Monday, March 18, 2024

But is it Ṭov?

A peace ethic asks what is tov in this situation, which at times transcends what many would perceive to be ‘just’ or ‘right’ or even (dare I say it) ‘biblical.’ It does not ask about status or about who will win, but about what is tov.—Scot McKnight, The Audacity of Peace, 44

<idle musing>
How many times have you asked yourself that? I'll be honest, it was a new idea to me—but a powerful one!
</idle musing>

Come, let us join our friends above

422 Dundee (French). C. M.

1 Come, let us join our friends above,
   That have obtained the prize,
   And on the eagle wings of love
   To joy celestial rise.

2 Let all the saints terrestrial sing,
   With those to glory gone;
   For all the servants of our King,
   In earth and heaven, are one.

3 One family, we dwell in Him,
   One Church above, beneath;
   Though now divided by the stream,
   The narrow stream of death.

4 One army of the living God,
   To His command we bow;
   Part of His host has crossed the flood,
   And part is crossing now.

5 Even now by faith we join our hands
   With those that went before,
   And greet the blood-besprinkled bands
   On the eternal shore.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This hymn by Charles Wesley occurs in a little over 340 hymnals. And again, as usual for a Wesley hymn, there are more verses. Hymnary.org lists these:

5 His militant, embodied coast,
   With wishful looks we stand,
   And long to see that happy coast,
   And reach that heavenly land.

7 Lord Jesus, be our constant Guide,
   And when the word is given,
   Bid the cold waves of death divide,
   And land us all in heaven.

</idle musing>

Sunday, March 17, 2024

No form of human framing, no bond of outward might

421 Alford. 7. 6. 8. 6. D.

1. No form of human framing, no bond of outward might,
   Can bind Thy Church together, Lord, and all her flocks unite;
   But, Jesus, Thou hast told us how unity must be:
   Thou art with God the Father one, and we are one in Thee.

2. The mind that is in Jesus will guide us into truth,
   The humble, open, joyful mind of ever-learning youth;
   The heart that is in Jesus will lead us out of strife,
   The giving and forgiving heart that follows love in life.

3. Wherever men adore Thee, our souls with them would kneel;
   Wherever men implore Thy help, their trouble we would feel;
   And where men do Thy service, though knowing not Thy sign,
   Our hand is with them in good work, for they are also Thine.

4. Forgive us, Lord, the folly that quarrels with Thy friends,
   And draw us near to Thy heart, where every discord ends;
   Thou art the crown of manhood, and Thou of God the Son;
   O Master of our many lives, in Thee our life is one.
                         Henry van Dyke
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Well, I'm certainly continuing in my trend of choosing the less popular hymns. This one occurs in a paltry eight hymnals! Henry van Dyke is better known as the author of Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee. He is also the author of The Other Wise Man, which you may be familiar with. If not, take a look! It's out of copyright, so freely available to read.
</idle musing>

Saturday, March 16, 2024

City of God, how broad and far

420 Gräfenberg. C. M.

1 City of God, how broad and far
   outspread thy walls sublime!
   The true thy chartered freemen are
   of every age and clime:

2 How gleam thy watch-fires through the night
   with never-fainting ray!
   How rise thy towers, serene and bright,
   to meet the dawning day!

3 How purely hath thy speech come down
   from man's primaeval youth!
   How grandly hath thine empire grown
   of freedom, love, and truth!

4 In vain the surge's angry shock,
   in vain the drifting sands:
   unharmed upon the eternal Rock
   the eternal city stands.
                         Samuel Johnson
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever singing this one, and it only occurs in 166 hymnals. For being a relatively unpopular hymn, the verses seem to have been scrambled a good bit and many versions include a fifth verse, variously placed:

2 One holy church, one army strong,
   one steadfast, high intent;
   one working band, one harvest-song,
   one King omnipotent.
As seems apparent once one knows it, the author of the hymn has strong Unitarian leanings, although never officially a Unitarian.
</idle musing>

Friday, March 15, 2024

On the margins

Those who are ignored, suppressed, silenced, and excluded are not just seen by Jesus: he exalts them to center stage. Those who because of exigencies in life do not have the advantages and privileges of others are seen and given a place at the table. Here we find the beginnings of a peace ethic about imprisonment in our society. Here we find the beginnings of a word of grace and hope that can turn prisons, which are populated by folks from the margins, into centers of transformation, reconciliation, and rehabilitation.—Scot McKnight, The Audacity of Peace, 42–43

Jesus, united by Thy grace

419 Beatitudo. C. M.

1. Jesus, united by Thy grace,
   And each to each endeared,
   With confidence we seek Thy face
   And know our prayer is heard.

2. Help us to help each other, Lord,
   Each other’s cross to bear;
   Let all their friendly aid afford,
   And feel each other’s care.

3. Up onto Thee, our living Head,
   Let us in all things grow;
   Till Thou hast made us free indeed
   And spotless here below.

4. Touched by the lodestone of Thy love,
   Let all our hearts agree,
   And ever toward each other move,
   And ever move toward Thee.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I seem to have a penchant for choosing relatively unpopular hymns. This one only occurs in 160 or so hymnals. And, again, as is normal for Wesley hymns, there are many more verses, which Cyberhymnal conveniently lists:

2. Still let us own our common Lord,
   And bear Thine easy yoke,
   A band of love, a threefold cord,
   Which never can be broke.

3. Make us into one spirit drink;
   Baptize into Thy name;
   And let us always kindly think,
   And sweetly speak, the same.

7. To Thee, inseparably joined,
   Let all our spirits cleave;
   O may we all the loving mind,
   That was in Thee receive.

8. This is the bond of perfectness,
   Thy spotless charity;
   O let us, still we pray, possess
   The mind that was in Thee.

9. Grant this, and then from all below
   Insensibly remove:
   Our souls their change shall scarcely know,
   Made perfect first in love!

10. With ease our souls through death shall glide
   Into their paradise,
   And thence, on wings of angels, ride
   Triumphant through the skies.

11. Yet, when the fullest joy is given,
   The same delight we prove,
   In earth, in paradise, in Heaven,
   Our all in all is love.

The overarching theme of this hymn is the heartbeat of the Wesleyan revival: a heart made perfect in love—now, not just in the future. That's why one can say that it is a holiness of heart first and foremost. Behavior follows because, as Paul says in Romans, "love worketh no ill to its neighbor" (KJV).
</idle musing>

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The way of suffering? Or the way of violence?

What I learned from Sider is that Jesus here consciously and intentionally rejected the way of violence and power over others and chose the way of suffering and service as the path to ‘victory’, now redefined. One doesn't get to the Easter victory of Jesus apart from the defeat on Friday.— Scot McKnight, The Audacity of Peace, 21–22

All praise to our redeeming Lord

417 Armenia. C. M.

1 All praise to our redeeming Lord,
   who joins us by his grace,
   and bids us, each to each restored,
   together seek his face.

2 He bids us build each other up;
   and, gathered into one,
   to our high calling’s glorious hope
   we hand in hand go on.

3 We all partake the joy of one,
   the common peace we feel,
   a peace to sensual minds unknown,
   a joy unspeakable.

4 And if our fellowship below
   in Jesus be so sweet,
   what heights of rapture shall we know
   when round his throne we meet!
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This is definitely not one of Wesley's more popular hymns; it only occurs in 142 hymnals. As is usual with a Wesley hymn, there are more verses:

3 The gift which he on one bestows,
   we all delight to prove;
   the grace through every vessel flows,
   in purest streams of love.

4 Ev'n now we think and speak the same,
   and cordially agree;
   concentred all, through Jesus’ name,
   in perfect harmony.

</idle musing>

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

What is a peace ethic?

A peace ethic embodies the self-denial ethic of Jesus. A peace ethic volitionally and communally participates in the cruciform pattern of the life of Jesus.Through the power of God's grace and the indwelling Spirit of God the participant in the way of Jesus is transformed into a Christoform life.— Scot McKnight, The Audacity of Peace, 10

Blest be the tie that binds

416 Dennis. S. M.

1. Blest be the tie that binds
   Our hearts in Christian love;
   The fellowship of kindred minds
   Is like to that above.

2. Before our Father’s throne
   We pour our ardent prayers;
   Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
   Our comforts and our cares.

3. We share each other’s woes,
   Our mutual burdens bear;
   And often for each other flows
   The sympathizing tear.

4. When we asunder part,
   It gives us inward pain;
   But we shall still be joined in heart,
   And hope to meet again.
                         John Fawcett
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Today's hymn is extremely popular, occurring in over 2500 hymnals. A good number of hymnals add a final two verses, which I don't recall ever seeing before:

5. This glorious hope revives
   Our courage by the way;
   While each in expectation lives,
   And longs to see the day.

6. From sorrow, toil and pain,
   And sin, we shall be free,
   And perfect love and friendship reign
   Through all eternity.

You might want to read the bio linked above. Interesting back story on this hymn. I fear that not too many people today would turn down the lucrative city post to stay in the backwater…
</idle musing>

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

What got healed?

From the perspective of the incarnation the answer is clear: it is the distortion of the fall and of human sin that lies behind this disruption or dichotomy between knowing and being, word and event, theology and history, and it is that very rupture in our human existence that God has come to heal in the incarnation. When the Word was made flesh, the rupture between our true being in communion with God and our physical existence in space and time was healed. It is precisely about this that the sacraments have so much to say in the unity of word and physical elements in the ordinances of baptism and eucharist. The sacraments are designed in the midst of our brokenness and dividedness to hold together in one, spirit and flesh, word and event, spiritual and material, until the new creation. Sacraments are thus the amen to the incarnation, the experienced counterpart to the Word made flesh. Here, then, in the Word made flesh we have truth in the form of personal being, truth in the form of concrete physical existence, truth indissolubly one with space and time, with historical and physical being. To demythologise the truth of its physical and temporal elements is to try to disrupt the incarnation, to attempt to tear apart the Word from the flesh assumed in Jesus Christ. Thus demythologisation belongs to the essential distortion of sin — the sin that brought about the dichotomy in us, that refuses to accept the limitations of our creatureliness in speech and language and in the thought forms of space and time, that wants to conceive the truth in some imaginary form of pure being instead of the form of human flesh which it has assumed once and for all in the incarnation. The relation of the kerygma to history belongs to the very essence of the Christian faith, for it is grounded in the unity of reconciliation and revelation in Iesus Christ, in his unity of word and act, person and work, in the union of true God and true man.—T. F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ, 296

<idle musing>
That ends our quick jaunt through Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ. I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe someday I'll tackle the next volume, but first, let's read through Scot McKnight's The Audacity of Peace. I'll start that tomorrow and go back to one post per day for it, since it's a shorter book.
</idle musing>

What's the point?

When Bultmann wishes to reinterpret the objective facts of kerygma, e.g. as given in the Apostles’ Creed, in terms of an existential decision which we have to make in order to understand, not God or Christ or the world, but ourselves, we are converting the gospel of the New Testament into something quite different, converting christology into anthropology. It is shockingly subjective. It is not Christ that really counts, but my decision in which I find myself. At this point one sees Bultmann’s involvement in the theological tradition of Schleiermacher and Ritschl that grew out of German pietism and subjectivism, and also in the tradition of the Marburg school of philosophy which tried in vain to break out of phenomenology by existential decision. Moreover, the existential decision with which Bultmann works is not that of Kierkegaard in which the fact and person of Christ is all determining, but that of the Roman Catholic but atheistic Heidegger, who took Kierkegaard’s idea, and altered it by abstracting it entirely from its objective ground in Christ and attaching it to a secularised notion Of tradition which he retained from his Roman Catholic upbringing.—T. F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ, 286–87

Tozer for Tuesday

I fear the respectable, godly, self-contained people who have money, who dress well, have good educations, speak good English and read good books but have no heart for the flow of humanity that flows everywhere. They care not for the poor and the distressed. I am afraid of aloof godliness—you lovely women who pay no attention to the very women that need you. You respectable men with your money, you hold yourself aloof from a man that needs you the worst.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 84-85

For the Bread, which Thou hast broken

412 Agapé. 8. 7. 8. 7.

1 For the bread, which Thou hast broken;
   For the wine, which Thou hast poured;
   For the words, which Thou hast spoken;
   Now we give Thee thanks, O Lord.

2 By this pledge that Thou dost love us,
   By Thy gift of peace restored,
   By Thy call to heaven above us,
   Hallow all our lives, O Lord.

3 With our sainted ones in glory
   Seated at our Father’s board,
   May the Church that waiteth for Thee
   Keep love’s tie unbroken, Lord.

4 In Thy service, Lord, defend us;
   In our hearts keep watch and ward;
   In the world where Thou dost send us
   Let Thy kingdom come, O Lord.
                         Louis F. Benson
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Well, I'm continuing in my tradition of posting hymns that aren't in the top 1000, let alone the top 10! This one only occurs in forty-six hymnals.

I admit, the theology is pretty thin and the hymn seems trite, but I kinda like it. YMMV, of course.
</idle musing>