In Love Christ Shed His Tears

Yesterday was a good day. Yesterday, I got to see a hymn I had written in print for the first time in the Winter 2014 issue of Lutheran Forum. (The hymn text is included as the end of this post if you have limited time and need/want to skip my ramblings on my hymnwriting journey to this point)

Back in 2012, I was listening to Issues, Etc. (which is well worth your time to listen) and heard an ad segment for a hymnwriting contest. I had never before tried to write a hymn, but I decided to give it a go anyway. I did not win, but it was the push that got me going. I remember watching the London Olympics with a notebook and pencil and writing my first hymn stanzas. Shortly after this, in September 2012, I had a completely out of the blue opportunity to meet and have dinner with the prolific hymnwriter Pastor Stephen Starke at a mutual friend's house. This, along with receiving positive feedback from a friend attending Concordia Theological Seminary, encouraged me to write more. I've written over a dozen texts, and have written original music for a few of them. Some are already posted on this blog, some are what I would consider to be finished, and some are resting until I figure out what they are missing.

So, I've been a hymnwriter since August 2012, but it seemed somewhat unofficial. I love hymns and grew up singing wonderful hymns by Luther, Gerhard, Franzmann, (and more recently) Starke, and so many others. The last thing I want is a hymn of mine supplanting a wonderful hymn simply because it is new. My goal has been to work very hard at improving my writing so I might someday write even just one hymn worthy to take a place alongside the rich Lutheran hymn tradition and be preserved for the Church's present and future use.

It is still to be seen if "In Love Christ Shed His Tears" is one of these hymns, but it is the first of my hymns to be published. It was a two year process from when I wrote the first version in October 2012 to the final revision I submitted that was accepted for publication, but that two years was worth it. The text and tune received the scrutiny and criticism of many during this time, and I received some valuable encouragement. I need to thank Kantor Richard Resch for his feedback that helped me achieve the final major revision, and his encouragement to submit to Lutheran Forum.

I hope this is the first of many of my hymns that become published and find use in the Church, but I'll have to wait along with you to find out if it passes the test to be worthy. But in the meantime, I'll keep singing and treasuring the hymnody we have already been blessed with.

Martin Franzmann wrote the following in stanza 5 of his hymn "Thy Strong Word":

Give us lips to sing Thy glory,
Tongues Thy mercy to proclaim,
Throats that shout the hope that fills us,
Mouths to speak Thy holy name.
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the light which Thou dost send
Fill our songs with alleluias,
Alleluias without end!

I'm now officially a hymnwriter, but I was a hymn singer first. May the Church always be singing forth proclamation of our glorious hope in Jesus Christ.

In Love Christ Shed His Tears (as first published in the Winter 2014 issue of Lutheran Forum. A setting prepared for congregational use may be found in the issue, and an MP4 sample of the tune and setting may be found on Lutheran Forum's website)

In love Christ shed His tears,
our grief and sorrow meeting.
In love Christ shed His blood,
our sin and death defeating.

On seeing Mary's tears,
her brother's death then mourning,
Christ mourned with her and wept,
His sorrow with hers joining.

When near Jerusalem,
aggrieved by its rejection,
Christ in His mercy wept,
then walked toward crucifixion

When crucified for us,
Christ's tears find consummation
In love's defining act:
Christ's blood shed for redemption

In love Christ shed His tears,
our grief and sorrow meeting.
In love Christ shed His blood,
our sin and death defeating.