A Purple Robe

This past Sunday in church, one of the preschoolers here at St. John, a bubbly little boy who also thinks deeply about spiritual things, greeted me at the door after worship not with his usual zest, but instead with a serious look on his face and a series of questions.  His first question was this:  "When they put the crown of thorns on Jesus' head, didn't that hurt Jesus?"  I said to him that it did hurt Jesus a great deal.  His next question was this:  "Why would the soldiers want do that and hurt Jesus?"  I said that not everyone liked Jesus and some people were trying to hurt Jesus on purpose.  His final question was the clincher and one about which I have been thinking all week:  "When the soldiers put the crown of thorns on Jesus' head, didn't that hurt their fingers too?"   I assured him that it probably did hurt the men who did this as well.  His final question was a reminder that while our sin was the cause of Jesus' suffering, our sin also hurts us as well. Jesus spoke about the faith of a child and it was very touching for me to see this Passion detail of Christ's suffering through the little eyes of this child.

The text is by British hymn writer Timothy Dudley-Smith.  The tune A PURPLE ROBE is by Noel Treddinick.   Text and tune are found in Worship Songs, Ancient and Modern, published in 1992 by The Canterbury Press Norwich and in the United States by Hope Publishing Company. The tune follows an A B C A B pattern with stanzas 1 and 4 sharing the same melody, stanzas 2 and 5 sharing the same melody. Stanza 3 has a unique melody and stands alone as a bridge.

1.  A purple robe, a crown of thorn,

         a reed in his right hand;

    before the soldiers' spite and scorn

         I see my Savior stand.

2.  He bears between the Roman guard

          the weight of all our woe;

     a stumbling figure bowed and scarred

          I see my Savior go.

3.  Fast to the cross's spreading span,

          high in the sunlight air,

     all the unnumbered sins of man

          I see my Savior bear.

4.  He hangs, by whom the world was made,

          beneath the darkened sky;

     the everlasting ransom paid,

          I see my Savior die.

5.  He shares on high his Father's throne,

         who once in mercy came;

     for all his love to sinners shown

         I sing my Savior's name.

Jesus, Greatest at the Table

1.  Jesus, greatest at the table,

          The almighty Son of Man,

               Laid aside His outer clothing,

          Poured some water in a pan;

                    As the Twelve lay, hushed in silence,

          He the servant's task began.

2.  Marvel how their Lord and Teacher

          Gently taught them not to vie

               As He humbly knelt before them,

          Dusty feet to wash and dry,      

                    By His tender touch expressing

          True compassion from on high.

3.  Jesus took the role of Servant

          When upon that gruesome span,

               For all human sin He suffered

          As a vile and loathsome man;

                    On the cross poured out like water

          To fulfill the Father's plan.

4.  Can we fathom such deep mercy?

          Do we see what God has done?

               Who can grasp this great reversal:

          Love that gives His only Son?

                     Christ, the sinless for the sinner,

          For the many dies the One.

5.  Jesus gave to His disciples

          A commandment that was new:

               "Show My love to one another,

          Do as I have done for you;

                    All the world will know You love Me

          As you love each other too."

   

What Grace is This!

This text from Christian Worship Supplement (CWS 715) is by Laurie F. Gauger, b. 1965.  A series of stanzas reflect different aspects of Christ's Passion and what it means for each individual Christian believer.  Yes, "God so loved the world...," but God also so loved...me!  What grace to love someone like me!  The tune WHAT GRACE, to which the text is wed in CWS, is by G. A. Hennig, b. 1966.

1.  What grace is this!

          My Lord and King

          Has set His face to suffering.

         My God eternal dies to bring

               Eternal life to me.

2.  What grace is this--

         That very God

          Would stoop to lift a cross of wood

          And walk a road of rock and blood,

               A sinner's road, for me.

3.  What grace is this!

          Though Lord of all,

          He yields to Pontius Pilate's law

          And lets the Roman hammers draw

               A rush of blood for me.

4.  What grace is this!

          Rude agonies!

          With common thieves He hangs and bleeds.

          The sinless Son bears each misdeed.

               He pays for all, for me.

5.  What grace is this! 

          Once wrapped in cloths

          And gently laid in manger trough,

          He's taken dead, from wretched cross

              And wrapped again for me.

6.  What grace is this?

          How can it be?

          He wears this raw humility

          To lift me to eternity.

               Such grace--sweet grace--for me.

          

Our Lord a Prayerful Vigil Kept

This text was written in 1991 for our Lenten worship at Grace Lutheran Church in Middletown, Connectictut, where I served as pastor from 1985-2000.  It is set to the tune CONSOLATION.

1.  Our Lord a prayerful vigil kept

         Within an olive grove;

     Three chosen friends in weakness slept

          While fervently He strove.

2.  His solitary figure lies

          With face upon the ground,

     And to His holy Father cries

          In sorrow so profound:

3.  "My Father, if there yet may be

          A way this cup be shunned,

      Then let this suff'ring pass from Me--

          Your will, not Mine, be done."

4.  The anguish of His soul unknown,

          His sweat, like drops of blood;

     Sin's burden bearing all alone,

          An overwhelming flood!

5.  A torch-lit mob His vigil ends

          With sign that none could miss:

     A friend still loyalty pretends,

          Betraying with a kiss.

6.  The Son of Man is led away

          By those with club and sword;

     The pow'rs of darkness have their prey!

          Will no one help afford?

7.  The timeless plan has now begun

          Unfolding as it should--

     The Father offers up His Son

          To suffer for our good.

In Faithful Silence Take Your Stand

This text by Lutheran Church-Canada pastor, Kurt E. Reinhardt, speaks of the power of God at work in Holy Baptism to defeat our enemies and enable us to walk through life's terrible circumstances on dry ground.   "In Faithful Silence Take Your Stand" is found in a book of Pastor Reinhardt's texts entitled "My Light and My Salvation," (ISBN:  978-1-934328-02-6) published in 2008 by Redeemer Press.  (Go to www.redeemer-fortwayne.org for additional information and to order.) For permission to use this text in worship, please contact Pastor Kurt Reinhardt at prkreinhardt@gmail.com

1.  In faithful silence take your stand,

     Be still and watch My saving hand,

          As surging waters heed My cry

         That you might pass and never die.

2.  The Prince of Hell is at your back,

     With hatred straining to attack,

          My mighty arm keeps him at bay;

          He shall not conquer you today.

3.  Pass through the water, do not fear;

     I will not fail you, I am near.

          Though sin and death will follow in,

          The distant bank they shall not win.

4.  A thund'rous wave will charge them down

     And they will flounder, they will drown;

          Yet you shall stand upon the shore

          To sing My praise forevermore.

5.  The edge of these baptismal seas,

     All littered with dead enemies,

          Throughout your life shall daily stand

          A tribute to My saving hand.