Year C: Music for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost - October 23, 2022

OPENING VOLUNTARY O Day of Peace (Jerusalem)

setting, Charles Callahan

"Sweeping" and "majestic" are both adjectives that describe the music of Englishman C. Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918).

Jerusalem is most associated with with William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time." The poem recounts a fanciful story that Joseph of Arimathea visited England after Jesus' resurrection. While he was there, he preached the gospel. (Many people believe the poem claims Joseph came at an earlier time and brought the child Jesus with him, but this may be a recent interpretation of the story.)

Thanks to the work of Carl P. Daw, Jr. (b. 1944), we have a suitable text to pair with this worthy tune in a Lutheran context. It's also a text that fits nicely with the Prayer of the Day.

GATHERING HYMN For the Fruit of All Creation (Ar hyd y nos)

ELW 679

HYMN OF THE DAY Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright (Song 67)

ELW 745

Today's gospel reading gives us a glimpse into the prayers of two very different people. One prayer is boastful. The other is humble. As we sing this prayer/hymn, we ask God to help us pray like the tax collector, with "reverence and fear" and with "deep humility."

The Pharisee and the Publican
John Everett Millais, ca. 1860

MUSICAL OFFERING Ancient Words

Lynn DeShazo, arr. Mary McDonald

The Isaiah Scroll, part of the "Dead Sea" scrolls

The Apostle Paul's letters are full of theology, history, and advice. I often wonder if he had any idea we would still be reading his letters centuries after he wrote them. I wonder, even more, if he ever thought they would be considered scripture. Last week we had the famous "All scripture is inspired by God" passage - written long before Paul's words became part of the Christian church's canon. Paul's ancient words have been preserved for us along with the words of Christ, and along with the world of the Hebrew Scriptures.

These words are important! Martin Luther, in the Small Catechism, claimed "I believe that by my own understanding I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel. . ."

May the words of the gospel, the words of Paul, and the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures be a lamp for our feet and a light on the path of our faith journey.

COMMUNION HYMN In All Our Grief (Fredericktown)
ELW 615

SENDING HYMN Before You, Lord, We Bow (Darwall's 148th)
ELW 893

Francis Scott Key
attr. Joseph Wood

This text is by Francis Scott Key (1799 - 1843). Yes, THAT Francis Scott Key!
The final stanza goes like this:

And when in pow'r he comes, oh may then every land

from all its rending tombs send forth a glorious band,

a countless throng,

with joy to sing to heav'n's high king salvation's song.

This is the final stanza of the final hymn in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. What a vision to close with! It calls to mind the closing from Revelation:

The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (NRSV)

(Key's writing has been altered for ELW. The original text said "O, may our native land" instead of "oh may then every land.")

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Prelude and Chorale on "Rise, O Sun of Righteousness" (Sonne der Gerechtigkeit)

prelude by Jeffrey Blersch
chorale from Bohemian Brethren, Kirchengeseng, 1566

Sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Paul Westermeyer

Wikipedia

Evangelical Lutheran Worship 

Martin Luther's Small Catechism (ELW, page 1162)

By Sir John Everett Millais - Aberdeen City Council (Archives, Gallery and Museums Collection), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115176851 (Pharisee and the Publican)

By Photographs by Ardon Bar Hama, author of original document is unknown. - Website of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, see link., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12149044  (Scroll photo)

By Attributed to Joseph Wood - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28638793 (Francis Scott Key portrait)

St. Mark's Door graphic by Rachel Mumford, a member of St. Mark's