Music for the Second Sunday in Lent: March 8, 2020

Opening Voluntary God Loved the World (Rockingham Old)

setting, Robert Buckley Farlee (b. 1950)

Probably the most famous Bible verse in the New Testament is John 3:16 which we find near the end of today’s gospel reading. The first stanza of hymn 323 is a metrical setting of that verse.

The hymn is a German one, but the tune comes from England. Most often it has been paired with the text “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Who, when reading John 3:16, doesn’t recall Jesus’ death on the cross? This hymn, like the Bible verse, anticipates a future station on our Lenten journey.

Gathering Hymn Lift High the Cross (Crucifer)

ELW 660

Each Sunday we lift high the cross in procession. The ministers and choir follow the cross and the assembly turns to follow it as it comes into the nave. (In some churches, people reverence the cross with a bow as it passes them.)

The processional cross at St. Mark’s bears the image of Christus Rex – Christ the King who “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead” and whose “kingdom will have no end.”

St. Mark's Christus Rex veiled in purple for Lent.
This cross was a gift from Bill and Jane Daugherty in the 1980s.

Hymn of the Day All Who Believe and Are Baptized (Es ist das Heil)

ELW 442

Denmark’s contributions to Lutheran hymnody are many and this one is a fine example from Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634-1703) a Danish bishop, poet, and hymn writer.

As with last week’s Hymn of the Day, Ein feste Burg, we are singing an isometric version rather than the original rhythmic version (see ELW 590).

Here is a link to a sublime rendition of Es ist das Heil by Pastor Detlef Korsen of Hanover, Germany. He accompanies himself on the guitar and sings the hymn in German. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Sim2ZSqtA

Musical Offering God So Loved the World John Stainer (1840-1901), arr. Benjamin Harlan

Sung by the Festival Choir

John Stainer’s original composition (from his cantata “The Crucifixion”) is a standard in the church choir repertoire. Harlan’s new version pays homage to the old by adding new harmonies, free composition, and a flowing piano accompaniment.  

Communion Hymns

O Living Breath of God (Vårvindar friska) ELW 407

Song over the Waters text and music by Marty Haugen

Sending Hymn We Are Baptized in Christ Jesus (Ouimette)

ELW 451

Closing Voluntary Es ist das Heil 
setting, Gerhard Krapf

Sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, edited by Paul Westermeyer, Augsburg Fortress
Kingo portait: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139188