straw that pierces like nails

[Harvey_Mozolak]

Please quote your favorite lines and phrases from either carols/hymns or prayers that place the suffering of Christ and his cross to the fore rather than the rustic beauty of a barn birth.

Example:   Smooth as new baby flesh the sounds of Greensleeves, What child is this... and there in the middle of "anthems sweet" is, "Nails, spear shall pierce him through...." 

Can we, amass, gather a proponderance?

Harvey Mozolak

[Karl Hess]

See, the Lamb, our sin once taking
To the cross, Suff'ring loss
Full atonement making.
For our life His own He tenders
And His grace All our race
Fit for glory renders.

"All again my heart rejoices"

[ptmccain]

Karl, my favorite Christmas hymn.

[RDPreus]

Mine, too.

[RDPreus]

Here’s another verse of that hymn:

If our blessèd Lord and Maker
Hated men, would He then be of flesh partaker?
If He in our woe delighted,
Would He bear all the care of our race benighted?

Whenever I consider the “why” question, as in “why does God permit this kind of suffering?” I think of Paul Gerhardt, the suffering he endured in life, and the beautiful hymns that God gave the Church through him.  God turns bad into good.  How much comfort God has brought to us through the hymns of this man!  Sometimes the Christmas season can bring a bit of sorrow.  Beautiful hymns like this one are tailor made for the season.

Here’s another wonderful verse from a Christmas hymn by Gerhardt (O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is)
Thou Christian heart, Who ever thou art,
Be of good cheer and let no sorrow move thee!
For God’s own Child, In mercy mild,
Joins thee to Him; how greatly God must love thee!

[Jeremy Loesch]

Harvey, I'm not sure if this fits the criteria of a 'one-liner', but one of my favorite hymns is "I heard the bells on Christmas Day".

I believe it is in verse 2 where the singer laments, "There is no peace on earth I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men."

Then in verse 3, to the best of my recollection: "And then I heard so loud and deep (something something) God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!"  

I really like that.  (And yes, if it's one of my favorites, you'd think I'd know the words.)

Jeremy

[Harvey_Mozolak]

cross-punctuated Christmas song...

In Let All Together Praise Our God, "within an earth-born form he hides His all creating light" we allude the dark Fridayness of his coming....

and from one that is not common among the Christmas listings, "Dear Christians, One and All"  the verse the bows my head:  God siad to his beloved son: Tis time to have compassion.  Then go, birght jewel of my corwn and bring to all salvation...."

Harvey Mozolak

[peter_speckhard]

Jesus Himself interjects Christmas into Good Friday when He says, "For this reason I was born..." I think someone should write a hymn about that, for use on both Christmas and Good Friday. Now that would be a serious work of art.

[Dave Benke]

A great Missouri Synod-authored hymn and melody by Jerry Vajda and Carl Schalk, #369 in LSB - "Where Shepherds Lately Knelt" has it all, in myopinon

Where shepherds lately knelt and kept the angel's word/I come in half-belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred/
But there is room and welcome there for me/but there is room and welcome there for me.

In that unlikely place I find Him as they said/sweet newborn babe, how frail! and in a manger bed;
A still, small voice to cry one day for me/A still, small voice to cry one day for me.

vs 4 - Can I, will I forget how Love was born, and burned/Its way into my heart - unasked, unforced, unearned/
To die, to live, and not alone for me/to die, to live, and not alone for me?

Our choir will be bringing that home on Christmas Eve once again this year.

Dave Benke

[ptmccain]

Jesus Himself interjects Christmas into Good Friday when He says, "For this reason I was born..." I think someone should write a hymn about that, for use on both Christmas and Good Friday. Now that would be a serious work of art.

Pete, you just gave my "lead" for my sermon on Dec. 26, in which my pastors have asked me to:

Preach on the Gospel
Deal with the Holy Innocents
And, preach about St. Stephen.

Alrighty then.

: )

[ptmccain]

What always really amazes me about Pastor Gerhardt's hymns is how much orthodox theology he is able to pack into a hymn verse with such an economy of words, and of course, native/fluent German speakers tell me it is even more powerful an impact in the original language.

[Jay]

From "We Three Kings" -

Myrrh is mine: Its bitter perfume
Breaths a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

[bluejay]

Just thought I'd comment that when I can't think of the words to a hymn and don't have a hymnal handy, I often go to http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/online/aTLH_Hymns1.htm The tunes are also available there. Of course, you won't find every hymn you might be looking for but it is still has quite a few.

Jay
Laity

[LutherMan]

My favorite hymn verse to pray throughout Advent & Christmas:

Prepare my heart, Lord Jesus,
Turn not from me aside,
And grant that I receive Thee
This blessed Advent-tide.
From stall and manger low
Come Thou to dwell within me;
Loud praises will I sing Thee
And forth Thy glory show.