Today`s lectionary Gospel is John 14 vs. 7-14. There are a number of verses which I could have chosen for today but I was drawn to verse eight, Philip`s request to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father,” and Jesus` response, `Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Many years ago I had occasion to give the principal of a theological college a lift in my car and he spotted a bumper sticker in the back window which read, “Thank God for Jesus.” “I think that a more accurate theological rendering might be “Thank Jesus for God” he remarked. And he had a point. It is indeed through the birth , life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, that we have the fullest revelation of who and what God is.
Which brings me to today`s hymn. A few year`s prior to the above conversation I had been Assistant Organist and Choirmaster at Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast, known as the cathedral of Irish Presbyterianism for its imposing architecture and its impressive music. A robed choir processed and recessed every Sunday and one of the processional hymns often used was:
God and Father, we adore thee
For the Son thine image bright
I had all but given up trying to find a hymn based on today`s reading from John 14 until I remembered this hymn from my time at Fisherwick. What I hadn`t noticed before was that the first verse is attributed to John Nelson Darby, (1800-82) founder of the Exclusive Brethren. Verses 2-5 and adaptation of verse 6 are by Hugh Falconer, 1859-1931. Falconer was born in Edinburgh and ordained in 1882 to a charge in the Free Church of Scotland. He later joined the English Presbyterian Church and served as Moderator in 1919, retiring in 1923.
This hymn is Darby and Falconer`s sole listing in the Third Edition of the Church Hymnary, published 1973 by the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and the Presbyterian Church of Wales.
The tune set in CH3 is Laus Deo, also known as Redhead, composed by Richard Redhead, 1820-1901.
I offer you the words as a prayer of adoration and thanksgiving for the revelation of God in Christ.
“No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1 vs 18.
God and Father, we adore thee
For the Son, thine image bright,
In whom all thy holy nature
Dawned on our once hopeless night.
Far from thee our footsteps wandered,
On dark paths of sin and shame;
But our midnight turned to morning,
When the Lord of Glory came.
Word Incarnate, God revealing,
Longed-for while dim ages ran,
Love Divine, we bow before thee,
Son of God and Son of Man.
Let our life be new created,
Ever-living Lord, in Thee,
Till we wake with Thy pure likeness,
When Thy face in heaven we see;
Where the saints of all the ages,
Where our fathers glorified,
Clouds and darkness far beneath them,
In unending day abide.
God and Father, now we bless thee
For the Son, thine image bright,
In whom all thy holy nature
Dawns on our adoring sight.
Alan Kennedy
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