A series of four hymns, one each for the four Sundays of Advent, year A, taken from the various and multiple lectionary readings for each Sunday. At the end is a bonus hymn, an alternative for 4A that focuses on the gospel reading for that Sunday (and is a personal favorite of mine). PDFs of each of these hymns can be made available for churches interested in singing these.
Advent 1A: Keep watch
Keep watch, O Christian people! Awake, keep watch, and wait!
Though the Lord may tarry yet, God will surely not be late.
Even though we do not know the hour and do not know the date,
Wake, keep watch, and wait! Wake, keep watch, and wait!
Keep watch, O Christian people! Salvation now is near!
For the night is giving way, and the day is nearly here!
Shun the works of darkness grim and put away your quarreling here;
See salvation near! See salvation near!
Keep watch, O Christian people! Forget what’s come before!
Still the day is coming when war and sword shall be no more.
Nations all shall fear the Lord and sing his praise from shore to shore.
War shall be no more! War shall be no more!
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 1A scriptures
MUSIC: Tune IN DULCI JUBILO (“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”), German folk melody, 14th cent.
Advent 2A: Prepare your hearts
Prepare your hearts, prepare your minds, the reign of God comes near!
The prophet’s voice cries out to all; let all God’s people hear!
Let all God’s people hear!
Make straight the pathway of our Lord; prepare a road to be
The highway of the Holy One for all the world to see!
For all the world to see!
No one will hurt, no one will harm in our Lord’s holy place;
Our Lord will judge with righteousness and show the poor God’s grace,
And show the poor God’s grace.
So welcome one another all, to give God glory true,
And so prepare the way of God in all you say and do,
In all you say and do.
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 2A scriptures.
MUSIC: Possible tunes:
CHRISTMAS, G.F. Handel, arr. Lowell Mason, 1821.
WINCHESTER OLD, Este’s Psalms, 1592 (without repeated last line)
Advent 3A: See, the desert shall rejoice
See, the desert shall rejoice, blossoming and blooming,
Brimming with new life against all the darkness looming.
From the wilderness so bleak shall come waters flowing
And the highway of our God, peace and welcome showing.
See how Mary does rejoice, trusting and foretelling
How our Savior will bring forth peace and justice swelling;
Filling up the hungry throng; lifting up the lowly.
This the Savior who she sings; mighty, good, and holy.
See the work Messiah does: seeing, walking, healing,
Hearing, living, good news come, holiness revealing.
Blessed is the one who sees goodness in the Savior
Without taking wrong offense, with no rude behavior.
See how patience is our call, like the farmer planting
Crops that bloom forth from the earth, God all favor granting.
Strengthen now your weary heart; death is not our story,
But rejoicing will return in our Savior’s glory.
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 3A scriptures.
MUSIC: Tune TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM, Piae Cantiones, 1582
(“Good King Wenceslas,” “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child”)
Advent 3A contains perhaps the most fertile combination of scriptures of any Sunday of the whole three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary. Acknowledging all of them is a challenge, but all of them have something to teach us. The tune is in Glory to God with the text “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” but is most famously associated with the popular carol “Good King Wenceslas.”
Advent 4A: Behold and see the promise come
Behold and see the promise come; a woman who will bear a son.
A sign is given from God above, the true and only Holy One.
Behold and hear the holy Word, the gospel of God's only Son:
Once promised in the prophets' lore, now see the long-awaited one.
Behold and see the troubled man, the father of God's Holy Son;
In faith he heeds the angel's call to care for God's Anointed One.
Behold and hear the call today to follow God's most favored Son,
To serve and work and witness sure, to live in Christ who makes us one.
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2020, after Advent 4A scriptures
MUSIC: Tune PUER NOBIS NASCITUR, Trier ms., 14th cent.; adapt. Michael Praetorius, 1609; harm. George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1910.
Bonus/alternate Advent 4A: When Joseph learned
When Joseph learned his bride-to-be was soon to have a child,
He had no wish to cause her harm or hold her up to shame.
A righteous man, his mind was set, to sad choice reconciled,
Until into his restless dreams the Lord’s own angel came.
“Oh, son of David, do the good; take Mary as your wife;
The child in her is Spirit-made of God’s own true design.
This son she bears will save us all from sin and give us life.”
The angel’s word did give him strength and his good task define.
Then came to mind these prophet words: “the woman bears a son,
His name shall be Immanuel,” God-with-us for all time.
So Joseph woke and knew his work was only now begun;
To be at Mary’s side when she gave birth to life sublime.
So Joseph did the Lord’s command, and was, both strong and true,
The earthly father of God’s Son; this work became his call.
Now give we thanks for one who did what God called him to do,
And take his good obedience as model for us all.
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Matthew 1:18-25
MUSIC: Suggested Tunes:
NOEL (Sullivan), English melody, arr. Arthur Sullivan, 1874 (Sometimes associated with “It came upon the midnight clear”)
ST. LOUIS, Lewis Henry Redner, 1868 (“O little town of Bethlehem”)
FOREST GREEN, English folk tune, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906 (alternate tune for “O little town of Bethlehem”)
I had written this hymn a year before the set above. The hymns in the set reach across multiple scripture readings for each Sunday, while this reading clearly focuses on the gospel reading for 4A. Still, I have a soft spot for this hymn; thanks to various settings of the Magnificat Mary gets a decent amout of hymn time, but Joseph? Not so much. Here's one for Jesus's silent but obedient earthly father.
