There once was a father

There once was a father who lived with his sons,

And hear how the story is told;

One son who took off with his share of the fortune,

One who did stay in the fold.

The one son who fled was in over his head;

His fortune and favor were gone.

So he lived in despair, feeding pigs for a living;

He lived hungry, cold, and alone.

 

He came to his senses and made up his mind 

That he would return to his home.

He would not claim sonship, but seek only labor,

No longer living to roam.

But soon came his father in haste and in love, and

Yearning to welcome him in;

Fatted calf, finest robe, a new ring and new sandals,

And soon the great feast would begin.

 

The son who had stayed heard the noise, saw the joy,

And he was in anger and sore

That father rejoiced for this derelict son

Who had been so reckless before.

The father replied, "yes, you stayed by my side,

And all that I have is for you,

But this son who was lost, who was dead, now is found safe,

And this we must celebrate too!"

 

There once was a father who lived with his sons

But did his sons now live with him?

One son who sought only to be hired labor,

One who was angry and grim.

Now this is the story, but what does it mean,

And what are we followers to do?

So pay heed to the Father who loves with abandon,

And wonder, which lost son are you?

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2025, after Luke 15:11-32 (Lent 4C).

MUSIC: Tune SAMANTHRA, American folk melody.

 

A folk song to tell a familiar story and questions to end it without an ending.

 

 

Prepare the way, O people, revised

Prepare the way, O people! Your Christ is drawing near!

Cry out to this great city, so all can see and hear!

A borrowed colt he's riding, God's holy reign betiding.

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

Spread out your coats, O people! Make clear your Teacher's way!

Make smooth the road before him on this great joyous day!

Sing out and shout with gladness! This is no time for sadness!

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

Blessed is the one, O people, the one who comes to save;

The one who comes in God's name, who saves us from the grave!

Here on this colt proceeding, even now for us he's pleading;

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2024, after Mark 11:1-11.

MUSIC: Tune BEREDEN VÄG FÖR HERRAN, Then Swenska Psalmboken, 1697; arr. American Lutheran Hymnal, 1930.

 

 

This might be a bad habit, but I have a tendency to find a hymn suited to a particular season or occasion and create a hymn in parallel to it but tied to a different season or occasion. Here the original, a good lively Advent hymn, provides the model for a Palm Sunday text, another occasion when "preparing the way" was the call of the day. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like sometimes it might be a good thing to make connections across the different seasons of the liturgical year. This was written last year for the reading from Mark's gospel; changing two words made it suitable for this year's Luke reading. 

When Jesus, full of Spirit

When Jesus, full of Spirit, came into the lonely wilderness,

He faced a tempter bound to foil his earthly work and true witness.

Not pains of hunger, fame nor power would sway our Christ from standing fast.

Our Jesus, filled with Spirit, showed how we should follow to the last.

 

When filled with Spirit, Christians need not strain for power or for fear,

For God alone is all our power and God will lead us to draw near.

When filled with Spirit, Christians need not put our God unto the test;

We turn to God not for display, we turn for sustenance and rest.

 

When filled with Spirit, Christians need not seek out stones to turn to bread.

So many suffer hungry want, but our work is to share instead;

To lay aside our selfish pride and live so no one else has need,

To end the hoarding plunder wrought by raw, unyielding, selfish greed.

 

See how each testing faced by Christ points deep into our daily life:

When we give in to tempter's wiles, we fill our world with pain and strife.

But filled with Spirit we will live upon the words of God alone

Till all our hearts dwell in God's love with all temptation finally gone.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2025, after Luke 4:1-13.

MUSIC: Tune YE BANKS AND BRAES, Scottish melody.

 

 

Somehow I had written two different texts on Matthew's temptation account, but never either the Mark or Luke stories. In this case the emphasis will fall on how those temptations Jesus faced play out in our own lives and what guidance we might draw from the experience.