Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Send, O God, your Holy Spirit”. The title may suggest it for the Pentecost season, but the compilers have chosen to put it in the section headed “The Church’s Ministry and Mission”. That reminds us that the Spirit is never given for the individual’s benefit (as Paul explains to the Corinthians) but for the building up of the Church as the Body of Christ and for the furthering of God’s mission.
Thus, after the first verse asking for the Spirit to be sent “on your people gathered here”, the second acknowledges that the Spirit’s gifts are given “to equip the saints of Jesus for the saving work we share”. The third verse lists some of those gifts (wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing) and the last reminds us that in claiming the “gift, faith and promise” of the Spirit, we “build the body of the Lord”.
This is a hymn with a “standard” 8.7.8.7 meter which goes to many traditional tunes, and I found it easy to sing and satisfying on that level. I suppose the one phrase which caught my eye was in the first verse, where it asks the Holy Spirit to “Fill our lives with gentle courage” – why GENTLE courage? Mmmm?