Lent? Why? I wonder how many people ask this question around this time every year. March Madness can seem much more thrilling to track than Jesus’ march toward Jerusalem. Christmas was fun—all hope and joy—can’t we just keep that going? Easter is pretty exciting too, but what’s up with six weeks of sad songs about sin and suffering and a soon-to-be crucified Savior? Why do we have to get all dour just when the daffodils are starting to bloom?
Those of us who plan and lead worship know the importance of this season, and Lent gives us the opportunity to help God’s people grasp the sobering reality of our need for a Savior—and the awesome love of God that gave us one. Hymns can make Christ’s journey from temptation to the empty tomb inescapably personal—if we choose them carefully.
Now, “hymns” for many people means the songs we sing. But those are actually the hymn tunes. A hymn is a text created by a poet to communicate the reality of our shared faith. Hymns can be what Isaac Watts called “texts of human composition,” or they can be poetic paraphrases of the Psalms or other parts of Scripture. While the impact of hymn texts can certainly be enhanced when they’re sung, a powerful experience of a hymn can also come from reading it—either as part of personal devotional time or with others in corporate worship. Whether sung, spoken, enacted, or prayed, carefully chosen hymns can focus the faith of even the most distracted people, helping us all more completely answer the question, “Lent? Why?”
I’ve put together a selection of hymns that may help us grasp the meaning of different moments in this holy season. Some of these will be very familiar. Others may be new to you. They can be found in major hymnals or online. Hymnary.org is a good place to look. Try reading these texts without the music. You may be surprised at what the Holy Spirit reveals—even in the hymns you think you know.
Ash Wednesday hymns can interrupt the normality of our mid-winter lives with the reality that a special season is beginning, inviting us to examine our lives in light of the unconditional love of God.
- I Come to the Cross – Bill Batstone
- Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days – Claudia Hernaman
- O For a Closer Walk with God – William Cowper
- Restore Us, O God – Carl Daw
- Sunday’s Palms Are Wednesday’s Ashes – Rae Whitney
As Lent progresses, hymns help us travel with Jesus—reminding us of his mission and purpose, and seeing him as more than an inspirational teacher, or a benevolent healer, or just a really swell guy—three of the misconceptions our people might be bringing to worship. Luke 9:51 tells us “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (NLT). This marks a turning point in Jesus’ life and ministry. What did that mean to Jesus? What can that mean for us?
- Amazing Love – Graham Kendrick
- Beneath the Cross of Jesus – Elizabeth Clephane
- Jesus Is a Rock in a Weary Land – traditional spiritual
- Lamb of God – Twila Paris
- What Wondrous Love Is This – Appalachian folk hymn
Holy Week is the most important week of the church year. From Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem to the events in the Upper Room, the Garden, and Jesus enduring a rigged trial, humiliation, crucifixion, death, and resurrection, the very essence of our salvation is encapsulated in those eight days. In planning Holy Week worship, we cannot stress too strongly the spiritual and theological importance of telling this story in its fullness.
- A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd – Thomas Troeger
- Ah, Holy Jesus – Johann Heermann
- An Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare – Fred Pratt Green
- My Song Is Love Unknown – Samuel Crossman
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross – Isaac Watts
Finally, there’s Easter! Perhaps the greatest argument for the intentional observance of Lent is a spiritually and intellectually faithful and joyful celebration of Easter. If people come to church only on Christmas and Easter, they’ll recognize the name of Jesus. If they worship more regularly but only attend on Palm Sunday and Easter, they’ll only experience the seasonal “parades” without really understanding them. It’s when we travel with Christ from Ash Wednesday through the Resurrection that we begin to comprehend the message that is unique to our Christian faith: we are more sinful than we can imagine, and in Jesus Christ we are more loved than we can know. The greatest hymns of Easter celebrate not only Christ’s triumph over his own death but the reality that his victory is ours as well. This challenges us to live differently—as people set apart to be living proof of God’s love.
- Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven and Voices Raise – Christopher Wordsworth
- Christ the Lord Is Risen Today – Charles Wesley
- Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain – John of Damascus
- I Know that My Redeemer Lives – Samuel Medley
- The Day of Resurrection – John of Damascus
These hymns offer a teasing taste of the richness available to us as worship leaders and to our worshiping congregations. As the hymn of an 18th-century German priest reminds us, “Through the Church the song goes on.” We are the people who know the story. This Lent and Easter, may the words we sing draw us closer to the Savior whose healing love is ours to proclaim to a broken world.
