Events

BAPTISM OF JESUS


John came a-preaching by the Jordan River.
'People! You've just got time!
The Son of Man's coming like a flaming fury.
Turn away from crime!'

'Come, take the plunge in the Jordan River;
Wash away your past.
The Son of Man's coming to destroy all evil.
Turn to good - and fast.'

Strict Jews came, but he cried: 'You vipers!
Fleeing hell and fire!
The Son of Man's coming and he'll burn you - dead wood!
Judgement dread and dire.'

'No good saying that you're Abra'm's children.
Abra'm's seed bears fruit.
The Son of Man's coming to his faithful people.
His axe will cleave your root.'

What can we do?' said the common people,
'To save ourselves that day?'
'The Son of Man's coming but he'll spare good neighbours.
Give all you can away.'

'What can we do?' said the tax-collectors,
'So you can baptize?'
'The Son of Man's coming to inspect your profits.
Cut them, and be wise.'

'What can we do?' said the Roman soldiers.
'Stop your bullying, men!
The Son of Man's coming, He'll condemn your lying,
Your greed for money then.'

'I'll dip you deep in the Jordan River,
Drown your sins this day.
The Son of Man's coming to baptize with Spirit.
Burn the chaff away.'

Jesus came, walking by the Jordan River,
He went with the sinners through the clean, cold water,
Started on Calvary's way.

Deeper he went in the Jordan River
Than ever another man.
You can never sink deep, but your Lord goes deeper,
Deeper than anyone can.

Jesus rose, praying from the Jordan River,
Softly, as a dove,
The Spirit of his Father to his heart came nesting,
Fired him with power and love.

Emily Chisholm
© 1969, 1993 Stainer & Bell Ltd.
10.5.12.5. Irregular

What was your vow and vision,
revealed and recognised,
Christ, when you came to Jordan
and asked to be baptised?
Was there a sudden splendour
of prophets, priests and kings,
a wind that stirred the waters,
a blur of mighty wings?

Was this God's call, the crowning
of all you had become:
"Go, show and tell my coming,
my own, my chosen one"?
Did scripture join with scripture,
revealing in surprise
the triumph of a servant
rejected and despised?

We meet you at the water
and ponder why and how,
in hope that we may follow
where God is going now,
anointed by your Spirit,
reborn, and energised,
through deed and word proclaiming:
"In Christ we are baptised!"


Brian Wren (born 1936)
© 1975, 1994 Stainer & Bell Ltd
7.6.7.6.D.

EIGHT-LINE VERSION (7 6 7 6 D Iambic)

When Jesus came to Jordan
To be baptised by John,
He did not come for pardon.
But as his Father's Son.
He came to share repentance
With all who mourn their sins,
To speak the vital sentence
With which good news begins.

He came to share temptation,
Our utmost woe and loss,
For us and our salvation
To die upon the cross.
So when the Dove descended
On him, the Son of Man,
The hidden years had ended,
The age of grace began.

Optional Verse

Come, Holy Spirit, aid us
To keep the vows we make,
This very day invade us,
And every bondage break.
Come, give our lives direction,
The gift we covet most:
To share the resurrection
That leads to Pentecost.

FOUR-LINE VERSION (7 6 7 6 Iambic)

When Jesus came to Jordan
To be baptised by John,
He did not come for pardon.
But as his Father's Son.

He came to share temptation,
Our utmost woe and loss,
For us and our salvation
To die upon the cross.

So when the Dove descended
On him, the Son of Man,
The hidden years had ended,
The age of grace began.

Optional verse

Come, Holy Spirit, aid us
To keep the vows we make,
This very day invade us,
And every bondage break.

Optional verse

Come, give our lives direction,
The gift we covet most:
To share the resurrection
That leads to Pentecost.

Fred Pratt Green 1903–2000
© 1980 Stainer & Bell Ltd

In spirit, let me race
to Jordan's crossing place;
see John the Baptist stand there,
forerunner of the Saviour.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

There, as a servant, see,
with God's own sovereignty,
our gentle Saviour, bearing
the word, our life's true wellspring.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

From the Old Testament,
in God's light, radiant
the herald who baptises,
as living light arises.
Baptised, see the horizon,
Where God's door stands wide open.

Now the New Testament
its brightness never spent,
which shines through endless ages,
stands, in God's Son, beside us.
Baptised, see the horizon,
Where God's door stands wide open.

See, where the clouds are torn,
the old and new made one;
the harvest meets the ploughshare,
and grace and law compound there.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

As dust and spirit blend,
new-bonded hearts ascend,
a short climb finds them resting
where heaven's dove is nesting.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

The messenger, though great,
must point to indicate
where one of higher merit
baptises with the Spirit.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

The Spirit's holiness
baptises us with grace,
and fire and water, blending,
are mingled with life's wellspring.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

Word and pact require
the Spirit with the fire,
both burning in the water,
until time ends for ever.
Baptised, see the horizon,
where God's door stands wide open.

Kom, følg i ånden med by N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) translated by Alan Gaunt (born 1935).
English translation © 1999 Stainer & Bell Ltd
6.6.7.7.7.7.

Jesus went down to Jordan,
Said to John 'Baptise me'.
'You ask that of me, Lord?'
'Do just what I say, man.'
Jesus was classed with sinners —
Made his bed with sinners,
Took on his own shoulders,
All our sin and shame.

We are baptised like Jesus,
Branded as God's people,
Indwelt by his Spirit,
Sent out on his mission:
We, as a church of sinners,
Take the part of sinners
Sharing their rejection
Through his power and name.

We cannot be our own now,
Taking paths that suit us,
We the church for others
Called to serve and witness,
Make us creation's first fruit
Standing for a lost world,
Giving it new promise
Through the Father's claim.


Ian M Fraser (born 1917)
© Stainer & Bell Ltd
7.6.6.6.7.6.6.5. Trochaic

What was your vow and vision,
revealed and recognised,
Christ, when you came to Jordan
and asked to be baptised?
Was there a sudden splendour
of prophets, priests and kings,
a wind that stirred the waters,
a blur of mighty wings?

Was this God's call, the crowning
of all you had become:
"Go, show and tell my coming,
my own, my chosen one"?
Did scripture join with scripture,
revealing in surprise
the triumph of a servant
rejected and despised?

We meet you at the water
and ponder why and how,
in hope that we may follow
where God is going now,
anointed by your Spirit,
reborn, and energised,
through deed and word proclaiming:
"In Christ we are baptised!"


Brian Wren (born 1936)
© 1975, 1994 Stainer & Bell Ltd
7.6.7.6.D.

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