song was brought to a wider audience by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who made the earliest known recording of it in 1909.

It has been covered by artists including BB King, Sam Cooke, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash and Beyonce. A version called Swing Low (Run With The Ball) was recorded for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Other versions have been recorded for subsequent world cups, including by UB40 and Russell Watson. Postlude: Blessed Assurance By Fanny Crosby

Story of Blessed Assurance --- Fanny Crosby Her feast day: February 11 PRAYER

O God, the blessed assurance of all who trust in you: We give you thanks for your servant Fanny Crosby, who, though blind from infancy, beheld your glory with great clarity of vision and spent her life-giving voice to your people’s heartfelt praise; and we pray that we, inspired by her words and example, may rejoice to sing of your love, praising our Savior all the day long; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God in perfect harmony, now and forever. Amen

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was posthumously inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1975. Moreover, in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the 11th of February is the remembers Crosby's annual feast day. I always try to do Fanny Crosby hymns this time of February every year.

Most folks don’t know this, but at one time Fanny Crosby was the most famous woman in America. She was published in newspapers and wrote the poetic eulogy for President William Henry Harrison. She met several presidents. She was the first woman to speak in the United States Senate with her writings. She was a teacher of English grammar and rhetoric and ancient history at the New York Institution for the Blind. She published many books and close to 9,000 hymns. Many of her hymns she wrote anonymously, as she was very humble and didn’t want all the credit.

All this, from a girl who was blind due to a doctor’s malpractice. As a 6-month-old baby, Fanny had a bad cold. The doctor put poultices on her eyes which burned them. Fanny never saw anything in her life. Rather than be a victim and bitter, she used her gifts to make a beautiful Christian mark on her world. She never complained about her blindness, in fact when people would mention it, her reply was, "If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind for, when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."

We can all learn much from Fanny’s humble and joyful example.

Fanny started out as a Baptist but was drawn to liturgical worship. She joined the Cornell Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. She was political, an abolitionist and supporter of Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party. After the Civil War, she also supported the Grand Army of the Republic and its political aims. Additionally, she was a part of a group of lobbyists in Washington and argued for the support of education for the blind. She married and had a daughter who died in infancy.

Fanny Crosby's goal was to attract a million people to Christ through her hymns. When she wrote, she prayed it would bring women and men to Christ and kept careful records of those reported to have been saved through her writings.

The best known of her hymns include Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Rescue the Perishing, Blessed Assurance, The Bright Forever, Savior, More Than Life to Me, and Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. They were notably popular in the Methodist Church, which for a time, observed an annual Fanny Crosby Day.

There are several good books on Fanny’s life. I have read “This is My Story, This is My Song”, and Edith L. Blumhofer also wrote a good one. Read up on her! You will be blessed.