Notes on the Notes – March 27, 2022

Lent 4

Prodigal Grace

This week’s music: 

“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” (VU #271 v 1, 2, 5)

“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in God’s justice which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings have such gracious judgment given.

For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind,
And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.”

This hymn is based on a poem by F.W. Faber, a 19th-century Anglican priest who converted to Roman Catholicism (1854).  The lyrics remind us that, no matter our mistakes or short-comings, we are still loved by God.  The tune we will be using is GOTT WILL’S MACHEN,  by the 18th-century Swiss composer, Johann Ludwig Steiner.  Hear the tune on pipe organ at:  https://youtu.be/rndo8V2u0hc

“Fill My Cup, Lord”  

            “Fill my cup, Lord, 
            I lift it up, Lord,
            Come and quench the thirsting of my soul.
            Bread of heaven,  feed me ‘til I want no more.
            Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.”

During the season of Lent, we will be using the chorus of this song, written by Richard Blanchard in 1959.  The chorus is an earnest plea for God to fill us with divine forgiveness, mercy and love, making us whole.

Hear the song at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4l2yY2r95g 

“O God, How We Have Wandered” (VU #112)

“O God, how we have wandered and hidden from your face;
In foolishness have squandered your legacy of grace.
But how, in exile dwelling, we turn with fear and shame,
As distant but compelling, you call us each by name.

And now at length discerning the evil that we do,
By faith we are returning with hope and trust in you.
In haste you come to meet us, and home rejoicing bring,
In gladness there to greet us with calf and robe and ring.

O God of all the living, both banished and restored,
Compassionate, forgiving, our peace and hope assured.
Grand now that our transgressing, our faithlessness may cease.
Stretch out your hand in blessing, in pardon, and in peace.”

This penitential hymn is a reflection on the parable of the Prodigal Son.  The words were written by Kevin Nichols (1980).  The author puts us in the place of the prodigal, but also gives us the assurance that, once we turn back to God, we will be welcomed and forgiven. The tune, LANCASHIRE, was written by Henry T. Smart in 1836.

Hear the tune played on piano at:  https://youtu.be/ATB9aW3eIC8

“Jesus, Take All of Me (Just as I Am)” 

“Just as I am without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me.
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God I come, I come.

Just as I am Thou will receive,
Will welcome pardon, cleanse, relieve.
Because Thy promise I believe, 
O Lamb of God I come, I come. 

Jesus, take all of me.
I come to You, I run to You.
There is nothing that You don’t see.
You love me just as I am. 

Just as I am broken in two.
Just as I am, I come to You.
Because I know Your Word is true,
O Lamb of God I come, I come. 

Jesus, take all of me.
I come to You, I run to You.
There is nothing that You don’t see.
You love me just as I am. 

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Has broken ev’ry barrier down.
Now to be Thine, yes, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God I come, I come. 

I come,
O sweet Lamb of God, I come,
I come.”

This week’s anthem combines the hymn “Just as I Am” by Charlotte Elliott with new words and music by Brenton Brown and Amy Grant.  We will be singing an arrangement of the song by Heather Sorenson (2012).

Although disabled at the age of thirty, Charlotte Elliott continued a long career of writing and editing.  The text for “Just as I Am” was published in her Invalid’s Hymn Book in 1836.  After her death, a file was found containing a thousand letters of thanks for this hymn.  Her brother, Henry Venn Elliott, later commented that she had ministered to more people through this hymn than he had in the entire course of his ministry.   The tune, WOODWORTH, was originally set to another hymn, but was subsequently printed with “Just as I am” in 1860.  The hymn resonates as we come before God in all of our imperfections, trusting in God’s love and ability to once again give us a “clean heart.”

Hear the hymn by The Vagle Brothers at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lxqhPC1mNA

Hear Alan Jackson sing the hymn at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAnSmJecnEk

“Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love” (VU #574)

“Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you
Wonderful love, wonderful love
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell
Joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame,
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.

Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
Why do they roam?  Why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
Home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love, wonderful love
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love!
Come and abide, come and abide,
Lifting my life till it rises above envy and falsehood and pride:
Seeking to be, seeking to be lowly and humble, a learner of thee.”

This hymn was written by Robert Walmsley, a jeweler in Manchester and a Congregationalist leader of the Manchester Sunday School Union, in 1900.  Adam Watson’s WONDERFUL LOVE is the tune known to Canadian congregations for Robert Walmsley’s text.  The hymn leads us from the eternal love of God for us, through the coming of Jesus, who tells of us God’s love and searches for the lost, to the yearning for God’s continuing love.

Hear the hymn sung at Strathroy United Church at:  https://youtu.be/AYRsRdZLD64

“Peace for the Children” (MV #149 v 5)

“Peace for the nations, peace, peace.
Peace for the nations we pray.
Following the path of One of peace,
We work for healing, we work for peace;
Peace for the nations today.” 

This week’s benediction response was written by Doreen Lankshear-Smith in 1993, arranged by Jason Locke in 2020.