FESTIVAL OF HYMNS

Dr. Richard J. Henderson July 26, 2009

click for printable version

Psalm 46
Romans 8:31-39

Introduction

We are going to do something very different today. I know I've never done anything like this before.

The sermon today will be from the hymns we sing. Ray and I will both be doing the sermons and they will be scattered throughout the worship service. Mostly we will be talking about the hymns before we sing them. We will say a little about the person who wrote the hymn, the circumstances of its being written (if applicable), and look at what the hymn says to us about our faith.

Today we will be singing one hymn from each century from the Sixteenth through the Twentieth centuries.

From Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" (1529) to Jane Parker Huber's "Wonder of Wonders, Here Revealed" (1980).

All this reminds us that our faith has spoken to each generation, century after century. In addition to that each generation (and each century) passes on a heritage to the next generation and the following centuries. We pause to remember that our generation will also pass on a heritage to Christians of the future. What will our hymns say about us?

We hope that you will see this morning as a real celebration of God through our hymns.

Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty

Joachim Neander lived from 1650to1680. He died of tuberculosis at age 30. He lived a brief life, but he accomplished a lot in that short time. During his life he wrote 60 hymns and the music for most of them. Because of odd circumstances his name has become important in scientific circles today.

He came from a long line of powerful preachers. His family history was known in his German town and people may have had some expectations of him. His early years were rebellious. One time he and his friends went to a church service specifically to make fun of the preacher, but the preacher's message was so powerful that it began to change his life.

Later he was chasing an animal through the woods and got lost. Darkness came and he found himself in a dangerous situation. He nearly fell over a high cliff in the total darkness. He prayed to God and found that God's presence gave him courage. After that he gave himself completely to God.

At twenty four he was headmaster of a school of the Reformed Church in Dusseldorf. He enjoyed nature and spent a great deal of time in a valley near the school. He especially liked a cave he found there. He taught classes in the valley and also in that cave. Later the valley and the cave were named Neander Valley and Neander Cave after him. Then, interestingly, almost 200 years later evidence was found of a "Neanderthal Man" in that very cave and it was named after him.

The part of this hymn that stand out for me are in the first verse is the phrase, "He is thy health and salvation..." which says to me that to live within God is to have a healthy life now, as well as have the promise of hope in the future. Christ teaches us a healthy way to live and promises us a life with God that never ends.

In the third verse, "Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, who with his love doth befriend you." God is powerful, can do anything; and yet this powerful God is your friend.

This is a magnificent hymn of praise and adoration to God from a brilliant man who had a great relationship with God and especially appreciated the creation God gave us.

Wonder of Wonders, Here Revealed

Jane Parker Huber was an active Presbyterian who died this past November at 82. She was very active in women's ministry and was an advocate for women in the church. She was recognized by Church Women United as a "Valiant Woman" and honored by the PCUSA as a "Woman of Faith."

She was born to missionary parents in China and came from a long line of leaders in the Presbyterian Church. She lived much of her life in Indiana, attending Hanover College there. Her funeral was held at the Hanover Presbyterian Church.

She wrote dozens of hymns, but none of the tunes. She put all of her words to familiar hymn tunes. Our hymnbook contains ten of her hymns.

"Wonder of Wonders, Here Revealed" is a hymn for baptism. When we read (or sing) through the first verse, we are reminded that God's love pours out to us even before we know about God, before we understand anything theologically, even before we have said our first prayer.

I especially like the third verse which reminds us what it means to be the church. Whether those being baptized are infants or adults, they become part of Christ's family, the church. As the church we know "God's loving care," and "here all our joys and sorrows share."

It's not just that someone is being baptized; all of us who are the church welcome one of God's children into our community of faith. The final verse reminds us to renew our own baptism vows during this sacrament, and it stretches us beyond our local congregation to remember that we are part of the Christian family around the world.

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

"O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" is my favorite hymn. We sang it at both my father's and my mother's funerals. It speaks of not only the unending love of God, but of finding joy even in the terrible struggles of our lives.

George Matheson, who wrote the hymn in 1882, knew exactly what he was talking about, and this hymn came from one of the darkest and most difficult times of his life. Matheson was a Scottish theologian and pastor who was born with limited sight, and he gradually lost the sight he had. He was engaged to be married but his fiancé backed out of the wedding because she said she could not be married to a blind man. He wrote that his writing was the "fruit of much mental suffering."

Matheson's accomplishments amazing. He had great career teaching at Glasgow Academy, the University of Glasgow, and the Church of Scotland Seminary. He wrote well-respected books. For eighteen years he was a pastor, even while lecturing around the country. He was the pastor of a 2000 member church and was such a good preacher that he consistently attracted huge crowds.

So much of what he was able to do depended on his devoted sister who learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew so she could help him in his studies and his writing. After many years she got married and had to stop helping her brother.

"O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" was written on the night of Matheson's sister's wedding. Out of his anguish, sorrow, and pain he wrote these words.

George wrote this account of how the hymn came about in his journal:

"It was the day of my sister's marriage. ... Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself ... this came like a dayspring from on high. I have never been able to gain once more the same fervor in verse."

In many ways this hymn is an expansion of the verses from Paul's letter to the Romans that we read for our New Testament scripture today, especially the final phrase, "I am convinced that [nothing] can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I could preach a whole sermon on this hymn, but I will only draw your attention to the third verse. Here God is the "Joy that seekest me through pain." In the depths of our sorrow and pain, God is still able to bring to us glimpses of joy.

He emphasizes this again in that verse when he says, "I trace the rainbow through the rain." We picture someone facing horrible pain, standing out in the rain, when he realizes that a rainbow is forming. This is not just an emotional sign of hope; the rainbow represents the promises of God given first to Noah after the horrible flood, but provided to all of us who trust in Christ the Lord.

There is so much more in this hymn, but you will see it as we sing.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2009