Grace Notes

...musings on great hymns

March 7

#695 --- In Christ There Is No East or West

In Christ there is no east or west --- he breaks all barriers down;

By Christ redeemed, by Christ possessed, in Christ we live as one.

 US and THEM.

In all the conflicts in the history of the world, there have only been two sides. Sharks and Jets, cats and dogs, Auburn and Alabama, Protestants and Catholics, Democrats and Republicans --- us…and them.

If we believe, really believe in Christ’s power to break down barriers, “us and them” is no more. It has no place in our world, or in our vocabularies. The same Christ that redeems us, that buys us back from the world; the same Christ that possesses us, directing our thoughts and actions; that same Christ destroys the walls we build between us and them.

In Christ we live as one.

March 14

#451 --- Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden, lost and ruined by the fall;

If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.

Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him.

 I have cheated a bit this week, and included a verse of this Southern Harmony classic that our hymnal leaves out (many hymns originally were composed with lots of verses --- sometimes 17 or 18! --- so hymnals often include only some of them). The last two lines above are the unincluded verse, and I thought they fit especially well with the first two lines, from our fourth verse.

I have never had a maid or cleaning service (visit my house and you’ll know it!), but I have heard several folks speak of “cleaning up for the maid to come”. It always makes me smile a little, but I sort of know the impulse. Maybe it is the same urge that overcomes folks with disorganized piles of random receipts just before they meet with their accountants. There is something in us that will admit we are needy, but not too needy. We need Jesus’ salvation and life-changing power, but we don’t want to need it too much. Sure, we’re sinners, but not sinners.

This hymn, one of my favorites from that era (1800’s American), reminds me all the time that we all need Jesus, and that if I wait around to acknowledge my need till I’m more worthy of Christ’s attention, time will pass, and I may never approach the intimacy with God that Jesus offers me. I need not dream of fitness; Jesus is ready to accept me as I am…poor…needy…ready.

March 21

#115 --- Fairest Lord Jesus

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring:

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

 Beautiful. What comes to mind for you when you hear that word? For me, nature is one of the first things I think of, in any kind of weather. I love stormy dark skies, snow-covered hills, rushing water, autumn leaves, bare winter branches in frigid air, and trees and flowers in bud or bloom. Nature humbles me with its beauty, and points my thoughts toward a God creative enough to think all this up. Beauty being created out of beauty, I know that there is great loveliness at the heart of God. And this beauty of God, expressed in Jesus, is somehow fairer than “woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring.”

Thank you, God, for showing us glimpses of your beauty in the spectacle of nature, and for the beauty of the words that bring this nature to mind.

March 28

#204 --- All Glory, Laud, and Honor

All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King,

To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou didst accept their praises --- accept the prayers we bring,

Who in all good delightest, thou good and gracious King!

 Count on a kid to tell it like it is. Maybe this is the reason for the old adage, “Children should be seen and not heard.” Over the course of our lives we develop the ability to filter our thoughts before they become words. We also sometimes lose the child’s ability to see things as they are, without expectation or preconception. Kids? They see it like it is, and say it like it is.

In today’s text, hosannas stream from the lips of children. They were onto Jesus, and seemed attracted to him without reservation. They saw what they saw, and liked it, and joyously praised Jesus. May we today be like children…no filters, no prejudices, no reservations about praising our redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Let al least one of those hosannas be mine, Lord.

--Leigh Anne Armstrong