Lift Us to High Resolve

The voice of God is calling

Its summons ever clear;

As once God spake in Zion

So now God speaketh here:

“Whom shall I send to succor

My people in their need?

Whom shall I send to loosen

The bonds of shame and greed?”

“I hear my people crying

In suburb and on hill;

No field or mart is silent,

No city street is still.

I see my people falling

In sadness and despair.

Whom shall I send to shatter

The fetters which they bear?”

We heed, O God, thy summons,

And answer: Here are we!

Send us upon thine errand,

Let us thy servants be.

Our strength is dust and ashes,

Our years a passing hour;

But thou canst use our weakness

To magnify thy power.

From ease and plenty save us;

From pride of place absolve;

Purge us of low desire;

Lift us to high resolve;

Take us, and make us holy;

Teach us thy will and way.

Speak, and behold! We answer;

Command, and we obey!

John Haynes Holmes, 1913; alt.

Tune: KING'S LYNN (7.8.7.8.D.)

Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906

A twentieth century hymn in both tune and text, this is another of the great social justice hymns of the Church Universal. John Haynes Holmes was a Unitarian minister who spent most of his career in New York City following his installation as minister at the Church of the Messiah (photo below). He was a founder of both the NAACP and the ACLU, to name only two of the significant organizations with which he was involved.

During World War I, he strongly supported pacifism in his sermons and other writings, which brought him into serious conflict with the Unitarian denomination. Several of his other hymns, which were eventually published in a collected edition, reflect this commitment to pacifism and world peace and certainly bear further examination.