"The Call Issues Forth"
Proverbs 9:1-10; Ephesians 2:13-23; Luke 14:15-24
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Wisdom builds her house with care
Seven pillars strong, of stone
There she works to make a feast
Choicest meat and finest wine
“Come,” she bids from street and square
Sending forth her maidens fair
From Wisdom it’s spoken, the call issues forth
Up and down the paths they roam
Calling out from high, from low
“Turn aside and leave your ways
Lest you bring yourself to harm
Rush not headlong into danger”
Wisdom and her host implore
From rooftop, from mountain, the call issues forth
“Blessèd is the man who listens
Watching daily at my door
Finding me is finding life
Failing to results in death
Seek you favor from the Lord?
Hearken, then, unto my words”
To mankind, invited, the call issues forth
“Drink my proverbs, sweetest draughts
Tantalizing to the tongue
Eat my food, all which comprises
Words to satisfy the soul
Finest meat, my teachings rival
Pleasure lies in tasting, chewing.”
Wisdom’s feast is prepared; the call issues forth.
Notice, now, whom she addresses
“Let the simple come in here”
Not the proud, the mighty ones
Does she beckon to come near.
“Leave your simple ways and live
Walk in ways of understanding.”
To mankind, the simple, the call issues forth.
Wisdom starts with fearing God
Knowledge of the Holy One
Heed rebuke, don’t chide a mocker
Lest he hate you for your words
But wise men grow wiser still
When correction comes their way
To the humble in heart, the call issues forth
And what about you, Christian, what about you?
Do you scorn when words correct you?
Are you wise in your own eyes?
Have you courted grave disaster
Cherishing your wounded pride?
Are you quick to speak, not listen,
Gossip rolling off your tongue?
Then to you, dear sinner, the call issues forth.
Two - The Master
Likewise does the master call
Many to his banquet hall
Sends his servants far and wide
To proclaim the time has come
“Everything is ready now”
Hear the blessèd, summoned ones
To them, the invited, the call issues forth.
But as we know life impedes
We are busy people, we
One has real estate to see
Purchase prices are agreed
“Till the land and sow the seed
I’ve a family to feed.”
To unfertile soil, the call issues forth.
Yet another needs to try
Yokes of oxen numb’ring five
Thus he counters with a sigh
“They won’t work unless I drive”
“Please excuse me!” his reply
Stopping short the servant’s cry.
To stubborn-hearted beasts, the call issues forth.
Still one more says “I am married!
Just today to home I’ve carried
My new wife and we are wearied
I can’t come, for I am worried
Won’t my life become too harried?”
Thus the servant’s words are parried
To the heedless lovers, the call issues forth
And the servant now returning
Bears the awful news to home
Meets his master and reporting
Says “No invitations, none,
Found a home in any heart.
All have given up their part.”
To the unwilling guests, the call issues forth
And what about you, Christian, what about you?
Fire flashes in his eyes
As the master bellows out
“Go into the streets and alleys
Find the crippled, blind, and lame.
Invitations for the poor
These my banquet shall enjoy.”
To those dead to the world, the call issues forth
And what about you, Christian, what about you?
Do you find yourself drawn near
Crowding to the banquet hall?
Awkwardly you come to knock
See the door in disbelief?
How could such as I be brought
Wounded as I am within?
To us who’ve nothing left, the call issues forth
Three - Christ
Stuck are we, outside the door
Only righteousness goes in
Never could we hope to enter
Never taste the food within
Who will help us in our weakness?
Who will cleanse our hearts of sin?
“Lord, have mercy!” we cry. The call issues forth
We dare not cry for justice
But rather beg for peace
Should God give what we deserve
Hell were ours to keep
Not a seat at Wisdom’s place
Nor the feast the master makes
“Kyrie eleison!” The call issues forth
Notice how the master acts
Notice now, what Wisdom does
Turn your eyes to fix on Jesus
God incarnate, from above
How does he take up our cause?
How does he “identify”?
“Behold the Lamb of God!” the call issues forth
Jesus comes, takes up our cause
Jesus comes to set us free
Not renouncing “privilege”
Divine, imagined, otherwise
But in emptying himself
Taking up the flesh of man
“Today, a savior’s born,” the call issues forth
True God, he is, and true man
The champion at our side
The righteous one intercedes
The very Son comes to die!
He takes our place, he wins peace
He takes the curse; he steps in
“Why have you forsaken?” the cry issues forth
For He, Himself, is our peace
Safe within His arms we rest
Wrath of God shall not destroy us
Justice falls on Jesus’ head
Penalty that all men owe
Rests on one, that heavy blow
“It is finished,” He cries. The call issues forth.
Jesus crushes in his flesh
All things which divide our race
Making from the two men one
(He) Lifts the humble, breaks our pride
Now no longer Jew and Greek
Neither are we black and white
To one new man, not two, the call issues forth
Four - Church
What does it take to make peace?
Where does justice find a home?
In a world where violence reigns
At a time when peoples groan?
Who can break down hostile walls?
Whence will come true unity?
Only from Christ’s body, the call issues forth
Christ himself as cornerstone
Of a building, new and great
Crafts His body, yes, the Church
By His Spirit calls us forth
Living stones th’apostles heed
One foundation with (the) prophets
Wisdom has built her house; the call issues forth
Inward then, we venture now
Once excluded, yet no more.
Strangers of the covenants
Now are children of the Lord.
Newborn in His promises,
Foreigners receive new life
“Join me in my banquet,” the call issues forth
So we leave our simple ways
In repentance new each day
Come to sit at Wisdom’s door
Where we learn to fear the Lord
Hearken as she speaks anew
From the altar to the pew
The Word of God speaks up; the call issues forth
Here we taste the Word of God
First with ear, and then with tongue
Drink its sweet, refreshing flavor
Chew upon it, fill our souls
Taste and see, the Lord is Good!
Smell forgiveness on your breath
His body to our mouths, the call issues forth
Justified, we rise, forgiven
Thankfulness our hearts doth fill
Glorious in jubilation
Souls at rest and conscience still
All renewed to serve the master
And once more our voices raise
In our hymns and praises, the call issues forth
Joining with the host of heav’n
Here we touch eternity
Sing our songs while exalting
God, the Lord, the Trinity
Praise the Father, Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
Our voices to heaven, the call issues forth
Five - World
Strengthened, then, we venture out
Our vocations taking up
Fathers, mothers, wives and husbands
Parents, children, and the like
Yet, slaves or masters, none can be
More than Christ, who sets us free
“Take my yoke upon you,” the call issues forth
All disciples, new and old
Follow in his footsteps now
We are called to greater things
Than our own desires bring
“In this world will suff’ring be.
It hates you for loving me.”
“Take up your cross, follow,” the call issues forth
Jesus’ way indeed is harder
None could take it, none would wish
Its involvement more demanding
Than “renouncing privilege”
Being like the master means
Emptying ourselves of all
“Learn from Jesus to die,” the call issues forth
Wisdom’s call, the master’s call,
The call of Christ, they bid us
To die to sin, to world, to self
Of things that would divide us.
For in His body Christ makes one
Sad Adam’s scattered race
He wrecks our inward-focused lives
Then dons our neighbor’s face
And Christ has overcome the world
Its power now is broken
Our sin, our pride, and Satan,
Have heard their death knell spoken
And death itself defeated
With all its rage and spite
Shies away its ugly head,
Destroyed by Jesus’ might.
Even wars and rumors of
Despot rulers in power
Sickness, disease, loss of love,
Famine, economic ruin
Naught can snatch us from His hand
Who upholds the world at will
Unconquered e’en by death, the call issues forth
Join together, then, one body
Grasping hands through time, through space
Listen to the words of Wisdom
Understand the prophets’ strains
Shout it at the master’s feast
“Alleluia, Christ is ris’n!”
As throughout eternity, the call issues forth
Now may the peace of our God
Passing all understanding
Guard your hearts and minds in faith
Holding tight to Jesus Christ
Till that day of his return
When he brings us to our home
When the final trumpet, the call issues forth.
Amen.
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