Live lives worthy of your calling

Lead lives worthy of your calling; 

            Live in humble gentleness.

Live with love for one another,

            Slow to anger, swift to bless.

Strive for unity in Spirit,

            Joined in bonds of sacred peace.

Know the one hope of your calling,

            Hope that will not ever cease.

 

For we live in grace first given

            In the gifts of God alone,

Gifts Christ gave to build the body – 

            Gifts of grace we do not own.

Gifts of teaching and proclaiming,

            Gifts of challenge and of care;

All these gifts our Christ has given

            To his people everywhere.

 

So we live in sacred body,

            Speaking truth in holy love,

Growing always in our Savior,

            Into Christ our Head above.

Let us all praise our Creator;

            Let us praise our Savior true;

Let us praise the Holy Spirit

            In all things we say and do.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2021, after Ephesians 4:1-16.

MUSIC: Suggested tune EBENEZER, Thomas John Williams, 1890.

Other possible tune: BEACH SPRING (but watch out for copyrights on different harmonizations).

 

So I took a liturgy writing workshop at the same Music & Worship conference that set off “The reign of Christ compels us” and "So Jesus came to Bethany," and got moved to write a hymn based on the noted scripture (epistle reading for Ordinary 18B, coming up August 1). What can I say? Hymns are liturgy, as far as I’m concerned.