Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, August 18, 2024)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows:

All the hymns for this Sunday were selected as a tribute to the late Timothy Dudley Smith who entered the nearer presence of God this past Monday. He was 97. Timothy Dudley Smith was one of the most prolific hymn writers in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion in recent years. He wrote more than 400 hymns in his lifetime. His hymns are found in the hymnals of a number of denominations. A number of his hymns have also been arranged for choirs and soloists.

In this Sunday’s message we take a look at the part that hymns and other forms of sacred music play in the faith and the life of a Christian, according to the apostle Paul, and the implications for worship planners.

GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

O Loving Lord, you are always near us. Enable us to experience your presence and power in this time of worship. Open our ears to hear your voice; open our eyes to behold your glory; open our hearts to receive your grace; open our lips to show forth your praise; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “Come, Let Us Praise the Lord” (Psalm 95).

1 Come, let us praise the Lord,
with joy our God acclaim,
his greatness tell abroad
and bless his saving name.
Lift high your songs before his throne
to whom alone all praise belongs.

2 Our God of matchless worth,
our King beyond compare,
the deepest bounds of earth,
the hills, are in his care.
He all decrees, who by his hand
prepared the land and formed the seas.

3 In worship bow the knee,
our glorious God confess;
the great Creator, he,
the Lord of Righteousness.
He reigns unseen: his flock he feeds
and gently leads in pastures green.

4 Come, hear his voice today,
receive what love imparts;
his holy will obey
and harden not your hearts.
His ways are best and lead at last,
all troubles past, to perfect rest.

Coda:
His ways are best and lead at last,
all troubles past, to perfect rest.
Come, let us praise the Lord.

The Bible tells us to approach God confidently,
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we do. We must confess our sins,
seeking forgiveness through God’s boundless
goodness and mercy.

Let us confess our sins to God our Father

Silence

Heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault;
by what we have done
and by what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ who died for us,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Merciful Lord, grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley-Smith’s “For God My Spirit Longs” (Psalm 84).

For God my spirit longs
within his courts to come,
while in my heart I hear the songs
that speak to me of home.

The sparrow builds her nest,
the swallow lays her young:
may my long home be with the blest
who hear God's praises sung.

Ah…
Ah…

My journey be with those
whose pilgrim feet have trod
where water in the desert flows,
a highway home to God.

To him, when life is past,
my song shall still be praise;
our Sun and Shield while time shall last,
and to eternal days.

Ah…
Ah…

For God my spirit longs
within his courts to come,
while in my heart I hear the songs
that speak to me of home.

The sparrow builds her nest,
the swallow lays her young:
may my long home be with the blest
who hear God's praises sung.

Ah…
Ah…
Ah!

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley-Smith’s “As Water to the Thirsty.”

1 As water to the thirsty, as beauty to the eyes,
as strength that follows weakness, as truth instead of lies,
as song time and springtime and summertime to be,
so is my Lord, my living Lord so is my Lord to me.

2 Like calm in place of clamor, like peace that follows pain,
like meeting after parting, like sunshine after rain,
like moonlight and starlight on the sea,
so is my Lord, my living Lord so is my Lord to me.

3 As sleep that follows fever, as gold instead of grey,
as freedom after bondage, as sunrise to the day,
as home to the traveler and all we long to see,
so is my Lord, my living Lord so is my Lord to me.
So is my Lord to me.

Let us pray

Silence

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire, or deserve:
Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
save through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the Old Testament: Proverbs 9: 1-14

Wisdom has built her house,
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine,
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls
from the highest places in the town,
‘You that are simple, turn in here!’
To those without sense she says,
‘Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Lay aside immaturity, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.’
Fear the Lord, all you his holy ones,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
Lions may lack and suffer hunger,
but those who seek the Lord
lack nothing that is good.
Come, my children, and listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is there who delights in life
and longs for days to enjoy good things?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from lying words.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “The Glory of Our God and King” (Magna et mirabilia).

1 The glory of our God and King,
the splendour of his throne,
let heaven and earth unite to sing
and all creation own.
The one eternal Father bless
before whose state and crown,
whose reign of perfect righteousness,
the nations all bow down.

2 His mercies shown, his triumphs won,
unnumbered saints proclaim,
the deeds his mighty arm has done,
his great and glorious Name.
In honour throned, in love adored,
how just and true his ways:
of all the ages King and Lord,
to everlasting days!

A reading from the New Testament: Ephesians 5: 15-20

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “Heavenly Hosts in Ceaseless Worship.”

Heavenly hosts in ceaseless worship
`Holy, holy, holy' cry;
`he who is, who was and will be,
God Almighty, Lord most high.'
Praise and honour, power and glory,
be to him who reigns alone!
We, with all his hands have fashioned,
fall before the Father's throne.

All creation, all redemption,
join to sing the Saviour's worth;
Lamb of God, whose blood has bought us,
kings and priests, to reign on earth.
Wealth and wisdom, power and glory,
honour, might, dominion, praise,
now be his from all his creatures
and to everlasting days!

All creation, all redemption,
join to sing the Saviour's worth;
Lamb of God, whose blood has bought us,
kings and priests, to reign on earth.
Wealth and wisdom, power and glory,
honour, might, dominion, praise,
now be his from all his creatures
and to everlasting days!

Sing…to God with Thankful Hearts

Churches in North America, in the United States and Canada, have seen a sharp decline not only in worship attendance but also in congregational singing. A number of factors account for this decline, including the seeker-friendly or seeker-sensitive movement that began in the 1970s and which introduced the practice of not expecting the congregation to sing. It was argued that in a gathering largely comprised of non-believers it was unrealistic to ask a segment of the population which was unaccustomed to singing to sing hymns and other sacred songs. This would cause them discomfort and consequently they would not return after their first visit. Worship songs whose style was modeled upon contemporary secular pop songs and performed by a worship band modeled upon a rock band would replace hymns and other participatory forms of sacred music and congregational singing, effectively turning into a concert the Sunday gathering of churches which adopted this model. Corporate worship, the worship of God in which all those present at a church’s Sunday gathering participate, went out the window.

This is not to suggest that concerts at which sacred music is performed and listening to sacred music do not have a place in the faith and the life of a Christian. But as we shall see from the apostle Paul says in four of his letters, congregational singing and other forms of corporate worship have a far more important place in a Christian’s faith and life. The Protestant Reformers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries recognized their importance. The Protestant Reformers not only translated the Bible into a language that people understood, but they also did the same thing to the liturgy, the prayers used in a church’s Sunday gatherings. They restored congregational singing to the place that it had enjoyed in the early church. Before the Protestant Reformation what sacred music was sung in the Western Church was sung in Latin and performed by professional choirs. It took the form of elaborate polyphony, which was composed so that those listening could not understand the words even if they understood Latin. The beauty of the combined voices was stressed over the intelligibility of the words.

What then does Paul say in his letters that warrants our attention? In Romans 15: 6 Paul stresses the importance of joining together with one voice to give praise and glory to God. In Romans 15: 9-12 he draws attention to several prophetic passages of the Old Testament which foretell how the Gentiles will join with the Jews in praising God, providing a biblical warrant for what he just wrote.

In 1 Corinthians 14: 15-17 Paul stresses the importance of singing in words that are understandable so that others can understand what we are singing, praise God with us, and join us in giving thanks. He further stresses the importance of strengthening those who hear us. Implicit in what he is saying is avoiding figurative language or insider language (sometimes called Christianese, stained glass window language, or the language of Zion) in the hymns and other sacred songs that we sing, making allusions and using words and phrases with which those who hear the song are unfamiliar. Implicit also is the avoidance of references to experiences with which very few believers and non-believers can associate such as having been resurrected from the dead and called from the tomb. Such allusions may go over their heads. They may be misinterpreted. For example, singing about having been resurrected from the dead may lead some people to believe that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred, an unorthodox belief against which Paul warned the readers of his letters.

This is not to say that we should avoid singing hymns and other sacred songs from the global church in the original language, but we should also sing an English translation of the words.

In 1 Corinthians 14: 26 Paul reiterates that everything must be done to strengthen the whole gathering.

In today’s New Testament reading from his letter to the Ephesians Paul urges the church at Ephesus to be filled with the Holy Spirit and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs together. In other words, he is urging them to sing a variety of sacred songs, not just one genre of sacred music as has become the case in many churches in our time.

When Paul speaks of “making melody in our hearts,” he is not talking about humming the tune of a hymn or other sacred song to ourselves but that we should sing hymns and other sacred songs from the heart and not just with our lips. The hymns and other sacred songs that we sing should be heart-felt. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with humming the melody of a hymn or other sacred song which is not familiar to us as a way of learning the tune of that hymn or other sacred song. It is one of the well-established ways of learning a new or unfamiliar hymn or other sacred song.

When Paul speaks of “giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he is talking about maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving toward God whatever our circumstances. What he is not saying is that we should thank God for the bad things that may be happen to us. Rather we should always think about God’s goodness and his kindness and be thankful even in the worst of circumstances.

In Colossians 3: 16, Paul reiterates what he said in today’s New Testament reading, “Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”

John Wesley considered the public worship of God to be an “ordinance” of God, a means of grace ordained by God, based upon these passages and other passages of Scripture. A means of grace is a way that God arouses, strengthens, and confirms our faith. Wesley considered congregational singing a integral part of the public worship of God. John Wesley and his younger brother Charles published 56 collections in 53 years. Charles wrote 6, 500 hymns in his lifetime, an incredible number of hymns. Hymn singing would become a hallmark of the early Methodist societies and typically began the weekly class meetings in which the early Methodists gathered to pray, receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over each other in love.

Since it is quite evident from these passages that the lion’s share of songs used in services of public worship should be songs which the congregation is capable of singing and in which they can take part. This means that the pitch of the tune must be In a comfortable range for the average singer in the congregation. It must not be too high or too low. The tune must also be memorable. The lyrics must not be difficult to understand. They should give expression to the thoughts and feelings that members of the congregation are likely to be having at the particular point in the service where it is used or provide the congregation with an appropriate response to what preceded the song or prepare the congregation for what follows the song. Once a new or unfamiliar song is introduced, it needs to be repeated for several consecutive services until the congregation has learned and mastered the tune. After that it needs to be sung at regular intervals so that the lyrics and the tune stay fresh in the minds of the congregation.

Songs that have easy- to-learn repetitions and refrains enable a congregation to take part in a song while learning the rest of the song. Songs that require several rehearsals for the musical ensemble leading and supporting the congregational singing to learn are best used as special music.

Ensuring that the songs used in a service of public worship are accessible to the congregation may be challenging for those planning the service. It does require keeping track of what songs have been used and when they were used. It also requires a measure of restraint on their part when it comes to introducing new songs so as not to overwhelm the congregation with unfamiliar tunes and lyrics.

Since the songs for this Sunday’s service were chosen to honor the late Timothy Dudley-Smith, they may be unfamiliar. Those which have a tune which may be picked up after hearing the first verse are in bold print. If you don’t feel confident in singing a song, hum along with the tune. With two exceptions, all of the songs have previously been used on Sundays at All Hallows. All of them, including the two exceptions, are likely to be used again in the near future.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “Spirit of God Within Me.”

1 Spirit of God within me,
possess my human frame;
fan the dull embers of my heart,
stir up the living flame.
Strive till that image Adam lost,
new minted and restored,
in shining splendour brightly bears
the likeness of the Lord.

2 Spirit of truth within me,
possess my thought and mind;
lighten anew the inward eye
by Satan rendered blind;
shine on the words that wisdom speaks
and grant me power to see
the truth made known to all in Christ,
and in that truth be free.

3 Spirit of love within me,
possess my hands and heart;
break through the bonds of self-concern
that seeks to stand apart:
grant me the love that suffers long,
that hopes, believes and bears,
the love fulfilled in sacrifice,
that cares as Jesus cares.

4 Spirit of life within me,
possess this life of mine;
come as the wind of heaven's breath,
come as the fire divine!
Spirit of Christ, the living Lord,
reign in this house of clay,
till from its dust with Christ I rise
to everlasting day.

Let us confess our faith, as we say:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

Let us pray for the Church and the world.

Father, we pray for your holy catholic Church
that we all may be one.

Grant that every member of your Church may truly and humbly serve you:
that your name may be glorified by all people.

We pray for all bishops, elders, deacons, and licensed local pastors
that they may be faithful ministers of your word and sacraments.

We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world
that there may be justice and peace on the earth.

Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake
that your glory may be proclaimed through our lives.

Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble
that they may be delivered from their distress.

We praise you for your saints who have entered their eternal joy
may we also come to share in the fulness of your kingdom.

We pray for our own needs and for those of others:

Silence.

The people may add their own petitions.

Gracious God, grant that the desires of your people’s hearts
may find favour in your sight, through the intercession
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

As our Savior taught us, we are bold to say:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s “All My Soul to God I Raise.”

1 All my soul to God I raise;
Be my guardian all my days.
Confident in hope I rest,
Daily prove your path is best.
Ever work in me your will,
Faithful to your promise still.

2. Graciously my sins forgive;
Help me by your truth to live.
In your footsteps lead me, Lord,
Joy renewed and hope restored,
Knowing every sin forgiven,
Learning all the ways of heaven.

3. Mercies manifold extend,
Not as judge but faithful friend.
O my Saviour, hear my prayer,
Pluck my feet from every snare;
Quietude be mine at last,
Rest from all my guilty past.

4. Sheltered safe when troubles fret,
Trusting God I triumph yet!
Undismayed in him I stand,
Victor only by his hand.
Worship, homage, love and praise,
All my soul to God I raise.

THE SENDING OUT OF GOD’S PEOPLE

Holy and everliving God,
by your power we are created
and by your love we are redeemed;
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves to your service,
and live each day in love to one another and to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Those present may extend their palms toward each other in a gesture of blessing as they say:

May the Lord bless and keep us;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us.
May the Lord lift us his countenance upon us,
and give us peace.

The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
And also with you.

Those present may exchange a gesture of peace with these or similar words:
Peace be with you.