Take on the mind of Christ

Take on the mind of Christ our Lord: though God in every way,

He did not cling to heav’nly form, but gave himself away.

 

Take on the mind of Christ our Lord: he took a servant mind,

Yes, Christ, the Everlasting One took on our human kind.

 

Take on the mind of Christ our Lord, who did not call it loss

To be obedient to the end of death upon a cross.

 

So at the name of Christ our Lord, let every knee now bend,

And every tongue confess him Lord forever, without end.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019-20, after Philippians 2:5-8 (10-11)

MUSIC: Tune DETROIT, Supplement to Kentucky Harmony, 1820.

The first three stanzas were written about a year ago, more as a challenge or test than for any particular immediate usage. Lo and behold, the passage appears in the lectionary in a couple of weeks, and that last half I didn't know what to do with suddenly became verse four.