Friday, August 18, 2023

Saturday prior to Proper 15

 

Galatians 3:28 - ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ.’”

The hymn of the day for this week, In Christ There Is No East or West (LSB #653), reflects the theme of the readings: that, according to the order of salvation in Christ, there is no difference between any of the people of His Church. All man-made distinctions are gone as regards His forgiveness: Jew/Gentile, black/white, male/female, Anglo/Hispanic, etc. The Body of Christ, the Church, comes from all nations. Indeed, even our liturgy reflects this, as it is drawn from Jewish, African, and European sources. Likewise, our hymns come from many cultures across many ages.

William A. Dunkerley (1852-1941) wrote these words originally part of a libretto, for the Pageant of “Darkness and Light” at the London Missionary Society’s exhibition “The Orient in London,” which ran from 1908–1914. Many hymnals credit the words to John Oxenham, Dunkerley’s pseudonym.

Oxenham made his home in the U.S. for a time before returning to England, where he died at the age of 89. According to hymnologist Albert Bailey, Oxenham began writing “to relieve the tedium of long journeys . . . and soon discovered that he liked writing better than business.”

He then included this poem in his collection, “Bees in Amber” (1913). This popular volume was rejected by publishers; when Oxenham self-published it, the book sold 285,000 copies. From here the hymn found its way into many English-language hymnals, beginning with England’s Songs of Praise (1931).

English literary scholar and hymnologist J.R. Watson states that the hymn takes its opening idea from Rudyard Kipling’s famous lines, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” from “The Ballad of East and West,” published in Barrach-Room Ballads, and Other Verses (1892). However, Oxenham’s hymn is the antithesis of Kipling’s verse.

Perhaps the author’s extensive travel helped him develop a sense of Christian unity beyond the racial and cultural differences that he observed.   [1]

A prayer for unity of faith O God your infinite love restores to the right way those who err, seeks the scattered and preserves those whom you have gathered. Of your tender mercy pour out on your faithful people the grace of unity that, all schisms being ended your flock may be gathered to the true Shepherd of your church and may serve you in faithfulness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.[2]



[1] http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/c/n/icnoeast.htm
[2] Collect for unity of Faith, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
3 God So Loved the World, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things


No comments: