A sacramental union - Inspired by Mark 10:2-16
A sacramental union
that none can put apart,
and those who sought to fudge the law,
were challenged from the start.
The Pharisees were undermined,
the laws would stay in place,
with subtle ways of subterfuge
destroyed without a trace.
Then learning from this interchange
should we condemn and judge,
or take a wider view of Christ,
his spirit and his touch?
When questions of adultery
were set to catch him out,
he turned a mirror on the crowd
and none were left to shout.
Hypocrisy and judgment were
things that Christ condemned,
and so we need to judge ourselves
before we charge a friend.
To love as we would love ourselves
a child can understand,
and we must unlearn prejudice,
give grace the upper-hand.
Words Andrew Pratt © 2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.Tune:
Metre: CMD
Tune: ELLACOMBE
Inspired by Mark 10:2-16; May also be used as a poem.
Tag: marriage
Change us, God, into the likeness (hymn) – for times of debate and decision
Change us, God, into the likeness
of yourself, through perfect grace;
let your loving faith unite us,
till in each we see your face.
If you are our common parent
in whose image we are made,
then our varied traits, our being,
in your person are displayed.
In your presence all are welcome,
welcome, just as we are formed,
and where prejudice divides us
let our vision be reformed.
In the tension of deciding
may your gracious spirit lend
openness and understanding,
help our enmity to end.
Andrew Pratt 24/4/2021 Written in response to the Chester & Stoke on Trent Methodist Synod discussion on the report ‘God in Love Unites Us’.
Words © 2021 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, http://www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8.7.8.7
Tune: CHAPEL BRAE (Singing the Faith 610); LOVE DIVINE (Stainer)
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