o thou who camest from above

Each day of Lent I am publishing one of Charles Wesley's hymns or poems. In my experience, the selection of Charles Wesley's hymns that we actually use in worship is very small. This is sad, because his hymns are filled with deep theological truths and great beauty.

Use these as a part of your Lenten disciplines, and share any thoughts or reactions in the comments.

Lent Day 5

O Thou Who Camest from Above
(United Methodist Hymnal #501)

1.
O Thou who camest from above,
the pure celestial fire to impart
kindle a flame of sacred love
upon the mean altar of my heart.

2.
There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise.

3.
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me.

4.
Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make my sacrifice complete.

come, holy ghost, our hearts inspire

Each day of Lent I am publishing one of Charles Wesley's hymns or poems. In my experience, the selection of Charles Wesley's hymns that we actually use in worship is very small. This is sad, because his hymns are filled with deep theological truths and great beauty.

Use these as a part of your Lenten disciplines, and share any thoughts or reactions in the comments.

Lent Day 4

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire
(United Methodist Hymnal #603)

1.
Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,
let us thine influence prove;
source of the old prophetic fire,
fountain of life and love.

2.
Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee
the prophets wrote and spoke),
unlock the truth, thyself the key,
unseal the sacred book.

3.
Expand thy wings, celestial Dove,
brood o'er our nature's night;
on our disordered spirits move,
and let there now be light.

4.
God, through the Spirit we shall know
if thou within us shine,
and sound, with all thy saints below,
the depths of love divine.

spirit of faith, come down

Each day of Lent I am publishing one of Charles Wesley's hymns or poems. In my experience, the selection of Charles Wesley's hymns that we actually use in worship is very small. This is sad, because his hymns are filled with deep theological truths and great beauty.

Use these as a part of your Lenten disciplines, and share any thoughts or reactions in the comments.

Lent Day 3

Spirit of Faith, Come Down
(United Methodist Hymnal #332)

1.
Spirit of faith, come down,
reveal the things of God,
and make to us the Godhead known,
and witness with the blood.
'Tis thine the blood to apply
and give us eyes to see,
who did for every sinner die
hath surely died for me.

2.
No one can truly say
that Jesus is the Lord,
unless thou take the veil away
and breathe the living Word.
Then, only then, we feel
our interest in his blood,
and cry with joy unspeakable,
"Thou art my Lord, my God!"

3.
O that the world might know
the all atoning Lamb!
Spirit of faith, descend and show
the virtue of his name;
the grace which all may find,
the saving power, impart,
and testify to humankind,
and speak in every heart.

4.
Inspire the living faith
(which whosoe'er receive,
the witness in themselves they have
and consciously believe),
the faith that conquers all,
and doth the mountain move,
and saves whoe'er on Jesus call,
and perfects them in love.

love your neighbor...

I've been engaged in a bit of a debate on the blog Locusts & Honey over how we are to treat the aliens in our midst. John is a thoughtful Christian, and I recommend his blog, though he and I are not completely in sync on this topic.

Then today, Jesus' General's post about "illegal alien" Flor Crisostomo said many things that I wish I'd said. Please read it!

hark! the herald angel sing

Each day of Lent I am publishing one of Charles Wesley's hymns or poems. In my experience, the selection of Charles Wesley's hymns that we actually use in worship is very small. This is sad, because his hymns are filled with deep theological truths and great beauty.

Use these as a part of your Lenten disciplines, and share any thoughts or reactions in the comments.

Lent Day 2

Hark! the Herald Angel Sing
(United Methodist Hymnal #240)

1.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

2.
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

3.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Comments

• Hark! means "Listen!" A herald is someone who announces important news. So the first line and title of this famous hymn and Christmas carol essentially means, "Listen up! There are angles singing about important news." The next three lines are the actual content of that important news. See Luke 2:8-14
• Even in a hymn about the birth of Christ, Charles includes the good news of reconciliation: "God and sinners reconciled."
• The second and third verses proclaim the profound mystery of the incarnation, that God has become flesh and lived among us. Remember that without Christmas, there is no Easter.
• These are not Charles' original words. See why they were changed?

depth of mercy

Each day of Lent I am publishing one of Charles Wesley's hymns or poems. In my experience, the selection of Charles Wesley's hymns that we actually use in worship is very small. This is sad, because his hymns are filled with deep theological truths and great beauty.

Use these as a part of your Lenten disciplines, and share any thoughts or reactions in the comments.

Ash Wednesday

Depth of Mercy
(United Methodist Hymnal #355)

1.
Depth of mercy! Can there be
mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forbear,
me, the chief of sinners, spare?

2.
I have long withstood his grace,
long provoked him to his face,
would not hearken to his calls,
grieved him by a thousand falls.

3.
I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
oft profaned his hallowed name,
put him to an open shame.

4.
There for me the Savior stands,
shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.

5.
Now incline me to repent,
let me now my sins lament,
now my foul revolt deplore,
weep, believe, and sin no more.

don't forget about charles

If you hang around in United Methodist circles for a while, eventually you’ll hear about John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement—which led to what we call the United Methodist Church. You’ll also hear about another Wesley, John’s brother Charles, who probably doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions to the Methodist movement. Charles was a great writer of hymns, many of which became the core of the hymnbooks used by the early Methodists.

Charles’ hymns were deeply theological; he wasn’t much for writing praise choruses! For a good part of the history of the Methodist Church, hymns like those that Charles wrote became the primary way that Methodists learned about the great truths of the faith. Methodists were known as people who “sang their theology”.

Many of Charles’ hymns are well-loved even today: “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”, and “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” are a few examples.

Our United Methodist Hymnal contains about 50 hymns that were written by Charles Wesley, plus several poems and responses. Unfortunately, Charles wrote the words to hymns, not the music. And many of Charles hymns have been saddled with music that no longer seems to appeal to people today. An example is “And Can It Be that I Should Gain” (# 363). Although the tune is far from terrible, it’s not easy for everyone to sing, and so we sing it rarely.

But if you read the lyrics to this hymn, you find an amazing depth of Christian truth. Ok, you do have to work a bit to dig through the wording, but the reward is there!

For Lent this year, I suggest that you include in your disciplines a reading of Charles Wesley’s hymns. I’ll be posting one of his hymns for each day of Lent here on my blog.