12-18-24 Music

It is already time for the third Sunday of Advent! December seems to be flying by. This Sunday will be, what I cheerfully call in my calendar, “The Big Music Sunday.” Some years this has been a cantata, others a plethora of anthems, yet others a “Lessons & Carols,” service. This year is some of column B, and more of column C. The choir has prepared two anthems, as well as an additional new hymn we will sing as an anthem, and the service is set up as a series of scripture lessons and beloved Advent and Christmas carols. The traditional “Lessons & Carols” service comes to us from Anglican tradition, specifically from King’s College in Cambridge, England. The scripture they read each year is chosen specifically to trace the theology focusing on the “fall of Adam,” and Jesus as “the new Adam.” I tend to find that tradition a little toxic, and asked myself what messages we might find hope-inspiring this year. We began with the parallel songs of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10) and Mary (Luke 1: 46-56), that Gafney pairs on this Sunday in her “Year W” lectionary. This gave us the theme of “Hope against hope: already, and not yet.” As I explored this already/not yet paradox, I was drawn to a parallel paradox, of God being light, but also being with us in the dark. In past years I have programmed Advent as a “journey from darkness to light,” but we all know that life is never that straight a line. The final thread that hemmed this together was a prayer from Iona by John Phillip Newell that Courtney texted me:

My Christ, my love, my encircler,

Each day, each night,

Each light, each dark,

Be near me, uphold me,

My treasure, my truth.

(from Celtic Prayers from Iona, 1994)

With that prayer in mind I pulled in scripture of both shadow and light, day and night. There were many to choose from, including Abram being out in the dark and being shown the stars, which Lauryn poetically called “pinpricks of light,” (Genesis 15:5-6), Emmanuel, God with us in heavens and Sheol (Psalm 139:7-14), and God ending night and day (Revelation 22:1-5), amongst other songs of “Already/Not Yet.” Each time I read them God illuminates new threads of connection, and I hope you experience the same as we worship together.

In response to these lessons we will sing a number of “carols,” together. Bring your spill-proof water bottles and cups of warm tea to worship and stay hydrated. But, of course, remember my rule of congregational singing: you aren’t required to sing every note, that’s why it is congregational and not a solo.

Our first hymn is Count the Stars As You Are Able, which we will sing to the old American tune, JEFFERSON. Delores Dufner’s text isn’t a traditional Advent text, yet as a response to Abram’s vision of how great a number of descendants he would have, it fits perfectly here. Set among God’s nearly unimaginable majesty of the stars, Dufner paints a picture of supernovas, swirling planets, constellations, cosmic grandeur. This infinite, cosmic grandeur is God’s promise. Not in a “manifest destiny” of it being humanity’s to conquer, but that our destiny is eternally growing like the universe.

In like manor we will then sing hymn 127, Creator of the Stars of Night, as we are reminded that God who created the universe, came “not as a monarch, but the child/ of Mary, blameless mother mild.” Then we will sing the 3rd stanza of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, “O come, thou Wisdom from on high/and order all things, far and nigh.” Then we will sing the original stanza of the week, where I have pointed to Mary’s Magnificat. I choose to believe that she did not only sing “of rich brought down and poor filled with good things” that one time with Elizabeth, but throughout her life and Jesus heard it often while growing up. We will finish that section by again singing This Hope Keeps Us Going.

After hearing Hannah’s song (1 Samuel 2:1-10), we will sing together hymn 133, like a child. This poem by Dan Damon is striking, and chooses to use sparse punctuation, and only ever capitalizes the name, Jesus. I have reprinted it here so you can see it in poetic form:

like a child love would send

to reveal and to mend,

like a child and a friend,

Jesus comes

like a child we may find

claiming heart soul and mind,

like a child strong and kind,

Jesus comes

like a child we will meet,

ragged clothes, dirty feet,

like a child on the street,

Jesus comes

like a child we once knew

coming back into view,

like a child born anew,

Jesus comes

like a child born to pray

and to show us the way,

like a child here to stay,

Jesus comes

like a child we receive

all that love can conceive,

like a child we believe

Jesus comes[3]

The choir will sing A Sunburst of Glory, which we sang one of my first Sundays here, if you recall when Sally Ann Morris and Mel Bringle visited us in September, 2022. Mel and Sally weave in themes from Handel’s Messiah (and all flesh shall see it together), with some of the great prophetic lines from Isaiah. We will then sing a favorite, My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout, also known as Canticle of the Turning, Rory Cooney’s rousing retelling of Mary’s song. I think we sing this just about every Advent 3, including last year.

Lastly, we will sing one of my favorite contemporary Christmas carols, God’s Love Made Visible by Dave and Iola Brubeck. Written in Brubeck’s signature dance meter, 5/4, the editors of our hymnal joyfully say, “where else can one find a hymn with such words or phrases as ‘incomprehensible,’ ‘invincible,’ ‘blessings uncountable,’ or ‘death surmountable?’” Indeed, the turning on its head of death, using “surmountable” in place of the more common, “insurmountable,” is Marian in its world-reordering. Save your energy, as singing Canticle of the Turning followed by God’s Love Made Visible, is a powerful one-two combo.

If that wasn’t enough, there are three other pieces of note. The choir will begin by reprising a piece from last Christmas Eve, Chris de Silva’s Jul, Jul. It was too beautiful to only sing once, and imagery of love shining brightly was a perfect way to begin this service. Then, as we collect the offering, the choir will sing a jazz setting of Isaiah 40, Comfort Ye, by Deanna Witkowski. I had the pleasure of meeting Deanna while I was in Chicago, and she is a delight. The choir has learned chords I suspect have never been sung at Grace before, and I am excited for you to hear them. Lastly, Lynn Clayton and Theresa Steward will play a duet for organ and piano of Joy to the World for a postlude.

Whew, I am tired/excited after writing all that, I think we will be even more tired/excited by the end of our worship together, this Sunday. I will see you there.

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[1] “Landscape with Stars” by Henri Edmond Cross, prayer from Celtic Prayers from Iona, by John Phillip Newell, 1994.

End of 2024 Music

Advent Music