Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Hymns and Readings for August 6, 2006

This is a weird one. In the United Methodist Church we celebrate the Transfiguration on the last Sunday of Advent, but the church calendar clearly places the celebration of the Transfiguration of Christ on August 6. Why the strange out-of-sequence date? The Feast of the Transfiguration first arose in the Eastern Church and was generally celebrated in late summer, especially on August 6, possibly to replace a Pagan feast on that date. Another suggestion, that the date was chosen because that is the day of the dedication of the Church of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, where the transfiguration is traditionally said to have occurred, is less likely. It is possible that the Pagan celebration was of the grape harvest, for in some churches ( e.g., Russian Orthodoxy and in Rome) grapes or raisins are blessed on August 6, even now. August 6 is uniformly assigned to the Transfiguration in modern Eastern Orthodoxy.

The Western Church did not celebrate the Transfiguration in its early years, and subsequent celebrations were spotty and on various days. After a victory over the Turks at Belgrade by Jan Hunady on August 6, 1456, Pope Callixtus III set the celebration of the Transfiguration on that date as a commemorative. Anglican churches follow the Roman Catholic calendar in this as in most other feast days. The Transfiguration was not assigned a place in the Lutheran calendar originally; and, when it was, it was set on the last Sunday before Lent, a fitting date, as the Transfiguration is the culmination of Jesus's Galilean ministry.

So, this was one of those Sundays when we don’t all read from the same page. Here’s some of the variety of scripture recommended by different churches for August 6.
2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a or Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Episcopal reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Lutheran reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
United Methodist reading: 2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a
Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 78:23-29
Episcopal reading: Psalm 78:1-25 or Psalm 78:14-20, 23-25
Lutheran reading: Psalm 78:23-29
United Methodist reading: Psalm 51:1-12
Ephesians 4:1-16
Episcopal reading: Ephesians 4:17-25

United Methodist reading John 6:24-35
Episcopal Reading Luke 9:28-36

Our first hymn was For the Beauty of the Earth by Folliot S. Perpont. The tune is Dix by Conrad Kocher. John Rutter has set this hymn to another tune in a wonderful anthem.

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.


The second hymn was I Come with Joy by Brian Wren.

I come with joy, a child of God,
forgiven, loved, and free,
the life of Jesus to recall,
in love laid down for me.

I come with Christians far and near
to find, as all are fed,
the new community of love
in Christ's communion bread.

As Christ breaks bread and bids us share,
each proud division ends.
The love that made us makes us one,
and strangers now are friends.

The spirit of the risen Christ,
unseen, but ever near,
is in such friendship better known:
alive and among us here.

Together met, together bound,
by all that God has done,
we'll go with joy, to give the world,
the love that makes us one.

The handbell choir played Broken for You, a wonderful anthem by Kathleen Wissinger.

The first Communion hymn was One Bread, One Body

One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth.
We are one body in this one Lord.

1. Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man, no more.
2. Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.
3. Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one, for all.

The second Communion hymn was This Is the Feast of Victory by John W. Arthur.

This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
Whose blood set us free to be people of God?
Power, riches and wisdom and strength,
And honor and blessing and glory are his.

This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
Sing with all the people of God
And join in the hymn of all creation;
Blessing and honor and glory and might
Be to God and the Lamb forever. "Amen.

This is the feast of victory for our God,
For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign.
Alleluia. Alleluia.”

Our final hymn was This Is a Day of New Beginnings by Brian Wren.

This is the day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is beginning,
laying to rest the pain of the past.

For by the life and death of Jesus,
God's mighty Spirit, now as then.
can make for us a world of difference,
as faith and hope are born again.

Then let us, with the Spirit's daring,
step from the past and leave behind
our disappointments, guilt, and grieving,
seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Christ is alive, and goes before us,
to show and share what love can do.
This is the day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new.