287 For All the Saints Who From Their Labor Rest

This hymn is usually used for All Saints Sunday, November 1.  Bishop William How wrote this hymn in 1864 in praise of the faithful deeds of a score of Old Testament. He cited Hebrews 12:1 ("Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.") . But he actually used Hebrews 11 for his inspiration.  That chapter discusses what faith is  and all the deed of faith done by Old Testament individuals: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses,  and more.

Bishop How could have been considered a hero of fiath himself during his time.  He was a man of the people, regularly reaching out to minister to the poor and needy in his area.  Always humble, he once listed the characteristics that a minister should have, including among others, "being wholly without thought of self." Family and friends how knew him best were certain that he fit that description.

His son wrote his biography that "It is the fate of a hymn-writer to be forgotten.  The hymn remains; the name of the writer passes away." To those who knew the Bishop, the man would have agreed. Further, How was quoted ,"but to be a blessing is the abundant satisfaction of those who find their loving service of their fellow man."

My own mother, born in 1913, would have agreed with the Bishop.  Her advice to me from the time I was very young was, "the best thing to do with your life is to serve the Lord and serve others."  I hope I am making her proud through my organ playing and my counseling.

The composer of the hymn was the great British composer, Ralph Vaugh Williams. Vaughan Williams was born on the 12th October, 1872 in the Cotswold village of Down Ampney. He was educated at Charterhouse School, then Trinity College, Cambridge. Later he was a pupil of Stanford and Parry at the Royal College of Music, after which he studied with Max Bruch in Berlin and Maurice Ravel in Paris.

At the turn of the century he was among the very first to travel into the countryside to collect folk-songs and carols from singers, notating them for future generations to enjoy. As musical editor of The English Hymnal he composed several hymns that are now world-wide favorites (For all the Saints, Come down O love Divine). Later he also helped to edit The Oxford Book of Carols, with similar success. Before the war he had met and then sustained a long and deep friendship with the composer Gustav Holst. Vaughan Williams volunteered to serve in the Field Ambulance Service in Flanders for the 1914-1918 war, during which he was deeply affected by the carnage and the loss of close friends such as the composer George Butterworth.

For many years Vaughan Williams conducted and led the Leith Hill Music Festival, conducting Bach's St Matthew Passion on a regular basis. He also became professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in London. In his lifetime, Vaughan Williams eschewed all honors with the exception of the Order of Merit which was conferred upon him in 1938.

He died on the 26th August 1958; his ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey, near Purcell. In a long and productive life, music flowed from his creative pen in profusion. Hardly a musical genre was untouched or failed to be enriched by his work, which included nine symphonies, five operas, film music, ballet and stage music, several song cycles, church music and works for chorus and orchestra.

410 Praise My Soul Thou King of Heaven

Henry Francis Lyte, the author of this, his second setting of psalm 103, was born in Scotland in 1793.  Originally Lyte wanted to become a medical doctor but changed his mind later and went to theological college.  In 1815 he took Holy Order in the Church of England. He wrote more than 83 hymns and paraphrases of psalms.

This particular hymn text first appeared set together with this tune in 1834.  The tune, Lauda Anima was composed for this particular text and was published together in 1869.  It quickly became a favorite and was used as the processional hymn for the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.

The composer of this tune was John Goss whose musical career started as a chorister in the Chapel Royal.  In 1856, he was appointed as the composer for the Chapel Royal

671 Amazing Grace

This week we will be profiling perhaps one of the best known and most beloved hymn: Amazing
Grace.  The author of the words is John Newton whose story was told in a great movie several years ago.  The tune name is Amazing Grace and is from the Virginia Harmony hymnbook of 1831.

In a small cemetery of a small churchyard in Olney England, there is a tombstone with this inscription, "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy."  This testimonial was written by John Newton, himself during what has been described as an unusual and colorful life.

John Newton's mother, a godly woman, died when John was just seven years old. he related that she taught hi Bible passages and hymns despite her frail health. When John's father remarried, he was sent away to boarding school.  At the age of 11, he left school and began his life as a seaman.  His early years were described as a round of rebellion and debauchery.  He eventually became the captain of own ship that captured, transported and sold slaves to the plantations of the West Indies and America.  It was a difficult, often cruel lifestyle.

On the night of March 9, 1748 when Newton was 23, the ship encountered a particularly brutal storm that arose too quickly to prepare adequately for.  The next day he cried out to the Lord for deliverance.  He later wrote, "That tenth of Match is a day much remembered by me; I have never suffered it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748--the Lord came from on high and delivered me out of deep waters."

The next several years saw slow halting spiritual growth but he ended his career as one of the most powerful evangelical preachers in British history. He was eventually ordained in the Anglican church, and despite the fact it wasn't done in the Anglican communion, he often held services in the surrounding area.  During these sessions, he told the story of his conversion experience and early life. In the end, he became one of fhe most powerful preachers in British history, a powerful foe of slavery and the author of hundreds of hymns. It is also interesting to note that his life after his conversion had been an opponent and in the year he died, 1807, the British Parliament finally abolished slavery.

Originally the hymn was entitled "Faith's Review and Expectation." There were 6 verses and the text was based on 1Chronicle 17:16-17

686 Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

These week as we look at the theme of grace during our sermons, we have a musical story of a grace-filled life. Robert Robinson had a rough beginning and was himself prone to wander.  His father died when he was young and his mother had a rough time controlling him so she apprenticed him to a barber when he was 14.  He didn't really take it too seriously and often spent time reading and playing with friends rather than cutting hair. He became the leader of a notorious gang and was almost disowned by his family.

in 1752 when Robinson was 17, he and his friends visited a fortune teller.  They had been drinking quite a lot so they laughed about the whole thing.  Young Robert, however, was quite discomforted about their experiences, and although he suggested the young men go to the meeting to make fun of the traveling preacher, he talked them into going to hear the evangelist George Whitefield.

Whitefield was one of history's greatest preachers with a voice that"was part foghorn and part violin."  As the young men were nodding off because of the alcohol, the foghorn voice yelled "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee the wrath to come? Oh my hearers, the wrath to come!  The wrath to come!"

Upon hearing his words, Robinson immediately sobered up and sensed the speaker was preaching directly to him. The preachers words haunted him for almost 3 years until December 10, 1755.

Robert soon entered the ministry and at the age of 23 while serving Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, he wrote this hymn for his sermon on Pentecost Sunday.  It was a prayer that the Holy Spirit flood into all of our hearts with God's grace and streams of mercy.

There are two different stories about how Robinson's life ended.  One story related that he had been invited to Birmingham, England to preach for Dr. Joseph Priestly, a noted Unitarian.  There he was found the next morning dead at the age of 54.

Another story relates that Robinson in later life did stray from the faith and drifted from the "Fount of Every Blessing."  It is said that one day he was riding in a stagecoach and was sitting by a woman who was reading a hymnbook. She showed him the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," saying how wonderful it was.  He tried to change the subject but was unable to.  Finally, he said, "Madam, I am the poor man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds to enjoy the feelings I had then."

Whichever end of life story you prefer to believe, there is one thing that no one disagrees with:  this is a beautifully elegant 3 verse prayer that has the power to elicit feelings of gratitude for the grace God has given us and continues to give us.

These verses were set to the tune Nettleton. The source for the melody is widely believed to a traditional American melody that first appeared in A Repository of Sacred Music, Part II, in 1813.

Please do not skip listening to this amazing rendition of this hymn.  It is sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir accompanied by orchestra and organ.  Enjoy!