Rise up, O men of God

267 Festal Song. s.m. (First Tune); Oxnam. S. M. (Second Tune).

1 Rise up, O men of God!
   Have done with lesser things;
   Give heart and mind and soul and strength
   To serve the King of kings.

2 Rise up, O men of God!
   His kingdom tarries long;
   Bring in the day of brotherhood
   And end the night of wrong.

3 Rise up, O men of God!
   The Church for you doth wait,
   Her strength unequal to her task;
   Rise up, and make her great!

4 Lift high the cross of Christ!
   Tread where His feet have trod;
   As brothers of the Son of man,
   Rise up, O men of God!
                         William P. Merrill
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This was an old standby hymn when I was growing up, so I very surprised to find out that it is only in 247 hymnals!

I had a difficult time finding any biographical information about the author, other than that he died in 1954 and the hymn was written in 1911, but the link I finally found is included above (beware the rant about inclusive language!). Seems he lived quite an interesting life, turning down the chance to become president of Union Theological Seminary!

Sidenote: I'm not really in favor of taking the editorial pen to hymns/books to make them more inclusive. I would rather use the opportunity to explain the cultural differences. I know, I'm a luddite in that respect. Fine. I'm also inconsistent, because I definitely would translate anything from a foreign language into inclusive, modern English. The difference, in my mind anyway, is that one is a fresh writing whereas the other one is a cultural artifact that needs to be appreciated as such. YMMV.
</idle musing>