The Big Question

Shirley Grieve, Priority Areas Secretary, Faith Nurture Forum of the Church of Scotland

“In the Easter season, I am drawn particularly to the hymn The Servant King by Graham Kendrick.

“It reminds me that if Our Lord could make himself so lowly, then I should make it my real intention to forget egoism and being concerned with my own wants and needs.

“The theologian Henri Nouwen, expressed it perfectly when he wrote: ‘A leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favour of love is a true spiritual leadership.’

“I love the hymn’s refrain – calling us to bring our lives as a daily offering. If we could remember those words every time we’re tempted to do the bare minimum to get by or worse, take your temper out on someone to cover your own inadequacies, then this would be a better world. Each evening, if we can look back over the day and feel we’d be proud to bring our actions before God, that would be something worth striving for.

“For me this hymn melds the twin messages of the gospels – ‘the last shall be first and the first shall be last’ and that message of being called to a new life in Christ.

“But the lyrics are just one element. I find the tune really uplifting and it reminds me that we have been missing that chance to sing out in this past year of the pandemic.

“It doesn’t stop me singing it in the bathroom though! It helps to know that my neighbour is a wee bit hard of hearing.”

The Rev Deborah Van Welie, minister, Polmont: Old

“In the midst of challenges and uncertainties of different kinds, the truth of Psalm 127 sits solidly in my heart and mind. Its words proclaim where I, doing what I am called to do, always find myself: within God’s boundaries.

“Within His peace, He has given me space to carry out the work 

“He gives me, requiring me to do nothing more, nothing less,

 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.

“Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

“Apart from giving me reassurance, Psalm 127 triggers in my mind the words from Isaiah, 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) 

“From the Creator, who presents Himself in Exodus as, ‘I am who I am’, our Lord, Jesus Christ came. Sadly, too often, it seems to be forgotten, or not properly acknowledged, that Jesus was born as a Jew, who lived from within the heart of the Torah, which is God’s own heart.

Hence His urging, 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them (Matthew 5:17).

“It is the intrinsic nature of the Scriptures that gives me solid ground under my feet.”

The Rev Michael Allardice, OLM, Interim Moderator at Kilrenny Parish Church, Honorary Chaplain at the University of Dundee

“‘How Great Thou Art.’ There are some hymns that just suit a certain type of voice, and this one suits mine!

“It’s not because I have a good singing voice –I don’t!

“But, if your voice is as low as mine, then finding hymns you can really sing is a challenge.

“There is also something within this hymn that touches my inner being, that resonates at a deeper level than words alone can do. In part, it is the simplicity of the message, in part my affinity with, and love for the vocal style of Orthodox worship.

“I believe this hymn began life as a Swedish folk poem, but the motif was common across Eastern Europe.

“The missionary, Stuart K Hine, first heard it in Ukraine as peasants were listening to the Word of God and responding in song.

“In the simplicity of the words and the emotion of the responses, you can get that sense of a group responding to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

“I know it is often chosen for funerals, but in the contrast from the sombre tones of the verse to the majesty of the chorus which lifts the spirit, it deserves to be sung more widely.

“So much so, that when I was asked to write this piece, I had already chosen it for worship that week.

“Not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m sure, but definitely one that moves my soul!”

Robert Rawson, Mission Development Worker, Faith Nurture Forum

“When I was much younger, I ‘knew’ a hymn more by its tune, rather than for its lyrics. If I knew the tune, I could belt it out lustily, but an unfamiliar one left me frustrated and even a bit miffed. Such was my lack of a desire for any spiritual uplifting!

“This all changed when I first heard Graham Kendrick’s The Servant King back in the 1980s.

“I was struck by its powerful message of the Son of God being prepared to leave the glory of Heaven and come down to endure the humblest of births, an earthly life of servitude and choose to go through the shame and agony of crucifixion, all for our sake. Even the hymn’s title hints at this anomaly.

“We all know the story, yet Kendrick’s choice of words compels us to think about it in a deeper, far more appreciative way – so much so, that the last verse exhorts us to respond and through gratitude, to follow Jesus’ example.

“It certainly compels me to think about the story more deeply and I’m moved every time I sing it. The lines, ‘hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered’ still give me goose bumps and lead my fingers to instinctively stretch out and then scrunch into a fist. The creator of the universe became a broken, human body to serve and save us. Mind-blowing.

“I’m pleased to say that I have always thought more about hymn words ever since, but actually, The Servant King has a pretty good tune as well!”

Emily D’Silva, parish assistant, Kilmore and Oban

“A hymn that always uplifts me spiritually is For Everyone Born by Shirley Erena Murray. It builds a picture for me of what I believe church should be.

“I first came across the hymn when I was working as a resident staff member with the Iona Community. Singing it in a full Abbey with people from many denominations across the world struck a deep tone of joy for me. It really felt like we were setting aside differences and gathering around one table as brothers and sisters in Christ. The chorus singing of God’s delight in us always builds me up and reminds me of that feeling.

“I have done a lot of children and youth work over the years, so I always sing the third verse out particularly loudly:

For young and for old, a place at the table, a voice to be heard, a part in the song, the hands of a child in hands kind and wrinkled, for young and for old, the right to belong.

“The imagery of hands clasped together is one I come back to often in my prayers. It reminds me of Irene, an old lady who really encouraged me in my faith when I was a child. I wish that for every child who walks through the doors of our church. I believe church functions at its most effective when it hears every voice equally, and this hymn really helps to cement this in me as I go forward in my ministry.”