ON THE OCCASION OF A DISASTER

Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus:

Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish,

comfort those who mourn,

strengthen those who are weary,

encourage those in despair,

and lead us all to fullness of life;

through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer,

who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.  Amen.

Readings

Job 14:7-13 or Jeremiah 31:15-20

Psalm 60 or 130 or 80:1-7 or 23

Romans 8:35-38 or Revelation 21:1-7 or Romans 8:18-25

Luke 6:20-26 or Mark 13:14-27

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 733

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IN A TIME OF NATURAL DISASTER

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.

In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,

and vanquished demonic powers.

Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,

and all forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.

Keep us from calling disaster your justice.

Help us, in good times and in distress,

to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.

Amen.

–Andy Langford, in The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), 509

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DURING A NATIONAL CRISIS

God of ages,

in your sight nations rise and fall,

and pass through times of peril.

Now when our land is troubled,

be near to judge and save.

May leaders be led by your wisdom;

may they search your will and see it clearly.

If we have turned from your way,

help us to reverse our ways and repent.

Give us light and your your truth to guide us;

through Jesus Christ,

who is the Lord of this world, and our Savior.  Amen.

—Book of Common Worship (1993), 818

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TIME OF CONFLICT, CRISIS, DISASTER

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope.

Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance.

Where impossibilities close every door and and window, grant imagination and resistance.

Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination.

Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grand soaring wings and strengthened dreams.

All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 76

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TIME OF CIVIC MOURNING

God our creator, through whose providing care we enjoy all goodness and life,

turn our eyes to your mercy at this time of confusion and loss.

Comfort this nation as we mourn;

shine your light on those whose only companion is darkness;

and teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to your wisdom;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 77

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

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Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

Paraphrase (1924) of Psalm 139:23 and 24 by Claus August Wendell (1866-1950)

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Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy;

Try me, Thou who from afar

Knowest all my secrets;

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Blessed Saviour, lead Thou me

In the way eternal.

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The Service Book and Hymnal (immediate predecessors of the American Lutheran Church [1960] and the Lutheran Church in America [1962], 1958) also contains the above text verbatim.

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The Lutheran Book of Worship (immediate predecessors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [1987], 1978) modernizes the text and makes it the second verse of a composite hymn, with a new first verse (beginning with “Wondrous are your ways, O God!”) by Joel W. Lundeen.  The modernized version of the text by Wendell follows:

Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy.

From afar, O Lord, you know

All my thoughts and secrets.

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Cleanse, forgive me by your grace;

Grant me life eternal.

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Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1993) also modernizes the Wendell text and uses it as the second verse of a composite hymn.  However, this hymn book alters the Lundeen text.

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The text by Wendell is absent from the current Lutheran  denominational hymnals in my collection:

1. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1994),
2. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1996),
3. Worship Supplement 2000 (Church of the Lutheran Confession, 2000),
4. Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006), and
5. Lutheran Service Book (The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, 2006).

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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

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This is a hymn for use in time of war.  Sadly, we human beings keep acting is ways which keep the sentiments of the hymn current.

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This is one of those great Anglican contributions to English-language hymnody.

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PART THE FIRST:  THE BEGINNING

The story begins with Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808-1872), a Quaker-born novelist, playwright, libretticist, and literary and music critic in London, England, the United Kingdom.  In 1842 he published a hymn, “God, the All-Terrible! Thou Who Ordainest.”  My sources identified the the publication as having occurred in Part Music (1842), by John Pike Hullah (1812-1884).  A search at hymnary.org led me to my reprint of the Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes (Henry Ward Beecher, Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1855), where I found these verses:

1.  God, the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest

Thunder Thy clarion, and lightning Thy sword;

Show forth Thy pity on high where Thou reignest,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God, the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger,

Watching invisible, judging unheard;

Save us in mercy, O save us from danger,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the all-merciful! earth hath forsaken

Thy ways all holy, and slighted Thy word;

But not Thy wrath in its terror awaken,

Give to us pardon and peace, O Lord.

4.  So will Thy people with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,

Peace to the nations, and praise to the Lord.

(Hymn #1101)

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PART THE SECOND:  UNITARIANS DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864), included an abbreviated and different version of the text, starting with the second stanza.  Thus the hymn became “God, the Omnipotent! Mighty Avenger!”  The context of the U.S. Civil War was evident:

1.  God the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger!

Watching invisible, judging unheard!

Save Thou our land in the hour of her danger,

Give to us peace in Thy time, O Lord!

2.  Thunder and lightnings Thy judgment have sounded;

Letters of flame have recorded Thy word,

‘Only in righteousness true peace is founded’:

Give us that peace in Thy time, O Lord!

3.  So shall the people, with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,–

‘Peace to the nation, and praise to the Lord!’

(Hymn #262)

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PART THE THIRD:  ENTER JOHN ELLERTON

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church of England and author of no fewer than 86 hymns, wrote “God the Almighty One, Wisely Ordaining,” based on Chorley’s hymn.  The text debuted in Robert Brown-Borthwick’s Select Hymns for Church and Home (The Church of England, 1871).  I found the original version of that hymn via Google Books.

1.  God the Almighty One, wisely ordaining

Judgments unsearchable, famine and sword;

Over the tumult of war Thou are reigning;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

2.  God the All-righteous One! man hath defied Thee;

Yet to eternity standeth Thy word;

Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

3.  God the All-pitiful, is it not crying,

Blood of the guiltless like water outpoured?

Look on the anguish, the sorrow, the sighing;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

4.  God, the All-wise! by the fire of Thy chastening

Earth shall to freedom and truth be restored;

Through the thick darkness Thy kingdom is hast’ning,

Thou wilt give peace in Thy time, O Lord!

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PART THE FOURTH:  THE JOINING AND SUBSEQUENT VARIATIONS AND ALTERATIONS

The first joining of the Chorley and Ellerton texts occurred in the 1874 revision of Church Hymns (The Church of England, 1871), as one can read for oneself by following the hyperlink and seeking hymn #262.  Since then many hymnals have contained various composites of the Chorley and Ellerton texts, frequently with alterations to them.  The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) contained the hymn, but listed it as “God, Lord of Sabaoth, Thou Who Ordainest.”  The hymn was “God the All-Merciful! Earth Hath Forsaken” in the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917) but “God the Omnipotent! King, Who Ordainest” in the Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  The influential Hymnal (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895) and its successor from 1911 listed the hymn as “God, the All-Terrible,” but The Hymnal (1933) changed the title to “God the Omnipotent.”  Among more conservative Presbyterians (especially in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America) who use either the 1961 or the 1990 versions of the Trinity Hymnal, God remains “All-terrible.”  God was “All-terrible” in The Methodist Hymnal (Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1905), but “Omnipotent” in The Methodist Hymnal of 1935 (Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Protestant Church, and Methodist Episcopal Church, South; later The Methodist Church, 1939-1968).  As late as The Hymnal of 1918 (Episcopal Church, authorized in 1916) God was “All-Terrible,” but the deity was “Omnipotent” instead in The Hymnal 1940 (published in 1943).  The consensus among hymnal committees is that God is “Omnipotent,” not “All-terrible.”

The variation on the hymn in The Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal Church, 1985) contains four stanzas–two from Chorley, two from Ellerton, and all of them altered.  This is the version I sing in church:

1.  God the Omnipotent! King, who ordainest

thunder thy clarion, the lightning thy sword;

show forth thy pity on high where thou reignest:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God the All-merciful! earth hath forsaken

thy ways all holy, and slighted thy word;

bid not thy wrath in its terrors awaken:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the All-righteous One! earth hath defied thee;

yet eternity standeth thy word,

falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside thee:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

4.  God the All-provident! earth by thy chastening

yet shall to freedom and truth be restored;

through the thick darkness thy kingdom is hastening:

thou wilt give peace in thy time, O Lord.

Hymn writer Brian Wren (1936-) wrote of hymns in Praying Twice:  The Music and Words of Congregational Song (Louisville, KY:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2000, page 297):

I have shown that congregational songs are communal.  Though they usually originate from particular authors, their primary purpose is to give shared expression to shared experience, not parade the author’s personality.  Because they are communal a faith community may, in principle amend them.

The story of “God the Omnipotent!” fits that statement well.

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PART THE FIFTH:  DROPPING THE HYMN

Denominations revise their official hymnals from time to time.  In so doing they add some texts and remove others.  Here is a partial list of denominations which have removed “God the Omnipotent!” (however they have listed it) from their official hymnody as of 2015, based on hymnals of which I own physical copies:

1. the American Baptist Churches U.S.A., during their transition from the Hymnbook for Christian Worship (1970) to no official hymnal;
2. the Anglican Church of Canada, during the transition from The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971) to Common Praise (1998);
3. the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, during the transition from The Covenant Hymnal (1973) to The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996);
4. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, during the transition from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006);
5. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996);
6. the Free Methodist Church of North America and the Wesleyan Church, during their transition from Hymns of Faith and Life (1976) to no official hymnal;
7. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, during its transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Lutheran Worship (1982) and the Lutheran Service Book (2006);
8. the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), by way of its predecessors, the Presbyterian Church in the United States and The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., during the transition from The Hymnbook (1955) to The Worshipbook–Services and Hymns (1972);
9. the Reformed Church in America, during its transition from Rejoice in the Lord:  A Hymn Companion to the Scriptures (1985) to Lift Up Your Hearts:  Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (2013);
10. the Southern Baptist Convention, during the transition from Baptist Hymnal (1956) to Baptist Hymnal (1975); the text is absent even from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship‘s Celebrating Grace Hymnal (2010);
11. the Unitarian Universalist Association, sometime after Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864) and before Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association and Universalist Church of America, 1937);
12. The United Methodist Church, during its transition from The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957) and The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966) to The United Methodist Hymnal:  Book of United Methodist Worship (1992); and
13. the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993); neither is the hymn present in Christian Worship:  Supplement (2008).

That list covers a wide theological range.  So does the list of denominations which have retained it–from The Episcopal Church to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to the United Church of Christ to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America.  The list of denominations which have never added it to their official hymnody is also diverse, ranging from the Christian Reformed Church of North America to the Church of Nazarene.  Sometimes the presence or absence of the hymn indicates more about tastes in hymnody and worship style than about theology.

Another piece of supporting evidence for that conclusion comes from two non-denominational Evangelical hymnals Tom Fettke edited:  The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (1986) and The Celebration Hymnal:  Songs and Hymns for Worship (1997).  The former contains the hymn which is the subject of this post, but the latter does not.  A Victorian hymn set to the majestic former Russian national anthem does not fit with contemporary worship, with its seven-eleven songs, does it?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 21, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF J. B. PHILLIPS, BIBLE TRANSLATOR AND ANGLICAN PRIEST

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Above:  Dawn on a River

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source #1 = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Hymn Source #2 = Moravian Book of Worship (1995), Moravian Church in America

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Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, offers a different translation, the first words of which are “Rise, O Sun of Righteousness.”

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The Moravian Book of Worship (1995) contains an altered translation, which begins:

Sun of righteousness, arise;

dawn upon our clouded skies;….

C. Daniel Crews (1947-) and Roy Ledbetter (1949-) prepared their translation in 1977.  Crews revised it in 1994.

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The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971) contains the first four stanzas.  The Moravian Book of Worship (1995) contains the fifth stanza.

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Stanza #1 by Christian David (1690-1751); Translated by Jay Macpherson (1931-2012)

Stanzas #2 and 4 by Christian Gottlob Barth (1799-1862); Translated by Jay Macpherson (1931-2012)

Stanza #3 by Johann Christian Nehring (1671-1736); Translated by Jay Macpherson (1931-2012)

Stanza #5 by Johann Christian Nehring (1671-1736); Translated by C. Daniel Crews (1947-) and Roy Ledbetter (1949-)

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1.  Sun of righteousness, shine forth;

dawn upon this age of earth;

in thy church let light appear,

till the world shall see it clear.

Have mercy, Lord.

2.  Wake dead Christendom from sleep,

lapped in comfort, drowsing deep;

tell thy name and acts abroad;

show this land thou art God.

Have mercy, Lord.

3.  See our sad divisions, Lord;

heal by thy unbroken word;

gather, shepherd of mankind,

all the lost, the hurt, the blind.

Have mercy, Lord.

4.  Help us to behold afar

in this age thy glory’s star,

that, in what small strength we own,

knightly virtue may be show.

Have mercy, Lord.

5.  Glory, praise, and royal might

to our God of endless light,

who is perfect, three in one,

and unites us in the Son:

have mercy, Lord.

Above:  The Luther Rose

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe (1889-1941), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was one of the best hymn writers and translators the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) produced.  Her texts seem to have fallen out of favor with editorial committees recent North American Lutheran hymnals, however.  My survey of the most recent denominational hymnals (1993-2006) among North American Lutherans has yielded the following results:

1. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996, The Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)–no Hoppe hymns;
2. Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Lutheran Service Book (2006, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)–one Hoppe hymn each; and
3. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (1994, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations)–two Hoppe hymns.

Also, The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996, the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, a close relation to Scandinavian Lutheranism) contains one Hoppe hymn.

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By Nature Deaf to Things Divine:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/by-nature-deaf-to-things-divine/

Desire of Every Nation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/desire-of-every-nation/

Eternal God, Our Father:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/eternal-god-our-father/

Have Ye Heard the Invitation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/have-ye-heard-the-invitation/

Heavenly Sower, Thou Hast Scattered:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/heavenly-sower-thou-hast-scattered/

How Blest Are They Who Through the Power of Heaven-Kindled Faith:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/how-blest-are-they-who-through-the-power-of-heaven-kindled-faith/

I Open Wide the Portals of My Heart:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/i-open-wide-the-portals-of-my-heart/

Jesus, O Precious Name:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/jesus-o-precious-name/

Like Enoch, Let Me Ever Walk With Thee:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/let-enoch-let-me-ever-walk-with-thee/

Lord Jesus Christ, the Children’s Friend:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/lord-jesus-christ-the-childrens-friend/

O Dear Redeemer Crucified:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-dear-redeemer-crucified/

O Father Mine, Whose Mercies Never Cease:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-father-mine-whose-mercies-never-cease/

O Friend of Sinners, Son of God:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-friend-of-sinners-son-of-god/

O Precious Saviour, Heal and Bless:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-precious-saviour-heal-and-bless/

The Sower Goeth Forth to Sow:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-sower-goeth-forth-to-sow/

This Night a Wondrous Revelation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/this-night-a-wondrous-revelation/

Thou Goest to Jerusalem:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-goest-to-jerusalem/

Thou Hast Indeed Made Manifest:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-hast-indeed-made-manifest/

Thou Lord of Life and Death:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-lord-of-life-and-death/

Jesus, Thou from Death Hast Risen:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/jesus-thou-from-death-hast-risen/

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Above:  The Sun

Image Source = Lykaestria

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Words by Johann Heermann (1585-1647)

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1.  O Christ, our light, O Radiance true,

shine forth on those estranged from you,

and bring them to your home agan,

where their delight shall never end.

2.  Fill with the radiance of your grace

the wand’rers lost in error’s maze.

Set free all those whose hearts and minds

some deep delusion haunts and binds.

3.  Lord, open all reluctant ears

and take away the needless fears

of those who tremble to express

the faith their inmost hearts confess.

4.  Lord, let your mercy’s gentile ray

shine down on others strayed away.

To those in conscience wounded sore

show heaven’s waiting, open door.

5.  Make theirs with ours a single voice

uplifted, ever to rejoice

with wond’ring gratitude and praise to you,

O Lord, for boundless grace.

Ruins of Old St. Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry, England, with the New Cathedral to the Right

Image Source = Wikipedia

The Official Website of the Cathedral:

http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Words (in 1996) by the Reverend Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. (1923-2007), a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1976-1989)

(http://www.wfn.org/2007/03/msg00237.html)

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1.  Where armies scourge the countryside,

and people flee in fear,

where sirens scream through flaming nights,

and death is ever near:

O God of mercy, hear our prayer:

bring peace to earth again!

2.  Where anger festers in the heart,

and strikes with cruel hand;

where violence stalks the troubled streets,

and terror haunts the land:

O God of mercy, hear our prayer:

bring peace to earth again!

3.  Where homes are torn by bitter strife,

and love dissolves in blame;

where walls you meant for shelt’ring care

hide deeds of hurt and shame:

O God of mercy, hear our prayer:

bring peace to earth again!

4.  O God, whose heart compassionate

ev’ry human pain,

redeem this violent, wounding world

till gentleness shall reign.

O God of mercy, hear our prayer:

bring peace to earth again!

The Free Clinic of Simi Valley, California

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Words (in 2002) by the Reverend Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. (1923-2007), a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1976-1989)

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1.  We come to you for healing, Lord,

of body, mind, and soul,

and pray that by, your Spirit’s touch,

we may again be whole.

2.  As once you walked through ancient streets

and reached toward those in pain,

come, risen Christ, among us still

with power to heal again.

3.  You touch us through physicians’ skills,

through nurses’ gifts of care,

and through the love of faithful friends

who lift our lives in prayer.

4.  When nights are long with wakefulness,

through days when strength runs low,

grant us your gift of patience, Lord,

your calming peace to know.

5.  We come to you, O loving Lord,

in our distress and pain,

in trust that through our nights and days

your grace will heal, sustain.

A Russian Orthodox Icon for Pentecost

Image Source = Wikipedia

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Words (in 2000) by the Reverend Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. (1923-2007), a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1976-1989)

(http://www.wfn.org/2007/03/msg00237.html)

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1.  God of tempest, God of whirlwind,

as on Pentecost descend!

Drive us out from sheltered comfort;

past these walls your people send!

Sweep us into costly service,

there with Christ to bear the cross,

there with Christ to bear the cross!

2. God of blazing, God of burning,

all that blocks your purpose, purge!

Through your church, Christ’s living Body,

let your flaming Spirit surge!

Where deceit conceals injustice,

kindle us to speak your truth,

kindle us to speak your truth!

3.  God of earthquake, God of thunder,

shake us loose from lethargy!

Break the chains of sin asunder,

for earth’s healing set us free!

Crumble walls that still divide us;

make us one in Christ our Lord,

make us one in Christ our Lord!

4.  God of passion, God unsleeping,

stir in us love’s restlessness!

Where the people cry in anguish,

may we share your heart’s distress.

Rouse us from content with evil;

claim us for your kingdom’s work,

claim us for your kingdom’s work!

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/fiftieth-day-of-easter-day-of-pentecost-year-b/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/fiftieth-day-of-easter-day-of-pentecost-year-a/

An Oasis

Image Source = David Shankbone

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Words (in 2002) by the Reverend Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. (1923-2007), a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1976-1989)

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1.  As the deer runs to the river,

parched and weary from the chase,

we have come from hurt and hurry,

thirsting for your healing grace.

Jesus, source of living water,

may we drink of you and live!

2.  When your Israel crossed the desert

where no stream or spring was seen,

Moses struck the rock, and water

flowed for them, refreshing, clean.

Jesus, source of living water,

may we drink of you and live!

3.  “Come and drink,” Isaiah summoned,

“all who for God’s mercy plead!

God’s forgiveness, like a fountain,

flows to satisfy your need.”

Jesus, source of living water,

may we drink of you and live!

4.  Christ, we come from desert places,

deepest thirst unsatisfied.

Lead us to the waters flowing

from the cross on which you died.

Jesus, source of living water,

may we drink of you and live!