BAPTISM, JESUS, AND YOU Music for January 8, 2023 + The Baptism of Christ

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (WINCHESTER NEW)
• Hymn 7 - Christ, whose glory fills the skies (RATISBON)
• Hymn 132 - When Christ’s appearing was made known (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG)
• Hymn 616 - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVOGELEIN)
• Psalm 29:2a,3-11 – Tone Vc, refrain by James E. Barrett

Baptism of Christ, 1475,
 Andrea del Verrocchio
and Leonardo da Vinci.

This Sunday commemorates the Baptism of Christ. In three of the Gospels we read of Jesus going to John the Baptist for baptism. But John’s is a baptism of repentance, and Jesus has nothing for which he needs to repent. Why then does Jesus insist on being baptized? Jesus tells John that His baptism is "fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness". Jesus is baptized as a symbol of giving His will up to His Father and the beginning of His earthly ministry. It is an act of humility.

As we reflect on Christ’s baptism, we are reminded of our own baptism. As part of the service, we will participate in the renewal of our baptismal vows. That is why most of the hymns this morning refer to Christ's baptism.

Lead Me, Lord

The anthem is a fitting prayer for us as we remember our baptismal vows. The text comes from two psalms, Psalms 5:8 and 4:8: 

Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness;

make thy way plain before my face.

For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only,

that makest me dwell in safety.

The anthem is an excerpt from a much longer anthem, Praise the Lord, O my soul, by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, an English organist and composer. The grandson of Charles Wesley, he was born in London, and sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy. He learned composition and organ from his father, Samuel, completed a doctorate in music at Oxford, and composed for piano, organ, and choir. He was organist at Hereford Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, Leeds Parish Church, Winchester Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral. Wesley strove to improve the standards of church music and the status of church musicians; 

The original anthem was written in 1861, with this excerpt first published in 1905 in The Anthem Book, no. 8. But it was not until it was published in The Church Anthem Book in 1933 that it became quite popular. Now you can find this simple song in almost 30 hymnals, including the Episcopal book Lift Every Voice and Sing II, and the Renew hymnal which is in our pews.