By H. E. Singley, organist

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.

We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations,

no one will remember what we are doing now.

(Ecclesiastes 1:9-11, NLT)

With that encouraging (?) pronouncement, wise King Solomon reminds us of the ineluctable reality that history repeats itself. Maybe even more sobering are the words of Spanish philosopher and writer George Santayana who wrote in the early twentieth century, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

As daunting, varied and vast as modern-age threats may be, they are part of the human condition in a fallen creation. Think, for instance, of the Thirty Years’ War in seventeenth-century central Europe. As many as eight million people died from the war and its heinous accomplices, protracted epidemics of disease such as bubonic plague and pervasive famine.

Yet, no one should minimize today’s afflictions. In many instances, we would do so to our own peril. Keeping the bigger picture, much as we are able, is imperative, nonetheless. One of my best friends from growing up years in Texas has had a lengthy pastorate in southern Wisconsin. In the face of adversity, he says, “We don’t need to think that God is sitting up in heaven wringing His hands.”

The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?

But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.

He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.

(Psalm 11:3-4, NLT)

In the face of shaking foundations, we profit from deliberating about that which is our only secure security. As portentous theological currents swirled around the world of his day, Anglican pastor Samuel Stone wrote a hymn of confidence and hope, one that Christians sing around the world. The hymn-tune most associated with these words, Aurelia, was composed by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, a grandson of Charles Wesley. In its simplicity and singability, the music appropriately supports the textual cadence. Take a moment to read and contemplate this elegant, well-proportioned and substantive poetry.

The church's one Foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;

She is His new creation,by water and the Word;

From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

Elect from ev'ry nation, yet one o'er all the earth,

Her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth;

One holy Name she blesses, partakes one holy food,

And to one hope she presses, with ev'ry grace endued.

Tho' with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,

Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, "How long?"

And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

'Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,

She waits the consummation of peace for evermore;

Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,

And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One,

And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.

O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,

Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.

Like so many hymns which have been filtered by the sieve of time and which valiantly serve our own context, these words are laced with Scripture. Look for Scriptural allusions–some obvious, others not so obvious. For example:

· “His holy bride,” Ephesians 4:29-32, Revelation 21:9

· “Elect from every nation, yet one over all the earth,” John 17:21; Revelation 5:9

· “One Lord, one faith, one birth,” Ephesians 4:5

As Stone paints his portrait of the seemingly tottering reality through words, he writes of sore oppression, of distressing schisms, the cry of “How long?,” the toil, the tribulation, the war, the wait for consummation of it all in everlasting peace.

By reason of the immutable foundation of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and His atoning work, we anticipate a morning of song! In the interim, in this “not yet,” we have union with the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Triune God, the hope of the resurrection and being part–each of us–of the Church victorious and, ultimately, the Church at rest.

May that secure security sustain our courage, our fortitude, our perseverance in times of uncertainty.

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds

a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and

the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house,

it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

(Matthew 7:24-25, NLT)

For no one can lay any foundation other than

the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

(I Corinthians 3:11, NLT)

IDEAS FOR LISTENING

Listen for the melody of the hymn-tune throughout.
The music reflects three stanzas, all in a different key, all with a different stylistic approach.
You might think of the first, fourth and fifth stanzas as you hear the music.
Sing the hymn–words AND music–even if you’re by yourself!