This Day in the Word

Remembering the first martyr

2009-12-26T09:40:00.006-05:00

Feast of St. Stephen
Text: Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51c-60

Naturalists might try to explain away the giftedness of Stephen. They might say he was just a better debater than his detractors. But Stephen was a man so filled with the Holy Spirit that signs and wonders accompanied his words. He spoke the truth because the Holy Spirit spoke through him, and people heard and believed. But this upset a lot of people. For Stephen’s opponents, their livelihood depended on the perpetuation of a lie. They were intimidated by Stephen and felt threatened by his words and the signs which accompanied them. He spoke the truth so convincingly, yet with such genuine humility, that his opponents just couldn’t stand it.

You know what happens next. Unable to withstand Stephen’s proclamation of the truth, his opponents trump up a bunch of lies about him and drag him before the council. But this only gives Stephen yet another opportunity to preach the Word. He rehearses the whole history of Israel, reminding the people of their heritage and of their hope for a promised Deliverer. But he also reminds them of the dark side of their history; of their stubbornness, their rejection of the prophets, and finally their rejection of the Righteous One himself. In a ringing indictment, Stephen declares, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.” He indicts his accusers with their own words: the words of Abraham, of Moses, of David, and of all the prophets of old; the words they held to be the very Word of God. Had not God himself said of the Israelites that they were a stiff-necked people, stubborn, unwilling to accept the messengers he sent?

This, of course, is not the way to win friends and influence people. But Stephen isn’t finished yet. He sees a vision of heaven opened and of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This is more than Stephen’s enemies can stand. But their rage is not really directed at Stephen. They’re not angry with him. They’re angry with God. Stephen knows this. That’s why he is able to face death unafraid, knowing, having already beheld that wondrous vision of Christ in glory, that he will be vindicated and share in the glory. But it’s also the reason he has pity on those who murder him, praying with his dying breath that God will not hold their sin against them.

In his death, just as in his life, Stephen models the perfect Christ-likeness that Peter speaks of: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).

Collect of the Day

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand: where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Christmas is the birthday of peace

2009-12-25T03:07:00.000-05:00

by St. Leo the Great

Although the state of infancy, which the majesty of the Son of God did not disdain to assume, developed with the passage of time into the maturity of manhood, and although after the triumph of the passion and the resurrection all his lowly acts undertaken on our behalf belong to the past, nevertheless today’s feast of Christmas renews for us the sacred beginning of Jesus’s life, his birth from the Virgin Mary. In the very act in which we are reverencing the birth of our Savior, we are also celebrating our own new birth. For the birth of Christ is the origin of the Christian people; and the birthday of the head is also the birthday of the body.

Though each and every individual occupies a definite place in this body to which he has been called, and though all the progeny of the church is differentiated and marked with the passage of time, nevertheless as the whole community of the faithful, once begotten in the baptismal font, was crucified with Christ in the passion, raised up with him in the resurrection and at the ascension placed at the right hand of the Father, so too it is born with him in this Nativity, which we are celebrating today.

For every believer regenerated in Christ, no matter in what part of the whole world he may be, breaks with that ancient way of life that derives from original sin, and by rebirth is transformed into a new man. Henceforth he is reckoned to be of the stock, not of his earthly father, but of Christ, who became Son of Man precisely that men could become sons of God; for unless in humility he had come down to us, none of us by our own merits could ever go up to him.

Therefore the greatness of the gift which he has bestowed o us demands an appreciation proportioned to its excellence; for blessed Paul the Apostle truly teaches: We have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. The only way that he can be worthily honored by us is by the presentation to him of that which he has already given to us.

But what can we find in the treasure of the Lord’s bounty more in keeping with the glory of this feast than that peace which was first announced by the angelic choir on the day of his birth? For that peace, from which the sons of God spring, sustains love and mothers unity; it refreshes the blessed and shelters eternity; its characteristic function and special blessing is to join to God those whom it separates from this world.

Therefore, may those who were born, not of blood nor of the will fo the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God, offer to the Father their harmony as sons united in peace; and may all those whom he has adopted as his members meet in the firstborn of the new creation who came not to do him own will but the will of the one who sent him; for the grace of the Father has adopted as heirs neither the contentious nor the dissident, but those who are one in thought and love. The hearts and minds of those who have been reformed according to one and the same image should be in harmony with one another.

The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace, as Paul the Apostle says: For he is our peace, who has made us both one; for whether we be Jew or Gentile, through him we have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The Incarnation and human dignity

2009-12-24T15:05:00.000-05:00

by St. Peter Chrysologus

A virgin conceived, bore a son, and yet remained a virgin. This is no common occurrence, but a sign; no reason here, but God’s power, for he is the cause, and not nature. It is a special event, not shared by others; it is divine, not human. Christ’s birth was not necessity, but an expression of omnipotence, a sacrament of piety for the redemption of men. He who made man without generation from pure clay made man again and was born from a pure body. The hand that assumed clay to make our flesh deigned to assume a body for our salvation. That the Creator is in his creature and God is in the flesh brings dignity to man without dishonor to him who made him.

Why then, man, are you so worthless in your own eyes and yet so precious to God? Why render yourself such dishonor when you are honored by him? Why do you ask how you were created and do not seek to know why you were made? Was not this entire visible universe made for your dwelling? It was for you that the light dispelled the overshadowing gloom; for your sake was the night regulated and the day measured, and for you were the heavens embellished with the varying brilliance of the sun, the moon and the stars. The earth was adorned with flowers, groves and fruit; and the constant marvellous variety of lovely living things was created in the air, the fields, and the seas for you, lest sad solitude destroy the joy of God’s new creation. And the Creator still works to devise things that can add to your glory. He has made you in his image that you might in your person make the invisible Creator present on earth; he has made you his legate, so that the vast empire of the world might have the Lord’s representative. Then in his mercy God assumed what he made in you; he wanted now to be truly manifest in man, just as he had wished to be revealed in man as in an image. Now he would be in reality what he had submitted to be in symbol.

And so Christ is born that by his birth he might restore our nature. He became a child, was fed, and grew that he might inaugurate the one perfect age to remain for ever as he had created it. He supports man that man might no longer fall. And the creature he had formed of earth he now makes heavenly; and what he had endowed with a human soul he now vivifies to become a heavenly spirit. In this way he fully raised man to God, and left in him neither sin, nor death, nor travail, nor pain, nor anything earthly, with the grace of our Lord Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, for all the ages of eternity. Amen.

In praise of Christmas

2009-12-24T15:02:00.001-05:00

by St. Ephrem the Syrian

Lord, give us leave this day to celebrate thy true birthday, of which the present festival puts us in mind. This day is like thyself: it is the friend of man. Year by year it returns throughout the centuries, growing old with the aged, renewing itself with the new-born child. Year by year it comes to us, passes, and then returns, full of the old magic. It knows that human nature cannot do without it; like thyself, it comes to the rescue of our imperiled race. The whole round earth is thirsting for thy birthday, Lord. In that one happy day are contained all the ages to come; it is one, yet it multiplies itself to infinity. May it then resemble thee again this year, and make peace between heaven and earth.

All days bear the imprint of thy goodness, but today thy goodness brims over. The other days of the year borrow their loveliness from this one; the coming festivals owe to it all their dignity and luster. Thy birthday, Lord, is a treasure great enough to repay the common debt.

Blessed be that day which gave back the light of the sun to us who were astray in the dark, which brought us the sheaf of divine plenty and gave us that vine from which the wine of salvation would be pressed. In the depth of winter, when the trees were stripped of fruit, the vine clothed itself with heavenly foliage; in that icy season a branch sprang from the tree of Jesse. In that month of December which holds deep down in the earth the seed that was entrusted to it, the bud of salvation unfolded itself from the Virgin's womb, where it was planted in the spring days when the lambs were skipping in their pastures.

TO GOD THE FATHER

Today the true sun is risen on the world, today a light has come forth in the midst of the darkened earth: God has become man, so I that man may become God in his turn; the Master takes upon himself the form of a slave, so that the slave may be converted to his Master. He who founded and dwells in the heavens has made his abode on earth, so that man, the earth-bound, may find a new home in heaven.

O day more brilliant than any sun! season for which all ages have longed! That which the angels were awaiting, that which the cherubim and seraphim and the ministering choirs of heaven knew not, has been revealed in our time. That which they viewed as a reflection in a mirror, we see face to face. He who spoke to the people of Israel through Isaias, Jeremias, and the other prophets, now speaks to us through his Son.

By thy favor, Lord, let the holy angel bring tidings of great joy to Christian people all over the world. Today in David's city Christ the Lord is born, the salvation of all, the eternal Savior; and in that city, which is the Church, he will reign for ever, guarding and guiding her until the end of time. Grant that his reign over her may be whole and entire, extending throughout the world, and causing her to partake of that eternity which belongs to the citizens of heaven.

Merciful and loving God, whose will and gift it was that our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself to this end that he might raise up the whole race of men, stooping low to exalt the lowly, a God born of a Virgin to restore in man the lost image of heaven: grant that this people of thine may cleave to thee, and that those whom thou hast freely redeemed may ever give thee zealous and acceptable service.

Merciful God, prepare the minds of the faithful, and subdue unbelieving hearts, to welcome the surpassing mystery of thy Son's human birth.

TO THE INCARNATE WORD

This is the day on which the Savior of the earth, the Light of the world, shone forth. On this day the Savior of Israel came down from the pinnacle of heaven to set free all those whom the ancient enemy held captive by reason of Adam's fault; he came down so that blind souls might have light and deaf souls might hear. The mountains and hills leap for joy, the very foundations of the world break into song, thrilled by the great mystery of his incarnation and all the good it has brought.

For our part, let us humbly entreat our Redeemer to show us his love and mercy. May our souls, begrimed by sin, be cleansed by heartfelt contrition, so that his light may shine gloriously in and about us, and the bliss of salvation be ours to enjoy for ever.

For our sake a child is born, to our race a Son is given. Thou who art thy Father's full-grown Son hast become thy mother's baby; in heaven, infinite: here, tiny; abiding in thy Father's bosom, yet carried in thy mother's womb; changeless in Godhead, peerless in thy humanity, because for ever one and the same in both; in thy divine nature our Creator, and in thy human our Redeemer.

Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, God and Man; as God, infinite, yet from the beginning destined to become man; God before time was, Man in process of time; all-embracing, all-transcending; from whom all beings have life; thou who wast born for our sake, have mercy upon us.

Abiding still within thy own Godhead, thou showest thyself in our midst; self-centered, thou comest to our help; not lacking power from the Father to pass judgment upon us wretches, thou comest in mercy to save us; while filling the heavens, thou dost not abandon the earth. Without abating thy infinite majesty as Creator, complete in us, we pray thee, the work of a most kind Redeemer; and let that pity which led thee to pay our ransom move thee also to pardon our misdeeds.

We have had sight of thy glory, Lord, glory such as belongs to the Father's only-begotten Son: sole-born in Godhead, first-born in earthly rank; in heaven the only Son of the Father, here on earth the chief among thy brethren; there one with the Father, here the first among thy fellows; there abiding in the Father's bosom, his equal, here never deserting thy companions; there creating, here renewing. Give us grace to become partners of thy kingdom, since for us thou madest reparation on earth. Thou who camest into this world to redeem us, be our reward in the world to come.

God, who in putting on humanity didst of thy own accord become our partner in weakness; make us thy partners in the glory of thy heavenly kingdom.

Thou hast risen upon us, Jesus Christ, true Sun of Justice. Thou hast come down from heaven, Redeemer of mankind, and built for us a rampart of salvation. Thou, the everlasting Son of the Most High, born as man from the stock of David, as ancient prophecies foretold, hast been pleased to forgive thy people, and blotting out the record of our primal sin, hast opened a triumphal way to eternal life.

New therefore, we pray thee, let us behold the depths of thy mercy. Eternal Savior, rescue us from the devilish foe, make us zealous in holy living, keep us from straying into peril of death, and lead us, by the straight path of thy service, which is peace, 0 Savior of the world, who art God, living and reigning, and ruling with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (5)

2009-12-14T13:03:00.002-05:00

The collaborative effort of Jo sef Mohr and Franz Gruber in composing "Silent Night" is legendary. For years, the story was told of how Mohr and Gruber, assistant pastor and organist at the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria, wrote the song on Christmas Eve and had to use a guitar for accompaniment because the church organ was broken. In recent years, the traditional story behind the composition of the hymn has come into question. Gruber's score may have been written some 2-4 years after Mohr composed his original poem. This discrepancy, however, may be explained in this account from Nazarene missionaryHoward Culbertson.

While we were serving as missionaries

in Europe we visited a small little church in Austria. That church was the birthplace of "Silent Night." Here's the story how this most famous of Christmas carols came to be written:

In 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. On December 23 they arrived at Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg. There they were scheduled to perform the story of Christ's birth in the Church of St. Nicholas.

Unfortunately, the St. Nicholas' church organ wasn't working and would not be repaired before Christmas. (Note: some versions of the story point to mice as the problem; others say rust was the culprit) Because the church organ was out of commission, the actors presented their Christmas drama in a private home. That Christmas presentation put assistant pastor Josef Mohr in a meditative mood. So, instead of walking straight to his house, Mohr took a longer way home. The longer path took him up over a hill overlooking the village.

From that hilltop, Mohr looked down on the peaceful snow-covered village. Reveling in the wintry night's majestic silence, he gazed down at the glowing scene. His thoughts about the Christmas play caused him to remember a poem he had written a couple of years earlier. That poem was about the night when angels announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to shepherds on a hillside.

Mohr decided those words would make a good carol for his congregation the following evening at their Christmas eve service. However, he didn't have any music to which that poem could be sung. So, the next day Mohr went to see the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber. Gruber only had a few hours to come up with a melody which could be sung with a guitar. However, by that evening, Gruber had managed to compose a simple musical setting for Mohr's poem. It didn't matter that the organ was broken. They now had a Christmas carol they could sing without it.

On Christmas Eve, the little Oberndorf congregation heard Gruber and Mohr sing their new composition to the accompaniment of Gruber's guitar.

Weeks later, well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher arrived to fix the St. Nicholas church organ. When he finished, Mauracher stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument. When Gruber sat down, his fingers began playing the simple melody he had written for Mohr's Christmas poem. Deeply impressed, Mauracher took the music and words of "Silent Night" back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers -- the Rainers and the Strassers -- heard it. Captivated by "Silent Night," both groups put the new song into their Christmas season repertoire.

The Strasser sisters spread the carol throughout northern Europe. In 1834, after they had performed "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, that king ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas eve.

The Rainers brought the song to the United States in 1839, singing it (in German) at the Alexander Hamilton Monument located outside New York City's Trinity Church.

In 1863, nearly fifty years after being first sung in German, "Silent Night" was translated into English (by either Jane Campbell or John Young). In 1871 the English version was published in an American hymnal: Charles Hutchins' Sunday School Hymnal.

Whatever its actual origin, "Silent Night" has become a staple for Christmas Eve candlelight services.

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

While predominantly a meditative, devotional piece, the phrase, "With the dawn of redeeming grace," is rich in theological substance. Grace has, from the beginning, been the means through which God brings redemption to a fallen creation. But not until the birth of the Christ child did that "redeeming grace" shine upon the world like the dawn of a new day.

Originally published 12/15/07

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (4)

2009-12-13T12:54:00.000-05:00

No Christmas celebration is complete without a few rounds of Isaac Watts' classic, "Joy to the World." Yet, surprisingly enough, Watts' text does not make any explicit mention of any distinctively Christmas theme.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

It is doubtful, in fact, that Watts ever intended this hymn to be used within the context of the celebration of Christmas. His Puritan heritage would have instilled in him a disdain for what was, in his day, a notoriously raucous holiday with only the thinnest of religious overtones. Certainly, the birth of Jesus is a joyous occasion, but "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" is not necessarily a celebration of his birth (an historical event) so much as it is a declaration of his Lordship made manifest throughout the world (an ongoing reality). Unlike so many of the overly sentimental hymns now associated with Christmas, "Joy to the World" is a deeply theological and Christological treatise, adapted not from the Christmas narratives of the New Testament, but from the Psalms of David.

While orthodox Christians everywhere have always sung this hymn with great enthusiasm, it was despised by Enlightenment-era thinkers who were particularly taken aback by the line, "Far as the curse is found." Any reference to "the curse" was a direct implication of the Fall, a doctrine wholly unacceptable to a naturalistic worldview. Any reference to deity was also unacceptable. Thus, some enterprising naturalists during that period attempted to alter the opening line of the first stanza to "Joy to the world, the light has come!" Thankfully, Watts' original words survived this butchery and continue to be sung today as a celebration of the true Light, the Lord of heaven and earth, who is come and will come again in glory.

Brandon Vallorani offers an excellent exposition on the eschatology of Watts' classic hymn.

Originally published 12/14/07

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (3)

2009-12-12T12:51:00.002-05:00

Today, we look at one of the sentimental favorites of the Christmas season. The children's lullaby, "Away in a Manger," focuses on the Christ child, sweet and innocent, but also, for want of a better phrase, excessively divine.

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.

It's the line, "But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes," that is problematic. To suggest that the infant Jesus did not cry when he awoke, like any normal baby would, is to diminish his humanity and over-emphasize his divinity. Sound theology holds Christ's divinity and humanity in proper balance. But perhaps we should cut the author a little theological slack here. A lullaby, after all, is supposed to be a soothing melody to calm a whimpering child, and what better comfort can there be than to have "the little Lord Jesus" himself staying by your cradle "till morning is nigh?"

Authorship of this hymn is the source of much dispute. The third stanza was written by John McFarland (1851-1913). The original two stanzas, as published in an 1885 Lutheran children's songbook, have been attributed to none other than Martin Luther. But this claim is dubious, to say the least. Two years after the initial publication, the song appeared in another children's book under the title, "Luther's Cradle Hymn," but there is little or no historical evidence to trace the text back to the Great Reformer himself.

Originally published 12/13/07

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (2)

2009-12-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

Some Christmas hymns have become so familiar that many worshipers, caught up in a catchy tune or uplifting melody, do not appreciate the profound message being conveyed by the words. One old favorite, however, is more notable for what it doesn't say, rather than what it does. "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" by Edmund H. Sears certainly sounds like a Christmas carol.

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

But, upon further examination, one cannot help but note a glaring omission. Though implied, the birth of Christ is nowhere explicitly mentioned. For that matter, the name of Christ is never invoked. A generic reference to "Heaven's all gracious King" is the only (indirect) reference to God. There are plenty of angels floating around and singing. But about what are they singing? "Peace on the earth, good will to men." That's certainly a biblical reference, but outside the context of Christ's birth, it is little more than a vague concept.

The hymn writer Sears was a minister in the Unitarian Church, not exactly the most orthodox branch of the faith. Today, Unitarianism is the quintessential "anything goes" religion, a smorgasbord of feel good spirituality. In Sears' day, it wasn't quite so unhinged (he actually claimed to believe in the divinity of Christ), but its association with a more liberal, humanistic faith was already well established. The vague language of Sears' hymn is something of a precursor to the sentimental theology of present-day Unitarianism. Nevertheless, it remains a staple of the Christmas season and, given a context with some more explicitly Christ-centered hymns, certainly has its place.

Originally published 12/12/07

Christmas Hymnody: Theology and History (1)

2009-12-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

Advent slowly but surely gives way to Christmas, and most churches can't resist sneaking in a carol or two before all the candles on the wreath are lit. The hymnody of Christmas is perhaps the most diverse of any season of the Christian year: a lively blend of good and bad theology, spiced up with a generous helping of some rather ugly historical inaccuracies. On the latter, Ben Witherington has much to say. But bad history breeds bad theology, and much of the blame for the loss of the sacred elements of the Feast of the Nativity can be laid at the feet of an overly sentimentalized version of Christianity which is never more apparent than in the singing of some of the most cherished songs of the season. At the same time, however, some of the most deeply theological hymns of the faith are celebrations of the birth of the Christ child. What many mature believers know about the Incarnation, they learned from the stirring texts of some of their favorite Christmas carols.

Charles Wesley's "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" is so much a theological treatise in verse that it has often been called "The Theologian's Carol." Its familiarity may cloud its high Christological, soteriological, and (in the often omitted final two stanzas) eschatological message. We do well simply to read and meditate upon Wesley's words (with some minor alterations by his friend George Whitfield).

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Refrain

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Refrain

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Refrain

Angels are also prominent in the traditional English carol, "The First Noel." Note, however, some rather glaring inconsistencies with the biblical narrative.

The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay tending their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

Refrain

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

They lookèd up and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far;
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.

Refrain

And by the light of that same star
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.

Refrain

This star drew nigh to the northwest,
Over Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.

Refrain

Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered it them for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.

Refrain

Then entered in those Wise Men three,
Full reverently upon the knee,
And offered there, in His presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.

Refrain

Between an ox stall and an ass,
This Child truly there He was;
For want of clothing they did Him lay
All in a manger, among the hay.

Refrain

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord;
That hath made Heaven and earth of naught,
And with His blood mankind hath bought.

Refrain

If we in our time shall do well,
We shall be free from death and hell;
For God hath prepared for us all
A resting place in general.

Refrain

Like many "traditional" carols, this one blends the many elements of the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany panorama, creating the impression that the whole event--from the angelic proclamation to the arrival of the Wise Men--took place on one "cold winter's night" (a dubious seasonal and climatological assumption in itself, despite the traditional date of December 25). The shepherds, according to Luke's account, went to Bethlehem after hearing the angelic proclamation, but there is no mention of them following a star. A celestial light was the guide for the Wise Men, as recorded by Matthew. But, despite their frequent inclusion with the shepherds in decorative Nativity scenes, these men from the East likely did not arrive on the scene until some two years after Jesus' birth. Note, also, a number of the sentimental elements to which Witherington objects, although there is mention of an actual "house" within which "the King did lie."

Rich incarnational theology is mixed, perhaps, with some slightly inaccurate historical presuppositions in John F. Wade's "O Come, All Ye Faithful." Translated from Latin, most Christmas Eve worshipers are familiar only with stanzas 1, 3, and 7. This is unfortunate, as the uncut version is a tapestry of adoration to the Lord of heaven come to earth as a baby in a manger, and an invitation for all creation to join in the chorus of praise.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

Refrain

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;

Refrain

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

Refrain

See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;

Refrain

Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.

Refrain

Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?

Refrain

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

Refrain

Originally published 12/11/07

The story that ends with grace

2009-12-08T19:30:00.000-05:00

"Always end with grace." That was the advice given to aspiring preachers by one of my old seminary professors. Not only is this sound advice. It is also richly biblical, for the Bible itself ends with a comforting word of grace: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen" (Revelation 22:21).

Without grace, the story which shapes our lives as Christians would have an unhappy ending. The Bible is filled with tragic tales of rebellion and disobedience; of the people God chose for his very own turning away from him and embracing every form of wickedness imaginable and even some unimaginable. But God is relentless in pursuit of his beloved. At last, he takes the extraordinary step of sending his own Son to die a most painful death on a cross in order to pay the penalty for a people still lost in their sins.

Before Jesus came, the trajectory of human history was on a downward spiral toward death and destruction. But now, because of Jesus' death and resurrection, that trajectory has been turned around. All who follow Jesus, identifying with him in his suffering and death, will share with him in the resurrection. He will lead them into the very presence of God where they will find their true home with him, and he with them.

Resurrection, eternal life, a new heaven and a new earth. That is the end of the story, and it is all made possible because of the infinite and inexhaustible grace of our loving Lord. But if grace is infinite and inexhaustible, the best news of all is, a story that ends with grace has only just begun.

The mystery of faith

2009-12-07T18:18:00.005-05:00

Monday in Advent 2

Texts: Amos 7:1-9; Revelation 1:1-8; Matthew 22:23-33

John's magnificent vision on the island of Patmos was a revelation given him by God, with whom he enjoyed so intimate a relationship as to be granted the privilege of seeing the realm of eternity which transcends time and the realm of glory which transcends space.

"Behold, he is coming with the clouds" (Revelation 1:7) is not the pipe dream or escapist fantasy which many pop culture “Christian” authors have made it out to be. It is that part of "the mystery of faith" which makes our faith complete. It is a reminder that we have more to look forward to in the next world than we can possibly comprehend in this world. At the same time, it calls us to live in this world as we will live in the next, "in lives of holiness and godliness" (2 Peter 3:11), participating even now in the ongoing fulfillment of the eschatological kingdom toward which all of history, in Christ, is moving. The certainty that Christ is coming again keeps us accountable, ever aware of the fact that, at any moment, Christ our Judge will appear and we will stand before him to give an accounting for all the thoughts, motives and actions which have defined our lives in this world.

But this reality does not inspire fear in the heart of believers, whose lives are being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image and likeness of God. Rather, Jesus' promise, "I am coming soon" (Revelation 22:7, 12) is the promise of vindication and eternal rest for those who, in the face of suffering and persecution, persevere to the end. It is a promise of comfort for the living and of resurrection for those who have "fallen asleep" in Christ.

"The promise of his coming" is the promise that brings the church together as a covenant community. The expectation of seeing our Lord face to face brings us together for worship every Lord's Day. It is a promise that is made real in the celebration of the Eucharist. For in every observance of this blessed sacrament, the true meaning of John's vision is broken and poured out before our very eyes. Christ is present in a real, yet mysterious, way. Heaven and earth become one. New Jerusalem shines in all its splendor as its citizens celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

"The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking," as Paul reminds us, "but of righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). Yet it is precisely through the outward act of eating and drinking that we experience the kingdom mysteriously present in our midst. In partaking of the bread and wine of the Eucharist, we are participating in the reality beyond the symbols. Paradoxically, we consume outwardly the body and blood of Christ while, at the same time, we are being inwardly consumed into the reality that is Christ himself: the mystery of his death, resurrection and coming again. The whole of this mystery is laid forth visibly, yet mysteriously, in the bread and the cup. Through his broken body and shed blood, our mortality is being consumed into his immortality. His presence is made real in our midst as we gather in his name around his table and made real in the world around us as we outwardly manifest it through "lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11b-12a).

To contemplate this mystery is to be consumed by it; to surrender our selfish desire to understand that which is too high even to enter our feeble human minds. In seeking to draw the mystery into ourselves, we will find ourselves being drawn into the mystery. Therein, we begin to embrace Jesus’ most comforting promise, “And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3).

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

“Even so. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Collect of the Day: Ambrose, 7 December

O God, who gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
O Son of God, We Wait for Thee

O Son of God, we wait for Thee,
In love for Thine appearing;
We know Thou sittest on the throne,
And we Thy Name are bearing,
Who trusts in Thee, may joyful be,
And see Thee, Lord, descending,
To bring us bliss unending.
We wait for Thee ’mid toil and pain,
In weariness and sighing;
But glad that Thou our guilt hast borne,
And canceled it by dying;
Hence cheerfully may we with Thee
Take up our cross and bear it,
Till we relief inherit.
We wait for Thee; here Thou hast won
Our hearts to hope and duty;
But while our spirits feel Thee near,
Our eyes would see Thy beauty;
We fain would be at rest with Thee
In peace and joy supernal,
In glorious life eternal.
We wait for Thee; sure Thou wilt come;
The time is swiftly nearing;
In this we also now rejoice,
And long for Thine appearing.
Oh, bliss ’twill be when Thee we see,
Homeward Thy people bringing,
With transport and with singing!
Philipp F. Hiller

'Tis the season for desperate atheists

2009-12-04T17:15:00.001-05:00

I have long contended that "intellectual atheism" is an oxymoron. Atheism, as should be obvious, is not intellectual at all. While there is a disproportionate number of atheists in the field of academia, when the average person thinks of atheism, the more likely image is that of the in-your-face activists who dot the landscape, always looking for a reason to be offended by any mention of God in their immediate proximity. The vapidity of their cause is never more obvious than this time of year when they froth at the mouth over the prospect of such intolerable horrors as Christmas carols being performed in a public school or being wished a "Merry Christmas" by an unsuspecting shopper.

This year, an atheist group calling itself the American Humanist Association is rolling out an aggressive nationwide "Godless Holiday" campaign which is laughable on its face.

The ads read: “No God -- no problem! Be good for goodness’ sake. Humanism is the idea that you can be good without a belief in God” and feature several people in red and white Santa hats. The new ads come on the heels of an AHA campaign last year which asked “Why believe in a God?” and featured ads on public transit in Washington, D.C.

Previously, the atheist campaign had been confined to the Washington, D.C., area, with signs and advertisements featured prominently on the city’s Metro subway trains and buses.

The expansion to four new cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco – marks the first-ever national atheist advertising campaign and the first time the Humanist group has taken its anti-religious holiday message outside of the nation’s capitol.

However, the atheist group claims its campaign is designed to reach out to fellow atheists on what is normally a religious holiday.

“Our campaign's purpose is to speak out to like-minded individuals -- people who don't believe in God -- and let them know they're not alone, that there's a community out there for them,” AHA spokesman Karen Frantz told CNSNews.com.

So, what is their point, exactly (laying aside, for the moment, the utter foolishness of the premise "that you can be good without belief in God")? For all their objections to the songs, symbols, and salutations, atheists still cling to the idea that something ought to be celebrated on or about December 25 of every year. Some of their suggested alternative names for the season, such as "Festival of Lights" and "Winter Solstice," are quite revealing of the kind of empty universe in which they seek to live. Who would desire light more desperately than one who lives in darkness? Who would celebrate the shortest day of the year other than one who is in utter denial of the brevity and insignificance of life in this present world? Perhaps most importantly, however, who would insist on eliminating the reason for a holiday while keeping the holiday on the calendar other than one who is just desperate for a few days off from work?

The Stone and the Son are the same

2009-12-03T13:36:00.002-05:00

Thursday in Advent 1

Texts: Amos 4:6-13; 2 Peter 3:11-18; Matthew 21:33-46

The chief priests and the Pharisees knew Jesus most pointed criticisms, spoken mostly through parables, were directed at them. Yet, for fear of the crowds, they did nothing. It is easier to understand their irritation if we understand, first, the tradition which had grown up around Jewish prophetic literature. Daniel, via his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (see Daniel 2), had foreseen four successive kingdoms of gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Each successor kingdom would be of lesser glory than its predecessor. Finally, there would come a kingdom of iron mixed with clay--a most unstable mixture--which would be crushed by a stone which would then become a great mountain covering the whole earth.

A faithful student of Israel's prophetic literature would have seen the four kingdoms as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The stone was God's Anointed One who would crush the last earthly kingdom and establish God's eternal kingdom. But with the parable of the tenants, Jesus gives this long held interpretation a new twist, one which was certainly troubling to the religious establishment, as N.T. Wright (Matthew for Everyone, Part Two, pp. 80-81) explains:

Jesus, interpreting his own story, quotes from two biblical passages, Psalm 118 and Daniel 2. The stone which the builders rejected has become the top cornerstone; it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the building, but it will go in the place of greatest honour. And the stone will crush anything that collides with it. He is the Stone, the Messiah, God's anointed; he has come to bring into being the kingdom of God through which the kingdoms of the world will shiver, shake and fall to the ground.

And why is that an interpretation of the parable? Because the Stone and the Son are the same. The Son the farmers rejected is vindicated when the owner comes and destroys them, and gives the vineyard to someone else. The Stone the builders rejected is vindicated when it goes in place at the top of the corner. And -- just as in English the letters of the word 'Son' are the same as the letters of the word 'Stone', with two more added, so in Hebrew, by coincidence, the letters of the word ben (son) are the same as those of the word eben (stone), with one more added.

The whole story is therefore Jesus' way of explaining what was going on then and there. It is Jesus' perspective on the very events he was involved in -- rejected by those he had come to, but destined to be vindicated by God. The vineyard owner is of course God; the vineyard is Israel; the farmers are Israel's officials, and the slaves are the earlier prophets, ending with John the Baptist. The Son can only be Jesus himself.

It is a story full of depth, sorrow and power. It tells how he has now come to Jerusalem to confront the tenant farmers with God's demand for repentance, for Israel to be at last what it was called to be, the light of God's world. And it is the story of how Israel, through its official representatives, is going to refuse the demand, and will end up by killing him.

Why then the Stone? Because the last kingdom, kingdom of iron mixed with clay, is perhaps not Rome after all. Maybe, from Jesus' point of view, it is the uneasy alliance of Herod and the chief priests. Maybe it is their shaky kingdom that will come crashing down when the Stone eventually falls on them. But before it can become the chief stone in the building it must first be rejected. And that, now, will not be long in coming.

Collect of the Day: The Saints and Martyrs of Asia, 3 December

Most gracious God, as we bless you for your saints and martyrs of Asia, we pray that the ears that have heard your word may be deaf to clamor and dispute; that the eyes that have seen your great love may shine with the light of hope; and that the tongues that have sung your praise may also speak of the truth of the Word made flesh; even Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Draw Nigh to Thy Jerusalem

Draw nigh to Thy Jerusalem, O Lord,
Thy faithful people cry with one accord;
Ride on in triumph; Lord, behold we lay
Our passions, lusts, and proud wills in Thy way!

Thy road is ready; and Thy paths made straight,
With longing expectation seem to wait
The consecration of Thy beauteous feet,
And silently Thy promised advent greet!

Hosanna! welcome to our hearts! for here
Thou hast a temple, too, as Zion dear;
O enter in, dear Lord, unbar the door;
And in that temple dwell forevermore.

Jeremy Taylor

Grinch: The sequel

2009-12-02T13:47:00.002-05:00

I have to post this every year at this time. Once again, it is as timely as ever.

How the Grinch Stole Back Christmas

‘Tis a tale often told, and every Who knows,
How the Grinch first descended from Mount Crumpet snows
And stole away Christmas (its trappings, at least)
Then had his heart changed, and came back for roast beast.
Not everyone knows what has happened since then;
How the Grinch came to think he must steal it again –

For Grinches are grinchy, and grinch-genes will tell –
And in some ways, he wasn’t adjusting too well.
Though his heart grew three sizes, his brain had not shrunk
And he tired of buying up masses of junk
And dealing with hassles and hustles barbaric
For “holidays” swiftly becoming generic.

The customs traditional, which the Grinch loved
Were watered-down, fluffed-up, or “new and improved”.
Why, at one Christmas feast, by one misguided Who,
The roast beast itself was a glob of tofu!
And the songs which reformed him with simple Who joys
Were increasingly drowned out by “noise, noise, noise, noise.”

And deep in his heart, underneath his green fur,
The Grinch knew that things weren’t right as they were.
His ponderer once more was sore as could be
In the checkout line near the HDTV’s,
When the half-hearted clerk with a faraway gaze
Blandly muttered to him, “Happy Holidays”.

Well, the Grinch’s lips curled in a most Grinchy smile
(More grinchy, perhaps, than he’d been in a while!)
He remembered his heritage, cunning and sly,
He thought, “I was made this way – p’raps this is why!”
Then he fixed his eyes on the unfortunate knave,
And regarded him mildly, and told him, “How brave!”

“Brave?”, asked the clerk, “Why, what did I say?”
“My good man, you have wished me a fine Holy Day!
“I thank, good sir, and return it sincerely;
“For you wished for me, sir, not a merry day merely,
“But a day blessed with favor from our Lord divine –
“I return it; may your Holy Day, too, be fine!”

“No! I just said ‘holiday’,” stammered the clerk,
“For that is the policy here where I work…”
“Delightful!,” the Grinch interjected with glee.
“Such corporate boldness – it overwhelms me!
“A spiritual awakening – that’s what it means!
“Now, sir, sell me some cards with nativity scenes.”

There were no such cards, for he’d sold his last few
But he did have a Santa. The Grinch said, “He’ll do,
“That old Bishop Nicholas, merry and stout.
“He once punched the heretic Arius out!”
And the clerk looked about – and no bosses he saw -
“Merry Christmas!,” he whispered, and shook a grinch paw.

The Grinch strode from the store and out into the street,
“Merry Christmas!”, he said to each Who whom he’d meet,
And he said to himself, “Why, this really is nice!
“A good deed which has gained all the thrill of a vice!
“This holiday season need not make me blue;
“For with each ‘Merry Christmas’, I break a taboo!”

Some heartily answer, returning his greeting;
And others more shyly, ere swiftly retreating –
Some say “Happy Hannukah” back with a grin,
Which the old Grinch returns, and calls that a win/win.
Some never quite notice; too stressed and engrossed.
But some look offended – and these he likes most.

“Now, don’t kid a kidder,” he tells such a one –
“I stole Christmas once, and I know how it’s done.
“But I stole it with style; I stole it with flare.
“You aren’t that clever, or else wouldn’t dare;
“To my exploits, your Christmas theft can’t hold a candle –
“You’re not even a thief – just a wannabe vandal.”

For a Grinch is a Grinch, at the end of the day
(And as he observed, Someone made him that way)
As wise as a serpent (and almost as green)
And not really worried if folks think he’s mean.
He stole Christmas once, but he made his amends –
Now he’ll steal Christmas back, for his more timid friends.

So when you’ve the chance (if, that is, you’ve the guts)
Please join me and the Grinch, driving PC-folks nuts.
Reclaiming the Holy Days, joyous and rightful,
From the purely commercial or pettily spiteful.
Co-conspire in this bold holiday counter-crime –
Committed one “Merry Christmas” at a time.

— Joe Long

A cataclysmic and incendiary presence

2009-12-02T09:31:00.003-05:00

Wednesday in Advent 1

Texts: Amos 3:12-4:5; 2 Peter 3:1-10; Matthew 21:23-32

Baptism with water calls to mind images of outward cleansing. It is an exhilarating shower of refreshment and reinvigoration. Water washes away the outer filth, the visible manifestations of our uncleanness. But such an outward cleansing alone makes us no better than the Pharisees, whom John rebuked as a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7) and Jesus referred to unflatteringly as “whitewashed tombs" (Matthew 23:27). In fact, public washing was a common means through which the Pharisees called attention to their outward righteousness (Matthew 15:1-3). Such symbolism does not even begin to address the substance of that which makes us truly unclean. Another, more radical, baptism is needed to cleanse our inner selves, for there is where our enmity with God is truly rooted. Such is the baptism Jesus brings. Whereas John’s baptism “with water for repentance” washes away the outwardly visible effects of our sin, Jesus’ baptism “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” wipes out the root cause of our sin.

In today’s epistle reading, Peter employs the same imagery as John the Baptist to illustrate the disruptive and utterly cataclysmic effect of the presence of God breaking forth into the midst of a corrupt and fallen creation.

They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

As in the days of Noah, the outwardly visible effects of sin upon the world were wiped away, so in Christ, God is acting to purge creation of the root cause of its fallenness. “The heavens and earth that now exist” are not creation as God intended it to be. What is seen in the visible realm is the effect of sin upon creation, not the true creation God established “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1).

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

As Adam and Eve’s inner corruption was exposed in the fall (Genesis 3:7), Peter now explains that the utter corruption of all creation brought on by the fall is going to be exposed in cataclysmic fashion. Thus, he admonishes his readers to live “lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (v. 12a). Unlike Adam and Eve, who responded to the presence of God by fleeing in fear, the redeemed in Christ are to respond by living the kind of life that incarnates the presence of Christ in the midst of a fallen world. This is not a reactive response to a warning about “the coming of the day of God” but, rather, a proactive participation in actually bringing it to fulfillment! Such a presence of holiness and godliness in the midst of an unholy and ungodly world is incendiary. “The heavens and earth that now exist” simply cannot endure the onslaught. They will ultimately crash and burn under the weight of the inescapable presence of a holy God breaking forth into its midst through the life and witness of a people being transformed by the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Collect of the Day: Channing Moore Williams, 2 December

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Channing Moore Williams, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the peoples of China and Japan. Raise up, we pray, in this and every land heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hark, the Glad Sound

Hark, the glad sound! the Savior comes,
The Savior promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.

On Him the Spirit, largely poured,
Exerts His sacred fire;
Wisdom and might, and zeal and love,
His holy breast inspire.

He comes the prisoners to release,
In Satan’s bondage held;
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes, from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray,
And on the eyes oppressed with night
To pour celestial day.

He comes the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure;
And with the treasures of His grace
To enrich the humble poor.

His silver trumpets publish loud
The jub’lee of the Lord
Our debts are all remitted now
Our heritage restored.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
And Heav’n’s eternal arches ring
With Thy belovèd Name.

Philip Doddridge

A tale of two trees

2009-12-01T19:04:00.004-05:00

Tuesday in Advent 1
Texts: Amos 3:1-11; 2 Peter 1:12-21; Matthew 21:12-22

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had spoken in parables as a means of calling out the true remnant of Israel. Those who understood, who had ears to hear, were the true chosen people of God, the first-fruits of the new order, centered not around a temporal structure (the temple) but around Jesus himself, God's Anointed One, his true and everlasting Temple. The stage was being set for the overthrow of the old order, the sacrificial system centered around the temple in Jerusalem, under the corrupt and apostate leadership of the religious elites, who could perceive that Jesus was speaking in parables against them, but could only respond with anger and indignation. It was, after all, their system which was about to be rendered obsolete. The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are two enacted parables which drive this point home even more emphatically.

The fig tree had long been the symbol of the nation of Israel. But it had been a sobering symbol, at best. From the beginning, its provision should have been known to be inadequate. Adam and Eve had sought to cover their nakedness with its leaves, but were unable to cover the greater shame of their sin. In light of this, the fig tree should have stood as a reminder to Israel of the temporary, and ultimately inadequate, provision of the Old Covenant with the sacrifices and rituals centered around the temple. It all pointed to a more perfect embodiment of God's plan of redemption, one greater than Moses and all the prophets who, in the fullness of time, would come to deliver his people.

But when Jesus came, he found Israel complacent and faithless, unable to recognize the time of its visitation. Israel was like a fig tree out of season, bearing no fruit on its branches. In cursing the fig tree, Jesus pronounced judgment on apostate Israel in the shadow of the mountain upon which stood that which had become, by now, the very symbol of its apostasy--the temple. It was supposed to have been "a house of prayer," but had, under its corrupt leadership, been made into "a den of robbers."

As the fig tree withered at Jesus' word, so the temple and the corrupt system it had come to represent would be made to pass away as Jesus brought the Word of God to perfect fulfillment through his death and resurrection. His one perfect and all sufficient sacrifice would render all its rituals and ceremonies obsolete. Within a generation, it would become a smoldering ash heap, its temporary provision exposed for the inadequate covering it was. But from its ruins would spring forth a new tree, the ever fruitful tree of life that is the cross of Jesus Christ.

Collect of the Day: Charles de Foucauld, 1 December

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Charles and those who have sought to carry on his work, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Advent of Our God

The advent of our God
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must meet Him on His road
With hymns of holy joy.

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be;
Himself a servant’s form puts on
To set His people free.

Daughter of Zion, rise
To meet thy lowly King,
Nor let thy faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.

As Judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again,
And all His scattered saints unite
With Him in Heaven to reign.

Before the dawning day
Let sin’s dark deeds be gone;
The old man all be put away,
The new man all put on.

All glory to the Son
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever One,
Through all eternity.

Charles Coffin

Ignorance masquerading as scholarship

2009-11-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

Michael Patton pointed out this fine example of ignorance masquerading as scholarship from April DeConick, identified on her blog as the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University. If this is what passes for "biblical studies" at Rice, students should demand their money back.

There is a big difference between confessional scholarship and its working assumptions and historical-critical scholarship and its working assumptions, and we must never confuse the two. Confessional scholarship is willing to compromise and apologize in order to keep 'history' aligned with the faith tradition. It is willing to understand theology as history and write about knowledge in these terms. Historical-critical scholarship is built on the presuppositions of the scientific search for knowledge. It is unwilling to allow theology to be history.

If you are at all uncertain about this distinction, it is easiest to see it when you look at a religion that is not your own and the claims to truth that religion makes. Think about claims that are made about Mohammad, Buddha, or any religion that has "historical" founders or scriptures. Its views on their founders are theology historicized. They are religious truth claims that have been accepted as fact by believers from that tradition, and scholars who work in that tradition. Those outside that tradition recognize this easily.

The easiest example of this in Christianity (which I have also discussed on numerous occasions previously) is the physical resurrection of Jesus. Confessional scholars are willing (some even feel compelled) to allow for the physical resurrection of Jesus to be historical fact. Of course it is not. Dead bodies don't come back to life. And Jesus' body did not come back to life. This is a theological doctrine that was historicized in the literature of the early believers. Those outside of Christianity, and non-confessional academics in another field (like science) see this immediately.

What should be obvious from the tone of Professor DeConick's drivel is that there is no form of "scholarship" that demands a stricter adherence to a "confessional" perspective than the historical-critical method. "Of course it is not" is about as dogmatic a statement as one can make with regard to the historical veracity of the resurrection. Thomas C. Oden, former fad theologian turned orthodox scholar, marvelously refutes this tired (and patently ahistorical) argument in his book After Modernity. . .What? (pp. 134-36)

Suppose the prophets were right, that God's will is revealed through historical events, and hence that God's will is finally knowable only at the conclusion of the drama of history. Theology would then be intent on trying to understand, if possible the anticipated end of the process, beyond all current historical alienations, finitude, blindness, and sin.

The earliest church reasoned in this way: In Jesus' resurrection the end is already present, in an anticipated sense. Thus the will of God is finally revealed. So to participate in Christ is already to share in the events of the last days. It all made reasonable sense, seen from within the assumptions of Jewish historical reasoning, transformed by a living encounter with the resurrected Jesus.

We today must learn to think historically in the Hebraic sense if we are to make sense of this central proclamation of Christianity. Seen in this frame of reference, the resurrection is so decisive that the importance of all other theological issues pales beside it. It focuses on nothing less than the final revelation of the will of God in history.

We are searching for the center of the wide circumference of Christian experience. What is the center? Resurrection as interpersonal meeting with the living Christ. Not resurrection as idea or past event but resurrection as a currently experienced interpersonal encounter. This is why interpersonal meeting has been the central feature of Christian theology from its inception.

Something so decisive happened anticipatively for human history in the resurrection of Jesus that it does not and cannot fit into ordinary categories of understanding. We cannot rule out the resurrection of Jesus simply on the grounds (as Troeltsch's law of analogy would require) that nothing like this ever happened to us before. How could it! The event of which Christianity speaks is, like all truly significant interpersonal meeting, an event without analogy.

The least plausible of all explanations of the resurrection is that it was generated out of the despairing imagination of the disciples. For that does not explain why they were willing to risk their lives for it. Nor does it account for one of the most characteristic literary features of the Easter narratives: the report that the beholders were utterly surprised by the appearance oft he risen Lord. The "surprise" element of the Easter narratives is too recurrent to be considered an anomaly. It is not likely that one would report being surprised by something that one had previously projected. No. Something occurred in Jesus' resurrection. It is quite unconvincing to assume that it could have been nothing. Whatever it was, it was experienced as the resurrected or spiritual or glorified body of Jesus and understood as the final self-disclosure of God.

Cross-posted at Sanctus.

Partakers of the divine nature

2009-11-30T18:10:00.003-05:00

Monday in Advent 1

Texts: Amos 2:6-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; Matthew 21:1-11

A few thoughts from the Church Fathers on what it means to be "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). . .

The fact that God made humankind a partaker of the divine nature, as we read in the second epistle of Peter, He granted us a relationship with himself, and we have a rational nature which makes us able to seek what is divine, which is not far from each one of us, in whom we live and are and move. (Ambrose of Milan, Letters to Priests 49)

God has blessed us abundantly--that is the meaning of this passage. We have received thousands of good things as a result of Christ's coming, and through them we can become partakers of the divine nature and be turned toward life and godliness. Therefore we must behave in such a way as to add virtue to faith, and in virtue walk along the way which leads to godliness until we come to the perfection of all good things, which is love. (Andreas, Catena)

The greater your knowledge of God becomes, the more you will realize the magnitude of his promises. When God blesses us, he changes our very being so that whatever we were by nature is transformed by the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we may truly become partakers of his nature. (Bede, On 2 Peter)

J.K. Wilhelm Loehe (1808-1872) composed this prayer appropriate to the season.

Well beloved Emmanuel, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Highest, and Son of the Virgin, we give thanks unto Thee that, having so heartily compassioned our sinful birth, Thou hast come to us from the Father's throne into this misery below, taking upon Thyself our flesh and blood that we might be made partakers of Thine own divine nature. Now, indeed, has the Heavenly Father shared his loving heart with us. Now is come great joy without ceasing; and in Thee is His worth assuaged. By Thy holy birth, we are born again unto Heaven, and Thou art become the veritable gateway of heaven for us; and by Thee have we access unto the Father, and abundant entrance into Thy kingdom. O then help, dear Lord, gracious Emmanuel, that we may rightly realize the mystery of Thy revelation in our flesh; ever remembering Thy condescension unto us, Thy poverty and distress, and rejoice heartily in Thy gracious birth, unto a realization of all its mighty power. Lift up our hearts. Open our lips. Unloose our tongues, that with all the angels, unto whose friendship we are now restored, we may worship, praise, and magnify Thee, and in Thee, the Beloved be acceptable unto the Father; and finally, be and abide with Thee in the everlasting joys of heaven. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Andrew, Apostle, 30 November

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley