Singing the Faith
Sermon Hymns for Every Sunday
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Ascension Day
Luke 24:44-53
Jesus said to his disciples, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. "Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
This is the day when Christians rise
To study earnestly His Word,
Making commitment to their Lord,
To find Him holy, true and wise.
This is the day when Christians wait
At home, at work, in field and town:
Promise of power, not their own,
Will clothe them, bless them, recreate.
This is the day when Christians hear
His voice, who died for their fall,
Obey and listen: He sends all
To go, proclaim Him without fear.
This is the day when Christians laud,
In churches all around the earth,
God for the gift of life, the birth
Of Jesus, gone to be with God.
Words: Georg Retzlaff (b. 1946)
Music: Herr, Jesu Christ, Dich zu uns wend', Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750
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About the Book
Sunday gospel readings are normally "enforced" by hymns selected by the organist, according to suggestions made by a choirmaster's handbook. Often the choice is rather limited, both in number and intellectual or theological content. Preaching the gospel can be seriously undermined by a gospel hymn which reflects thinking not exactly suited to the 21st century or, for that matter, the first century. Too much dogmatic baggage is packed into hymns which pretend to explain and express the official version. Preachers who wish to look at different angles find themselves at odds with some hymns, finding it even necessary to contradict their slant from the pulpit. This book attempts to put Jesus and His gospel into song, providing an alternative, more modern, more traditional, more to the core of the actual message of Jesus.
About the Author
Educated in Europe, with a doctoral degree from the University of Bern, Switzerland, the author has recently retired as rector of an Episcopal Church in South Carolina, after a distinguished career as pastor, missionary (in Liberia and Tanzania), and professor at American colleges and universities (professor of homiletics at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee). He has a passion for teaching the gospel the way Jesus communicated it, both through preaching and teaching as well as through lyrics and hymnody. Together with Joy, his wife, collaborator, and best critic for thirty-five year, Dr. Retzlaff actively promotes a return to Christian values grounded in the words of Jesus and a radical departure from mythological, philosophical, and folkloric obnebulations of a message which deserves a bold proclamation today, both in word and song.