Worship on the Go Red Door Church's Mobile Liturgy Lent 2021

Worship on the Go Red Door Church’s Mobile Liturgy Lent 2021

Put together by the elders of Red Door Church

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

How to Use this Booklet

The purpose of this booklet is simply to facilitate personal and family worship. We want to do that by giving you an order of worship that is easy to follow. Some may find a booklet like this unnecessary or even unhelpful because they desire a free form in their worship. That is okay! This book is intended merely to be a guide or even a launching pad for worship.

Use it in whatever way you find useful, but here is what we suggest:

If you know you are going to miss church on a particular Sunday, bring the mobile liturgy booklet with you. If possible, set aside 30 minutes at some point on that Sunday to go through the order of worship for that day by yourself or with your family at home, in the hotel, on the camping trail, or wherever you may be. The time does not need to be in the morning. The important thing is that you try and find a half-an-hour to focus on God, whether it’s early or late.

This particular booklet was designed during the Covid-19 crisis of the 2021 calendar season. It can be used in conjunction with the Facebook Live broadcasts that Red Door Church will be putting on during Holy Week and Easter season, though it will not follow our in-person worship services exactly. We do now offer an online bulletin that may be of use to those who wish to tune in online and have something in their hands. You can find that at www.unitedchurchofsoro.org/bulletin. However, if you cannot tune in to Facebook Live and participate in worship with us, the book can still be used as a guide for you to follow by yourself or with a group.

You may add or subtract or modify the order as you sense God’s Spirit leading you or as you may need given your situation. The “Additional Info” sections are there for those who are interested in learning a bit more about the liturgical backdrop. You will also find in that section interesting stories about some of the selected hymns of the season.

The readings are pulled from the Revised Common Lectionary and follow themes from the Christian calendar year. These readings and themes unite the Christian church in worship across the world and across the centuries.

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The church calendar begins with Advent, a four-week season focused on anticipating the coming of Christ at Christmas. Next comes Christmas itself, a short season that runs from December 25 through January 5, celebrating the incarnation of Christ. The third season is Epiphany, a celebration of light and the witness of Christ to the whole world. Then follows Lent, the forty-day season leading up to Easter, when we focus on repentance from sin and reflect on Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. This culminates in Good Friday and the dark Saturday between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Following Lent comes Easter, the celebratory season of fifty days when we rejoice in resurrection life. Then the church year is capped off by the lengthy season of Pentecost, which focuses on living the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am indebted to elder Russ Rohloff for his many contributions to this booklet. I pray that his theological and liturgical insights enrich the seasonal experience for you.

May the Lord richly bless you as you seek His face.

Pastor Josh Moore

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

THE SEASON OF LENT SUMMARY

The keeping of days, times or seasons must be based on the divine action and revelation of God if it is not to interfere with God’s work in our hearts. Thus the Church has, since earliest times, celebrated the Paschal cycle. In it we remember that “Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). This marks the very work of God’s salvation in the earth made possible by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Mankind had been separated from God by their sin and was without hope in this world. The continual offering of the blood of bulls and goats was insufficient to atone for the transgression. It required a supremely more perfect sacrifice, a divine sacrifice of the blood of the only begotten Son of God to accomplish redemption. It required Jesus who was that “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Informally the season starts on Septuagesima Sunday which marks out a period of about seventy days before the celebration of the Resurrection. The next two Sundays before Lent, Sexagesima (sixtieth) and Quinquagesima (fiftieth) remind us of the transition made in the Church year from the celebration of the Lord’s birth and epiphany (manifestation) to the world, and the season of preparation for recalling His all-sufficient sacrifice. Formally, Lent (an Old English word meaning spring) begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is marked by the placing of ashes on the heads of the faithful in the sign of the cross with the words “Remember, O man (or woman), that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.” It is a pronouncement of death upon us, the recognition of the consequences of our sin. The words should carry with them the same dread and sorrow which they did when Adam and Eve first heard them from the very mouth of God. Unless God is gracious, the enormity of our sin will swallow us alive and carry us down to the grave. Ashes have always been a sign of frailty and transience (consider the grass thrown into the oven in Matthew 6:30). They also speak of mourning and repentance when seeking the favor of God (consider Esther 4:1 or Jonah 3:4-9). The ashes used in the Wednesday service come from burning the palms which were used during last year’s Palm Sunday celebration. Thus the symbols of our rejoicing now become the symbols of humble repentance under the hand of God.

Lent marks 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. We do not mark the Sundays in Lent because it was on Sunday that the Lord rose from the dead breaking the power of sin, Satan, and death. For the Church Sunday is a day of rest and rejoicing. Forty is a

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sacred number, 4 being the symbol of the earth and 10 the symbol of the complete judgment of God. Forty days marked the deluge that cleansed the earth in the time of Noah; forty years the wandering of the Jews in the wilderness to purge their unbelief; forty days the fasting and warfare of Jesus against Satan in the wilderness. The other weekdays are marked by special prayer, fasting, self discipline in striving against sin, and sacrificial giving. The Church has historically prescribed the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as powerful weapons in the fight against self-centeredness and indulgence. These must be applied for spiritual reasons, for the Apostle Paul reminds us that “bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things…” I Timothy 4:8. May we welcome these 40 days for our use as a time in which “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge(s) our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Hebrews 9:14).

The sanctuary color for Lent is primarily purple. The Scriptures tell us that a purple garment was placed on Jesus during his suffering as a mockery. It is fitting that we use the color as we focus on the reality of our sin that stands in contrast to the love and goodness of God. The color purple and the days of repentance will finally give way to the color white and the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and our deliverance once and for all. The lectionary readings during this season remind us that we have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in our struggle against sin; and that Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are, but He remained sinless even to the point of enduring death on the cross.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

February 17, 2021 Ash Wednesday

Opening Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, rightly lamenting our sins and acknowledging our depravity, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect forgiveness as you have promised; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Joel 2:1-2; 12-17

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast;

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call a solemn assembly; 16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Words of Introduction

Right around a year ago on a Sunday morning in April, we gathered year at the church and waved Palm Branches and sang praise to the coming King. Palm fronds are a symbol of victory. They were often used to welcome important figures when they entered a town or village, or military leaders as they came home victorious from battle.

In keeping with the church’s tradition of many years, both the local church and the global church, those fronds have been burned tonight and will be used for the ashes that will mark our foreheads at the end of the service tonight.

But why? Why not just use wood ash or leaves or some other material? Why the ashes from the Palm fronds? The connection is not immediately obvious but is one worth contemplating for a moment.

One writer says:

‘Palm Sunday might also be called “Irony Sunday,” because the same crowds that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem would be calling for his crucifixion five days later. Ash Wednesday ash on our brow isn’t just a reminder of death and sin- it’s a reminder of Holy Week’s disingenuous praise. On day one of Lent, the season calls “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

into question the Christian’s devotion and piety, taking the memory of last year’s joyous celebration and quite literally rubbing it in our faces. It is a tangible metaphor of the weakness of our spirituality: one moment a blaze of glory, the next without trace of burning ember.

Burning the Palm Sunday leftovers helped me to add to an ever-growing list of Lenten themes. Praise is not enough to keep us warm. Our devotion does not pass through the fire unrefined- it’s just as liable to being burnt away as our sin. Apart from God’s grace my faith is fickle- I too would have welcomed Jesus and called for his crucifixion. Whatever questions Lent raises about religious discipline, the nature of faith, the problem of evil, the ashes confirm that the answer isn’t going to be found within me.’

Tonight, as we kick off the season of Lent, we remember the very simple truth that the answers to our biggest problems are not found within ourselves. In just a moment we will read out of Matthew 6 where Jesus wants to teach us that if we are not careful, even our religious works and good deeds can be sinful; our very efforts to please and honor God can become a stench.

Lent is a time not for more religious works and greater zeal. It’s a time to examine ourselves and to acknowledge our tendency to turn from God and look for life where it cannot be found, even in good works and religion. We acknowledge that true life can only be found in Jesus Christ.

One of the ways we do that during the season of Lent is by giving up earthly things that we treasure for a season as a way of teaching ourselves and others that true life is not found in the things of the world but in God alone.

Song/Music: Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

Create in me a clean heart, O God And renew a right spirit within me Create in me a clean heart, O God And renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from Thy presence, O Lord And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me Restore unto me, the joy of Thy salvation And renew a right spirit within me

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Old Testament Reading: Psalm 51:1-17 (If you are with a group, you may choose to read this in a responsive fashion, verse by verse)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

14 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have

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received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Homily/Devotional Thought

This is a good passage to hear during this time of year because so many of us are prone to turn something like Lent into an opportunity for the flesh.

The whole idea of Lent and all that we do during that time--special prayer, fasting, alms giving, confession and so on--is to turn away from the flesh, to deny the flesh, to put the flesh to death so that we might make more room in our hearts for God.

Instead of filling ourselves up with those things that we love like food, or Facebook, or music, or TV, or whatever it might be for you, we instead take extra time to look upon God and to pursue Him in spiritual discipline.

But if we turn those very disciplines into opportunities to show off, or to boast or to make much of ourselves, then we are missing the point.

Think of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 (or better, as it should be called, the story of the Prodigal Sons). Many of you know this story. Two sons. One is very bad and one is very good. Both are having problems with their father. In the end, after a series of events, which is it that is estranged from his father still? Not the bad son, but the good one. The good son is at odds with his father while the bad son enjoys his fellowship. If you go to the story, at the end, the father leaves this big party he’s throwing for his youngest son, the bad one, who has come home after being lost and squandering his wealth, to go and attempt to be reconciled to the oldest son, the good one. He pleads with him to come inside and celebrate, but the text says:

He was angry and he refused to go in. His father came and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.”

The reason he won’t go inside and enjoy the fellowship of his father, is because of all his goodness! “I never disobeyed you” he says.

When our obedience and our good deeds become a means of boasting and pride, they do not draw us closer to God but separate us.

This was the case with the religious leaders of Jesus’ day as well. When it came to fasting, they would intentionally disorient their faces and make it plain to everybody that they were fasting. They would say these long eloquent prayers in public so that everyone could hear them. When they would give in public, they would do it to be seen and praised by others. This missed the point. Jesus calls them out in our passage tonight.

And today we see the same do we not? Billionaires giving large sums of money to this cause or that cause and making sure everyone knows about it.

Jesus says if your purpose is merely to receive the praise or people, then that is the only reward you will receive; there would be no reward given to you by God if your heart merely wants the approval of people.

Jesus calls this hypocrisy. True good deeds look away from self and seek the good of others; they seek to bring glory to God. Hypocrisy turns good deeds into an opportunity for the flesh; selfless acts become tools to build ego in the hands of a selfish heart.

When we think of hypocrisy today, we may think of politicians and their scandals, or maybe a religious leader that falls.

What about the theater? Our minds probably don’t go there immediately. Marriam-Webster points out that:

“The word hypocrite ultimately came into English from the Greek word hypokrites (hoop-ok-ree-TACE) which means ‘an actor’ or ‘a stage player.’ The Greek word itself is a compound noun: it’s made up of two Greek words that literally translate as ‘an interpreter from underneath.’ That bizarre compound makes more sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark

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which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story from underneath their masks.

The Greek word took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not.”

In the days of COVID-19 and mask wearing, maybe we are more keenly aware of how we can hide.

Jesus here in Matthew 6 is not condemning giving to the needy… or praying or fasting. Those are good things to do. And it’s not necessarily wrong to do them in public. However, if your motive is so may receive praise, then you are in the wrong. Jesus says we should do these things to please our Heavenly Father. The hypocrisy is the classic doing the right things for the wrong reasons.

Let us not be guilty of hypocrisy this Lent. As you fast or spend special time in prayer, as you give alms or volunteer your time, as you make an effort to participate in your local church and as you study the Scriptures, as you share Christ with others in your community, let us not put on the masks of goodness and leave our hearts untouched.

Children pretend to be spiderman and Captain America. Thanks to Steven Libralon on Unsplash for the picture.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Concluding Song: From the Depths of Woe (Psalm 130). You can find this beautiful song on YouTube or you can just read the lyrics as you conclude the service.

From the depths of woe I raise to Thee The voice of lamentation; Lord, turn a gracious ear to me And hear my supplication; If Thou iniquities dost mark, Our secret sins and misdeeds dark,

O who shall stand before Thee?

To wash away the crimson stain, Grace, grace alone availeth; Our works, alas! Are all in vain; In much the best life faileth; No man can glory in Thy sight, All must alike confess Thy might,

And live alone by mercy

Therefore my trust is in the Lord, And not in mine own merit; On Him my soul shall rest, His word Upholds my fainting spirit; His promised mercy is my fort, My comfort and my sweet support;

I wait for it with patience

What though I wait the live-long night, And til the dawn appeareth, My heart still trusteth in His might; It doubteth not nor feareth; Do thus, O ye of Israels seed, Ye of the Spirit born indeed;

And wait til God appeareth

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Though great our sins and sore our woes His grace much more aboundeth; His helping love no limit knows, Our upmost need it soundeth. Our Shepherd good and true is He, Who will at last His Israel free

From all their sin and sorrow

Thanks to Ahna Zieglar on Unsplash for the great picture

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

February 21, 2021; First Sunday of Lent

Opening Prayer:

God our Father, You led Your Son into the desert by Your own Spirit and there allowed Him to be tempted by the devil, but He did not sin. In this Lenten season come to each of us who are also tempted to give in to our own desires and turn away from Your will for us, and show that You are our Father, the all powerful God who is mighty to save forever. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. 5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right,

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and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

Hymn #134: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross When I survey the wond'rous Cross On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the Death of Christ my God: All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his Blood.

See from his Head, his Hands, his Feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e'er such love and sorrow meet? Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o'er his body on the tree; Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:9-15

(English Standard Version) “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Homily/Devotion:

In our world today we like to celebrate. When someone hits a major milestone in their life, we will often celebrate. Friends and family gather around us and congratulate us and wish us well in our new chapter of life.

One of my favorite pictures is from my high school graduation. My grandfather and grandmother who now both with the Lord, were there rooting me on. A large number of people in my family came to that event. It was a wonderful day of celebrating.

Maybe you’ve had similar moments in your life. Maybe you’ve experienced the joy of having someone throw you a party or a reception of sorts. At your baptism, or wedding or confirmation or graduation. Your surrounded by people whom you love and who love you.

Any of those would be more than the Son of God had. Here, in this familiar passage we have one of the most significant events in the earthly life of the Son of God; in world history! Jesus is baptized and ordained as it were into public ministry by the greatest prophet in Israel’s history—John the Baptist. Surely this moment deserves a nice reception. If it any of us, we would have had a party. We would have had a reception.

Yet, there is no party awaiting him. In the words of biblical scholar James Edwards:

“Following the declaration of Jesus as God’s Son and the inauguration of his public ministry, Jesus is not treated, as might be expected, to a reception or a celebration. He is, rather, appointed by the Spirit to a much different task—to a meeting with Satan in the wilderness.”

Some translations have the word “sent” in verse 12--“the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness—the ESV captures the sense of the Greek word better. It says that the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” The idea is that Jesus

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was thrust out into the wilderness to complete the next challenge that was laid before him—an encounter with Satan himself.

This encounter was one of the many places where Jesus would succeed where our father, Adam, failed. Adam was tempted and he succumbed, plunging all of humanity into sin and death and ruin with him. Yet, here, in this encounter with the Devil, Jesus, the second Adam overcomes. So while we all died in Adam, all who believe will be made alive in Jesus (see 1 Cor. 15:2-23). In Jesus we overcome!

So while Jesus did not have a life filled with celebrations and fun receptions, it was all so that you and I might one day be received into the arms of God in glory. In that day, we will join the angels and all the heavenly host in the greatest reception the universe has ever known.

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness (Jésus tenté dans le désert), 1886- 1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 8 7/8 x 13 5/16 in. (22.5 x 33.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.51 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.51_PS1.jpg) “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Additional Info for those who are interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The first Sunday of Lent is called “Invocabit Sunday” from the first word of the Sunday Introit taken from Psalm 91in the Latin Vulgate translation, “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:15-16, 1 We begin Lent with the assurance that if we come to God repentant and humble, trusting in Him to deliver us and crying out to Him with all our spirit, He will do it. In this season we remember and will see again our salvation brought about by God in Jesus His Son.

Our scriptural reading reminds us that Jesus went into the desert following His baptism, being compelled to go by the Holy Spirit. He spent forty days preparing for the beginning of His ministry through fasting and prayer, and while there was tempted by Satan. This took place in order that, as the writer of Hebrews states, He might be tempted in all things such as we are, and yet without sin. By His temptation He became for us a High Priest who knew how to have compassion on our weaknesses. Mark records with only a few words all that we need to know about Jesus’ time in the wilderness and by extension our times of trial, challenge, and introspection. He simply says that in that time temptation came that had to be wrestled with and overcome, danger was always present in the circumstances, but that even in the wilderness angels were present to minister grace. As we enter the Lenten season we need to remember these simple truths of God’s presence with us.

The sanctuary color for Lent is purple. The Scriptures tell us that a purple garment was placed on Jesus during his suffering as a mockery and it is fitting that we use the color as we focus on the reality of our sin that stands in contrast to the love and goodness of God. We know that these “purple” days of repentance and humility will finally give way to the color white and the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and our deliverance once and for all. It gives us hope to allow the Holy Spirit to use the lessons of Lent knowing, as Isaiah 61:3 proclaims, God will “grant to those who mourn to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”

The Story behind “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

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(taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

Some of the older hymns of the faith present a clear and powerful picture of the work of God through His Son to bring about the salvation of the world. Use one hymn or Christian song each week to help your children work through the season of Lent and begin to understand why Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified and what it accomplished for each of us. You could use it each time you gather to review the lessons of this week. Find a suitable recording on line to play and sing along to.

The suggested hymn for the first week of Lent is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

One of the greatest hymn writers of all time composed this beautiful hymn. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was born in England, the first son of a family from the dissenting tradition (the most famous of the groups that we are familiar with are the Puritans who came to America because they did not want state involvement in the practice of their faith). Though his training in Greek, Latin and Hebrew would have allowed him the opportunity to become an Anglican priest, he chose to pastor a dissenting congregation. At the time of Watts’ birth, churches in England sang only metrical psalms. But by the time of his death, he had planted the seeds of a much more complex hymnody. His 600 hymns found in seven collections made the transition from a rigid, metrical psalmody to a freer, theologically-based hymnody.

Watts’ hymns include complex theology in a format that is ideal for congregational singing. Hymns should echo the theme of the sermon. He insisted that songs in the church should be fully evangelical and not just supplements to the Psalms; that hymns should be freely composed and not just hold to the letter of Scripture; and that hymns should give straightforward expression to the thoughts and feelings of the singers and not merely recall events of the distant past.

He also wrote texts to fit the most common psalm meters, allowing them to be sung by any congregation to a variety of tunes in such a way that each line contained a complete thought. This was important since the hymns, like the metrical psalms before them, were lined out by a precentor, or song leader. The leader would sing a phrase and then the congregation would echo back what had been sung. If a thought were spread out over two phrases, it would be broken up by this teaching technique. Watts smoothed out the process by including a complete thought in a single phrase as much as possible. Another example of the impact of his theology upon his hymns is that he edited texts based on the Old Testament to reflect the presence of Christ, causing his hymnody to view God the Father from the perspective of God the Son. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

The original fourth stanza of this hymn is usually omitted though it inspires quite powerful images:

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o’er his body on the tree; Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me.

The last two lines of the stanza form a composition referred to as a chiasmus, a crossing from one side to the other in the way we form our letter X. This technique is found in the great fourth verse, which takes its theme from Galatians 6:14.” (Note the “cross” that is formed between the words “dead” and “globe” in those two lines.)

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is one of Watts’ finest poems and an excellent example of why he is considered a fulcrum in the transition of congregational singing and hymn composition. This hymn is an excellent example of many of Watt;s best techniques, such as his ability to write beginning lines which capture one’s attention, maintain a theme and build to a climax. In the Methodist Hymnal, the text is set to two different tunes. The first and most familar, HAMBURG by American Lowell Mason, was written in 1824. This tune originated from Gregorian chant (presumably the Benedictus). The second tune, ROCKINGHAM, composed by Englishman Edward Miller in 1790, was first matched with this text in 1861.

This hymn is particularly powerful because it includes many poetic devices. For example, oxymoron is found twice in the first stanza: “my richest gain I count but loss” and “pour contempt on all my pride.” The third stanza contains a paradox in a crown of thorns, and there are two rhetorical questions in the second half of this stanza: “Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?” The piece ends with a climax, “Demands my soul, my life, my all.” “When I Survey” is a hymn which is saturated with theology and a call for an emotional response from the singer. This hymn was transformed into a statement of faith that crosses denominational lines and generations. According to hymn scholar Lionel Adey, the lines “‘All the vain things that charm me most / I sacrifice them . . .’ have a meaning that is personal to each singer, one that might require either action or renunciation.” The three pledges at the climax of the hymn (“my soul, my life, my all”) are a sacrifice that had once been required only of those taking monastic vows.

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This hymn is a masterpiece that marks the genius of one man and his influence on millions of singers throughout the ages. It successfully built a bridge from psalmody (the singing of psalms) to hymnody (the singing and use of hymns) and set the church free to create a living body of Christian praise in song.

When I survey the wond'rous Cross On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the Death of Christ my God: All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his Blood.

See from his Head, his Hands, his Feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e'er such love and sorrow meet? Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o'er his body on the tree; Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

February 28, 2021; Second Sunday of Lent

Opening Prayer:

God our Father, we know that you delight to show forgiveness and mercy. In this Lenten season seek out everyone who has lost the way, heal their hearts and souls, and bring them again with strength and courage to believe that what You say you will do for us in Jesus has come to pass. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 22:23-31

You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

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Congregational Singing: What Wondrous Love is This If this song is unfamiliar to you, we have suggested another below

What wondrous love is this, O my soul! O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, That caused the Lord of bliss, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, Sinking down, sinking down; When I was sinking down, sinking down When I was sinking down, Beneath God's righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown For my soul, for my soul! Christ laid aside his crown for my soul!

Ye winged seraphs fly, Bear the news, bear the news! Ye winged seraphs fly bear the news! Ye winged seraphs fly, like comets through the sky, Fill vast eternity with the news, with the news! Fill vast eternity with the news!

Ye friends of Zion's king, Join his praise, join his praise; Ye friends of Zion's king, join his praise; Ye friends of Zion's king, with hearts and voices sing, And strike each tuneful string In his praise, in his praise! And strike each tuneful string in his praise!

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing; To God and to the Lamb, I will sing. To God and to the Lamb, Who is the great I AM, While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing! While millions join the theme, I will sing!

And while from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on, And while from death I'm free, I'll sing on. And while from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be, And through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on, And through eternity I'll sing on. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Hymn: My Jesus I love Thee (With Every Breath) (Can be found online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjKYpCugScc)

My Jesus I love Thee I know Thou art mine For Thee all the follies Of sin I resign My gracious Redeemer My Savior art Thou If ever I loved Thee My Jesus 'tis now

I love Thee because Thou Has first loved me And purchased my pardon On Calvary's tree I love Thee for wearing The thorns on Thy brow If ever I loved Thee My Jesus 'tis now

I love You in life I love You in death With every beat of my heart With every breath I love You in life I love You in death With every beat of my heart With every breath

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:31-38

(English Standard Version) “31And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after

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me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Homily/Devotion:

A few years ago, my family and I attempted to go to an event in Hanover (NH) that’s held on Mother’s Day Weekend each year, called the Dartmouth Pow-Wow. It’s basically a celebration of Native American Culture on the front quad at the Dartmouth campus. Different Native American tribes will come and show off and share some of their traditions. The online blurb at Dartmouth.edu says this:

“The Dartmouth Pow-Wow serves as an opportunity for members of both the Dartmouth and Upper Valley communities to observe, participate, and learn from a broad representation of Native American Dances, music, and arts and crafts.”

I did some homework on the event and looked for flyers. I found a few online and it looked like such a neat experience that I talked to Megan about it. I had also heard from a few folks that it was a lot of fun and interesting and educational, so we went.

But when we got to Hanover and drove past the quad on the Dartmouth campus, there was nothing. No tents or teepees or drums or food or Native Americans, just a big open field. After driving around for a while, we gathered that it had been moved indoors for reasons unbeknownst to us.

We debated a while whether or not we wanted to go in to see the festivities, and we quickly decided “no.” We are confined to the house so much here in this cold, wet, Vermont, climate, that we were hoping for something outside that day. Our expectations were that we would be in the sunshine and breathing the fresh air, that our children would be able to run around on the grass. The idea of being in some gymnasium just soured the whole deal for us, so we went and did something else.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

You see, our expectations did not fit with the reality. We had in our minds certain expectations and our whole idea of the event was shaped by those things. For us, just being honest, we weren’t really going because we were especially interested in the event itself. That day, for us, it was about being outside and just doing something fun together. This was a unique way to do that.

When the event was moved indoors, the event became much less appealing and we changed our plans.

Many come to Jesus Christ with the wrong expectations. They come thinking it’s going to look a certain way. Sadly, for so many those expectations don’t line up with Jesus’ plan for us and when they are faced with a hard teaching or a difficult situation, the house of cards comes collapsing down around them and they walk away.

Peter had certain ideas about what it meant to follow Jesus and having Jesus die was not one of them. But yet, this was the very reason Jesus came—to die for sin. In time, Peter would come to understand this, writing in his first epistle, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Peter would also come to understand that this also meant that all of Jesus’ followers would likewise have to suffer. He writes in that same epistle:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” -1 Peter 4:12-13

Scholars believe Peter died as a martyr for his faith. Although Scripture does not tell us of his death, a number of writers of the time described his death as having occurred in Rome during the reign of the emperor Nero. They say that Peter was crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus Christ.

Not all of us will face that kind of brutal suffering, but certainly we are all called to deny ourselves and carry our cross as Jesus says in Mark 8:34-35.

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Take a moment and ponder your expectations of life with Jesus. Do they align with Scripture?

Additional Info for those who are Interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The second Sunday of Lent is called “Reminiscere Sunday” from the first word of the Sunday Introit taken from Psalm 25 in the Latin Vulgate translation. “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.” Psalm 25:6-7, 1-2 We continue our Lenten observance renewing our trust in God, asking Him to remember the mercy and grace and He has shown to us from the beginning, and asking Him to not remember our sins and rebellion against His word and will. In this season we place our souls into the hands of the One who is able to keep them until the day of Jesus’ return.

This week’s scriptural reading reminds us that at some point in the second year of His active ministry, Jesus started to clearly tell His disciples the primary reason that He had come to our world, “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected…and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Mark 8:31 This is the very foundation of the gospel message that is the basis for our salvation and for the renewal of our fallen world. We also know that this teaching was met with confusion, dismay, and sometimes rejection even by those closest to Him. This is not an unusual reaction because Jesus’ statement goes contrary to every way that we could imagine that God might choose to restore us into right relationship with Him. As the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The way that God works in our world and in our lives is often different from our expectations of what we want Him to do for us, and often contrary to our deepest desires. Lent is a time when we can start to let the Spirit of God change the way we view our world, the God we serve, and the way He has chosen to reveal Himself and act on our behalf. We may not understand His purposes, we may object to the path that He has set before us, but our prayer is that by the end of this Lenten season we “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

might pray with Jesus Himself, “…not my will, but Yours be done.”

Hymn or Song for the Week

The suggested hymn for the second week of Lent is What Wondrous Love is This

The Story behind “What Wondrous Love is This” (taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

There are very few clues as to the author and composer of this profound hymn of wonder at the love of Christ for all humanity. Yet "What Wondrous Love Is This" captures our attention right from the beginning with its simplicity and persistence – "What wondrous love is this" sung three times. This repetition is not the sign of a weak poet who has a narrow range of expression, but a fellow traveler who has experienced profoundly the sacrificial love of Christ and can only express again and again – "What wondrous love is this." It is the kind of repetition that sounds trite when spoken, yet gains strength and power through singing. These are not the carefully crafted words of a theologian, but utterances directly from the heart or, even more profoundly, from the soul.

Depending on how one reads it, the entire first stanza is either a statement of pure awe of God or a profound question. This rhetorical device – the ambiguity of

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a statement of awe or profound question – is reminiscent of Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be". The first stanza of that hymn ends, "Amazing love! How can it be/that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?" The sentiments in "Wondrous Love" are almost identical, causing one to speculate if the poet had encountered Wesley's version some decades earlier. Regardless, is this not the profound realization of every Christian who reflects on God's love in Christ?

Thanks to the careful work of music scholars, we do have some suggestions about the origins of this hymn. According to these researchers, the text appeared as early as 1811 in a collection hymns entitled General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use. Famous Appalachian folksong collector George Pullen Jackson noted that the structure of the text was very similar to the English ballad "Captain Kidd" suggesting that the song had its origins in oral tradition, was sung in several variations, but eventually stabilized when it was first printed and circulated. Most hymnals simply annotate it as an American Folk Hymn.

Other hymnologists attribute its origins to South Carolina but this has never been established. What can be said is the musical arrangement, known as The Southern Harmony made this song very popular in the American south after the Civil War. Regardless of its source, it contains a profound expression of a soul confronted with its own sin and the love of God.

Today it may be difficult for many to sing the words of stanza one, What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul. Perhaps this "dreadful curse" is a reference to "original sin" or the sin that all humanity shares as a result of the fall of Adam. This is certainly developed further in the original second stanza.

When I was sinking down . . . Beneath God's righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

Some of the amended versions that appear today have softened some of this language and the original six stanza version that was first printed is often reduced to three or four verses in many hymnals today. The original six stanzas are shown below. In the later stanzas we find the cosmic proportions of God’s love and “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

mercy expressed as the song of the lone singer grows as "millions join the theme" that "through eternity, [we'll] sing on."

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March 7, 2021; Third Sunday of Lent

Opening Prayer:

God our Father, we know that we have so little power in ourselves to make our way through life. In this Lenten season we pray that you would give both our body and spirit every good things so that we would be protected from every attack that could come to hurt our body or bring sin and separation in our soul. Jesus is able to keep us from falling. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules[d] of the Lord are true, “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Congregational Singing: Hymn #136: Man of Sorrows, What a Name

Man of Sorrows! what a name, For the Son of God, who came Ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned he stood, Sealed my pardon with his blood: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Guilty, vile, and helpless, we; Spotless Lamb of God was he; Full atonement! can it be? Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Lifted up was he to die, "It is finished!" was his cry: Now in heav'n exalted high:

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Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

When he comes, our glorious King, All his ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-22

(English Standard Version)“ 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Homily/Devotion:

I remember being at a single’s event some years ago at a large church down in Charlotte, NC. The pastor was preaching on this text and somewhere about half way into the message he astonished us all when he picked up a chair and threw it across the stage and shouted, “get, out!” He was attempting to illustrate the vehemence of Jesus in this moment that day in the temple. To this day, I have never forgotten that.

For many people this story from the life of Christ is shocking. The Jesus most of us have in our minds is not one to show aggression of any sort; he’s not one to lose his cool, ever. Jesus is one who turns the other cheek and one who absorbs anger, not one who gets angry.

Or so we thought. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Why is Jesus so upset here?

Scholars say that prior to this time the booths for the animals and the exchanging of money were all set up across the Kidron Valley, up on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, quite a distance from the temple complex. But by the time Jesus is one the scene that has all changed, and now, we find the animals and money changers all set up in what was known as the “court of the Gentiles”. That space was formerly a space where foreigners and non-purified Jews might gather for prayer and worship. Now it was a place of commerce. Even if a person wanted to come and pray, the space was too loud. There was a stench and dung and busy-ness all around. One could not focus for a minute in such an atmosphere. It would be like trying to worship in the middle of the Tunbridge Fair grounds.

Jesus is angry in this passage because the temple is supposed to be a place where people come to pray and worship—not to do business. His Father’s house has become a market and that is unconscionable for Christ.

In fact, Jesus was so passionate about securing the worship of God’s people that he gave up his life for them. No longer would people come to a building and worship, but they would worship from the heart—in Spirit and in truth. No longer would Jesus come into a temple and clean house; he would turn over the tables of our hearts. All of this was accomplished when the temple of His precious body was destroyed on the cross and then raised from the dead.

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Additional Info for those who are Interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The third Sunday of Lent is called “Occuli Sunday” from the first word of the Sunday Introit taken from Psalm 25 in the Latin Vulgate translation. “My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame.” Psalm 25:15-16, 1-2. We continue our Lenten observance by looking towards the Lord alone for deliverance from those things that bind us up, by confessing that we are weak and that only He can give us grace, and then by reaffirming our absolute faith in Him to do us good. In this season we turn from all distractions and look full on the God who has loved us and desires only to see us become all He made us to be.

Our scripture lesson today reminds us that God’s ways are not often our ways, and it is easy to go astray in our understanding of God, the way that He works, and what He requires of each of us as we come to Him. We often take the good things that He gives to us and turn them into a systemized practice of our religion that sometimes hides the simplicity of His grace from our eyes. And when that happens, we need Him to come with power and authority and cleanse all that we have built up in His name, restoring it once again to His purpose and will. Our gospel reading records Jesus entering into the temple at the start of His ministry, cleansing it of the business of religion, and calling the people back to remembering that the temple was a visible sign of God’s presence, of the outworking of His grace and forgiveness, and of His promise to always be a God near to those who called upon His name. So too we are reminded that for us, the cross of Jesus Christ is that same, visible manifestation of God’s deliverance and love poured forth upon us. Lent is a time for us to stop asking for signs that prove God’s love for us or for seeking to work out and understand everything that makes up our spiritual relationship with God. This is a time to simply lay hold again of His grace freely given; receiving it into whatever part of us is broken or bound up. It is time to believe and trust Him to work everything else out in our hearts.

humility will finally give way to the color white and the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and our deliverance once and for all. We trust that Jesus will give to us the living water that will forever give us life in Him.

Hymn or Song for the Week

The suggested hymn for the third week of Lent is Man of Sorrows, What a Name

The Story behind “Man of Sorrows, What a Name” (taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

One might be tempted to pass over the hymn, “Man of Sorrows! What a Name,” when planning for Eastertide due to its rather depressing title. In fact, the editors of The United Methodist Hymnal might have recognized that because when they included in the Hymnal they used the hymns other common title, “Hallelujah! What a Savior.” Yet, especially for those Christian traditions in which cross- centered preaching remains strong throughout the year, this hymn can be a marvelous one during the season leading up to and through Easter.

“Man of Sorrows, What a Name” owes its text and tune to the nineteenth-century hymn writer Philip Paul Bliss. Born in 1838, Philip Bliss was one of the most important American gospel song writers of the century. A contemporary of Dwight Moody, Philip Bliss made a huge contribution to American evangelical hymnody. The 1907 edition of John Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology credits him with forty-eight “widely known” hymns, as well as many others. The current record lists two hundred forty-seven individual hymns to Bliss’s credit.

Bliss was raised in a farm family in central Pennsylvania and first learned the rudiments of music at the age of eighteen in a singing school. He later attended a convention headed by the legendary musician William Bradbury and over the next few years actively pursued a musical education. Eventually his abilities and

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training as a musician enabled him to become a music teacher in Rome, Pennsylvania. Around that same time he began to become active as a church musician, first in the Presbyterian Church in Rome, then as an itinerant music teacher, and in later years as a staff member at the Chicago publishing firm Root and Cady. It is said that he wrote his first song at the age of twenty six, and his last at the age of thirty eight, which would mean an average output of about twenty songs per year. Bliss was originally a Methodist and later a Congregationalist, but the story of his life tell of a man who claimed no firm denominational allegiance. At various points in his life, both professional and personal, he was associated with Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Seventh-Day Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and others. As with many itinerant music teachers, and many nineteenth-century evangelicals in general, he easily crossed denominational boundaries, sharing his gifts with many churches in the process. Philip Bliss’s life was tragically cut short in 1876, when a railway crash in Ashtabula, Ohio, killed both him and his wife.

As stated above, “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” is also commonly called “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” This is because the text, which is strophic (using the same words as part of each stanza), has at the end of each of the five stanzas the phrase “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” Gospel songs of this and following eras often featured a refrain, but the repeated ending phrase of this hymn is not the same as that. Rather, the repeated text is an integral part of the metrical structure of each stanza. As might be expected with a text borne of any nineteenth century revival movement, “Man of Sorrows” is full of the language of sin and redemption. In particular, the second and third stanzas utilize strong sacrificial language when speaking of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

The wonderful and immensely useful thing about this text, though, is how it continues. Beginning in stanza four, “Man of Sorrows” moves beyond the death of Christ, into his resurrection, ascension, and second coming. In so doing, it traces the full narrative of the pascha (Christ as Passover sacrifice), not simply stopping with the cross, but allowing the exaltation and reign of Christ to literally have the final word. Ending each of these final stanzas, of course, continues to be found the acclamation of praise, “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

Many congregations have recovered a richer observance of the liturgical year, including the practice of burying the word “hallelujah” during Lent (not using it because it is typically a resurrection exclamation not suited for Lent). For such congregations “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” provides the real reason why we proclaim Hallelujah on Easter as it recounts the entire paschal narrative. It is a “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

constant reminder of our confession, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” To which we can only add “Hallelujah”!

Man of Sorrows! what a name, For the Son of God, who came Ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned he stood, Sealed my pardon with his blood: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Guilty, vile, and helpless, we; Spotless Lamb of God was he; Full atonement! can it be? Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

Lifted up was he to die, "It is finished!" was his cry: Now in heav'n exalted high: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

When he comes, our glorious King, All his ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing: Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

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March 14, 2021; Fourth Sunday of Lent

Opening Prayer:

Gracious Father, You sent Your Son Jesus as the light of our world, to give sight to those who could not see and to show your love so clearly to us; help us to always walk in the light of Jesus and never be willing to walk in the darkness anymore. Open our eyes to see. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble[a] 3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,

Congregational Singing: Hymn #373: Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross If you are not familiar with this hymn, we have suggested another below

Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain— “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Free to all, a healing stream— Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.

Refrain: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and Mercy found me; There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me. Refrain Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o’er me. Refrain

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever, Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river. Refrain

Congregational Music/Song: To God Be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice! Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.

Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God;

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The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain

Scripture Reading: John 3:14-21

(English Standard Version) “14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Homily/Devotion:

A poll published in a popular British magazine in 2017 asked the question: “What are your top 20 most prized possessions?” Women said that family photos were their most prized possession, followed by their home. Pets and jewelry were also very high on the list. Men said their home was most important, followed by their family photos and then their car.

To me, the more interesting question is: why? Why do we love the things we do? Often, it’s simply because those items represent something special, a person or a place that meant a lot to us. “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

But sometimes we go too far. The item itself almost takes the place of the memory or the person it represents. We become too attached.

Our passage today in John 3 alludes to another time and moment in Israel’s history when this happened to them. Something that God used to deliver them became an object of worship. Here’s the story:

Jesus speaks in verse 14 of a snake that Moses lifted up in the wilderness. If you go back and read the story in Numbers chapter 21, you find the people of God grumbling against their leaders, God and Moses, saying:

“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

This was not the first time Israel had grumbled against the Lord and Moses in the wilderness, so God sent venomous snakes into their midst in judgment for their complaints against their leaders.

The snakes were sent among the people to lead them to repentance (see Romans 2:4). God’s way of showing them mercy is recorded in Numbers 21:8-9:

“Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”

In John 3, Jesus likens this moment to his death on the cross, saying, just believe in me—just look to me for salvation—and you’ll be saved. The venom in our case, is not that of any snake, but that of sin.

But almost a thousand years after the event in Numbers 21, we find something disturbing happening.

2 Kings 18 tells us of a godly king that arose during a scary time in Israel in the 8th century BC. His name was Hezekiah. One interesting thing that is mentioned in that chapter about Hezekiah is found in verse 4:

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He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.

A precious gift had become an object of worship. Instead of the bronze snake remaining a symbol of God’s judgment and subsequent grace, it became an idol. How very sad.

John Calvin once said that man’s heart is a “perpetual factory of idols.” We are so prone to worship anything and everything before God—even gifts from God that are intended to lead us back to him, like the serpent in the wilderness.

Here in this amazing conversation with Nicodemus Jesus tells us that the only way for our hearts to stop being idol factories is for God to give us new ones—to be born again (earlier in the chapter in verse 3).

Only this way will we break off our love affair with the darkness and come into the light. Put your trust in Christ today and be born again!

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Additional Info for those who are Interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The fourth Sunday of Lent is called “Laetere Sunday” from the first word of the Sunday Introit taken from Isaiah 66 in the Latin Vulgate translation, “Rejoice, O’ Jerusalem and come together all you that love her; rejoice with her, you that have been in sorrow, that you may exult and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, we shall go into the house of the Lord.” Isaiah 66:10- 11 We continue our Lenten observance by remembering that the Lord’s discipline produces godliness in us, and that while tears may endure throughout the night, joy comes in the morning. We celebrate God’s love, who sent Jesus to us while we were still lost in sin.

This week, we take time to experience joy in all that God has done for us. We have been concentrating during the beginning of Lent on our sins, our separation from God, and the call to repent and be reconciled. Today we are reminded that God has already acted on our behalf, motivated by His great love for us, and has provided a complete and unshakable deliverance through Jesus. It is easy to let guilt and shame overwhelm us and keep us separated from the God that loves us even in the light of what He has done on our behalf. This is a day to pray to God to restore to us the joy of our salvation, to receive His love freely given, and to resolve to let nothing separate us in any manner from His grace and compassion. Our gospel reading includes the great summary of the good news, that God has loved our world so much that He has delivered it by the giving of His own Son; all that we need to do is believe His promise and receive His grace in Jesus. At that moment we pass from death to eternal life; we never need fear judgment and condemnation from the hand of God. That is good news indeed, and a real reason to celebrate the depth of God’s love. We need to “give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.” Colossians 1:12- 13

The sanctuary color for the fourth Sunday in Lent is rose. The rose color has overtones of the purple we are used to seeing in Lent, but traditionally conveys joy, hope, and celebration. For this reason Laetare Sunday is also known as Rose Sunday or Refreshment Sunday. We are halfway through our Lenten disciplines,

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and this Sunday gives us a foretaste of the joy and celebration of Resurrection Sunday. Today we receive The Lord’s encouragement as we progress towards the end of this penitential season trusting Him to complete what He has begun in us.

Hymn or Song for the Week

The suggested hymn for the fourth week of Lent is Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross

The Story behind “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross” (taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915) was the author of over 8,500 gospel songs. Though blind at 6 weeks of age, Crosby began composing texts at age 6. She later became a teacher at the New York School for the Blind, where she was a student. A friend of several presidents, Crosby became one of the most important advocates for the cause of the blind in the United States. Her texts were set to the compositions of some of the most prominent gospel song composers of the day including William Bradbury, William Doane and Ira Sankey. Crosby composed under a number of pen names. She married blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne and British hymnals identify her as Frances Van Alstyne, her married name.

This hymn first appeared in the collection Bright Jewels, compiled by Bradbury, Doane, W.F. Sherwin and Chester G. Allen, in 1869. At least two of these publishers were themselves famous writers of gospel song tunes. Indeed, it was Doane who wrote the music for this hymn and then gave it to Fanny Crosby to add the text—a practice that was not uncommon in their relationship.

The United Methodist Hymnal editor, Carlton R. Young, said of this hymn: “It is one of many texts by Crosby that combine vivid imagery (she was blinded in her childhood) and powerful biblical and evangelical metaphors: the Cross, a fountain of healing streams, free grace, the daily walk of faith, God’s pursuing love and “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

mercy, Jesus, the Lamb of God, beyond the river of death—heaven with its golden streets—and rest for the post-Raptured souls.” The glory of the Cross, a theme of the refrain, is a common metaphor of Romantic-era hymnody. The Cross, a place where the pain of earth and the joy of heaven come together, is a kind of spiritual altar to which we might draw near for refuge and solace. From it flows a “precious fountain”—an image perhaps borrowed from the 18th-century poet William Cowper and his hymn “There is a fountain filled with blood”. Though an instrument of cruel punishment and torture, the Cross is a source of a “healing stream” (stanza one) and a place where “the bright and morning star sheds its beams” on us (stanza two)

Stanza three invites us to meditate upon the Cross—“bring its scenes before me.” The “shadow” of the Cross falls on my daily path. This image is reminiscent of another Romantic-era poet, Elizabeth C. Clephane, who in 1872 wrote “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”. Many writers have commented on Fanny Crosby’s ability to employ the technique of hypotyposis—painting a vivid scene as if it were present—even though she was blinded soon after birth. The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody was said to have asked Crosby the following question toward the end of her life: “If you could have just one wish granted, what would it be?” Moody expected her to ask for sight. Sensing this she is said to have replied, “If I could have one wish, I’d wish that I might continue blind the rest of my life.” Moody was taken back and asked, “How can you say that?” Crosby was said to have responded, “Because, after being blind for all these years, the first face I want to see now is the face of Jesus.” The eschatological (teaching about the last days) theme of “Near the Cross” captures the hope and joy of heaven that is so characteristic of Crosby’s hymns: “Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.”

Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain— Free to all, a healing stream— Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.

Refrain: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and Mercy found me;

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There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me. Refrain Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o’er me. Refrain

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever, Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river. Refrain

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

March 21, 2021; Fifth Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday

Opening Prayer:

Our Father, You alone can bring the strength to hear You and do what You say into our hearts, give us by Your grace and love the desire to seek for what you promise so that in this changing world our hearts might be fixed on You, where true joy and peace alone can be found. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 119:9-16

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! 13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. 14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Congregational Singing: Hymn #142: O’ Sacred Head Now Wounded

O sacred Head, sore wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown; How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain; Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.

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Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place; Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend, For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33

(English Standard Version) “20Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

Homily/Devotion:

Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, (I’m assuming most of you have heard this poem) speaks of a traveler going through a “yellow wood” that comes to a fork in the path. The traveler looks down both paths as far as she can see and notices that they look roughly the same except that one appears as though maybe it had been less worn or less traveled by. So she takes the path less traveled by and the poem ends:

I shall be telling this with a sigh “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

The poem is a motivational masterpiece, quoted and referenced who knows how many thousand or million times.

One of the things that makes the poem so good, I think, is not just what it says, but what it doesn’t say. Looking down the two paths, the traveler cannot see what lay along the path ahead. It’s a mystery. Going either way, to some degree, requires some faith.

Maybe going the way less traveled requires a little more faith maybe because your mind may speculate what it is that makes this path less popular of a choice. Do those who frequent this trail know something that I don’t?

But this is not the kind of choice that Jesus was faced with in his life. One path offered to him by Satan (seen clearly in his temptation in the wilderness), was a path of ease, no suffering, no cross, the power and authority over kingdoms. It was the path of earthly glory and recognition (see Mathew 4:1-11).

On the other side of the fork so-to-speak, was a path of suffering, shame, humiliation, and the cross. But this was the path of eternal glory. It was the path of pleasing his heavenly Father and of being obedient to the assignment he was given.

What makes Jesus’ choice so amazing wasn’t that he took a step of faith not knowing what lie ahead as in Robert Frost’s poem, but because he knew exactly what was along the path and yet he chose it anyway.

Jesus looked down the road less traveled and saw that it was filled with difficulties and pain. If you look at verse 27, Jesus says out loud, “Now my soul is troubled.” Scholars Beasley and Murray say that the word here we use for “troubled” (almost every English translation has the word troubled) could also be rendered agitation, convulsion or even horror.

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He looks down the road less traveled and he sees exactly why it was less traveled. Because it’s a road of denying one’s self. A road of pain. And for him, specifically, the road of the cross.

Yet Jesus walks the road. And he walks it in love, love for His Father and love for us—all those that would be drawn to Himself (verse 32).

Additional Info for those who are Interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The fifth Sunday of Lent is called “Passion Sunday” and used to mark the transition into what used to be called Passiontide. We are now at the turning point in Lent with more than half of it gone, and we are reminded us that “as the days drew near for him (Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 8:51). Increasingly we begin to focus more on what lies at the end of this season, the betrayal, suffering and death of Jesus.

Too often this period of Lent, which seems so long at the beginning, slips away quickly leaving us unprepared and unchanged as Resurrection approaches. But this is not a time to feel bad or ashamed at our lack of discipline and concentration, it is a time to once again set our focus on Jesus and to lay hold of every grace, every forgiveness, every healing, and every promise that He has purchased for us by the shedding of His blood. There is always time to turn again to God and to call upon His Name for mercy and compassion. We have the assurance of scripture that “Whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” These closing weeks of Lent show us clearly what it means when we read that God so loved us that He sent His only Son. In the weeks ahead we will go to Jerusalem with Jesus’ disciples and experience a range of emotions and experiences that will shake our soul to its deepest point, and at last we will be brought face to face with the cross. It is there that we will experience that final wrestling with our sinfulness and frailty, where everything that we hold to be true about ourselves and about the God we serve, will be tested in the fire of God’s judgment upon unrighteousness. If we see it through to the end, relying on the mercy and grace of God to carry us, we will stand with the disciples on Resurrection and hear Jesus say to us, “Peace be to you.” This week, we turn our “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

expectations back into the hands of God, submitting ourselves to all that He would still do with us and in us in this Lenten season, and knowing that whatever comes our way, “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

The sanctuary color for this Sunday in Lent returns to purple and will remain so until Resurrection Sunday. We are nearing the final chapters in the redemption story, and it is fitting that we again turn our attention to our own sin, struggling against it in the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might at last allow it to be nailed to the cross of Jesus once and for all. The scripture readings remind us that history passes through a cross, but that it does not end at the cross. For the one who believes there remains a promise that the same power of God, who by His Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, will do the same for us. That is the final message that will remain ours when Lent culminates on Resurrection Sunday.

Hymn or Song for the Week

The suggested hymn for the fifth week of Lent is O Sacred Head now Wounded

The Story behind “O Sacred Head now Wounded” (taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

The true origins of “O sacred head, now wounded” are still in question. Some sources suggest the 11th century, while others attribute the text to Arnulf of Louvain (1200-1251) in the 13th century. Still others believe that the source is later still because the poem first appeared in an anonymous Latin manuscript from the 14th century. However, most hymnologies attribute the text to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), who was a spiritual leader held in the highest esteem by many, including Martin Luther.

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The Latin text consisted of seven parts, identifying a different part of the body (feet, knees, hands, sides, breast, heart and head), and intended to be sung each day of Holy Week. Beginning with that text, Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) used the final stanza of the Latin, “Christ’s head with sharp thorns crowned,” as a basis for his German translation of the Latin hymn, first published in its entirety in 166. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), which tested people’s belief in the trustworthiness of God and Christianity, had a profound impact on hymn writing, including Gerhardt’s. After the war, the reliance on an omnipotent God for comfort and consolation was written into the hymns of this period producing expressions of Christian devotion and individual self-consciousness, of which this hymn is a notable example.

Approximately 200 years later after the German translation, James Waddell Alexander (1804-1859) translated Gerhardt’s into English. This text, originally in eight stanzas, was first published in The Christian Lyre (1830). Alexander received his education from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, and his theological education from the seminary at Princeton. Alexander was then ordained in the Presbyterian Church and served at churches in New Jersey and New York. It is Alexander’s translation that is widely used today in most North American hymnals.

The PASSION CHORALE, as this hymn tune is often called, was first found in Hans Leo Hassler’s (1564-1612) collection of vocals, songs, dances and preludes published in 1601. Originally this melody was set to a secular love song entitled “Mein gemüth ist mir verwirret” (My heart is distracted by a gentle maid). Hymnologists note that it first appeared with the Gerhardt text in 1656 and has been associated with the text ever since. During the early 18th century, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) harmonized this hymn and used the tune in many of his works. Bach’s harmonization is the one that is most used in the North American hymnals. The setting used in the Methodist Hymnal was adapted from one of Bach’s settings of this tune found in his monumental Passion According to St. Matthew.

“O Sacred Head” is certainly a hymn for Lent and especially for Holy Week, a time of reflection on what Christ has done for us. Specifically, this hymn takes place at the time of the crucifixion on Good Friday. The original James Alexander translation is include below. Most hymnals only include stanzas 1, 2, 6, and sometimes 11.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain; Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain. Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place; Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance, Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance. How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair; From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there. Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life; Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me, For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee. I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot; Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

My Shepherd, now receive me; my Guardian, own me Thine. Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine. Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love; Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part; O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart, When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp, Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.

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The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside, When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide. O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see, Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door; Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore! When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone, But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die; Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh. Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell, My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

March 28, 2021; Last Sunday of Lent – Palm Sunday

Jesus enters Jerusalem. The whole city is stirred and asks, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds reply, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’ (Matthew 21:10-11). Painting titled “The Procession in the Streets of Jerusalem” by James Tissot – Brooklyn Museum.

Opening Prayer:

All powerful God, because You love us so much you sent Your Son Jesus to be born into our world, and to suffer death upon the cross as an example of humble obedience to Your plan of grace; in your care for us help us to walk in the way of suffering so that we may also share in the power of his resurrection and live forever with Him. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 118:1-2; 19-29

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Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Congregational Singing: Hymn #124: All Glory, Laud and Honor If you are not familiar with this hymn, we have suggested another below

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

All glory, laud, and honor To thee, Redeemer, King To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel Thou David's royal Son Who in the Lord's name comest The King and Blessed One

The company of angels Are praising Thee on high And mortal men and all things Created make reply

The people of the Hebrews With palms before Thee went Our praise and love and anthems Before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion They sang their hymns of praise To Thee, now high exalted Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises Accept the love we bring Who in all good delightest Thou good and gracious King.

Congregational Music/Song: Hymn #52: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

1 All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all!

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Red Door Church’s Mobile Liturgy – Lent 2021

2 O seed of Israel's chosen race now ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all!

3 Let every tongue and every tribe responsive to his call, to him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all. To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all!

4 Oh, that with all the sacred throng we at his feet may fall! We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all.

Scripture Reading: Mark 11:1-11

(English Standard Version) “11Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

Homily/Devotion

A couple of years ago we read through a biography on David Livingstone at home with the children. David was a medical doctor and a pioneer who navigated his way through a great portion of the African continent in the mid-1800s. He went to tribe after tribe caring for the medical needs of communities and sharing Christ with the people. In each village there was a chief or king of sorts. Often, they would be in the largest hut, or have the biggest entourage or have special clothes on to mark who they were. They were set apart from the common people in some respects. Every king has distinctive marks.

Even in the world of animals there are distinctive marks that the dominant animal will have. With chickens, usually the bird that’s first to the feeder and that in fights has the fewest marks in their feathered coat.

In monkeys, scientists say that the dominant monkey will strut around with his chest puffed out and a regal kind of posture while the ones that never make it to the top skulk around with their shoulders stooped in a cowardly manner. (See Bloom, The Lucifer Principle, 197.)

In other animal groups the king or queen or dominant figure will get more food, have the more protected positions during attacks, best sleeping spots, will have mating privileges that others don’t, and so on.

What are the marks of a king? When you think of a king, what comes to mind?

Power. Authority. Wealth. Prestige.

In the time of Jesus, in the Ancient Near East, a king would enter a city riding on a warhorse in order to convey his military power, particularly when he was entering into newly conquered city.

King Jesus, however, is not like other kings. The prophet Zechariah spoke (Zech. 9:9-10) of a day when Jerusalem would see her king return. He would conquer the enemy once and for all, secure salvation and establish peace. However, this king would not come on a war horse which would have had all the markings of an insurrection—He enters on a donkey—an animal of peace.

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Red Door Church’s Mobile Liturgy – Lent 2021

This hope of the true king, riding on a donkey, led the crowd to shout: , “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

And yet, how quickly the mood changed. It would not be long before this crowd would become the mob that cried: “Crucify Him!”

Having known that this day would come, Jesus still, mounted a donkey, not a warhorse like other kings, entered Jerusalem in peace. The victory that he came to secure would not be won with bow and spear or any violence of his own, but by submitting himself to their violence—our violence. This king would defeat his enemies—us—by dying for them, conquering them with love.

Additional Info for those who are Interested

Description of Sunday or Liturgical Season:

Each Sunday in Lent has a particular theme or reflection. The Last Sunday of Lent is called “Palm Sunday” and the theme is set by the opening reading from Psalms 24 and 118. “Lift up your head, O you gates; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Save now, I beseech You, O Lord! O Lord, I beseech You, send now prosperity! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” Psalm 24:7,10; Psalm 118:25-26

Today we celebrate what is often called the triumphal entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and the beginning of the last week of His mortal life on this earth. Despite the celebration of the day, He has already told us that He was going up to Jerusalem to be rejected, betrayed, and put to death. This Sunday we again remember that God’s ways are not often our way, but His ways are perfect as we will soon see.

There are two themes on Palm Sunday. The first is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as Jesus openly takes to Himself the acknowledgement of the people that He is the chosen one of God, the Deliverer, the one who will sit forever on the throne of David as rightful King. But we already know the second. We have walked with Jesus these many weeks in Lent, and we know that this is not the purpose for which He came to Jerusalem at this time. He came to be “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

rejected, to be betrayed, to be handed over and unjustly condemned, to be crucified, and to be buried for the sins of the world, for our sins. And so we also stand with the crowd as Jesus is placed before the Roman procurator Pilate who hears the crowd crying out for Jesus’ death. And we hear Pilate’s question, “Shall I crucify your King?” And we hear the response returned, “We acknowledge no king but Caesar.” And Pilate, seeing that he could not prevail in this moment, washes his hands proclaiming “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man. You see to His death.” To which the crowd around us roars, “His blood be upon us and on our children.” And with that prophetic utterance, the judgment of God is released. For us who believe, that blood indeed is upon us to bring about redemption, forgiveness, and freedom. For those who reject the offer of the Father’s grace, the judgment is of a different sort, and even that good thing that they may have had is taken from them. We enter what has been called Holy Week because it is in the events of this week that we see the divine plan of God at last revealed and brought to pass. This is a week that points to death on a wooden cross, to Jesus anguish and cry “My God, my God, why have your forsaken Me?” as the sins of the world are placed in the balance against the blood of the sinless Lamb of God. This is what we are called to lay hold of in this week. As the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 4:10, “We must carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” A cross waits for us this week, we cannot turn away from it.

The sanctuary color for this Sunday in Lent is purple and will remain so until Resurrection Sunday. We stand on the threshold of our eternal deliverance and must allow the cross of Jesus to dominate our thoughts and reflections. The scripture readings remind us that Jesus, the King of glory, laid aside His glory, was humbled to the point of death on the cross, and by it won an eternal victory. Our response must be an acknowledgement of both themes. “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. We pray save us now, O Lord.” Psalm 118:26, 25.

Hymn or Song for the Week

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Red Door Church’s Mobile Liturgy – Lent 2021

The suggested hymn for the last week of Lent is All Glory, Laud, and Honor

The Story behind “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” (taken from information on the United Methodist website, History of Hymns)

“All Glory, Laud, and Honor” is perhaps the best example of a Palm Sunday entrance hymn. With its Latin text written in the 9th century by Theodulph of Orleans (ca. 750-821), its English translation by John Mason Neale (1818-1866), and its majestic 17th-century German tune by Melchior Teschner (1584-1635), one would have to look far and wide for a hymn more rooted in Western historical and cultural traditions.

The Latin text begins:

Gloria, laus, et honor tibi sit, rex Christe, Redemptor, cui puerile decus prompsit Hosanna pium.

A literal translation demonstrates how faithful Neale—one of the best of the19th- century translators—was to the original text: “Glory and honor and laud be to thee, Christ, King and Redeemer, Children before whose steps raised their Hosannas of praise.

Following his election in 1800 as Archbishop of Orleans, Theodulph was prominent in the court of Charlemagne. However, he did not fare as well under Charlemagne’s successor, Louis I (also known as Louis the Pious), emperor from 814-840. Theodulph was accused of participating in the rebellion of Bernard of Italy and, subsequently, was imprisoned.

One hymnologist comments on the context for the writing of this hymn: “According to the legend as told by Clichtoveus, in his Elucidatorium, 1516, the hymn was composed and first sung on a certain Sunday when Theodulph was imprisoned in Angers. Emperor Louis was present that day as the procession moved through the city and halted beneath the tower where the saint was imprisoned. Suddenly, to his astonishment, the emperor heard from above the Gloria Laus, chanted loudly and melodiously. Being moved by the chant, he asked the name of the singer and was told that it was his own prisoner, Theodulph. Moved with compassion for him, the emperor pardoned the saint, returned him to “Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

his bishopric and ordered that henceforth the hymn which Theodulph had composed be sung on Palm Sunday.”’ Another hymnologist notes that “modern scholars have cast doubt on the story of the release from prison, which would have appealed strongly to [the translator and romantic John Mason] Neale. Louis did not visit Angers after 818, which was the date of Theodulph’s imprisonment. Neale would have liked to think that a hymn could have such a powerful effect.”

One editor of the United Methodist Hymnal, notes that the Latin text was translated eight times between 1849 and 1874. Neale himself made two translations for his monumental Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences published in 1851. The second and common version from his Hymnal Noted, part 2 (1854) consisted of eight stanzas with the first used as a refrain. The first six stanzas appear in the some hymnals with the first serving as the refrain. In most hymnals published recently the six stanzas are combined into three.

The text follows generally the description of the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem as found in all four Gospels. An interesting note is that Theodulph inserts children (puerile) directly into his Latin hymn. There is no biblical basis for this, either in the Latin Vulgate or the King James Version. The accounts of Matthew and Luke include a reference to children, but these have nothing to do with children singing specifically during the triumphal entry. Matthew 21:16 notes, “Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” This mention of children takes place several verses after the narrative of the triumphal entry.

Recent developments in the Christian Year relabeled the last Sunday in Lent as Palm/Passion Sunday. In doing so, the exuberance of the triumphal entrance soon gives way to the anticipation of the Passion of Christ that is to follow—all within the same service.

All glory, laud, and honor To thee, Redeemer, King To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel Thou David's royal Son Who in the Lord's name comest The King and Blessed One

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Red Door Church’s Mobile Liturgy – Lent 2021

The company of angels Are praising Thee on high And mortal men and all things Created make reply

The people of the Hebrews With palms before Thee went Our praise and love and anthems Before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion They sang their hymns of praise To Thee, now high exalted Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises Accept the love we bring Who in all good delightest Thou good and gracious King.

“Loving God, Loving Neighbor”

This image depicts the procession as it heads from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem (Luke 19:37).

Both of the above paintings by James Tissot (1836-1902) are hosted in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Scans of these images have been released into the public domain and digitally enhanced and resized for projection by FreeBibleimages. They are made available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. These and others can be found at https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/tis-palm-sunday/

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