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239

Wind Who Makes All Winds That Blow

Scripture References

Further Reflections on Scripture References

This hymn captures two forceful images used in Acts 2:1-4: the Holy Spirit is the wind or breath of God that stirs up the church (st. 1), and the Spirit is the fire of God that guides the church (st. 2). The entire hymn is a prayer that the Spirit will “breathe and blow” upon us to enable us to be more faithful and forceful in our Christian testimony to the world (st. 3).

 

Sing!  A New Creation

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

It is difficult to isolate certain confessional themes in each song about the Holy Spirit. Rather, there are several themes that are woven together in nearly all of these songs. The Holy Spirit is identified as one with the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity; we plead for the coming and indwelling of the Spirit in our lives; the Spirit’s work is evident in creation and in God’s people throughout redemptive history; the Spirit calls and empowers the church for mission; and the Spirit is the source of power, fruit, and hope. These themes are expressed in confessional statements such as these:

  • Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 20, Question and Answer 53 testifies, “…the Spirit, with the Father and the Son, is eternal God.” In addition, the Spirit “makes me share in Christ and all his benefits, comforts me, and will remain with me forever.”
  • Our World Belongs to God has helpful references to these multiple themes of the Spirit’s work and ministry.
    • “Jesus becomes the baptizer, drenching his followers with the Spirit, creating a new community where Father, Son and Spirit make their home” (paragraph 28)
    • “The Spirit renews our hearts and moves us to faith… stands by us in our need and makes our obedience fresh and vibrant” (paragraph 29).
    • “God the Spirit lavishes gifts on the church in astonishing variety…equipping each member to build up the body of Christ and to serve our neighbors.”
    • “The Spirit gathers people from every tongue, tribe and nation into the unity of the body of Christ” (paragraph 30).
    • “Men and women, impelled by the Spirit go next door and far away…pointing to the reign of God with what they do and say” (paragraph 30).  
  •       Our Song of Hope also contributes very clearly regarding the Spirit’s work:
    • “The Holy Spirit speaks through the Scriptures…has inspired Greek and Hebrew words, setting God’s truth in human language, placing God’s teaching in ancient culture, proclaiming the Gospel in the history of the world” (stanza 6).

    •  “The Holy Spirit speaks through the church, measuring its words by the canonical Scriptures…has spoken in the ancient creeds, and in the confessions of the Reformation” (stanza 7).
    • “The Spirit sends [the church] out in ministry to preach good news to the poor, righteousness to the nations, and peace among all people” (stanza 16).
    • “The Holy Spirit builds one church, united in one Lord and one hope, with one ministry around one table” (stanza 17).
    • The Spirit calls all believers in Jesus to respond in worship together, to accept all the gifts from the Spirit, to learn from each other’s traditions, to make unity visible on earth” (stanza 17).

“…The Spirit works at the ends of the world before the church has there spoken a word” (stanza 20).

239

Wind Who Makes All Winds That Blow

Call to Worship

God will pour out the Spirit on all flesh,
and our daughters and sons shall prophesy.
Our old ones shall dream dreams,
and our young ones shall see visions;
and all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.
Come, let us call upon the name of the Lord.
—based on Acts 2:17-21
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Confession

Burn in us this morning, Holy Spirit.
We give you the places of our hearts
that have been choked by the cares of this world.
We give you our tiredness, our sin, our struggles with apathy.
We await your fiery cleansing. Amen.
[Reformed Worship 31:4]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Sovereign Lord,
you have anointed us with your Spirit,
yet we have not shared your great gift.
Create in us a clean heart, O God.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation.
We have not proclaimed your good news to the poor.
We have not bound up the brokenhearted.
Create in us a clean heart, O God.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation.
We have not proclaimed your freedom to the captives.
We have not comforted those who mourn.
Create in us a clean heart, O God.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation.
Forgive us for closing our eyes to the needs of others.
Forgive us for limiting your abundance.
Create in us a clean heart, O God.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation.
Open our minds, Lord. Open our hearts, Lord.
Open our hands, Lord. Open our lips, Lord.
Give us a willing spirit to show your love to your world. Amen.
—based on Psalm 51; Isaiah 61
[The Worship Sourcebook]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Our God, we come in humility, confessing who and what we are.
We are often unresponsive, for we are afraid.
When your Spirit speaks, we turn deaf ears,
for we fear what you might call us to do.
When your Spirit touches our lips,
we close our mouths,
embarrassed to speak your Word.
When the wind of your Spirit blows,
we close the windows of our hearts,
afraid the breeze will disrupt our ordered lives.
When the fire of your Spirit touches us,
we quench the flame, afraid of the new life it might bring.
Forgive us, O Lord. Amen.
[Reformed Worship 39:33]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Additional Prayers

Spirit of the living God, visit us again on this day of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Like a rushing wind that sweeps away all barriers,
come, Holy Spirit.
Like tongues of fire that set our hearts aflame,
come, Holy Spirit.
With speech that unites the Babel of our tongues,
come, Holy Spirit.
With love that overlaps the boundaries of race and nation,
come, Holy Spirit.
With power from above to make our weakness strong,
come, Holy Spirit. Amen.
[Reformed Worship 39:32]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Creator Spirit, create in us eagerness
to care for the world.
Spirit of Christ, fill us with urgency
to share our joy in our Savior and Lord.
Spirit of holiness, transform our lives
to be beacons in a world of shadows.
Spirit of truth, compel us to see the truth
and make us advocates of justice.
Spirit of wisdom, shower us with wisdom,
that we may best discern how to serve the world.
Advocate, intercede on our behalf for these and other unspoken requests
that weigh heavy on our hearts and minds. Amen.
[The Worship Sourcebook]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Eternal God, our Father, you are the source of our being,
the breath of our life, and the joy of our living.
We know that you delight in the worship of your children
and that you eagerly send your Holy Spirit upon us.
As your Spirit came upon your people of old,
giving them understanding and the knowledge of truth,
so send your Spirit today,
that we may speak in words not taught by human wisdom,
but taught by the Spirit.
Your Spirit came upon the prophets.
You sent your Spirit to your Son and your church,
giving them each power and wisdom to follow your ways,
speak your truth, and accomplish your purposes.
So grant us your Spirit with all fruit and equipping gifts,
that we may reflect your glory
and the world might believe,
for the honor of your holy name. Amen.
[The Worship Sourcebook]
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two
239

Wind Who Makes All Winds That Blow

Tune Information

Name
ABERYSTWYTH
Key
d minor
Meter
7.7.7.7 D

Recordings

Musical Suggestion

Sing this song in unison for stanza 1, in harmony for stanza 2, and use adult or children’s choral voices to sing stanza 3 in canon with the congregation—with Donald Busarow’s setting as found in the Leader’s Edition of Sing! A New Creation (#169) as well as in the 1987 Psalter Hymnal (#18). Use solid organ accompaniment throughout, sing with a majestic tempo (quarter note = 84), and use additional melody instruments and hand percussion to accompany the singing, including your children’s recorder ensemble or trumpets to play the descant, which I composed to suit the Busarow canonic setting, which is also found in the Leader’s Edition of Sing! A New Creation (#169). 
(from Reformed Worship, Issue 71)
— Bert Polman

This minor tune in rounded bar form (AABA) invites firm and majestic treatment, a steady tempo, and solid organ accompaniment throughout. 
239

Wind Who Makes All Winds That Blow

Hymn Story/Background

Thomas H. Troeger wrote this Pentecost hymn for a service to celebrate the Holy Spirit. He credits his inspiration not only to Acts 2 but also to “the influence of Native Americna seminary students who have helped me to appreciate in fresh ways how the ruach [the Hebrew word for ‘Spirit’ and ‘wind’] is such a vital part of the materiality of our existence, breathing life into us, energizing our cells and very being. My intention is to help renew our sense of the primal origins of the sense of Spirit which the ancient Hebrews and native Americans knew through wind and fire.”
 

ABERYSTWYTH, Joseph Parry's best known hymn tune, was composed in 1876 and named after the Welsh seaside resort where he was teaching. It was first published in Edward Stephen's Ail Llyfr Tonau acEmynau (The Second Book of Tunes and Hymns, 1879) as a setting for the Welsh hymn "Beth sydd i mi yn byd." Parry later joined the tune to “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” and that combination has remained in many hymnals.
 
— Bert Polman

Author Information

Thomas Troeger (b. 1945) is a well-known preacher, poet, and musician. He is a fellow of Silliman College, holds a B.A. from Yale University; B.D. Colgate Rochester Divinity School; S.T. D. Dickinson College, and was awarded an honorary D.D. degree from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970 and the Episcopal Church in 1999, and remains dually aligned with both traditions. Troeger has led conferences and lectures in worship and preaching throughout North America, as well as in Denmark, Holland, Australia, Japan, and Africa. He served as national chaplain to the American Guild of Organists, and he has hosted the Season of Worship broadcast for Cokesbury. He is the former president of the Academy of Homiletics as well as Societas Homiletica. He has to date written 22 books in the areas of preaching, poetry, hymnody, and worship.
 
— Laura de Jong

Composer Information

Joseph Parry (b. Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales, 1841; d. Penarth, Glamorganshire, 1903) was born into a poor but musical family. Although he showed musical gifts at an early age, he was sent to work in the puddling furnaces of a steel mill at the age of nine. His family immigrated to a Welsh settlement in Danville, Pennsylvania in 1854, where Parry later started a music school. He traveled in the United States and in Wales, performing, studying, and composing music, and he won several Eisteddfodau (singing competition) prizes. Parry studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at Cambridge, where part of his tuition was paid by interested community people who were eager to encourage his talent. From 1873 to 1879 he was professor of music at the Welsh University College in Aberystwyth. After establishing private schools of music in Aberystwyth and in Swan sea, he was lecturer and professor of music at the University College of South Wales in Cardiff (1888-1903). Parry composed oratorios, cantatas, an opera, orchestral and chamber music, as well as some four hundred hymn tunes.
 
— Bert Polman

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