There Is No Christ

How does an age come so afoul

Of all that Jesus said and did,

Now bound to empire's cruel abuse

With hate and rage no longer hid?

Such acts of evil, done with joy,

Pure meanness acted out with bliss;

Do not blaspheme the Lord's name so!

There is no Christ in such as this.

 

How does this church, in Christ made one,

By Spirit led to God's own work,

Turn crazed and stray so far from truth - 

So drunk with power and gone berserk?

How does this church defend itself 

When they Christ's life and words dismiss?

This is not "faithful" anything!

There is no Christ in such as this.

 

How will the churches left behind,

Belittled, scorned, yet holding fast

To how Christ lived and what Christ taught,

Endure and keep faith to the last?

Let not despair derail us now,

No hopelessness drive us amiss;

This is not how the Spirit leads!

There is no Christ in such as this.

 

In Christ shall we withstand and stand,

Condemn the false, raise up the true,

Bind up the wounds and shelter those

On whom the hateful spit and spew.

Stand in Christ's love and Spirit's power,

In God's true grace to bear witness;

This is our work! This is our call!

Christ is revealed in such as this.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, February 2025.

MUSIC: Tune ST. PATRICK, Irish melody,  arr. Charles Villiers Stanford, 1902.

Another hymn of sorts responding to the time in which we live and the failure of the church or some large portion of it to do the right thing.

Stand down, O "men of God"

Stand down, O “men of God,”

To war is not your call;

Brothers in Christ, this is your work:

To love and to serve all. 

 

Stand down, O “men of God,”

No more of lesser things.

Live as our Jesus showed us how

So his true witness sings.

 

Stand down, O “men of God,”

Your work is not to hate;

This does not glorify our God

Whose love for all is great.

 

Stand down, O “men of God,”

Don’t lord it over all;

Women and men are both alike 

Ordained in Jesus’s call. 

 

Stand down, O “men of God,”

Alone is not your call;

To serve together is your work,

Brothers and sisters all.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, February 2025,

MUSIC: Tune ST. THOMAS, Aaron Williams, 1763.

 

Not a hymn for a worship service, at least not one I can immediately imagine. More like a teaching hymn? Self-instruction? Chastisement? I don't know, but I couldn't stop myself from writing it. 

If Christ has not been raised

If Christ has not been raised, 

Your faith has been in vain; 

You still are in your sins with no more hope to gain.

Refrain:

But Christ is raised up from the dead!

The firstfruits of those who have died.

 

If Christ has not been raised,

Our word has been in vain;

Our proclamation brings no more than grief and pain.

Refrain

 

If Christ has not been raised,

False witness is our shame;

That God has raised up Christ has been our word and claim.

Refrain

 

If only for this life

Our hope in Christ is placed,

We of all people should be pitied and disgraced.

Refrain

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, February 2025, after 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.

MUSIC: Tune LOVE UNKNOWN, John Ireland, 1918. Copyright 1924 Trustees of the John Ireland Charitable Trust. 

 

 

Iti is my firm belief that 1 Corinthians 15:19 would be the most heart-wrenching, soul-breaking verse in scripture ... if it were not for 1 Corinthians 15:20. (Tune not reproduced due to copyright.)

Our Christ is not a weapon

Our Christ is not a weapon

For spewing hate and fear.

His name is not for smashing 

Those whom the Lord holds dear.

Christ's enemies may hasten

To injure whom they please,

But those who follow truly

Will love "the least of these."

 

Internments or invasions,

Lies meant to harm or kill,

Or massive deportations

With hatred raging still; 

Those who commit such violence

May reap great power and fame,

But in truth cannot ever

Do these in Jesus's name.

 

The work of Christ can only

Be done in holy love,

Relentless and unyielding

Like that of God above.

Our Christ is not a weapon

For spewing hate and fear;

Let such lies be forever

Denounced for all to hear.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, February 2025.

MUSIC: Suggested tune VALET WILL ICH DER GEBEN, Melchior Teschner, 1614; harm. William Henry Monk, 1861.

Something had to be said.