Christ died for our sins

Christ died for our sins, as scripture has said,

Was buried but then was raised from the dead. 

Appeared to disciples, then five hundred more;

And so came this witness now and evermore.

 

Now siblings in Christ, keep this news at hand,

Good news you received in which you now stand. 

Hold fast to this message that you now believe, 

Which through God's own messengers you did receive.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, January 2025, after 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

MUSIC: Tune LYONS, Joseph Martin Kraus, 1784; alt.

 

 

In the case of this text a bit of slimming down and focusing seemed necessary to keep the text from becoming unwieldy and unworkable. The tune has its own pretty fascinating story to it, about how long its composer took to be recognized and credited for it. 

One body, one Spirit, united in love

One body, one Spirit, united in love,

And joined for the service of our God above;

But many and varied the parts that are found

All joined in one body, by one Spirit bound.

 

Each part of this body is given in God's name;

Each gift is distinctive, no two are the same.

No part is enough if it functions alone,

But all joined together, God's purpose is shown.

 

This body of Christ, by the Spirit alive,

Needs all of these parts for God's mission to thrive.

No parts are alike, no two gifts are the same, 

But all work together in God's holy name.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, January 2025, after 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (Epiphany 3C)

MUSIC: Tune ST. DENIO, Welsh folk melody; arr. Caniadau y Cyssegr, 1839.

Continuing with the post-Epiphany cycle of lectionary readings from 1 Corinthians. Also very much continuing with the theme of "Gifts of the Spirit," the previous hymn in this developing set.

When sages saw a hopeful sign

When sages saw a hopeful sign in one great shining star,

They set off on a journey, no matter how bizarre, 

To see a promised King born in a Land so very far.

These sages did follow a star, traveling far.

These sages did follow a star.

 

They first came to Jerusalem where royalty did reign,

But those who heard their question pulled back in fear and pain.

They finally learned where they should go and traveled on again,

These sages still followed a star, traveling far.

These sages still followed a star.

 

The star struck forth ahead of them and brightly led the way

To Bethlehem in Judah, and there the star did stay,

And there they found the house in which the promised child did stay.

These sages had followed a star, traveling far.

These sages had followed a star.

 

They knelt in worship of the child the star foretold as King, 

But then they saw a vision that told a frightful thing,

So they went home a different way to ward off Herod's sting,

And gave thanks that they followed a star, traveling far

They gave thanks that they followed a star.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, January 2024, after Matthew 2:1-12

MUSIC: Tune GOD REST YOU MERRY (or GOD REST YE MERRY), 

            traditional English melody.

 

 

It seems as if the habit of conflating the journey of the Magi told in Matthew into the nativity story found in Luke is a hard one to break. (Even one of my own texts suitable for Epiphany does so, at least a little.) This represents an attempt to let the Matthew account stand on its own. The tune is of course from a familiar Christmas carol that seems to have faded from use, at least a little bit. (As is often the case, the tune is public domain but many arrangements you might find are not; report accordingly.)

*edited to fix error in measures 2 and 6

See this child laid in a manger

See this child laid in a manger, with his father standing by;

Mother resting from her labor gives a warm and weary sigh.

Jesus Christ as infant coming, all creation standing by.

 

See this child brought to the Temple, cradled in his mother's arms.

Hear the cries from nearby strangers to his parents' great alarms.

Prophets name the child as holy, who for us will suffer harms.

 

See this child and family dwelling, knowing not the threat they face.

Sages from the Eastern empires bear him gifts with awe and grace.

Then, by royal rage endangered, must the family find safe space.

 

See this child back in the Temple, asking questions wise and true.

When his parents found him still there, they chastised with much ado,

But he said, "I am my Father's, and his business I must do."

 

See this child back with his family, growing up and growing wise,

Growing in his Father's favor and as well to human eyes.

Let us learn this holy pattern; let his model be our prize.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2023, after passages from Luke 2 and Matthew 2

MUSIC: Tune TRINITY, Peter Cutts, 1983, as found in The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990. Copyright 1983 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. (not reproduced here due to copyright)

 

 

I don't know why, when I am normally quite proficient at working with public domain tunes, I keep coming back to this one tune that didn't even make it into Glory to God. (It is in the previous 1990 The Presbyterian Hymnal, which is where I first learned it.) This is the third text of mine that has latched onto this tune and refused to let go. The text was provoked by an online discussion of the sometimes-cloying sentimentality of hymns or carols that try to take up Jesus's infancy/childhood, of which we know little. I tried to stick with those things that we do have in scripture, which mostly comes from Luke 2 (with a dash of Matthew 2 thrown in). 

Open our eyes

Open our eyes, that we might know
How heaven came to earth below. 
How did you come and what did you show
In Bethlehem so long ago?
Quietly now we wait for you,
Seeking what you would have us do. 
Show us the good, the just, the true,
Spirit of love.

Open our eyes to see your light,
Filling the skies that holy night.
Show us the way from shepherds’ sad fright
To behold you as all their sight. 
Quietly now we wait for you,
Seeking what you would have us do. 
Show us the good, the just, the true,
Spirit of love.

Open our eyes to now behold
What to those sages was foretold, 
So that to travel they were enrolled 
With myrrh and frankincense and gold.
Quietly now we wait for you,
Seeking what you would have us do. 
Show us the good, the just, the true,
Spirit of love.

Open our eyes and let us see
How what we celebrate can be 
What gives our lives both purpose and glee,
This day we call Epiphany. 
Quietly now we wait for you,
Seeking what you would have us do. 
Show us the good, the just, the true,
Spirit of love.

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, January 2022, after Clara H. Scott.

MUSIC: Tune OPEN MY EYES, Clara H. Scott, 1895.

The end of the twelve days of Christmas seems to call for going forward, but changed in some way by what we have seen and heard. The excellently simple hymn "Open my eyes, that I might see" provided the unlikely point of departure for a plea for the Spirit to open us to understand what we have seen and heard and to move forward with that understanding infused into our lives.

Star-watchers on the road

Star-watchers on the road, out from their Eastern lands,

Are following a special star 'cross rivers, rocks, and sands.

What do they hope to see? What means this stellar sign

To scholars who are traveling far because these stars align?

 

They travel so because they take this star as news

That one now born has come to be a new King of the Jews. 

Their homage they will pay, and gifts they will bestow;

And then, their work complete and done, with gladness they will go.

 

So surely they must seek a palace grand and fair,

For where else might a newborn king be housed and fed but there?

This wondrous guiding star must lead them to a place

Of grandeur fine, and not a town of humble peasant grace.

 

And so they journey on, this special child to find.

They travel with this single goal and regal place in mind.

How can they comprehend what they are yet to see?

And will they come to understand this holy mystery?

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2022.

MUSIC: Tune TERRA BEATA, Franklin L. Sheppard, 1915.

 

 

 

Apparently the "twelve hymns of Christmas" are going to continue, and at this point (being halfway there) why not? What about those Magi traveling so far to see this "king of the Jews"? What are they expecting to see at this stage of their journey?

 

In the time of Christmas present

In the time of Christmas present,

We, to mark Your work begun,

Celebrate the birth of Jesus,

Son of God, the Holy One.

We sing songs of praise and wonder

For the thing that You have done:

"Christ the Savior is born."

 

In our joyous celebrations

Children sing and organs play.

Candles flicker in the darkness

As the night o'ertakes the day.

Still, we long for holy quiet

As we journey on Your way:

"Come, let us adore him."

 

For we wait this holy coming

In a world of blinding noise,

One that in its boisterous clamor

Settles for such lesser toys.

How can we, amidst such furor,

Hear Your word and all its joys?

"Christ the Savior is born."

 

Help us, Lord, in such confusion,

Keep our hearts affixed on You; 

Teach us how to bear Your word in

All we say and all we do.

Train our thoughts on Jesus only,

Who is holy, good, and true:

"Come, let us adore him."

 

 

Text: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2022.

Music: Tune DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, Plainsong, Mode V 

I can only guess that folks who are heavily invovled in a church's observances of the seasons of Advent and Christmas (and maybe even Epiphany) can get thoroughly overwhelmed by the work at times and lose the thread that makes those seasons matter (raises hand). I also wonder if for everybody - ministers, musicians, congregations - it can be sorely challenging to keep that thread amidst the ferocious drumbeat of "the holidays" (a name that in some forms truly respects none of the observances that happen in this time). This text tries to sort through all that. A couple of phrases from familiar carols of the season do pop in, and the use of a chant tune is deliberate in a way I am not certain I can explain, as is the old-fashioned use of capitalized second-person pronouns in addressing God. 

Once a star shone out on high

Once a star shone out on high,

Blazing ‘cross the eastern sky.

From its shining, seekers knew 

That its light would lead to you.

 

God, we need your guiding star,

For we languish where we are;

Our hearts fail in misery

And we wander aimlessly.

 

How we seek your light to shine

And your fire our souls refine!

Like that star of ages past,

Let your sign be sure and fast.

 

Like those ancient seekers’ deed: 

Toward your light help us proceed.

Let our steps be sure and true,

And our star be only you.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2021

MUSIC: Tune SONG 13, Orlando Gibbons, 1623; alt.

 

 

A hymn suitable for Epiphany, and perhaps other times I suppose. 

 

For God alone my soul does wait, alt. tune, revised

For God alone my soul does wait

In silence and in solitude;

My safety is in God alone;

My soul is sheltered and renewed.

 

God is my sole foundation strong,

And my salvation sure and true;

My fortress firm in which I trust,

And which no foe can still undo.

 

For God alone my soul does wait

With silence and with solitude;

My hope lives only in the Lord, 

My soul is sheltered and renewed.

 

Deliverance and honor true

Come only from my God on high; 

My mighty rock is only God,

My refuge when I mourn and cry.

 

O trust our God in all your ways; 

O peoples, trust your Lord above!

Pour out your heart, cry out your prayers

To God our refuge and our love.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2020, after Psalm 62:1-2, 5, 7-8; alt. January 2021

MUSIC: Suggested tune CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM, Sarum plainsong, 9^th cent. (LM); alternate tune O WALY WALY, English folk melody

It's not often I have to say that I've revised a text because of something that came up in my Hebrew prep time for a sermon. That said, I've revised this text because of something that came up in my Hebrew prep time for a sermon. Just two words (or one word twice, more precisely) in the third stanza, but it seemed to matter. 

In days of old your star that shone

In days of old your star that shone 

            Led seekers to the holy place

Where God the Son in human flesh

            Was sheltered in a lowly space.

With great rejoicing they gave gifts

            Of frankincense and myrrh and gold,

Then traveled back to distant homes

            To ponder what they did behold.

When light you give shows us great joy,

            Our hearts are drawn to sing your praise.

We glorify your holy name

            And seek to love you all our days.

But there are days your light will show

            The truths we long to never see:

The roiling violence, rage, and hate

            That we insist just cannot be.

 

We hide our eyes, as best we can,

            From seeing what we have become:

A fearful tribe that will not name 

            The sin to which we now are numb. 

The hates of gender, race, and clan

            We try to claim aren’t really there

Are rendered clear when you command 

            That we oppose them everywhere.

 

So shine your star, unfailing Light,

            On hatreds we seek to avoid,

Lest all our witness to your love

            Be rendered false and then destroyed.

Annul our fear and charge us now

            To name such hate as cruel sin;

And then at last as we speak out,

            Refine our souls with fire within.

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 6 January 2021

MUSIC: Suggested tune ST. PATRICK, Irish melody, arr. Charles Villiers Stanford, 1902; alternate tune YE BANKS AND BRAES, Scottish melody, arr. John L. Bell, 1989, copyright 1989 WGRG Iona Community (admin. GIA Publications, Inc.), hence not reproduced here.

I have always (or at least since hymn writing became a thing for me) wanted to write an Epiphany hymn. This wasn’t the circumstance I was seeking for doing so.