I'm a parish musician (I graduated with my degree in May), so I enjoy hymnody and how it relates to the liturgy, lectionary, and theology. I won't do this every week, but occasionally I would to explore a hymn. This week, I'd like to take a brief look at "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It" (number 594 in Lutheran Service Book). You can find the full hymn text here.
Why this hymn today? Well, today we had a baptism. Every time we celebrate a baptism, we are reminded of our own baptism as we confess with the parents and sponsors. So too, when we sing this hymn are we reminded that God has cleansed us and freed us from sin, death, and the devil through the waters of Holy Baptism. In stanza one, we are reminded of the price God paid for us through Christ's death on the cross. Because of this, we do not need to feel weighed down by our sin (stanza two). We do not need to heed Satan's accusations (stanza three) and we do not need to fear death (stanza four). After all, we've been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection!
A quick note on the tune: in Lutheran Service Book, the tune that is used is Bachofen, a very spirited tune in a major key. While many people don't think about the tune a hymn is sung to, the character of a tune does a lot for elevating the text. Bachofen is the perfect tune for this text because it expresses the joy we have in our baptism. As an organist, I like how this tune lends itself well to the overflowing joy of the first and last stanzas and the dark, reedy, defiance of the middle stanzas.
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