March 25, 2012: The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Mar 25 2012

Hymn: In the Cross of Christ I Glory

This hymn is loosely based on Galatians 6:14 (May I never boast except in the cross of Christ) and is the best known of John Bowring’s hymns. The first line of the hymn is inscribed on his tombstone. The tune RATHBUN has an interesting story: One Sunday in 1849 at Central Baptist Church in Norwich, Connecticut, the pastor was preaching a series on “Words on the Cross” and used the hymn to what might be termed a forgettable tune. There was bad weather that day, and only one choir member showed up for the service. In his disappointment, Ithamar Conkey, the choir director, went home and composed a new tune, dedicating it to the soprano who faithfully showed up, Mrs. Beriah S. Rathbun.

Hymn: The Church’s One Foundation

The text of this hymn was penned in response to the Colenso affair (1866), in which a South African bishop made critical statements about the Bible and questioned aspects of the Christian faith. Samuel John Stone responded by writing this hymn; the third stanza is a direct reference to this affair.

Hymn: In Christ There Is No East or West

William Arthur Dunkerley wrote this hymn under the pseudonym John Oxenham for a “Pageant of Light and Darkness.”  The event was part of the London Missionary Society Exhibition called “The Orient in London” in 1908. Paul Westermeyer writes that the hymn poses Christ as the light in whom the directional distinctions disappear. Oxenham’s poetry particularly emphasizes the color gold, and it is reflected in the hymn’s reference to Christ’s “service” as the “golden cord” binding humanity.

8:30 Anthem: I Want Jesus to Walk With Me

LindaJo McKim writes, “The words of this African-American spiritual indicate that slaves viewed life as a pilgrimage from bondage into the Promised Land. They identified strongly with Jesus, who, born on the fringe of society, became the burden bearer of the downtrodden and oppressed. The spiritual demonstrates that Jesus is the only one able to walk with the pilgrim through all the trials and troubles of life.”

10:55 Anthem: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

The author of this text, Horatius Bonar, published his hymn under the title “The Voice from Galilee.” The hymn spins off from John 1:16, “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” Paul Westermeyer writes, “Each stanza is Jesus’ call in the first two lines and our response in the last two, expressing the shalom that Jesus brings.” Thomas Tallis, sometimes called the “father of English church music,” wrote the tune for this piece; the tune was used for a metrical Psalter published in 1567 and originally employed as the setting for Psalm 2. The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’ famous piece Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis employs this tune.