I’ve sung it; I mean really sung it. But never in a Lutheran Church. It’s in our old green book (LBW 562) and in the new red one (ELW 841). Of course it’s in our African American Supplement This Far by Faith (TFBF 296). My assigned congregation while in seminary was Shiloh Baptist on the near north side. And I learned to sing it there. In fact, I learned to sing there. From the heart, to God.
“Lift Every Voice” was written by James Wheldon Johnson (1871-1938). Once reverently called the “black national anthem,” it’s in the back of our hymnals. Not like in the back of the bus, but in the section with all the other nationalistic hymns (German, Swedish, British, American).
Rev. Joseph Lowery used it today to begin his (likely controversial) bene-diction at the inauguration of our 44th President. It rose up within me, uncontrollably, a humming and an “amen.” I heard the cadence, and felt the passion. It was a holy moment of prayer for me.
Maybe you’ll want to use this great hymn of prayer during this time of temporal transition. Dr. Lowery, who marched with Martin Luther King, began his benediction with all of verse 3, but here’s the whole song:
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet,
stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest our hearts,
drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.
The early church used Lent as preparation for baptism into Christ, into his death and resurrection, at the Great Three days. We add to it the renewal of our baptism, dying and rising with Christ.
Much of our focus, on Sunday and midweek, will be on the power of forgiveness, God forgiving us and in obedience to Christ our forgiving others. You think money’s a tough subject?! Few things so agitate and separate as an unwillingness to accept or give forgiveness. On the hunch that you might need some encouragement and support on that subject, I invite you to join us ... at the foot of the cross ... this Lent.
“Lift Every Voice” was written by James Wheldon Johnson (1871-1938). Once reverently called the “black national anthem,” it’s in the back of our hymnals. Not like in the back of the bus, but in the section with all the other nationalistic hymns (German, Swedish, British, American).
Rev. Joseph Lowery used it today to begin his (likely controversial) bene-diction at the inauguration of our 44th President. It rose up within me, uncontrollably, a humming and an “amen.” I heard the cadence, and felt the passion. It was a holy moment of prayer for me.
Maybe you’ll want to use this great hymn of prayer during this time of temporal transition. Dr. Lowery, who marched with Martin Luther King, began his benediction with all of verse 3, but here’s the whole song:
Lift ev'ry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the list'ning skies,
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song,
full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song ,
full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast'ning rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our parents sighed?
We have come,
over a way that with tears has been watered;
we have come,
treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the list'ning skies,
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song,
full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song ,
full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast'ning rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our parents sighed?
We have come,
over a way that with tears has been watered;
we have come,
treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet,
stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest our hearts,
drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.
The Love of Money ...
“Where your treasure there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21.) We have been carrying those words of Jesus with us during the season of Epiphany. And asking where our hearts are really at. It’s an intensely personal question. On February 15, as an act of worship, confidential financial commitment cards will be placed on the altar. Coincidentally, it’s Valentine’s weekend. It’s not really about money, it is about our heart. .The Love of God ...
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 25th. We will again begin our lenten journey with confessional worship (7:00 pm) and an opportunity to mark ourselves with remorseful ashes as we remember that “from dust we came and dust we shall return.”The early church used Lent as preparation for baptism into Christ, into his death and resurrection, at the Great Three days. We add to it the renewal of our baptism, dying and rising with Christ.
Much of our focus, on Sunday and midweek, will be on the power of forgiveness, God forgiving us and in obedience to Christ our forgiving others. You think money’s a tough subject?! Few things so agitate and separate as an unwillingness to accept or give forgiveness. On the hunch that you might need some encouragement and support on that subject, I invite you to join us ... at the foot of the cross ... this Lent.
