As Eastertide wanes and Summer approaches, I’d like to highlight a couple settings of the traditional Ordinary texts. As you all know, Jesus himself did not sit down with scroll and ink to write our liturgies…but it can easily feel that way at times. The pieces we say and sing have been shaped and reshaped over time. How do we sing most meaningfully in the cultural context of this time and place?

One such example might be the setting of the Sanctus, Holy Humble Healing One. The Christian Church has been a poor representation of power and might in the world, especially in the United States. To sing of God’s glory from a place of immense privilege doesn’t always feel right. This Sanctus was written to emphasize the incarnation and imminence of God in Jesus, especially as we approach the communion table together. As harmful theologies of glory and prosperity thrive around us, a re-understanding of God’s glory through the filter of the cross feels more important than ever.  In this setting we find strength in God’s vulnerability, we embrace creation itself as a beautiful place of revelation, and we move in the earthward direction of God with the words, “Hosanna in the Lowest, Hosanna in the Earth.” Yes, it pushes the limits a bit, but it is meant to draw attention to something important at a moment we often glaze over.

In the same spirit, Lacey Brown has a beautiful Gospel Acclamation, God Who Hears, that was written for the season of Advent, but is usable at any time. In this, we name that the one who is speaking to us through scripture and the word proclaimed, is one who also hears and sees us – not a immutable entity. Beautifully fitting to this setting is the child’s heartbeat keeping the steady rhythm as we come in alignment with one another in spirit and in voice to hear the proclamation of the Gospel. How are we musically clearing space and setting a table for a God who comes near to us every Sunday?