Sixth Sunday after Easter

Sixth Sunday after Easter
May 21, 2006

What were the hymns for May 14? I don’t know. It was Youth Sunday, and this is one service I try to avoid whenever I can. Had my grandson been in town he would have played drums, and I would have gone to church. But since he was in North Carolina for the weekend I just skipped church. Youth Sunday sounds like a good idea, but it’s usually pretty awful. Not the kind of worship experience I really need.

This Sunday was wonderful. The readings for today were:
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

The first hymn was Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, written by Joachim Neander 1680, translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1863. The hymn tune is Lobe den Herren (also known as Praxis pietatis) from the Stralsung Gesangbuch from 1665.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near;
praise him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
granted in what he ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the amen
sound from his people again,
gladly for all we adore him.

For the Psalter the choir sang the anthem Sing to the Lord by Lloyd Larson.

The second hymn was Help Us Accept Each Other by Fred Kaan © 1975 Hope Pub. Co. It isn't a particularly wonderful hymn tune, but the text was perfect for the Gospel reading and the sermon today.

Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us;
Teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace.
Be present, God, among us, and bring us to believe
We are ourselves accepted and meant to love and live.

Teach us, O God, your lessons, as in our daily life
We struggle to be human and search for hope and faith.
Teach us to care for people, for all, not just for some,
To love them as we find them, or as they may become.

Let your acceptance change us, so that we may be moved
In living situations to do the truth in love;
To practice your acceptance, until we know by heart
The table of forgiveness and laughter's healing art.

God, for today's encounters with all who are in need,
Who hunger for acceptance, for righteousness and bread,
Bring us new eyes for seeing, new hands for holding on;
Renew us with your Spirit; God! Free us, make us one!

Our anthem was Gloria in Excelsis from Messe 12, which once was attributed to Mozart. Most scholars now believe someone else composed this in Mozart’s style. It was lovely, and we sang it fairly well.

The final hymn was In Christ There Is No East or West written by John Oxenham. Our current hymnal sets this text to the tune McKee and African-America spiritual, adapted and harmonized by Harry T. Burleigh. It is more commonly sung to the tune St.Peter.

In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north;
but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.

In Christ shall true hearts everywhere their high communion find;
his service is the golden cord close binding humankind.

In Christ now meet both east and west, in him meet south and north;
all Christly souls are one in him throughout the whole wide earth.