Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A: January 29, 2023

OPENING VOLUNTARY O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet)

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
See the text and tune at ELW 

This hymn is undeniably Lutheran. Written by the revered German Lutheran pastor and hymnodist Philipp Niccolai (1556-1608), it is often honored with the title "Queen of the Lutheran Chorales."

The hymn appears in many denominational hymnals, but is probably not sung very often outside of Lutheran churches. I never sang it before coming to St. Mark's sixteen years ago. I knew the tune from having studied some organ works and from its famously being quoted in Mendelssohn's "There Shall a Star Come Out of Jacob."

Even in the little Lutheran church where I was baptized and confirmed, I don't think it was ever sung.

Now I look forward to Epiphany (and Sundays after Epiphany) every year just for the chance to sing it again!

We know that this non-season is still a time of light and Jesus being manifested to the world. We have heard the beatitudes read a thousand times! Today, try to hear them as the people on the mountain heard them - Jesus is revealing the heart of his message: the Kingdom of God is already here and it is for the "lowly and pure in heart." (See the Prayer of the Day)

View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of the Beatitudes

Gade's setting is a gentle one with fresh, but not startling, harmonies. The solo melody is accompanied by chords that give dignity to the melody.

GATHERING HYMN Rejoice! Ye Pure in Heart (Marion) ELW 873

HYMN OF THE DAY Oh, Praise the Gracious Power (Christpraise Ray) ELW 651

Thomas Troeger (1945-2022) wrote this hymn for the ordination of Judith Ray, ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1984. Her surname is included in the title of the tune by Carol Doran (b. 1936). 

Take note of the refrain which begins with an ascending line to the word "cross" - a musical way to "lift high the cross."

MUSICAL OFFERING Prayer of St. Francis Allen Pote

"Give us. . .perseverance in striving for peace. . ." is our petition in the Prayer of the Day.
In today's gospel reading Jesus tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers. . ."

We can't be sure that St. Francis wrote the prayer that has been famously attributed to him. Francis lived c. 1182-1226 and the words are not found in his preserved writings. The poem prayer doesn't appear in print until 1912 (according to Wikipedia).

I can't help but think Francis would have embraced this prayer - and that we should embrace it too. The editors of Evangelical Lutheran Worship included it under the prayers for Spiritual Life on page 87, along with prayers from other pillars of the church.

COMMUNION HYMN Look Who Gathers at Christ's Table (Copeland) ACS 977
This hymn imagines the assembly gathered for worship, bringing their whole lives with them - their joy and their pain. . . There might be some who feel unworthy because of their sin, but Jesus assures them they are welcome: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) (From Sundays and Seasons)

SENDING HYMN To Be Your Presence (Engelberg) ELW 546

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Trumpet Rondeau
Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738), arr. Rick Parks

COMING EVENT! PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR!

Sources:
Wikipedia
Sundays and Seasons
Evangelical Lutheran Worship

St. Francis with birds, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54969 [retrieved January 28, 2023]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenarpoetry/4081925516/. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lac_de_Tiberiade_vu_du_mont_des_Beatitudes.JPG#/media/File:Lac_de_Tiberiade_vu_du_mont_des_Beatitudes.JPG

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year A: January 15, 2023

Many people recall a time when we referred to Epiphany as a season. It's easy to see why we did this. Since "Epiphany" means "manifestation," it's hard to miss Jesus being revealed to the nations throughout this green period. We see Jesus baptized and then begin his ministry as he calls his first disciples. We hear his signature teachings from the Sermon on the Mount, and then we see him transfigured.

So why don't we call it a season anymore?

The main reason is to show the Feast of the Epiphany as the close of the Christmas season. There will still be plenty of Epiphany-like references - especially in our hymns! Even in the liturgy we'll continue to sing the song of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest and peace to God's people on earth!"

OPENING VOLUNTARY Jesus, Come! For We Invite You (Union Seminary)

Charles Callahan

The text and tune can be seen at ELW 312.
Callahan's setting offers lush harmonies that only hint at the tune as he takes us through a number of keys. The middle portion is a straight-forward rending of the hymn. Listen for three solo voices from the organ's stops: clarinet, oboe, and flute.

GATHERING HYMN O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet) ELW 308

This is one of the most Lutheran hymns you can find. It is such a part of our story that we have given it a nickname - "Queen of the Lutheran chorales." (Do you know which hymn is called the "King of the Lutheran chorales?" The answer is at the bottom of this post!

The opening lines remind us of Revelation 22 where Jesus declares, "I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." (NRSV)

A beautiful Epiphany star? Maybe, but you can see it all year round at the local Cantina Louie restaurant.

PSALM 40

The bulletin incorrectly refers to this psalm setting as a metrical setting, but it is actually a paraphrase. The melody was composed by William Billings - a composer from America's colonial period.

HYMN OF THE DAY Hail to the Lord's Anointed (Freut euch, ihr lieben) ELW 311

MUSICAL OFFERING What Feast of Love

Brian Wentzel
See the text and tune at ELW 487. Wentzel has written a new melody for this text, then pairs it with the popular Greensleeves.

COMMUNION HYMN Christ, Be Our Light (Christ Be Our Light) ELW 715

SENDING HYMN Rise, Shine, You People (Wojtkiewiecz) ELW 665

We don't just leave worship when it's over, we are SENT from worship by the same Spirit that gathered us The final stanza of Ronald A. Klug's hymn, which feels like a musical benediction and dismissal, uses Trinitarian language to remind us what we should be doing before the next time we gather:
Tell how the Father sent the Son to save us.
Tell of the Son, who life and freedom gave us. 
Tell how the Spirit calls from every nation God's new creation.

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Festive Processional

David Lasky  
Our organ has trumpets - and we'll hear them all before this piece is over!

sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress
Keeping Time, Augsburg Fortress
The Sunday Assembly, Augsburg Fortress
Sundays and Seasons
Evangelical Lutheran Worship

Epiphany of Our Lord, Year A: January 6, 2023

OPENING VOLUNTARY As with Gladness Men of Old (Dix)

setting, Bob Moore

As you listen, you may hear "For the Beauty of the Earth." Try to set that aside and, instead, look at the text at ELW 302. A direct nod to today's gospel reading, this hymn is prayer that we may also seek Jesus - both in this life, and in the next one.

GATHERING HYMN Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning (Morning Star) ELW 303

HYMN OF THE DAY When a Star Is Shining (Where the Promise Shines) 

ACS 915

While it references gold, frankincense, and myrrh, this hopeful Epiphany hymn makes no mention of the wandering magi. After singing it, we might feel we are the magi being guided to the place where we will behold our redemption. Whatever the poet's intention, it is to Canadian hymnwriter Sylvia Dunstan's credit that her words open up this possibility. Bob Moore (the composer of the Gospel Acclamation at ELW 169) has given us a memorable tune that works well in the assembly's voice.
(From Sundays and Seasons © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.)

Bob Moore, a composer of church music who lives in Jacksonville, also composed the opening voluntary.

MUSICAL OFFERING What Feast of Love (Greensleeves) ELW 487

This hymn will instantly call to mind the Christmas carol "What Child Is This" - one of my favorite hymns of the season. As we sing the last stanza of "What Child Is This," we can easily imagine ourselves gathered with the magi, bringing our own gifts along with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

But "What Feast of Love" turns that around to reminds us of the gifts Christ brings to us - food and hope of everlasting life, and his precious blood. He gives us himself.

COMMUNION HYMN The First Noêl (The First Nowell) ELW 300

SENDING HYMN Angels from the Realms of Glory (Regent Square)

ELW 275

CLOSING VOLUNTARY O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet) 

This is a happy fughetta on the opening phrase of this well-known (at least for Lutherans) Epiphany hymn. 

Johann Sebastian Bach, with his two wives Maria Barbara and Anna Magdalena, had 20 children. Johann Christian Bach was the 18th and youngest of the sons.

Sources: 

Wikipedia (including the image of angels making music) Eyck, Hubert van, 1366-1426; Eyck, Jan van, 1390-1440. Altar of the Mystical Lamb - Angels Playing Music, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49621 [retrieved January 5, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hubert_van_Eyck_036.jpg.

Sundays and Seasons