Notes on the Notes – May 5, 2024

Sixth Sunday of Easter

This week’s music: 

“When We Come Together”

“When we come together gladly
Our community grows strong.
When we meet to tell our story,
When we join to sing our song,
We are celebrating friendship,
We are building bonds of peace;
Pass a vision to each other;
Let God’s spirit never cease.

All are welcome at our table
To be nourished by the Word.
Christ extends the invitation,
We respond as we have heard.
He does not demand perfection
When we worship in his name,
For the last shall be the first here;
God forgives us just the same.

In our crowded lives we’re searching
For a meaning we can share.
Will we find some room for patience,
Will we take the time to care?
But when two or more are gathered,
Christ will be there with us too,
Then the Spirit grows among us,
Giving joy to all we do.”

This song was written by Allan Baer in 2007.

“The words of the first verse of this song were written on the back of a napkin at a church potluck dinner while waiting for our table to be called. Food always seems to be a joyous occasion to come together, and what is nourished is not just our stomachs, but also our sense of community. No wonder the most important ritual of the Christian faith – communion (called the eucharist in other traditions) – centres around food, and often goes by the name “the Lord’s Supper.” Yet that first communion was followed soon after by denial, betrayal and abandonment. Christ’s “inner circle” often missed the point of his parables and squabbled over who was the top disciple. But just as Christ didn’t wait until his imperfect disciples had improved themselves, neither should we expect that any who attend worship are somehow “better people.” In worship we seek to reconcile ourselves to God’s vision for us, from which we all have fallen short. In community, even if only two or three, we can re-imagine that vision, and then work together to bring that vision to life.”
(Source: https://www.crossroadsunited.ca/spirit/)

“Alleluia” (MV #50)

“Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Our sung response to the Words of Assurance has music written by Norah Duncan IV (1987).

“Love the Lord Your God”

“Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.
Love the Lord, your God, with all your soul.
Love the Lord, your God, with all your mind,
Love the Lord, your God, with all that you are.”

This beautifully simple song was written by Jean and Jim Strathdee in 1991. The text is taken directly from the gospel of Matthew.

“Love Astounding” 

“Love astounding, Love confounding limits fearful minds impose.
Love renewing, Love pursuing every heart until it knows
Love’s transforming, healing goodness, Love’s abiding gentle grace,
Love’s endurance, Love’s assurance, Love’s consoling strong embrace.

Love receiving, Love believing, we rejoice with thanks and song,
Faith regaining, hope proclaiming; Love has taught us, we belong
Safe within Love’s tender keeping, safe from fear’s persistent call.
Love defending, Love unending, Love of God enfolding all.”

This hymn about the power of God’s love has words by Jeannette M. Lindhom.  Through the lyrics we are challenged to think about the mystery and wonder of God’s love for all of God’s people. Her poetry not only invites us to sing but to examine and expand the metaphors we use for God in our worship and devotion. The hymn comes from the collection, “Songs for the Holy Other,” which seeks to encourage us to claim otherness as holy and beloved of God. The tune, HOLY MANNA, was written by William Moore (1825).

“Grant Us, God, the Grace of Giving” (VU #540)

“Grant Us, God, the grace of giving,
With a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living
We may offer faithfully.”

The text of our offering response for the Easter season comes from the Mennonite hymn book, “Hymnal: a Worship Book.”  The tune is a familiar one which is also used for the Advent hymn “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”  (VU #2).

“Come Share the Lord”

“We gather here in Jesus’ name,
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame.
For through His loving Son the Father makes us one.
Come take the bread, come drink the cup, come share the Lord.

For He will feed us with His presence here,
This bread and cup will do us good.
Our deepest hungers He will satisfy,
For He is life and peace and rest and drink and food.

He joins us here, He breaks the bread.
The Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead.
The One we love the most is now our gracious host.
Come take the bread, come drink the cup, come share the Lord.

No one is a stranger here, everyone belongs.
Finding our forgiveness here, we in turn forgive all wrongs.
We are now the family of which the Lord is head.
Though unseen He meets us here in the breaking of the bread.

We gather here in Jesus’ name,
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame.
For through His loving Son, the Father makes us one.
Come take the bread, come drink the cup, come share the Lord.”

This week’s anthem was written by Bryan Jeffery Leech and arranged by Roland Tabell (1984).

“In reflecting on the text, the author’s theology of communion unfolds. Sharing the Lord’s Supper is a response to the “burning in our hearts” for the love of Christ who “makes us one.” In the stanzas that follow we find that this is an open table where “No one is a stranger” and “everyone belongs.” Furthermore, this is a table where we “find… forgiveness” and “we in turn forgive all wrongs.”

The author places this celebration in the context of the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ with his followers. The second stanza begins with a reflection on passages like Luke 24:13-27 (the appearance of Christ on the road to Emmaus) and the multiple post-Resurrection appearances in John 20 and 21: “He joins us here, he breaks the bread/ the Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead.”  This stanza takes the relationship of those gathered at the table a step further. This is not only a table where there are no strangers and “everyone belongs;” in the sharing of communion, “We are now a family of which the Lord is head.”” (Source: Discipleship Ministries, The United Methodist Church, https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-come-share-the-lord)

“Song for Love”

“Now we sing to praise love’s blessing
all through our lives,
Laughter, joy, surprise confessing,
all through our lives.
Love that dreamed a new creation,
love that dared an incarnation,
love that offers transformation
all through our lives.

How our wounds ache for love’s healing
all through our days.
How our world needs love’s revealing,
in all its ways.
Fearful hearts suspect the stranger,
hardened nations arm for danger,

Love lives on, the powerful changer,
All through our days.
Love’s the grace that makes us caring
All through our lives,
Urges us to warmth and sharing
All through our lives,
Speaks in us, oppression naming,
strives in us, injustice shaming,
Lives in us, true peace proclaiming
All through our lives.

In God’s faithful love we flourish
All through our lives,
Known and loved, each other nourish
All through our lives.
Though the world’s demands are pressing,
what life brings is left to guessing,
Still we sing to praise love’s blessing
All through our lives.”

Anna Briggs is a challenging, prize-winning hymn writer with a capacity for making us look at God and ourselves in fresh ways. Our closing hymn reflects on how God’s love encompasses us throughout our lives.  The words are set to the tune, AR HYD Y NOS, a Welsh traditional tune, also known as the tune for the folk song “All Through the Night.”

“Amen” (VU #974)

“Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!”

Our benediction response was written by Jim Strathdee (1985).

Thank you to members of the Harmony Singers for providing music leadership this week.