PS to MT to GF to ES: Take My Mother Home and Watch the Lamb

Introduction

PS to MT to GF to ES. It’s not exactly the same as Tinker to Evers to Chance, to borrow from the 1910 poem by Franklin Adams[1], but it describes the Passion Play of the Trinity, putting Death out of the game. Palm Sunday, to Maundy Thursday to Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

As we celebrate Palm Sunday today, I want to look forward to Maundy Thursday and to Good Friday, and the remembrance of the Passion. First, where does “Maundy” come from? First, lots of people don’t use the term. In other places (particularly Ireland and Scotland), the term Holy Thursday is more common.

There is some uncertainty in where “Maundy” comes from. The most generally accepted theory is that it comed from the old French mandé, from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the Latin version for “A new commandment I give you: That you love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34)[^wikimaundy]. An alternate theory is that it comes from the “maundsor baskets” that the King of England would distribute to some of the poor before attending mass on Holy Thursday. In this case, maund comes from the latin mendicare and the French mendier, both meaning to beg.

I haven’t studied enough of the question to have an opinion, but both origins can describe things that we are to do. In the case of the derivation from mandatum, this is the root for our word “mandate”. A new mandate I give you. Perhaps that’s a bit stronger than a new commandment. Or perhaps the meaning of commandment has been watered down over time, since it’s not a word we use much today. But mandate is a pretty strong word and reinforces the perspective that this is something that is required of us. That mandate is that we love one another. And, to me, that means all of the others. Not just the ones who are like me or the ones that happen to agree with me.

In the context of “to beg”, then Maundy can also be the reminder of our call to take care of the poor, specifically. That’s one aspect of love, and something where Christ’s call is clear.

One song that our choir has done for the Maundy Thursday service every year is Take My Mother Home, which is Andrew Clarke’s arrangement of a particularly touching spiritual (that’s really about Good Friday). One reason for the notice of this song is a performance by Harry Belafonte in the 1950’s[2], and another is the work of Francis Hall Johnson to preserve many of the spirituals during the early 1900’s[3].

Take My Mother Home

The biblical reference for this song comes from John 19:25–27:

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. [NIV]

The words are haunting as presented in the spritual

I think I heard him say when he was struggling up the hill
I think I heard him say, take my mother home
Then I’ll die easy, take my mother home
I’ll die so easy, take my mother home

I think I heard him say, when they was raffling off his clothes
I think I heard him say, take my mother home
I think I heard him cry when they was nailing in the nails
I think I heard him cry, take my mother home

I’ll die this death on Calvary, ain’t gonna die no more
I’ll die on Calvary, ain’t gonna die no more
Ain’t gonna die no more

I think I heard him say, when he was giving up the ghost
I think I heard him say, please, take my mother home
Please, take my mother home

For me, the “nailing in the nails” part is particularly emotionally strong. That part is sung by the men against a stylized crying done by the women. And it comes to a particularly discordant chord on “nails”. The way we present this piece is, in my view, a much harsher presentation than what the demo version that the various sheet music sites use. The Clarke arrangement is a somewhat challenging piece for our choir, in part because he uses a bunch of chords that are more common in jazz music.

A more traditional spiritual presentation can be found on YouTube, done by the Morehouse College Glee Club (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eM8bXW3fhU). They also include to other verses, one “when they was spittin’ in His face” and one “when he was dyin’ on the cross”. And the chords in and around “nailing in the nails” are also extremely discordant, as it should be.

Watch the Lamb

The second song I want to present for today is also from Good Friday, and derives from Mark chapter 15, including the story of Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry the cross for Jesus. This is a long song (over 7 minutes) and very disturbing. I don’t like the thought of children seeing any crucifixion. But children did and have seen such things.

This is Watch the Lamb, by Ray Boltz (http://www.rayboltz.com/). What I hadn’t known, when I picked this song for today, is that Ray Boltz “came out of the closet” in 2008. His newest album (True) has songs about his challenges reconciling his identities as a gay man and a Christian.

Walking on the road to Jerusalem
The time had come to sacrifice again
My two small sons,
They walked beside me on the road
The reason that they came
Was to watch the lamb

Daddy, daddy what will we see there?
There’s so much we don’t understand
So I told them of Moses
And Father Abraham
And then I said,
Dear children, Watch the lamb

For there will be so many
In Jerusalem today
We must be sure the lamb
Doesn’t run away
And I told them of Moses
And Father Abraham
And then I said,
Dear children, Watch the lamb

When we reached the city
I knew something must be wrong
There were no joyful worshippers
No joyful worship songs
I stood there with my children
In the midst of angry men
And then I heard the crowd cry out,
Crucify Him

We tried to leave the city
But we could not get away
Forced to play in this drama,
A part I did not wish to play
Why upon this day
Were men condemned to die?
Why were we standing here
Where soon they would pass by?

I look and said, Even now they come
The first one cried for mercy,
The people gave him none
The second one was violent,
He was arrogant and loud
I still can hear his angry voice
Screaming at the crowd

Then someone said, There’s Jesus!
And I scarce believed my eyes
A man so badly beaten,
He barely looked alive
Blood poured from His body,
From the thorns upon His brow
Running down the cross
And falling to the ground

I watched Him as He struggled
I watched Him as He fell
The cross came down upon His back,
The crowd began to yell
In that moment I felt such agony
In that moment I felt such loss
Until a Roman soldier grabbed my arm
And screamed, You, carry His cross!

At first I tried to resist him
Then his hand reached for his sword
And so I knelt and took
The cross from the Lord
I placed it on my shoulder
And started down the street
The blood that He’d been shedding
Was running down my cheek

They led us to Golgotha
They drove nails
Deep in His feet and hands
An yet upon the cross
I heard Him pray, Father forgive them
Oh, never have I seen such love
In any other eyes
Into they hands I commit My spirit,
He prayed and then He died

I stood for what seemed like years
I’d lost all sense of time
Until I felt two tiny hands
Holding tight to mine
My children stood there weeping
I heard the oldest say
Father, please forgive us
The lamb ran away

Daddy, daddy what have we seen here?
There’s so much
That we don’t understand
So I took them in my arms
And we turned and faced the cross
And then I said,
Dear children, watch the Lamb

Conclusion

We stand in the triumph of Palm Sunday. But we know what will come with the passion and suffering of Christ. It is the painful reminder we go through each year, to remember that our God loves us that much. And we will come through Good Friday and move into the even greater triumph of Easter Sunday.

---

1. See, for example, the article on Baseball’s Sad Lexicon on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball’s_Sad_Lexicon.  ↩

2. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLSKM5YtRE for a YouTube recording (no video) of the Belafonte presentation of this hymn.  ↩

3. http://www.artsongupdate.org/Articles/HallJohnson.htm  ↩

What Wondrous Love is This!

Introduction

What Wondrous Love is This is a piece that’s often done during Lent and which I’ve thought about quite a bit at different times of the year. It is also a piece that has a lot of different verses and which can be done in some very different style. The version we use, Hymn #85 in the PCUSA hymnal, has just three verses, and is attributed as an American folk hymn, circa 1811. The first recorded publication is from Walker’s Southern Harmony in 1835. Our harmonization is from Cantate Domino in 1980. It’s the only hymn in our hymnal with the metric 12.9.12.12.9.

This hymn is definitely American in origin, and is one that pretty clearly came out of the Appalachians.

Lyrics

The lyrics below are from the PCUSA Hymnal:

What wondrous love is this? O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the heavy cross [dreadful bliss] for my soul, for my soul.
To bear the heavy cross for my soul!

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing,
To God and to the Lamb I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb who is the great I Am,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing.
While millions join the theme, I will sing!

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on!

• Some texts use a question mark at the end of the second line of the first verse. What difference does that make to you whether this is a question mark or an exclamation mark?. I never thought about it that way before preparing this lesson, and I've chosen the exclamation point for the session title.

I love the last verse in our hymnal. I can’t help but to feel exultant when I sing that verse. It’s such a promise to me and it resonates strongly with the verse of Amazing Grace that says that “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less time to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun.” Those are two of my favorite hymn promise verses.

There are a variety of other verses from other sources. Ones I’ve found, that aren’t necessarily adapted to the meter of our particular version of Wondrous Love are below. A couple add some grace notes to get all of the syllables in.

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, Beneath God’s awful frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

When I began to pray for my soul, for my soul,
When I began to pray for my soul,
When I began to pray, thus the word of God did say,
Christ is the truth and the way, for thy soul.

He shed his heavenly light in my soul, in my soul,
He shed his heavenly light in my soul,
He shed his heavenly light, to disperse the gloom of night,
Now it shines with radiance bright, in my soul.

Ye winged seraphs, fly, bear the news, bear the news,
Ye winged seraphs, fly, bear the news, Ye winged seraphs, fly, like comets through the sky, Fill vast eternity with the news.

Ye friends of Zion’s king, join in praise, join in praise,
Ye friends of Zion’s king, join in praise;
Ye friends of Zion’s king, with hearts and voices sing,
And strike each tuneful string, in his praise.

Yes, when to that bright world we arise, we arise, Yes, when to that bright world we arise.
When to that world we go, free from all pain and wo, We’ll join the happy throng, and sing on, and sing on, We’ll join the happy throng, and sing on.

He shed his heavenly light in my soul, in my soul,
He shed his heavenly light in my soul.
He shed his heavenly light, to disperse the gloom of night, Now it shines with radiance bright, in my soul.

The Music

The earliest singers of this tune were Irish and Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian mountains. In that sense, some of the more Celtic or Scottish tradition presentations of this tune are “authentic”. Some presentations of this tune are very lilting and soothing, though no less triumphant to me.

My impression is that we sing this song in in more of that soft, Celtic tradition. But this song has also been a mainstay of the Southern Gospel movement, and it is also very often done in a Sacred Harp style, which is quite different. Sacred Harp and shape note singing are part of what And there are many different presentations available between the a very lilting flute and a very driven Shape Note form.

The first one I want to start with is the Sola Gratia presentation, which is very Celtic and I think a beautiful form. This is the same group I introduced last week.

The second presentation is from Blue Highway. It’s a cappella, with a guitar/banjo intro. Stylistically it has some hints of both Southern Gospel and Sacred Harp.

The third presentation is much quieter, done by the Colorado Children’s choir.

The fourth presentation is by the BYU Women’s chorus. They start in a very lilting pure-tone form and move into a more Sacred Harp style for the second verse.

The fifth presentation is very much in the Sacred Harp form, done by Rivers of Delight. This last presentation is probably very much as Walker would have presented the piece in his Southern Harmony.

Another shape note presentation is the You Tube recording from the Southern Theological Seminary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gZkVDwJT1I4

Ah, Holy Jesus

Introduction

One of the FPC traditions (at least as long as I’ve been here) is using Ah, Holy Jesus as the introit during Lent. In the PCUSA Hymnal[1], this is hymn #93. Let’s take a look at the lyrics and tune to this well-known Lenten hymn, based on Isaiah 53.

At the top of this, I’d like to give a shout out to Sola Gratia[2], which is a Christian music group from Birmingham, AL. I found their version of Ah, Holy Jesus in looking for one to use today, and it’s beautiful. It’s from their debut album, and I like what I heard enough that I bought the whole album. See http://solagratiamusic.com/ for more about this emerging group.

Reference Scripture:

The lyrics are derived from Isaiah 53 (NIV v1–10):

Who has believed our message  
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,  
    and like a root out of dry ground.  
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,  
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  
He was despised and rejected by mankind,  
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  
Like one from whom people hide their faces  
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  
Surely he took up our pain  
    and bore our suffering,  
yet we considered him punished by God,  
    stricken by him, and afflicted.  
But he was pierced for our transgressions,  
    he was crushed for our iniquities;  
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,  
    and by his wounds we are healed.  
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  
    each of us has turned to our own way;  
and the Lord has laid on him  
    the iniquity of us all.  
He was oppressed and afflicted,  
    yet he did not open his mouth;  
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,  
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,  
    so he did not open his mouth.  
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  
    Yet who of his generation protested?  
For he was cut off from the land of the living;  
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,   
    and with the rich in his death,  
though he had done no violence,  
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.   

Ah, Holy Jesus: Lyrics

The lyrics are originally German as Herzliebster Jesu from 1630[3], written by Johann Heermann (1585–1647) who was a poet and hymn writer. Ah Holy Jesus is the only one of the works listed on the Wikipedia page about him[4] that I recognize, at least.

As with the other works from other languages, there are multiple translations. The one we’re used to (from our hymnal), is by Robert Bridges, from the late 1800’s, but with an update from 1987 and the Psalter Hymnal. Also as with other things we’ve looked at, the PCUSA hymnal is shorter than the original. We use four verses. There are at least 5 in other Bridges translations of this hymn, and Hymnary.org[5] shows 15 verses in the Winkworth translation.

The Wikipedia article[3] on this tune shows the first three translations below of the original first verse. For grins, I also added what I got out of Google Translate.

Original German
Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,
Daß man ein solch scharf Urteil hat gesprochen?
Was ist die Schuld? In was für Missetaten
Bist du geraten?

Bridges Translation (original)
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended? By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Bridges Translation (1987 Psalter Hymnal update)
Ah, holy Jesus, how have You offended,
That mortal judgment has on you descended?
By foes derided, by Your own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Winkworth Translation
O dearest Jesus, what law hast Thou broken
That such sharp sentence should on Thee be spoken?
Of what great crime hast Thou to make confession,
What dark transgression?

Choral Niagara translation
Beloved Jesus, what have you done wrong
that they have pronounced so hard a sentence?
What is your guilt, into what sort of misdeeds
Have you fallen?

Google Translate
Heart Dearest Jesus, what have you done wrong,
That there is such a sharp judgment spoken?
What’s to blame? For in what misdeeds
You have come?

• Look at these translations. What differences jump out at you?

PCUSA Hymnal V2–4
2 Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon You?
It is my treason, Lord that has undone You.
’Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied You;
I crucified You.

3 For me, kind Jesus, was Your incarnation,
Your mortal sorrow, and Your life’s oblation;
Your death of anguish and Your bitter passion,
For my salvation.

4 Therefore, dear Jesus, since I cannot pay You,
I do adore You, and will ever praise You,
Think on Your pity and Your love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

Additional Bridges verse (3) not in PCUSA Hymnal
Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered.
For our atonement, while we nothing heeded,
God interceded.

Some thoughts form my perspective reading through this:

• Verse 3 is easy to read as a question, but that’s not the way it’s written. It’s a statement, with a bit of poetic license in the structure of the sentence.
• In verse 4, I originally had a period at the end of the second line. But it’s a comma, indicating that all of this is my response. I will adore Him. I will praise Him. I will think on His Pity and His love. And I won’t think on my lack of deserving. That’s another powerful thought.
• The Psalter Hymnal translation of verse 1 is quite different from the original Bridges translation. Both are powerful. The Bridges wording references the “hast in hate pretended”, which carries some different thoughts.
• I have a lot of emotional trouble singing verse 2. It’s a very powerful line, and a counterpoint, in a way, to verse 4. Verse 2 is about what I’ve done, but we close the hymn with what Christ has done, which is the more powerful. We mentioned it briefly in class last week, but there’s a Ray Boltz song called Feel the Nails?:

Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry “Crucify!” again?
Am I causing Him pain?
Then I know I’ve got to change
I just can’t bear the thought
Of hurting Him
It seems that I’m so good
At breaking promises
And I treat His precious grace
So carelessly
But each time He forgives
What if He relives
The agony He felt on that tree?

Ah, Holy Jesus: Tune

The tune for Ah, Holy Jesus is now listed as Herzliebster Jesu – the original German name for the poem that became this hymn. It was written in 1640 by Johann Crüger (1598–1662). The metric is a bit unusual at 11.11.11.5, though there are two other hymns with this metric #459 (Father, We Praise Thee) and #529 (Lord of the Living), both to the tune Christe Sanctorum (which I don’t know).

The particular rendition I’m offering for today is done by a group new to me, Sola Gratia, from their 2011 debut Wondrous Love[2]. It’s a beautiful Celtic-flavored a cappella rendition of the piece, using the original Bridges translation, including the verse 3 that we don’t use.

• What is the message in this song for us today?

---

1. The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.  ↩

2. The Wondrous Love album can be found on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wondrous-love/id457982981. The artist’s web site is http://solagratiamusic.com/. This is the 2011 debut album for a group called Sola Gratia, which was formed to record a CD for the 25th anniversary of Dominion Baptist in Birmingham, AL. It looks to be a group of 4 women named Katie & Emily Martin, Ashley Fandino, and Ren Blankenship.  ↩

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzliebster_Jesu  ↩

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heermann  ↩

5. [http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_dearest_jesus_what_law_hast_tho_broken(http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_dearest_jesus_what_law_hast_tho_broken)]  ↩

Come to the Table and Why

Introduction

We’ll continue this week with two more Michael Card songs: Come to the Table and Why. Since today is a first Sunday of the month, when we do communion, I wanted to do a communion piece, and I also wanted a piece with a Lenten feel.

Come to the Table

Come to the Table is from Michael Card’s The Life album set (track 23), and it’s also done by John Michael Talbot on the Brother to Brother album, where Michael and John Michael each do songs from the other’s works.

Come to the table and savor the sight  
The wine and the bread that was broken  
And all have been welcomed to come if they might  
Accept as their own these two tokens  

The bread is His body, the wine is the blood  
And the one who provides them is true  
He freely offers, we freely receive  
To accept and believe Him is all we must do  

Come to the table and taste of the glory  
And savor the sorrow, He's dying tomorrow  
The hand that is breaking the bread  
Soon will be broken  

And here at the table, sit those who have loved You  
One is a traitor and one will deny  
But He's lived his life for them all  
And for all be crucified  

Come to the table He's prepared for you  
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release  
Come to the table and sit down beside Him  
The Savior wants you to join in the feast  

Come to the table and see in His eyes  
The love that the Father has spoken  
And know you are welcome, whatever your crime  
For every commandment you've broken  

For He's come to love you and not to condemn  
And He offers a pardon of peace  
If you'll come to the table, you'll feel in your heart  
The greatest forgiveness, the greatest release  

Come to the table and taste of the glory  
And savor the sorrow, He's dying tomorrow  
The hand that is breaking the bread  
Soon will be broken  

And here at the table, sit those who have loved You  
One is a traitor and one will deny  
But He's lived his life for them all  
And for all be crucified  

Come to the table He's prepared for you  
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release  
Come to the table and sit down beside Him  
The Savior wants you to join in the feast  

Come to the table He's prepared for you  
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release  
Come to the table and sit down beside Him  
The Savior wants you to join in the feast  

Some of the things that come out to me:

• The song talks and reminds us that Judas is one for whom Christ died, and that Christ knew of Peter’s denials. There is nothing we can do that Christ isn’t willing to reach out to us with forgiveness. Christ has indeed come to love us and not condemn. In my view, he’s also asking us to change, but accepts us as we are.
• The hand that is breaking the bread soon will be broken. Powerful.
• The first verse includes the theology of the open table. It is Christ’s table, and it is his invitation. Christ gave communion to the traitor and the denier.

Why

I’ve loved this song for many years. It’s also from Michael’s The Life album, release in 1987. The contrasts here are striking, and this song is one that I come back to time and time again as part of my Christian listening habits.

Why did it have to be a friend  
Who chose to betray the Lord  
Why did he use a kiss to show them  
That's not what a kiss is for  

Only a friend can betray a friend  
A stranger has nothing to gain  
And only a friend comes close enough  
To ever cause so much pain  

And why did there have to be thorny  
Crown pressed upon His head  
It should have been the royal one  
Made of jewels and gold instead  

It had to be a crown of thorns  
Because in this life that we live  
For all who seek to love  
A thorn is all the world has to give  

And why did it have to be  
A heavy cross He was made to bare  
And why did they nail His feet and hands  
His love would have held Him there  

It was a cross for on a cross  
A thief was supposed to pay  
And Jesus had come into the world  
To steal every heart away  

Yes, Jesus had come into the world  
To steal every heart away