“The Christmas Tree – Return to Cheaha Mountain”
John’s 30th Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible
December 25, 2010
1957, a simpler time: Sputnik had not yet flown, no one possessed a cell phone or IPad and Elvis had just hit the big time; And Val’s biggest worry was making an “A” on next week’s spelling test right before the Christmas holidays. Val almost always made “A’s” in spelling and in fact in most all his second grade subjects. It seemed to be an expectation, a “must do.” Failure was not an option and making less than an “A” was a failure. If Val failed, he would be left alone he felt - alone like he felt when his mother deserted him in the ladies lingerie section of Loveman’s; or alone like the time the school bus left him because he was seconds late; or alone like he felt when he found no one at the church and believed that the Rapture of the Church had come and he had been left behind.
Perhaps, he felt like a failure and alone because his classmates ostracized him just because he was who he was. Val never forgot those feelings of failure and “aloneness,” and Val did not like to be left alone.
On the other hand, above all other people, Val loved and idolized his father, Cecil. Cecil never seemed to place expectations on Val and never seemed to show disappointment when Val didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
But all of that was left behind today, because today was special day. Val and Cecil were going up beautiful Mount Cheaha, as they had done for as long as Val could remember, to get the family Christmas tree. They drove the windy gravel road until it became a narrow dirt road and finally ended in a clearing, an island of sunlight amidst the hovering sassafras, hawthorn, and river birch and of course, pine trees at the opening of a great wood. In that wood, somewhere Val knew was “their” Christmas tree.
This was a special day of the year for Val, a gift, if you will, from Cecil to him – not so much the gift of the Christmas tree or of the presents that would be placed under the Christmas tree, but the gift of the time that Cecil spent with Val in this shared enterprise. The day always made Val feel “special;” And Val needed to feel “special.”
They parked the black over white Bel Air with black wall tires, no air conditioner and no radio; got a bow saw and some ropes in a gunny sack out of the trunk; and began their tireless trek into the wild and wondrous wood. Cecil told Val, “Be careful where you are walking, the snakes are still crawling even at this elevation of the mountain.”
The very mention of snakes raised the hair on the back of Val’s neck, for more than being left alone, he feared snakes. But as they walked deeper and deeper into the wood, climbing ever higher and higher, Val became easier and the “snake warning” became less of a sting to his young mind.
Travelling now deeply into the wood, they searched for the “perfect” tree and in a sunlit clearing, they saw it, the most beautiful Virginia pine tree that Val had ever seen.
Cecil opened the gunny sack carrying the ropes and bow saw, got out the saw and began to first clear from around its base of the underbrush and then began to cut the tree. “Schree-scraw, schree-scraw, schree-scraw,” went the saw making the familiar cutting noise that was one of the pleasing sounds of the adventure to which Val always looked forward until “crack, thwish, thud,” it sounded as it toppled to the straw-covered mat, the floor of the wood.
“Hand me the rope and we’ll tie it on ‘er and pull ‘er out,” ordered Cecil to Val as the first and most exciting part of the job was now complete. But, as Val reached his hand into the sack to retrieve the rope, Cecil suddenly spoke in an ominous and entirely different tone of voice – loud and direct - calm, yet with a sense of urgency. “Don’t move.” Val let loose of the sack and turned his head toward Cecil and said, “What, Daddy?” And at that instant, a coiled rattlesnake moved toward Val.
Time moved in slow motion for Val as he saw with one eye the snake flying straight as an arrow toward him and with the other, Cecil stretching out between Val and the snake. In mid-air, Cecil caught the snake by the neck and they both fell to the straw covered mat. The snake began to coil itself around Cecil, striking him again and again and again.
Time now stopped, rational thought ended and fantasy took flight for Val. In his seven-year olds mind’s eye, he saw Cecil and the snake rolling around on the ground locked in mortal combat which must have lasted for hours in this time-frozen state of mind. As Val seemed to gain the upper hand with the snake, the creature began to grow larger and larger until it became a huge black dragon with gold tipped wings and an arrow shaped tail.
Undaunted, Cecil maintained his death grip about the reptile’s neck and squeezed until with a “crack,” the neck was broken. In Val’s mind, it was as though the dragon deflated and became snaked-sized again and lay lifeless upon the mat. Cecil slumped beside it – himself mortally wounded.
A sudden wave of guilt passed over Val as he realized that his father was mortally wounded because Val had not followed his instruction. Val had failed once again and this time his failure had killed his father. Cecil looked up at Val and painfully yet with certainty, put his arm around his shaken son. “Daddy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t do what you said,” cried Val with tears of fear and remorse. “I forgive you, son, never think of it again,” said Cecil in a tone of assurance that Val had never heard quite so definitely before. As Cecil held Val in his arms, Val felt safe and secure once again. Cecil’s voice grew more hushed. “Don’t be afraid, son, I’ll always be with you and I’ll always protect you. Nothing can ever harm you if you stay close to me.” And then he smiled lovingly and lay back onto the tree upon which he had fallen.
As he lay back on the tree, in Val’s mind’s eye, he say Cecil’s spirit rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came over to him and held him in his arms just the way Cecil had done. And Cecil’s spirit said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” So Val un-kneeled and walked with Cecil’s spirit just as he had walked with Cecil before. And he felt the same warmth and love that he had always felt. The Spirit said, “Son, we will have many rough places to go and hills and mountains to climb but I will guide you and uphold you and you will never need to be afraid or feel guilty or alone.”
They walked on through the wood climbing ever higher and higher. Eventually, they descended slightly to Pulpit Rock. Val looked down at the verdant valley below. The Spirit said as he pointed, “All of this valley is yours because it is mine and you are my son and heir. But more importantly, all of the people in the valley are your people. Love them as I love you.”
Beside Pulpit rock is the ruin of an old church. They climbed the still remaining great stone and masonry steps through medieval-looking arches – all which remained of what was once a great pinhoti cathedral. The ceiling now was the blinding blue canopy of the late fall sky and the floor, the vast valley below. This was the precipice, the point of no return, the end … perhaps. The Spirit said, “I’ve got to go now, but I will always be with you and I will always love you, my son. Never be afraid.” Then the Spirit disappeared.
Val stood and took in the scene for a long time for there was a lot to take in and on many different, but related levels. His thoughts turned to how once again his failure has caused him to be left alone. However, his attention was diverted by a flight of sparrows beginning to search for their evening bites, and he was reminded of the words of the old song, “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Then following along behind the sparrows, he saw forever circling the red-tailed hawk and he remembered Cecil’s words, “I forgive you.” In that moment, Val felt both forgiven and unforsaken – no longer alone.
As the silky shadows of evening began to rise up the craggy crest of the Great Mountain, Val knew it was time to go. Retracing his steps, Val began his descent to find Cecil’s body, still lying upon the tree of sacrifice, his blood still dripping on its branches like Crimson-coloured ornaments. He wondered what he would do with that body. Back through the arches, back by Pulpit Rock, down the wooded path Cecil trudged, tiredness now beginning to set in on his little frame.
Finally he reached the clearing where Cecil’s body had fallen onto the Christmas tree. But hurrying over to the site, he discovered that the body was no longer there. He looked around for signs of where someone else may have taken the body, but finding none, he realized that somehow, his Heavenly Father had taken care of Cecil as Cecil had promised to take care of Val.
What he did see however, was some of Cecil’s still-present blood hanging from the myriad of branches of the Christmas tree like those Crimson-coloured ornaments that he had imagined at the top of the mountain. “How fitting,” he thought, “that Cecil, who gave his life for me left some of his blood to remember him by and left me this Christmas tree upon which he once had lain.” It was not the Christmas tree that was the gift to him but what the blood-formed ornaments meant that was the Christmas gift to Val.
. . .
Though now it is no longer 1957 and life and circumstances have grown much more complex, man has walked upon the face of the moon and passed into history, everyone has a cell phone or an IPad and Elvis has left the building years ago, Val still remembers that fateful Christmas in 1957 when he learned that his failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined, were forgiven and that he would never again be alone.
Now, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift . . . can you?
. . .
Here’s wishing you a happy and forgiven Christmas.
John R. Wible
For an annotated version and the vision from which this was taken, see: HTTP://johnwible.blogspot.com
A colour copy is also available is John’s downloads at: http://www.slideshare.net/jwible/
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Izzy's Choice: A Christmas Allegory
Izzy's Choice: A Christmas Allegory
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2003
John's 23rd Annual Christmas Poem
See the footnotes version on my Slideshare page at: http://www.slideshare.net/login?from_logout=1
''It's not about you," intoned Minnetonka’s eight-grade school teacher, Henrietta Mentor, "it's really not.” Something rang true in that statement for the beautiful Izzy, child of privilege. But, on the other hand . . . did it really?
Being beautiful was easy for Izzy, I guess because she was. It also helped that her father,the famous and learned Judge Abrams, had lots of money and that her mother, Rachael was drop dead gorgeous. Funny how fame, money and beauty seem to go together. Expectedly, Izzy was popular in school; a class favorite and well, you get the picture.
Izzy had lots of friends, but two of them were special, Lucern and Josh. Lucero was also from a wealthy family . . . really wealthy and cosmopolitan. He was the great-looking guy with all the stuff who had all his stuff together. Moreover, Lucern was a philosopher, “To thine own self be true," he was fond of saying quoting Polonius' famous advice to Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Izzy always wondered what he meant by that. Lucern evoked a fascination in Izzy that was rivaled by little else.
Josh was different. He had flaming red hair and freckles about which he took no small amount of heat from his classmates. His family ... well, it wasn't in the class with Lucern's. But - there was something "intriguing" about Josh. He was real -''what you see is what you get" real. And Izzy was attracted to that, too.
Lucern and Josh were different and no more so in their goals and plans for life. Lucern determined to follow in his father's footsteps in the international trading business. No one ever really knew exactly what he traded, but he made a lot of money at it - very exciting, fast moving
and constant travel. Josh, on the other hand wanted to be a preacher-boy, with all that goes with the profession about which he seemed to have no illusions. In fact, Josh never seemed to have any illusions. He was always a straight arrow, something else that Izzy really liked about him.
Josh and Lucern for all their differences had one thing in common - they both loved Izzy.
Teen years flew by for Izzy and as time passed, she grew more and more beautiful. And beauty became more and more important to her because beauty brings acceptance and power, power over others and what is more important, power over your own destiny. If you are beautiful, you can feel good about yourself. "Isn't that what it's about any way," Izzy often thought, though Henrietta's Mentor's words sometimes passed through her head, "it's not about you?"
On Izzy's Twenty First birthday, something happened that would alter the course of Izzy's life (or would it?) Judge Abrams and Rachael gave a wonderful Christmas/Birthday party in Izzy's honor. And a great party it was. Everyone who was anyone was there and everyone who wasn't - wasn't. They exquisitely decorated the great hall of their mansion. Christmas was everywhere; from the seventeen-foot Carolina Spruce Tree to the forty-odd arrangements of holly and ivy; to the mistletoe hanging from the huge chandelier. Over the mantle place was a big banner, ''Happy Twenty First Birthday, Izzy." ''Maybe it is about me," she thought as Henrietta shook her head.
Among the well-heeled guests were, of course Lucern who seemed to blend right in and Josh who seemed to not. Lucern was as handsome and rakish as ever. Tonight, he wore an unusually toothy smile in his face. He had a plan and Izzy was it. Tonight, he would make his move and take her for his very own. He dreamed of possessing that great beauty and making it
his. He had everything else, why not. His plan was to "make her an offer she couldn't refuse."
Josh also had a plan and it too, involved Izzy. After everyone had eaten all the lane cake and ambrosia with real whipped cream and cherries on top they could, and all the top round roast beef in a biscuit with mustard they wanted and had "small-talked" about all things unimportant, came the time for Izzy to open her presents. Izzy enjoyed being the center of attention, who wouldn't, and opening all the elegant gifts was the cherries on her ambrosia.
She proceeded to open her presents - lots of nice things from the best stores. And then there were two presents left: one from Lucern and one from Josh. Two small boxes - very small boxes, looking strangely alike except for the paper and ribbon. Lucern's was the highest quality, gilded paper with satin ribbon. Josh's wasn’t. It was what one would expect from Josh, not flashy.
Izzy opened Lucern's first. She tore off the richly decorated paper and fine satin ribbon to reveal a ring box. She popped up the lid and then gasped. She gazed upon a two-carat solitaire which Lucern's father had imported directly from the DeBeers' South African diamond mine at Finsch. "Ooooh!" she cooed, "It's, it's . . . breath taking." And it was that. .. breathtaking. ''Izzy, I offer this to you if you will marry me," Lucern oozed. ''I can promise you that this ring has...friends. Come with me," he sought in his elegant continental manner which made even beautiful Izzy's head swim, much too elegant for a twenty-one year old young man.
As she touched the ring to take it out of the box, her life-to-be seemed to flicker before her eyes in a succession of scenes accompanied by a John Williams score.
Instantly, she was standing at the altar of her church wearing a taffeta wedding dress with a train as long as a princess'. In what was literally another flash, she saw three beautiful girls with long eye lashes and a huge home in the hills with a curvy winding driveway and a galaxy of lights in the windows – a dream come true. And then into view came a stage and a wildly appreciative audience applauding her beauty and talent as the stage manager came out to hand her a dozen long-stemmed roses. She found herself bowing gracefully and thought, "everything I ever wanted . . . and more." But where was Lucern tonight - Caracas? Istanbul? What very uncommon people was he charming tonight?
"Come with me. Izzy," said Lucern, "and you'll have it all, I promise." Surely an offer she couldn't refuse. "To thine own self be true," nodded Lucern. "Is this what it's all about," thought Izzy, ''having everything bright and beautiful? Is this ALL there is?" But the words of Henrietta Mentor echoed in her head, "it's not about you."
Izzy's fantasy was brought back to reality by Josh's ''Izzy, Izzy, there's another present. It's from me. Please open it." Coming out of her fog, Izzy saw the last little present under the tree, the plainly wrapped one and she opened it also with anxious anticipation.
It, too, was a ring, an engagement ring but predictably it had none of the grandeur of Lucern's ring. It was . . . nice, serviceable and earnest. Perhaps the setting clasped the littlest diamond she had ever seen, but a diamond nevertheless. ''Does this mean what I think this means" she asked Josh as the room grew instantly silent and everyone bent inward as though they were listening to E.F. Hutton. After what seemed an unusually long time Josh broke the silence, "Yes, it does Izzy, it means that I love you and I, too am asking you to marry me. Izzy, you know I can't promise you what Lucern can promise, in fact I can't promise you anything except the life of a preacher's wife and all that goes with it . . . and all my love for as long as you live."
As Izzy touched this plain ring, once again she was transported through time. There was the same church (different dress, though.) And a two-bedroom, one bath parsonage that needed a lot of work just to be livable. Then she saw the birthing suite at County General and a child born . . but something was wrong . .. little John Mark was a Down's Syndrome child. "This life is going to be hard," she thought, "a life of work and taking care of somebody else."
And she saw her once great beauty ebbing away; worn by the years and drained by John Mark and the care he needed until in his late 20s he went to be with Jesus. No house in the hills, no long eye-lashed girls, no stage, no roses.
Instead, she saw a tiny day-care center just for Down's Syndrome children, "John Mark's House" read the sign in the front yard. And then it got bigger and bigger and it acquired ''friends.'' Friends in other cities and "friends" in other countries, important friends. And she saw hundreds of "John Marks" passing through the doors and then fading away. And through it all, she saw Josh standing by her side with that ever-present grin until his image, too faded away, having given himself away until there was literally no more to give and then joining John Mark with Jesus.
And she saw herself an old woman, no longer beautiful in the same way as when she was 21 but beautiful nevertheless. She felt her face beautiful as though it had been etched by the knife blades of life and buffed by the giving of herself until, like Josh there was no more to give ... and then giving some more. And she could hear the words of Henrietta Mentor, "it's not about you." And she realized that it really wasn't. She wondered in this second dream state if life really consisted of not what you keep, but of what you give away; if you find yourself by losing yourself? Was Henrietta Mentor really right?
''Izzy, Izzy," her mother interrupted her thoughts, ''Izzy you've got a choice to make this Christmas Eve, what and who is it going to be?" The room remained silent. This required a response, silent she could not be. The air was pregnant with anticipation for the answer. What would her answer be? Who and what would she choose?
***
Who and what indeed? Who and what do you think Izzy chose? Think you know? Not so fast, biscuit breath, really think about it. The more important question is who and what would you choose for yourself? What HAVE you chosen? Is it all, as Shakespeare says about being true to "thine own self?" Can you really "have it all?" Does it really matter?
Christmas is about parties in Great Halls with seventeen-foot trees and wonderful food and lovely family and gifts, that's true. But, it's also about choice - so is life. There are always two rings under the Christmas Tree of Life, which will you choose and which will you wear?
Now, go and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!
John R. Wible, 2003
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2003
John's 23rd Annual Christmas Poem
See the footnotes version on my Slideshare page at: http://www.slideshare.net/login?from_logout=1
''It's not about you," intoned Minnetonka’s eight-grade school teacher, Henrietta Mentor, "it's really not.” Something rang true in that statement for the beautiful Izzy, child of privilege. But, on the other hand . . . did it really?
Being beautiful was easy for Izzy, I guess because she was. It also helped that her father,the famous and learned Judge Abrams, had lots of money and that her mother, Rachael was drop dead gorgeous. Funny how fame, money and beauty seem to go together. Expectedly, Izzy was popular in school; a class favorite and well, you get the picture.
Izzy had lots of friends, but two of them were special, Lucern and Josh. Lucero was also from a wealthy family . . . really wealthy and cosmopolitan. He was the great-looking guy with all the stuff who had all his stuff together. Moreover, Lucern was a philosopher, “To thine own self be true," he was fond of saying quoting Polonius' famous advice to Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Izzy always wondered what he meant by that. Lucern evoked a fascination in Izzy that was rivaled by little else.
Josh was different. He had flaming red hair and freckles about which he took no small amount of heat from his classmates. His family ... well, it wasn't in the class with Lucern's. But - there was something "intriguing" about Josh. He was real -''what you see is what you get" real. And Izzy was attracted to that, too.
Lucern and Josh were different and no more so in their goals and plans for life. Lucern determined to follow in his father's footsteps in the international trading business. No one ever really knew exactly what he traded, but he made a lot of money at it - very exciting, fast moving
and constant travel. Josh, on the other hand wanted to be a preacher-boy, with all that goes with the profession about which he seemed to have no illusions. In fact, Josh never seemed to have any illusions. He was always a straight arrow, something else that Izzy really liked about him.
Josh and Lucern for all their differences had one thing in common - they both loved Izzy.
Teen years flew by for Izzy and as time passed, she grew more and more beautiful. And beauty became more and more important to her because beauty brings acceptance and power, power over others and what is more important, power over your own destiny. If you are beautiful, you can feel good about yourself. "Isn't that what it's about any way," Izzy often thought, though Henrietta's Mentor's words sometimes passed through her head, "it's not about you?"
On Izzy's Twenty First birthday, something happened that would alter the course of Izzy's life (or would it?) Judge Abrams and Rachael gave a wonderful Christmas/Birthday party in Izzy's honor. And a great party it was. Everyone who was anyone was there and everyone who wasn't - wasn't. They exquisitely decorated the great hall of their mansion. Christmas was everywhere; from the seventeen-foot Carolina Spruce Tree to the forty-odd arrangements of holly and ivy; to the mistletoe hanging from the huge chandelier. Over the mantle place was a big banner, ''Happy Twenty First Birthday, Izzy." ''Maybe it is about me," she thought as Henrietta shook her head.
Among the well-heeled guests were, of course Lucern who seemed to blend right in and Josh who seemed to not. Lucern was as handsome and rakish as ever. Tonight, he wore an unusually toothy smile in his face. He had a plan and Izzy was it. Tonight, he would make his move and take her for his very own. He dreamed of possessing that great beauty and making it
his. He had everything else, why not. His plan was to "make her an offer she couldn't refuse."
Josh also had a plan and it too, involved Izzy. After everyone had eaten all the lane cake and ambrosia with real whipped cream and cherries on top they could, and all the top round roast beef in a biscuit with mustard they wanted and had "small-talked" about all things unimportant, came the time for Izzy to open her presents. Izzy enjoyed being the center of attention, who wouldn't, and opening all the elegant gifts was the cherries on her ambrosia.
She proceeded to open her presents - lots of nice things from the best stores. And then there were two presents left: one from Lucern and one from Josh. Two small boxes - very small boxes, looking strangely alike except for the paper and ribbon. Lucern's was the highest quality, gilded paper with satin ribbon. Josh's wasn’t. It was what one would expect from Josh, not flashy.
Izzy opened Lucern's first. She tore off the richly decorated paper and fine satin ribbon to reveal a ring box. She popped up the lid and then gasped. She gazed upon a two-carat solitaire which Lucern's father had imported directly from the DeBeers' South African diamond mine at Finsch. "Ooooh!" she cooed, "It's, it's . . . breath taking." And it was that. .. breathtaking. ''Izzy, I offer this to you if you will marry me," Lucern oozed. ''I can promise you that this ring has...friends. Come with me," he sought in his elegant continental manner which made even beautiful Izzy's head swim, much too elegant for a twenty-one year old young man.
As she touched the ring to take it out of the box, her life-to-be seemed to flicker before her eyes in a succession of scenes accompanied by a John Williams score.
Instantly, she was standing at the altar of her church wearing a taffeta wedding dress with a train as long as a princess'. In what was literally another flash, she saw three beautiful girls with long eye lashes and a huge home in the hills with a curvy winding driveway and a galaxy of lights in the windows – a dream come true. And then into view came a stage and a wildly appreciative audience applauding her beauty and talent as the stage manager came out to hand her a dozen long-stemmed roses. She found herself bowing gracefully and thought, "everything I ever wanted . . . and more." But where was Lucern tonight - Caracas? Istanbul? What very uncommon people was he charming tonight?
"Come with me. Izzy," said Lucern, "and you'll have it all, I promise." Surely an offer she couldn't refuse. "To thine own self be true," nodded Lucern. "Is this what it's all about," thought Izzy, ''having everything bright and beautiful? Is this ALL there is?" But the words of Henrietta Mentor echoed in her head, "it's not about you."
Izzy's fantasy was brought back to reality by Josh's ''Izzy, Izzy, there's another present. It's from me. Please open it." Coming out of her fog, Izzy saw the last little present under the tree, the plainly wrapped one and she opened it also with anxious anticipation.
It, too, was a ring, an engagement ring but predictably it had none of the grandeur of Lucern's ring. It was . . . nice, serviceable and earnest. Perhaps the setting clasped the littlest diamond she had ever seen, but a diamond nevertheless. ''Does this mean what I think this means" she asked Josh as the room grew instantly silent and everyone bent inward as though they were listening to E.F. Hutton. After what seemed an unusually long time Josh broke the silence, "Yes, it does Izzy, it means that I love you and I, too am asking you to marry me. Izzy, you know I can't promise you what Lucern can promise, in fact I can't promise you anything except the life of a preacher's wife and all that goes with it . . . and all my love for as long as you live."
As Izzy touched this plain ring, once again she was transported through time. There was the same church (different dress, though.) And a two-bedroom, one bath parsonage that needed a lot of work just to be livable. Then she saw the birthing suite at County General and a child born . . but something was wrong . .. little John Mark was a Down's Syndrome child. "This life is going to be hard," she thought, "a life of work and taking care of somebody else."
And she saw her once great beauty ebbing away; worn by the years and drained by John Mark and the care he needed until in his late 20s he went to be with Jesus. No house in the hills, no long eye-lashed girls, no stage, no roses.
Instead, she saw a tiny day-care center just for Down's Syndrome children, "John Mark's House" read the sign in the front yard. And then it got bigger and bigger and it acquired ''friends.'' Friends in other cities and "friends" in other countries, important friends. And she saw hundreds of "John Marks" passing through the doors and then fading away. And through it all, she saw Josh standing by her side with that ever-present grin until his image, too faded away, having given himself away until there was literally no more to give and then joining John Mark with Jesus.
And she saw herself an old woman, no longer beautiful in the same way as when she was 21 but beautiful nevertheless. She felt her face beautiful as though it had been etched by the knife blades of life and buffed by the giving of herself until, like Josh there was no more to give ... and then giving some more. And she could hear the words of Henrietta Mentor, "it's not about you." And she realized that it really wasn't. She wondered in this second dream state if life really consisted of not what you keep, but of what you give away; if you find yourself by losing yourself? Was Henrietta Mentor really right?
''Izzy, Izzy," her mother interrupted her thoughts, ''Izzy you've got a choice to make this Christmas Eve, what and who is it going to be?" The room remained silent. This required a response, silent she could not be. The air was pregnant with anticipation for the answer. What would her answer be? Who and what would she choose?
***
Who and what indeed? Who and what do you think Izzy chose? Think you know? Not so fast, biscuit breath, really think about it. The more important question is who and what would you choose for yourself? What HAVE you chosen? Is it all, as Shakespeare says about being true to "thine own self?" Can you really "have it all?" Does it really matter?
Christmas is about parties in Great Halls with seventeen-foot trees and wonderful food and lovely family and gifts, that's true. But, it's also about choice - so is life. There are always two rings under the Christmas Tree of Life, which will you choose and which will you wear?
Now, go and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!
John R. Wible, 2003
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
"Of Form and Substance"
Friday, October 15, 2010
Why Jesus is Different
Jesus stated that he was the “Messiah,” the “Son of God,” the Anointed One,” in short, God Himself – not “a god,” but God Himself. In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement,
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
A Summary of His divine claims is found in the following from a compilation by Global Media Outreach.
Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic--or Lord and God. There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian agrees he was not just a legend. If Jesus were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? Christ said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.
Here are some of the key claims Jesus made about himself.
• Christ claimed to live a sinless life. John 8:28-29; John 8:46-47.
• Jesus Christ claimed to be the ONLY way to God. John 14:6. Note: No other world religious leader, such as Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed ever made this claim.
• Christ claimed to have shared the glory of God in Heaven. John 1:1-5; John 17:5
• Jesus Christ claimed to be able to forgive sins. Luke 5:20-21; Luke 7:48-49.
• Christ claimed to be a Heavenly king. Luke 22:69; Luke 23:1-3; John 18:36-37.
• Christ claimed to be able to give everlasting life John 6:40; John 6:47; John 10:28-30; John 11:25.
• Jesus claimed that he would die and come back to life. John 10:17; John 12:32-33; John 16:16; Luke 18:31-33.
• Christ claimed that he would return again to judge the world. Matthew 24:27-30; Matthew 25:31-32; Mark 14:61-62.
What about this claim to be the “Messiah,” God’s Anointed? The doctrine or concept of the “Messiah,” or transliterated into Greek, the “Christos” or “Christ,” did not always exist in man in general and not in Judaism in particular. It has its roots in Judaism, not Mosaic Judaism, but the mature Judaism that that had grown over centuries. The concept starts with King David, out of whose line would come the “Anointed One” who would reign forever. This concept is not found in the Torah, but in the prophets, principally Isaiah and Daniel and the non-canonical, work 1 Enoch, written partially in the 3rd century B.C. and partially in the late first century AD.
However, the idea was so strong in the Jewish mind just before, during and just after the time of Jesus that even King Herod the Great , who was not really a Jew, by birth, at heart, or in his beliefs, when confronted by the inquiring Wise Men from Persia seeking information about the birth of the Messiah, that same Herod was seized with anxiety and while feigning desire to come and worship Him, secretly planned to have Him murdered – thus the infamous “slaughter of the Innocents.”
According to Paul W. Johnson who is responsible for the ideas in the next few paragraphs, Jesus of Nazareth was what Johnson classifies as a “Jewish Universalist.” He, Jesus, believed that the teachings of Judaism were not esoteric to the Jews only, but were for the whole world. While influenced by the teachings of the prophets and perhaps by 1 Enoch which was popularly read in the First Century. He was also influenced by the pacifist ideas of the Essenes, the cave-dwellers who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls, interestingly enough, as was John the Baptist, and by the Baptist sect itself. Jesus would not be a mob leader, a Jewish Nationalist as had several of His predecessors, who ended up dead as did their message. No, Jesus would rather came as “a lamb to the slaughter,” a sacrifice, a martyr, no, the, martyr, a theme also strong in the Jewish mindset at this time in history beginning in the inter-Biblical period of the Maccabees recorded in the also non-canonical work, 1 Maccabees.
Jesus was a carpenter by trade, but all Jewish men were either tradesmen or merchants, there being no such thing as the professional clergy outside the Scribes. He was not the “Simple Carpenter of Nazareth” as some believed, He was a great theologian. It is obvious that He was learned in the Law and the Prophets. He was considered by foe and friend alike as a Rabbi, a learned teacher, worthy of being listened to and followed.
At the time of Jesus’ Earthly life, there were two great parties influencing Jewish life and religion, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees, who only recognized the first 5 books of Moses, the Torah, therefore, apparently did not believe in the afterlife or in the spiritual realm or its inhabitants such as angels since none of these are mentioned in the Torah, were in control of the temple, the priesthood and the national treasury and thus to a great extent, the Jewish government to the extent the Romans allowed self government. Thus, the Sadducees encrusted over the centuries a very strict and almost anal-retentive requirement of following the letter of the Law – the Torah.
One of the other great influences was the party of the Pharisees which goes back to the time of the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent Diaspora. The Pharisees also admitted the rest of what we know as the Old Testament including the works of poetry and wisdom and the major and minor prophets. The Pharisees were deeply divided into two camps – one led by the great Rabbi Shammai, who took a pedantic, strict constructionist view of the Law – meaning the whole Old Testament plus the oral tradition passed on by generations of rabbis and scholars.
The second great rabbi of the First Century was Rabbi Hillel, sometimes known as Hillel the Babylonian because he was born and raised in the Jewish community that still flourished in Babylon. He was apparently one of the Diaspora Jews brought to Jerusalem by Herod to open the minds of the Jewish people to a more universalist view of the world and their religion, basically for commercial reasons. Hillel was somewhat of a liberal thinker that brought to the table a “more humane and universalist” interpretation of the Law. He taught that it was the spirit of the law that was important, not the letter, a concept adopted by Jesus and Paul.
Hillel was famous for his great aphorisms. He was once asked if one could state the entire law while standing on one foot. Hillel replied that one should not to another that which he would hate to have done to himself. “That,” he said, “is the Law. The rest is commentary. Go and study it.” This is of course familiar sounding as Jesus propounded the “Golden Rule,” perhaps based upon it. It is argued by Johnson that Jesus was at least very familiar with and influenced by the works and sayings of Hillel. Johnson also speculates that Jesus may have even studied with Hillel. Johnson at page 128 says, “Jesus’ teaching career saw him translate Hillel’s aphorisms into a system of moral theology and, in so doing, strip the Law of all but its moral and ethical elements.” At the same page, Johnson goes on to state that Jesus was able to take Hillel’s teaching to their logical conclusion and in fact, cease to be a Jew, but rather founded his own religion “which was sui generis. “
Jesus incorporated in his ethical Judaism an impressive composite of the eschatology he found in Isaiah, Daniel and Enoch, as well as what he found useful in the Essenes and the Baptists, so that he was able to present a clear perspective of death, judgment and the afterlife. And he offered this new theology to everyone within reach of His mission: pious Jews, the [common man,] the Samaritans, the unclean, the gentiles even.”
But, like many religious innovators, Jesus had a private message to his inner circle. That message involved His impending suffering and martyrdom, foretold by the prophets, commonly believed by the people since the time of the Maccabees and inevitable because his teachings threatened the very heart of Jewish life, custom and government. His basic belief that following the letter of the Law was no longer required by man, but rather faith or belief in the “Son of Man,” his favorite and prophetic designation of Himself, would ultimately alienate even liberal thinkers in the Jewish government, run him afoul of the Sanhedrin and bring about His death at their hands, though through the instrumentality of the Romans. We see this new religion later adopted and interpreted faithfully by Paul as he evangelized the world.
Jesus impact on the Jews and ultimately the world was crystallized by the fact of the common belief among His followers that He rose from the grave. That he was seen in His risen form by as few and one and as many as 500 people at one time is acutely well documented in each of the Gospels. Even Josephus, the most reliable writer we have of this period and non-Christian wrote of His resurrection:
"When Pilate, upon the accusation of the first men amongst us, condemned [Jesus] to be crucified, those who had formerly loved him did not cease [to follow him], for he appeared to them on the third day, living again, as the divine prophets foretold, along with a myriad of other marvelous things concerning him."
Admittedly, it is debated by scholars that at least part of the Testimonium Flavianum is an interpolation, since Josephus was not a Christian and characterized his patron Emperor Vespasian as the foretold Messiah.
Assuming, arguendo, the truth of the facts mentioned herein above, it will be helpful to examine the ethical teachings of the Jews as they clearly and undeniably influenced those espoused by Jesus,
Judaism - Moses, (circa. 1400-1200 BC) gives us not only the Jewish faith but also the ethical principles which underlie it, the Decalogue. The Ten Commandments, or Ethical Decalogue (as distinguished from the ritual Decalogue), are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh were written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. The phrase "Ten Commandments" generally refers to the broadly identical passages in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
The commandments passage in Exodus contains more than ten imperative statements or “Words,” totaling 14 or 15 in all. However, the Bible itself assigns the count of 10. Faiths and denominations have divided these statements in different ways. The Torah or first five books of the Hebrew Bible have a total of 613 “commandments” and assign no greater value to the Ten Words than the others.
These ethical principles have been elaborated on by the rabbinical tradition over the centuries, (or as I have said, “Moses gave us the Law and man wrote the regs.”)
We are then brought back to the ethical teaching of Christianity or more specifically of Christ.
Christianity – The ethical teachings of Jesus, mentioned supra, build on the Judaic concepts of ethical behavior but take the teachings in an internal manner. The greatest portion of Jesus’ teaching comes from the so-called “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus states that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus reaffirms the principles of the Decalogue and commands strict adherence.
And, in being most critical of the Pharisaic tradition of keeping the “jot and tittle” of the law, but with a bad motive, He tells those seated on the Horns of Hatten that their righteousness must exceed that standard. In much of the discourse that follows, Jesus takes a fresh look at the various words of the Decalogue and places his spin on them. Their essence, however is that mere adherence to the law is not sufficient. Jesus teaches that man must do more than appear to be righteous, he must be righteous.
In summary of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, through example, admonishes listeners to approach life in two ways: both negatively and positively. When you are done wrong, let it go, don’t insist on your rights and don’t act out of spite. But He goes further, on to the positive telling the reader, rather to be generous to the wrongdoer. The Apostle Paul adds to this, “be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with the good.”
No discussion of the ethical teachings of Jesus would be complete without perhaps His most famous ethical statement found in Matthew 5:43 “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (KJV.) The gospel writer, Luke, perhaps recording this same event has Jesus state, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This may be a paraphrase of an aphorism first uttered by Rabbi Hillel.
The teachings of Jesus would seem to go on about love. In fact, they do. In Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV), we find this answer to the question posed by the scribe, perhaps to attempt to trap Jesus or perhaps merely seeking his thoughts on the subject which was one of discussion in the rabbinic tradition of the Jews as to which was the greatest of the commandments.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. [Jesus adds unsolicited, quoting the Shema] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [And His summary statement:] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Thus, the ethical teachings of Christianity as stated by Jesus reaffirm the spirit of the Jewish Ethical Decalogue underlain by the two-edged principle of love. “Love God and love man.” How is this expressed in real life? The Apostle John records in John 14:15 Jesus near last word to his Disciples, (NIV) “if you love me, you will obey my command.” That’s how Jesus tells them to love God [Jesus having equated Himself with God in the great “I am” sayings peppered throughout the Gospel of John.] How does one love man? By treating him as you would treat yourself.
The Apostle Paul says, to reach God, one must be righteous, but man is not righteous by nature, thus a spiritual dilemma. Paul tells us that it is by taking on the “mind of Christ” that we can be made righteous and thus reach God. Thus the writer’s herein concept of “living outside yourself.” This principle is the expansion of the “it’s not about me” principle. It is a good thing to understand that life is not about yourself, however, to live in such a manner that recognizes this principle and applies it to daily life is “living outside yourself.”
The penultimate expression of “living outside yourself” is to lose one’s self in Christ, Himself so that eternal life may be truly found, never to be lost again.
(Note: See this also posted on my Facebook post dated October 15, 2010.)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
" The Broken Baby Jesus" John's 24th Annual Christmas Poem
“The Broken Baby Jesus”
(Nach Bhfuil Muid Sinn Fein). (1)
John’s 24th Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible
December 25, 2009
1. Athair Uí Mháille (2)
Father O’Malley (3) paused pensively behind the serviceable pastor’s desk, his hands clasped, fingers interlocked behind his head, pondering the Advent season at St. Dominic’s, a tiny parish on O’Connell Street near St. James Hospital in Dublin. It was nearly Christmas, the Christmas of 1916 –the Christmas after the “Easter Rising” of 1916 (4) which had so ferociously fueled the feelings of Irish nationalism and heightened the hatred of the Protestant “interlopers”"deported” there centuries ago by William of Orange.
Father O’Malley was a likable sort, in touch with God and in touch with his parishioners; a man who was ever the peacemaker (5) even in those times of terrible trouble. He had come to the priesthood later than many, having trained for a time as a physician. “Then God called him to heal men’s souls rather than their bodies,” so he was wont to hold.
2. A bhriseadh (6)
The good Father’s contemplations of Christmas were interrupted by a knock at his study door, a timid, yet pregnant knock, the kind of knock that might mean mischief – and mischief it was for it was Sister Maud Gonne (7) whom Father O’Malley could discern was even more downcast than usual.
Sister Maud, raised in a good Catholic family had taken her nun’s vows not long after her beloved sister, Constance had, against the great wishes of Maud and her whole family, “ran off and married that man” - the Protestant, Lovic Friend. Though she had vowed, inter alia, to be a woman of charity for all, Sister Maud had maintained a secret scathing and a bias about this in her breast to such a degree that she had indeed disowned her sister, Constance because of it. Thus the typical flat affect she wore like a hard-bitten habit.
“Oh, Father O’Malley, a turrible thing has happent,” came the words which followed the knock hurriedly flying through the (8) chamber door. “I’ve broke the Baby Jesus.” Ever the peacemaker, and ever the gentle soul he was, Father O’Malley said, “now calm down, Sister Maud, come in and tell me what you mean, ”you’ve broke the baby Jesus.” “Come wi’ me and let me show ye,” she pleaded. The good Pastor obliged and followed the nun to the site where the manger scene was to be placed near the dais of the altar in the centre of the sanctuary.
3. An briste baby Íosa (9)
(10) Now, the prized possession and most sacred relic of St. Dominic’s was its exquisite porcelain manger scene of almost life-sized proportioned figures, fashioned long ago, so long ago, in fact that no one really knew who made it or even from whence it had come. It seemed to have (11) pre-existed the church - Mary, Joseph, the Wisemen, the Shepherds and Angels, three camels and two sheep . . . and of course, the Baby Jesus in a manger; a beautiful Baby Jesus of the most delicate features and intricate detail down to the eyelashes and fingernails. It almost seemed human – truly a work of art that no one could explain.
The Baby Jesus – ah, therein laid the problem – literally. In the doing of her duties being careful to unwrap each piece and set it up in the manger scene, just as she had done many Christmases hence, Sister Maud did the unthinkable. As careful as she ever was, she somehow and for some inexplicable reason, dropped the Baby Jesus onto the marble floor of the dais. And that exquisite Baby Jesus in an instant, shattered into a thousand ash-like pieces – totally irreparable and perfectly irreplaceable.
Father O’Malley’s jaw dropped as though he had been hit with one of the bricks hurled at the (12) General Post Office in the Easter Rising. “Father, what are we gonna do?” pleaded the desperate nun. Father O’Malley’s first thoughts were likewise those of desperation because this Sunday was the Christmas Mass always proclaimed from the manger with the Baby Jesus as the centre-piece. “What would the congregation think? What would they do? Would they turn their outraged against Sister Maud?” wondered the Curate. His pastor’s heart went out to the sad and silent Sister Maud who must, he knew, be devasted.
“Now, now, Sister Maud, doncha be a-worryin’ yourself none, the Good Lord give us this manger scene and He’ll be a-findin’ a way for us to unite it once again – somehow.” “Somehow,” he thought. “But how?” He wasn’t sure he believed his own words.
4. An coiste eaglais (13)
He summoned the Parish Relations Committee for St. Dominic’s: (14) John McBride, Joseph Plunkett, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDunagh, Eamonn Ceannt and Mollie Malone (15). Patrick Pearse, the always Arch-Chairman, appointed himself to search for a suitable substitute.
He scoured the streets of Dublin and finally found himself in an art gallery – actually, a sculptor’s studio, the finest in County Dublin. Mr. Pearse explained the confounding circumstances and showed the great sculptor one of the smaller pieces he had taken with him as an ensample. The sculptor studied the sample carefully, very carefully and then exclaimed, “I’ve never seen or even heard of such work. Shure and it would take months to create a piece like this if, in fact, it could be created.”
Disappointed and deflated, Mr. Pearse passed through a number of other, but lesser shops with the same outcome and receiving similar comments. Finished, he reported the sad tiding back to the Committee which, unable to act, adjourned without finding a solution to the problem leaving it in the hands of Father O’Malley.
5. Cur chuige na Nollag (16)
Day turned to night; night turned to day and Christmas Eve approached. Father O’Malley thought that night about what could substitute for the broken Baby Jesus. And as he was careful to do, he prayed, “Dear Father, I know that you’re the giver of all good and perfect gifts. You, Yourself, musta supplied us wi’ the Baby Jesus once before, now I pray that ye do it for us yet a second time over. In that Baby Jesus’ name I’m a-prayin’, AMEN.”
Then his thoughts turned to the parish people and then to the Parish Relations Committee. “And a fine lot they are,” he mused with more than a wee bit of irony in his thoughts for each of them because though somewhat devout people in their own way and leaders in the Parish, each, like all of us, was a flawed figure.
(17) John McBride was a banker to whom Yeats referred as a (18) “vain-glorious lout.” He had forged a fortune charging usury to poor people. Joseph Plunkett’s family was his pride and joy, perhaps too much so, for his love of them rivaled his love for God. (19) Billy Yeats had become a poet of note whose success and self-assuredness grew with each publication of a new work. And then there was Patrick Pearse, the “school master” and man behind the scenes who enjoyed the power of control while appearing pious. Thomas MacDunaugh was an Irish patriot who thought of a free Ireland as his greatest goal in life.
Now Eamonn Ceannt was an enigma, though he cherished the Church, truly, yet this love appeared to exceed his love of the God and Christ whose Church it was. Lastly was “Sweet” Mollie Malone. Mollie Malone was once a prostitute whom Father O’Malley had rescued from the life of the street and who now stood tall in the Parish hierarchy despite having “been nice to the gentlemen” while on her back. It seemed that she was “looking for love in all the wrong places,” thinking that love would fill the “God-sized cavity in her heart. But of course, it never did – or could. “Yes,” fancied Father O’Malley, “shure and a fine lot they are, but they’re merely people, just like me, and no different really from the rest of the Parish – or any parish.”
Just before dropping off to a fitful sleep, the Good Father thought of the inconsolable Sister Maud and of his words to her about the broken Baby Jesus, “the Good Lord’ll provide.” And at that, he fell fast asleep.
With the issue unresolved and still up in the cold Irish air, Christmas Eve blew in on a cold, snowy northwest wind. Day turned to night and the parishioners began to congregate at the Church for the annual mass. Carols were sung by the choir and the merry organ was played by the converted Mollie Malone, no less, then came the time for the traditional teaching from the manger. The liturgy specified that the Curate was to display for all to see the Baby Jesus, taken from his manger. As he rehearsed the blessed Christmas story, explaining what each event meant and urging all who saw and heard with their eyes and ears to keep that same signal Christmas and the real and authentic Baby Jesus in their hearts true.
6. Athrú ar an liotúirge (20)
Now Father O’Malley, knowing that he had no Baby Jesus to hold up, changed the liturgy. He thought better of giving the traditional address about this Baby Jesus, rather, he recounted the Christmas story as St. Luke had told it and then urged the congregation to gather around the manger scene and gaze upon it, letting the Spirit of God preach to each individual parishioner the sermon each needed to hear and to see the Baby Jesus, not as this Baby Jesus was, a broken pile of (21) ashes but as each truly saw Him with their heart’s eye.
Each congregant obliged and gathered near the manger. Departing from the age-old offering of liturgy, Father O’Malley pulled back the swaddling clothes covering the manger to reveal the pile of ash-like porcelain where this Baby Jesus had once lain. The congregants were taken aback and murmured with shock. “Now, now, settle down,” chastised the Curate. “I challenge each of ye to gaze upon this pile of ashes and see what the Good Lord aims for ye to see.”
7. Fís Fíor (22)
Somewhat begrudgingly, each did fix his or her gaze on that pile of ashes. And then, after a moment, each seemed to look through the eyes of the God of their heart to reveal their very own Baby Jesus. It was not at all what the Curate had expected.
John McBride thought of his bank and the money that lay in it – and maybe how it got there; Joseph Plunkett gazed over a scene of his family at the Yuletide feast thinking how much he loved them, maybe more than anything in this or any other world; Yeats yearned for the next poem he would write. Had he fallen too far from the faith? Patrick Pearse thought as how had he known that Father O’Malley would so deviate from the liturgy in this manner, he would have urged the Curate to do differently, but could he control this circumstance? Thomas MacDunaugh gazed intently and it seemed to him that he saw a green Ireland rising from an orange sea free from the clutches of England and free from the influence of the Protestants, the hated Protestants; would he ever halt that hatred? Lastly, Mollie Malone, the “lady of the evening” turned church organist saw the ashes and thought how her life had been but a pile of ashes in the years she had spent looking for love and giving pleasure and entertainment to the gentlemen and she tried to see the faces of each but realized that they were all faceless.
A hush fell on the congregation as they all looked at each other realizing what each had seen. Perhaps this was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe God, in His infinite wisdom was telling each of them that nothing could really take the place of the Baby Jesus, no earthly thing. All these things, they realized, for good or ill, were in reality just dust ascending into the air, ashes to be blown by a snowy north wind to God knows where.
8. An choimhthíoch ag an doras (23)
At that moment, the back door of the church flung open and a poor, bedraggled and cold man came in and up to the front. “Father,” he said to O’Malley, “I’m Lovic Friend (24) and my wife is Connie. She’s outside in the cold. I’m a-tryin’ ti’ get her to St. James hospital. She’s gonna have a baby and, well, the baby is a-coming now. We saw the lights and came in. Can ye help us?”
The congregation all gasped as one but then . . . “Certainly,” replied the Father as the congregation nodded. “Get her in out of the cold, man!” “Connie,” the man motioned, “come on in.” Just as she shuffled over the threshold of the holy door, she grasps her great belly and groaned. “It’s time … it’s happening now.”
“Lay her on the pew,” ordered Sister Maud, who took her by the hand … a familiar hand... a surprisingly familiar hand. “Connie – Constance?” Are you my sister Constance?” “Yes, I am” was the anguished answer. Sister Maud and several ladies of the church attended as Father O’Malley, now turned physician, delivered a fine baby boy. Someone brought the swaddling clothes from the manger and they wrapped him in them. Then there was silence … silence except for the soft cry of the new born babe.
9. Dia ar fáil (25)
After a time, Father O’Malley held the babe up for everyone to see. “Look, look, God has provided a baby Jesus for us! He’s not porcelain and he’s not ash, nor is he all or any of those things you saw in the manger. He is flesh and blood and he is with us! Truly, he is Emmanuel!
Sister Maud with years’ worth of tears streaming down her face tightly twined around her true sister, Constance from whom she had been estranged for lo these many years. In that moment, all was forgotten and forgiven and O’Malley, Maud and each observer understood that God had worked a miracle, nay, two miracles, nay, many more miracles than anyone could count for it was a different miracle for each, yet in one way, the same miracle.
In a moment, someone began to sing, "Oíche Chiúin, Oíche Naofa " and they all joined in for truly this once silent night had become a holy night. God had provided the Baby Jesus and now everyone saw him in the manger.
***
Is your Baby Jesus broken? Is your Baby … Jesus?
Nollaig Shona (26) and Merry Christmas
John R. Wible
Notes:
1. Irish Gaelic for “We are not ourselves alone.” All the foreign words herein are Irish-Gaelic.
2. “Father O’Malley
3. Father O’Malley is taken from the Bing Crosby character in the movie “Going My Way.”
4. The story is set against the religious tension between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and the hatred of the native Irish of the English. I would be helpful to the reader to Read Yeats’ “Easter – 1916” and Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller. The story draws on both of those.
5. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God”. Matt. 5:9.
6. A knock at the door
7. Except for Mollie Malone and WB Yeats (Billy), all the other characters were leaders in the 1916 uprising which failed initialed but ultimately succeeded.
8. “Chamber door” from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”
9. A Broken Baby Jesus
10. The mystery of the origin of the pieces adds a note of transcendence to the story.
11. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1.
12. The General Post Office was attacked and overtaken by the Irish patriots but then surrendered in 3 days.
13. The Church Committee
14. All members of the Irish patriot band.
15. From the Irish Ballad, “Mollie Malone” about a street prostitute who sells herself under the guise of selling “cockles and muscles alive, alive oh.”
16. Christmas approaches
17. Each person represents a Christ substitute.
18. Yeats so calls him in “Easter- 1916.”
19. The Irish poet and Nobel-laureate, William Butler Yeats who was not involved in the Easter Rising.
20. A Change in the liturgy.
21. All our false gods will be ultimately burned up in eternity as though dust.
22. True vision
23. The Stranger at the door.
24. A well-known protestant who was vice-commander of the English force that put down the revolt of 1916.
25. God provides.
26. “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
27. Merry Christmas
(Nach Bhfuil Muid Sinn Fein). (1)
John’s 24th Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible
December 25, 2009
1. Athair Uí Mháille (2)
Father O’Malley (3) paused pensively behind the serviceable pastor’s desk, his hands clasped, fingers interlocked behind his head, pondering the Advent season at St. Dominic’s, a tiny parish on O’Connell Street near St. James Hospital in Dublin. It was nearly Christmas, the Christmas of 1916 –the Christmas after the “Easter Rising” of 1916 (4) which had so ferociously fueled the feelings of Irish nationalism and heightened the hatred of the Protestant “interlopers”"deported” there centuries ago by William of Orange.
Father O’Malley was a likable sort, in touch with God and in touch with his parishioners; a man who was ever the peacemaker (5) even in those times of terrible trouble. He had come to the priesthood later than many, having trained for a time as a physician. “Then God called him to heal men’s souls rather than their bodies,” so he was wont to hold.
2. A bhriseadh (6)
The good Father’s contemplations of Christmas were interrupted by a knock at his study door, a timid, yet pregnant knock, the kind of knock that might mean mischief – and mischief it was for it was Sister Maud Gonne (7) whom Father O’Malley could discern was even more downcast than usual.
Sister Maud, raised in a good Catholic family had taken her nun’s vows not long after her beloved sister, Constance had, against the great wishes of Maud and her whole family, “ran off and married that man” - the Protestant, Lovic Friend. Though she had vowed, inter alia, to be a woman of charity for all, Sister Maud had maintained a secret scathing and a bias about this in her breast to such a degree that she had indeed disowned her sister, Constance because of it. Thus the typical flat affect she wore like a hard-bitten habit.
“Oh, Father O’Malley, a turrible thing has happent,” came the words which followed the knock hurriedly flying through the (8) chamber door. “I’ve broke the Baby Jesus.” Ever the peacemaker, and ever the gentle soul he was, Father O’Malley said, “now calm down, Sister Maud, come in and tell me what you mean, ”you’ve broke the baby Jesus.” “Come wi’ me and let me show ye,” she pleaded. The good Pastor obliged and followed the nun to the site where the manger scene was to be placed near the dais of the altar in the centre of the sanctuary.
3. An briste baby Íosa (9)
(10) Now, the prized possession and most sacred relic of St. Dominic’s was its exquisite porcelain manger scene of almost life-sized proportioned figures, fashioned long ago, so long ago, in fact that no one really knew who made it or even from whence it had come. It seemed to have (11) pre-existed the church - Mary, Joseph, the Wisemen, the Shepherds and Angels, three camels and two sheep . . . and of course, the Baby Jesus in a manger; a beautiful Baby Jesus of the most delicate features and intricate detail down to the eyelashes and fingernails. It almost seemed human – truly a work of art that no one could explain.
The Baby Jesus – ah, therein laid the problem – literally. In the doing of her duties being careful to unwrap each piece and set it up in the manger scene, just as she had done many Christmases hence, Sister Maud did the unthinkable. As careful as she ever was, she somehow and for some inexplicable reason, dropped the Baby Jesus onto the marble floor of the dais. And that exquisite Baby Jesus in an instant, shattered into a thousand ash-like pieces – totally irreparable and perfectly irreplaceable.
Father O’Malley’s jaw dropped as though he had been hit with one of the bricks hurled at the (12) General Post Office in the Easter Rising. “Father, what are we gonna do?” pleaded the desperate nun. Father O’Malley’s first thoughts were likewise those of desperation because this Sunday was the Christmas Mass always proclaimed from the manger with the Baby Jesus as the centre-piece. “What would the congregation think? What would they do? Would they turn their outraged against Sister Maud?” wondered the Curate. His pastor’s heart went out to the sad and silent Sister Maud who must, he knew, be devasted.
“Now, now, Sister Maud, doncha be a-worryin’ yourself none, the Good Lord give us this manger scene and He’ll be a-findin’ a way for us to unite it once again – somehow.” “Somehow,” he thought. “But how?” He wasn’t sure he believed his own words.
4. An coiste eaglais (13)
He summoned the Parish Relations Committee for St. Dominic’s: (14) John McBride, Joseph Plunkett, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDunagh, Eamonn Ceannt and Mollie Malone (15). Patrick Pearse, the always Arch-Chairman, appointed himself to search for a suitable substitute.
He scoured the streets of Dublin and finally found himself in an art gallery – actually, a sculptor’s studio, the finest in County Dublin. Mr. Pearse explained the confounding circumstances and showed the great sculptor one of the smaller pieces he had taken with him as an ensample. The sculptor studied the sample carefully, very carefully and then exclaimed, “I’ve never seen or even heard of such work. Shure and it would take months to create a piece like this if, in fact, it could be created.”
Disappointed and deflated, Mr. Pearse passed through a number of other, but lesser shops with the same outcome and receiving similar comments. Finished, he reported the sad tiding back to the Committee which, unable to act, adjourned without finding a solution to the problem leaving it in the hands of Father O’Malley.
5. Cur chuige na Nollag (16)
Day turned to night; night turned to day and Christmas Eve approached. Father O’Malley thought that night about what could substitute for the broken Baby Jesus. And as he was careful to do, he prayed, “Dear Father, I know that you’re the giver of all good and perfect gifts. You, Yourself, musta supplied us wi’ the Baby Jesus once before, now I pray that ye do it for us yet a second time over. In that Baby Jesus’ name I’m a-prayin’, AMEN.”
Then his thoughts turned to the parish people and then to the Parish Relations Committee. “And a fine lot they are,” he mused with more than a wee bit of irony in his thoughts for each of them because though somewhat devout people in their own way and leaders in the Parish, each, like all of us, was a flawed figure.
(17) John McBride was a banker to whom Yeats referred as a (18) “vain-glorious lout.” He had forged a fortune charging usury to poor people. Joseph Plunkett’s family was his pride and joy, perhaps too much so, for his love of them rivaled his love for God. (19) Billy Yeats had become a poet of note whose success and self-assuredness grew with each publication of a new work. And then there was Patrick Pearse, the “school master” and man behind the scenes who enjoyed the power of control while appearing pious. Thomas MacDunaugh was an Irish patriot who thought of a free Ireland as his greatest goal in life.
Now Eamonn Ceannt was an enigma, though he cherished the Church, truly, yet this love appeared to exceed his love of the God and Christ whose Church it was. Lastly was “Sweet” Mollie Malone. Mollie Malone was once a prostitute whom Father O’Malley had rescued from the life of the street and who now stood tall in the Parish hierarchy despite having “been nice to the gentlemen” while on her back. It seemed that she was “looking for love in all the wrong places,” thinking that love would fill the “God-sized cavity in her heart. But of course, it never did – or could. “Yes,” fancied Father O’Malley, “shure and a fine lot they are, but they’re merely people, just like me, and no different really from the rest of the Parish – or any parish.”
Just before dropping off to a fitful sleep, the Good Father thought of the inconsolable Sister Maud and of his words to her about the broken Baby Jesus, “the Good Lord’ll provide.” And at that, he fell fast asleep.
With the issue unresolved and still up in the cold Irish air, Christmas Eve blew in on a cold, snowy northwest wind. Day turned to night and the parishioners began to congregate at the Church for the annual mass. Carols were sung by the choir and the merry organ was played by the converted Mollie Malone, no less, then came the time for the traditional teaching from the manger. The liturgy specified that the Curate was to display for all to see the Baby Jesus, taken from his manger. As he rehearsed the blessed Christmas story, explaining what each event meant and urging all who saw and heard with their eyes and ears to keep that same signal Christmas and the real and authentic Baby Jesus in their hearts true.
6. Athrú ar an liotúirge (20)
Now Father O’Malley, knowing that he had no Baby Jesus to hold up, changed the liturgy. He thought better of giving the traditional address about this Baby Jesus, rather, he recounted the Christmas story as St. Luke had told it and then urged the congregation to gather around the manger scene and gaze upon it, letting the Spirit of God preach to each individual parishioner the sermon each needed to hear and to see the Baby Jesus, not as this Baby Jesus was, a broken pile of (21) ashes but as each truly saw Him with their heart’s eye.
Each congregant obliged and gathered near the manger. Departing from the age-old offering of liturgy, Father O’Malley pulled back the swaddling clothes covering the manger to reveal the pile of ash-like porcelain where this Baby Jesus had once lain. The congregants were taken aback and murmured with shock. “Now, now, settle down,” chastised the Curate. “I challenge each of ye to gaze upon this pile of ashes and see what the Good Lord aims for ye to see.”
7. Fís Fíor (22)
Somewhat begrudgingly, each did fix his or her gaze on that pile of ashes. And then, after a moment, each seemed to look through the eyes of the God of their heart to reveal their very own Baby Jesus. It was not at all what the Curate had expected.
John McBride thought of his bank and the money that lay in it – and maybe how it got there; Joseph Plunkett gazed over a scene of his family at the Yuletide feast thinking how much he loved them, maybe more than anything in this or any other world; Yeats yearned for the next poem he would write. Had he fallen too far from the faith? Patrick Pearse thought as how had he known that Father O’Malley would so deviate from the liturgy in this manner, he would have urged the Curate to do differently, but could he control this circumstance? Thomas MacDunaugh gazed intently and it seemed to him that he saw a green Ireland rising from an orange sea free from the clutches of England and free from the influence of the Protestants, the hated Protestants; would he ever halt that hatred? Lastly, Mollie Malone, the “lady of the evening” turned church organist saw the ashes and thought how her life had been but a pile of ashes in the years she had spent looking for love and giving pleasure and entertainment to the gentlemen and she tried to see the faces of each but realized that they were all faceless.
A hush fell on the congregation as they all looked at each other realizing what each had seen. Perhaps this was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe God, in His infinite wisdom was telling each of them that nothing could really take the place of the Baby Jesus, no earthly thing. All these things, they realized, for good or ill, were in reality just dust ascending into the air, ashes to be blown by a snowy north wind to God knows where.
8. An choimhthíoch ag an doras (23)
At that moment, the back door of the church flung open and a poor, bedraggled and cold man came in and up to the front. “Father,” he said to O’Malley, “I’m Lovic Friend (24) and my wife is Connie. She’s outside in the cold. I’m a-tryin’ ti’ get her to St. James hospital. She’s gonna have a baby and, well, the baby is a-coming now. We saw the lights and came in. Can ye help us?”
The congregation all gasped as one but then . . . “Certainly,” replied the Father as the congregation nodded. “Get her in out of the cold, man!” “Connie,” the man motioned, “come on in.” Just as she shuffled over the threshold of the holy door, she grasps her great belly and groaned. “It’s time … it’s happening now.”
“Lay her on the pew,” ordered Sister Maud, who took her by the hand … a familiar hand... a surprisingly familiar hand. “Connie – Constance?” Are you my sister Constance?” “Yes, I am” was the anguished answer. Sister Maud and several ladies of the church attended as Father O’Malley, now turned physician, delivered a fine baby boy. Someone brought the swaddling clothes from the manger and they wrapped him in them. Then there was silence … silence except for the soft cry of the new born babe.
9. Dia ar fáil (25)
After a time, Father O’Malley held the babe up for everyone to see. “Look, look, God has provided a baby Jesus for us! He’s not porcelain and he’s not ash, nor is he all or any of those things you saw in the manger. He is flesh and blood and he is with us! Truly, he is Emmanuel!
Sister Maud with years’ worth of tears streaming down her face tightly twined around her true sister, Constance from whom she had been estranged for lo these many years. In that moment, all was forgotten and forgiven and O’Malley, Maud and each observer understood that God had worked a miracle, nay, two miracles, nay, many more miracles than anyone could count for it was a different miracle for each, yet in one way, the same miracle.
In a moment, someone began to sing, "Oíche Chiúin, Oíche Naofa " and they all joined in for truly this once silent night had become a holy night. God had provided the Baby Jesus and now everyone saw him in the manger.
***
Is your Baby Jesus broken? Is your Baby … Jesus?
Nollaig Shona (26) and Merry Christmas
John R. Wible
Notes:
1. Irish Gaelic for “We are not ourselves alone.” All the foreign words herein are Irish-Gaelic.
2. “Father O’Malley
3. Father O’Malley is taken from the Bing Crosby character in the movie “Going My Way.”
4. The story is set against the religious tension between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and the hatred of the native Irish of the English. I would be helpful to the reader to Read Yeats’ “Easter – 1916” and Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller. The story draws on both of those.
5. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God”. Matt. 5:9.
6. A knock at the door
7. Except for Mollie Malone and WB Yeats (Billy), all the other characters were leaders in the 1916 uprising which failed initialed but ultimately succeeded.
8. “Chamber door” from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”
9. A Broken Baby Jesus
10. The mystery of the origin of the pieces adds a note of transcendence to the story.
11. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1.
12. The General Post Office was attacked and overtaken by the Irish patriots but then surrendered in 3 days.
13. The Church Committee
14. All members of the Irish patriot band.
15. From the Irish Ballad, “Mollie Malone” about a street prostitute who sells herself under the guise of selling “cockles and muscles alive, alive oh.”
16. Christmas approaches
17. Each person represents a Christ substitute.
18. Yeats so calls him in “Easter- 1916.”
19. The Irish poet and Nobel-laureate, William Butler Yeats who was not involved in the Easter Rising.
20. A Change in the liturgy.
21. All our false gods will be ultimately burned up in eternity as though dust.
22. True vision
23. The Stranger at the door.
24. A well-known protestant who was vice-commander of the English force that put down the revolt of 1916.
25. God provides.
26. “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
27. Merry Christmas
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Gilgal Hanging of the Green Service
HANGING OF THE GREEN SERVICE
Prelude Joy Sherman
Welcome John Saxon
Greeting Song “Good Christian Men Rejoice”
Call to Worship
Worship Leader: Tonight, we come together to prepare for the birthday of a King.
Congregation: Tonight we make ready our welcome for God’s only Son, Jesus of Nazareth.
Worship Leader: We begin this special and holy season of Advent, the season of preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Congregation: As we renew the special meaning of the Advent season, and the message of new hope and eternal life.
Worship Leader: Let us clear our minds and open our hearts to the coming of the Lord.
Congregation: Let us also honor His birth by adorning our church for the coming of our King.
Worship Leader: Let our songs and symbols represent our personal rededication of the glory of God and the manifestation of His love
Congregation: Through His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Invocation Bro. Bart
Worship Leader: What is Advent?
We are gathered here tonight at the beginning of the season of advent. This is not the first time that we have gathered for this reason. Most likely, it will not be the last. The word advent means, “Coming.” During this season, we celebrate the coming of Christ at Bethlehem, his coming into our hearts, and his Second Coming. Traditionally, this season is not a celebration of Christmas, for that comes on the December 25th. Rather, this is a time to prepare our lives and hearts for Christmas, that we may receive Christ once again and make him present to the world through us.
Everything about the Advent season points to a tiny baby in a manger on the outskirts of Bethlehem. But who was this baby around whom angels sang and shepherds came? Who was this child that threatened earthly rulers and beckoned wise men to come and worship? Who was this little baby that lies in the arms of a young virgin named Mary?
It would be a question that would follow him his whole life – even his own disciples didn’t always get it. Jesus would one day ask the disciples in Matthew 16:16:
“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
They replied, "Some says John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Yes, He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Son of God. He is all this and more. Yes, this is a season of preparation, a season of lights, of candles, of carols and greenery. It is a season of laughter and joy, of family and friends. It is a season of gifts – a celebration of the greatest gift of all. As we decorate, we don’t do it just to make our sanctuary pretty, though we would all probably agree that it does. We don’t do it because it makes us feel warm and cozy inside, though that might very well happen. We decorate because every little piece of decoration is a sign – a symbol. Everything that we place tonight helps to answer that question, who is this baby that lies in the manger?
As we worship tonight, may we experience the most profound emotion of the Advent season – that of hope. We live in the hope that God is faithful and Jesus’ words will one day ring true, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may also be going.” Let us worship together with the praise that was echoed by the early church: Maranatha! “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Carol: “Emmanuel” #82
Johnnie Hartley Jesus, “The Incarnate Word”
The Wreaths
(Wreaths are pointed out during the narration)
Scripture and Narration John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Who is this baby in the manger? He was there in the beginning. All things were created by him and through him. He was life itself. He did not just possess life, he was life. He is life. The story of Christmas does not begin in a manger in Bethlehem. No, the story of Christmas begins much, much earlier – before anything was ever created, Jesus was there and life itself came into being because of him. As we hang the wreaths on the wall, they are a reminder of the eternal Christ. They are shaped in a circle, with no beginning and no end, a reminder that Christ’s life did not start in the manger, but that he is life. “The Word became flesh,” the scriptures tell us, and yet Jesus has been, and will be, the Christ for all eternity. Let us rejoice, for the Messiah, the Christ, has come!
Hymn: “Come Thou Almighty King” #247
Charles Mitchell: “Jesus, God’s Gift to Us”
Giving of Christmas Gifts
Scripture and Narration John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
From the begin Christmas celebrations, gift giving has been a part of the season. The Wise Men gave out of their treasures, three gifts in fact, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and the Shepherds gave of themselves. Both express the Gift of God in giving Christ as the Savior of the World.
Unique in our history of generous givers is the story of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia in the fourth century A.D. He is reputed to have been wealthy, his emblem being three purses and three golden balls. This was the symbol of rich Italian families of his time. It survives today in the signs of some of our pawnshops. The good Bishop gave his money away secretly to those whom he found in need. He was deeply interested in young people, giving his wealth especially to maidens whose lack of a dowry was affecting their matrimonial future, and to needy boys. Gifts coming from unknown sources were commonly attributed to him and parents customarily gave him credit for their gifts to their children.
The discovery of his generosity is said to have been made by the father of three dowry-less daughters. The eldest two each received from the chimney on successive nights a substantial gift of gold with her name on it. The father resolved to watch and see who their generous benefactor could be. His vigil revealed the good Saint Nicholas as the donor of the gifts. His name survives today as the human embodiment of unselfish giving.
Hanging up our stockings in pleasant anticipation of Santa's gifts may have originated from the fact that the maidens of this Bishopric of Myra, needing and expecting a dowry from the good Saint Nicholas, suspended a stocking to catch the money purse the generous Bishop was sure to drop down the chimney.
Carol: “There is a Redeemer” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 279
Nellie Garner Jesus, “The Light of the World”
The Candles
Scripture and Narration John 1:6-10; 8:12
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
Altar candles are lit during the reading.
“In most cultures a Candle in the Window was used to signal a Family's loyalty to a loved one who was away traveling. It let that person know the family awaited their return and the hearth was warm and waiting for them. In Ireland during times of religious persecution, the Window Candle signaled the location of religious services. In Colonial America a Candle in the Window was used to honor dignitaries, announce births, and just plain celebrate.” The candles we place have a two-fold purpose. As the scripture says, Jesus is the true light, the light of the world, the one who dispels darkness forever. He told his followers as well, you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We carry the light of Christ within us, not just through the Christmas season, but all year ‘round, and are commanded to call people out of the darkness of sin and death. Our calling is to be a mirror – as the light of Christ shines on us and into our hearts; we are to reflect that light to the world. The candles also remind us that Jesus has promised to return. We wait expectantly for his promise to be fulfilled. We are to be always ready, anticipating our honored guest, for we do not know when that day will be.
Hymn: “Shine, Jesus, Shine” #579
Johnnie Hartley Jesus, “The Life”
The Evergreens and the Christmas tree
Scripture and Narration John 1:11-13; 3:3, 6; 2 Corinthians 5:17
He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Greenery is brought in during reading
What better celebration of life than the birth of a baby? It reminds us all how precious life is, how life itself is nothing less than a miracle. As a little child receives life for the first time, we are in awe of the life we have also received and the handiwork of God. But the baby Jesus in the manger was not given life, he was life. But not only that, he is the giver of eternal life. For all of us who have put our faith in Jesus, we have been born again. We have received new life, abundant life, and eternal life through him. As we hang the greenery, the evergreens, they are a reminder of this life that never ends. They remind us that this little baby has been from the beginning and will be for all eternity. They remind us of our hope in the future – that even though we see merely a reflection of heaven today, we will one day see Jesus face-to-face and will experience true life for all eternity as we live with the Father in heaven.
Carol: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” #88
Nellie Garner The Christmas Tree
Children are invited to decorate the two Christmas trees
Today, the Christmas tree is the center of our festivities. Glittering with lights and ornaments, it is a part of the beauty and meaning of Christmas. There are several legends and stories about the Christmas tree.
The first use of the Christmas tree was in the medieval German Paradise Plays, held outdoors and portraying the creation of humankind. The Tree of Life was a fir tree decorated with apples. Later other ornaments were hung upon them, such as paper flowers and gilded nuts. In England branches or whole trees were forced into bloom indoors for Christmas. From these beginnings the use of a tree at Christmas was established. Martin Luther was perhaps the first to use a lighted tree.
The story is told that on one Christmas Eve Martin Luther wandered outdoors and became enraptured with the beauty of the starry sky. Its brilliance and loveliness led him to reflect on the glory of the first Christmas Eve as seen in Bethlehem's radiant skies. Wishing to share with his wife and children the enchantment he had felt, he cut from the forest an evergreen, glistening with snow, and took it home. He placed upon it candles to represent the glorious heavens he had seen. The use of a candle-lighted tree spread to all Europe, then America came to regard it as the central ornament of Christmas.
Carol: “The Birthday of a King” #102
Charles Mitchell Jesus, “The Way”
The Star Atop the Tree
Scripture and Narration John 14:6, Matthew 2: 1,2,9
Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me. . .
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. . . and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
Start atop the tree is pointed out.
Just as the Star of Bethlehem pointed the way for the wise men to find the Christ child, so that Christ child grown to be fully man while being fully God points the way for us to come back to God from whose presence we have strayed. Many men over many centuries have tried to find God thinking that there are many ways, many still so think, but there is only one Way and that Way is Jesus. We place a star atop our tree to remind us of the star that led the wise men. The star led the way, but more so to remind us that Jesus is the way.
Carol: “There’s a Song in the Air” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 185
Nellie Garner Jesus, “The Savior”
The Poinsettias
Scripture and Narration Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Poinsettias are brought in during reading
The bright, blood-red poinsettia has become the most popular of all Christmas flowers. “The legend of the poinsettia tells of a poor village boy in Mexico who wanted to give the Holy Child a gift, but had no money. In desperation, he picked some weeds on his way to church to leave as his gift. He prayed to God to help him show his love and God answered by turning the weeds into a beautiful star-shaped flower with bright red leaves. The poinsettia has been a Christmas symbol ever since signifying how Jesus meets the needs of His believers.” The star of the flower is said to represent the star that stood over the Christ Child, while the red leaves represents the shed blood of Christ who came to be our Savior. Let the poinsettias of Christmas always be a reminder that the cross looms close to the humble manger – and that the baby that was born there, was born to die a cruel death and to reconcile us to the Father.
Carol: “O Holy Night” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 194
Charles Mitchell: Jesus, “The Alpha and Omega”
The Nativity
Scripture and Narration Revelation 1:4-8
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Nativity is pointed out in the baptistery.
One of the most heart-warming expressions of Christmas is the Nativity. The Nativity speaks of the mystery of God's wisdom. Why God chose to send his son into our world as a baby of humble birth, born in common surroundings, we do not know. What we do know is that God reached out to all people including the poor and wealthy, the simple and the wise, the powerless and the powerful. All who found him knelt in humility before him. Knowing God is possible because he came to us, at our level. Whenever we see a Nativity we find ourselves with Mary and Joseph; with the Shepherds, and with the Wise Men; bowing before the manger, overwhelmed by God's expression of love in coming to us.
Today we display a Nativity in our sanctuary, and many of us, outside our homes. Who is this Holy child in the manger? Why the angel’s songs? Why such great celebration? Amidst the cooing and crying, laughter and tears, spit-up and dirty diapers, was it evident to anyone just who this baby really was? Could you look into those little sparkling eyes and the see the whole of creation reflected there? Did anyone suspect that this little bundle of joy was the Alpha (the beginning through whom all things were created) and the Omega (the end, the final sacrifice, the reconciler of the world)? Do we even realize that today as we celebrate some 2,000 years later? Maybe Mark Lowry captured it best when he wrote:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am.
As we gather together this Advent, let us prepare our hearts – not for just one more season of pretty lights and flowers, trees and presents, parties and relatives. Let us gather around the manger and peer in on the Christ Child – the Word made flesh; the Light of the World; The Way, The Truth, and The Life; The Savior; the Alpha and Omega; the Messiah. Let us come, let us worship, Christ the Lord!
Carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” #89
Worship Leader Jesus, “Our Joy”
Scripture and Narration Luke 2:10; I Thess. 2:19; Col. 3:16
For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy for unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.. . .
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?
At Christmas time, we greet each other with the traditional greeting, “Merry Christmas.” It is a greeting, yes, but it is a prayer as well, for it means, “May you have a merry Christmas.” How bleak and dull would be the world if we’re not for Jesus, but, thanks be to God, He did come amidst Angel choirs praising for Joy – truly, as Paul says, He is our Joy.
Scripture and Narration Col. 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And so we go out into the world to proclaim from the highest to the lowest that “Jesus Christ is born.”
Carol “Joy to the World” #87
Benediction Bro. Bart
And now may God, Creator of light, and trees and flowers, grant us peace. As we have decorated this place of worship, may we also live lives of worship decorated with God’s forever things—forever love, forever life, forever living, forever growing, forever…green. In the name of God’s love and light in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prelude Joy Sherman
Welcome John Saxon
Greeting Song “Good Christian Men Rejoice”
Call to Worship
Worship Leader: Tonight, we come together to prepare for the birthday of a King.
Congregation: Tonight we make ready our welcome for God’s only Son, Jesus of Nazareth.
Worship Leader: We begin this special and holy season of Advent, the season of preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Congregation: As we renew the special meaning of the Advent season, and the message of new hope and eternal life.
Worship Leader: Let us clear our minds and open our hearts to the coming of the Lord.
Congregation: Let us also honor His birth by adorning our church for the coming of our King.
Worship Leader: Let our songs and symbols represent our personal rededication of the glory of God and the manifestation of His love
Congregation: Through His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Invocation Bro. Bart
Worship Leader: What is Advent?
We are gathered here tonight at the beginning of the season of advent. This is not the first time that we have gathered for this reason. Most likely, it will not be the last. The word advent means, “Coming.” During this season, we celebrate the coming of Christ at Bethlehem, his coming into our hearts, and his Second Coming. Traditionally, this season is not a celebration of Christmas, for that comes on the December 25th. Rather, this is a time to prepare our lives and hearts for Christmas, that we may receive Christ once again and make him present to the world through us.
Everything about the Advent season points to a tiny baby in a manger on the outskirts of Bethlehem. But who was this baby around whom angels sang and shepherds came? Who was this child that threatened earthly rulers and beckoned wise men to come and worship? Who was this little baby that lies in the arms of a young virgin named Mary?
It would be a question that would follow him his whole life – even his own disciples didn’t always get it. Jesus would one day ask the disciples in Matthew 16:16:
“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
They replied, "Some says John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Yes, He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Son of God. He is all this and more. Yes, this is a season of preparation, a season of lights, of candles, of carols and greenery. It is a season of laughter and joy, of family and friends. It is a season of gifts – a celebration of the greatest gift of all. As we decorate, we don’t do it just to make our sanctuary pretty, though we would all probably agree that it does. We don’t do it because it makes us feel warm and cozy inside, though that might very well happen. We decorate because every little piece of decoration is a sign – a symbol. Everything that we place tonight helps to answer that question, who is this baby that lies in the manger?
As we worship tonight, may we experience the most profound emotion of the Advent season – that of hope. We live in the hope that God is faithful and Jesus’ words will one day ring true, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may also be going.” Let us worship together with the praise that was echoed by the early church: Maranatha! “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Carol: “Emmanuel” #82
Johnnie Hartley Jesus, “The Incarnate Word”
The Wreaths
(Wreaths are pointed out during the narration)
Scripture and Narration John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Who is this baby in the manger? He was there in the beginning. All things were created by him and through him. He was life itself. He did not just possess life, he was life. He is life. The story of Christmas does not begin in a manger in Bethlehem. No, the story of Christmas begins much, much earlier – before anything was ever created, Jesus was there and life itself came into being because of him. As we hang the wreaths on the wall, they are a reminder of the eternal Christ. They are shaped in a circle, with no beginning and no end, a reminder that Christ’s life did not start in the manger, but that he is life. “The Word became flesh,” the scriptures tell us, and yet Jesus has been, and will be, the Christ for all eternity. Let us rejoice, for the Messiah, the Christ, has come!
Hymn: “Come Thou Almighty King” #247
Charles Mitchell: “Jesus, God’s Gift to Us”
Giving of Christmas Gifts
Scripture and Narration John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
From the begin Christmas celebrations, gift giving has been a part of the season. The Wise Men gave out of their treasures, three gifts in fact, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and the Shepherds gave of themselves. Both express the Gift of God in giving Christ as the Savior of the World.
Unique in our history of generous givers is the story of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia in the fourth century A.D. He is reputed to have been wealthy, his emblem being three purses and three golden balls. This was the symbol of rich Italian families of his time. It survives today in the signs of some of our pawnshops. The good Bishop gave his money away secretly to those whom he found in need. He was deeply interested in young people, giving his wealth especially to maidens whose lack of a dowry was affecting their matrimonial future, and to needy boys. Gifts coming from unknown sources were commonly attributed to him and parents customarily gave him credit for their gifts to their children.
The discovery of his generosity is said to have been made by the father of three dowry-less daughters. The eldest two each received from the chimney on successive nights a substantial gift of gold with her name on it. The father resolved to watch and see who their generous benefactor could be. His vigil revealed the good Saint Nicholas as the donor of the gifts. His name survives today as the human embodiment of unselfish giving.
Hanging up our stockings in pleasant anticipation of Santa's gifts may have originated from the fact that the maidens of this Bishopric of Myra, needing and expecting a dowry from the good Saint Nicholas, suspended a stocking to catch the money purse the generous Bishop was sure to drop down the chimney.
Carol: “There is a Redeemer” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 279
Nellie Garner Jesus, “The Light of the World”
The Candles
Scripture and Narration John 1:6-10; 8:12
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
Altar candles are lit during the reading.
“In most cultures a Candle in the Window was used to signal a Family's loyalty to a loved one who was away traveling. It let that person know the family awaited their return and the hearth was warm and waiting for them. In Ireland during times of religious persecution, the Window Candle signaled the location of religious services. In Colonial America a Candle in the Window was used to honor dignitaries, announce births, and just plain celebrate.” The candles we place have a two-fold purpose. As the scripture says, Jesus is the true light, the light of the world, the one who dispels darkness forever. He told his followers as well, you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We carry the light of Christ within us, not just through the Christmas season, but all year ‘round, and are commanded to call people out of the darkness of sin and death. Our calling is to be a mirror – as the light of Christ shines on us and into our hearts; we are to reflect that light to the world. The candles also remind us that Jesus has promised to return. We wait expectantly for his promise to be fulfilled. We are to be always ready, anticipating our honored guest, for we do not know when that day will be.
Hymn: “Shine, Jesus, Shine” #579
Johnnie Hartley Jesus, “The Life”
The Evergreens and the Christmas tree
Scripture and Narration John 1:11-13; 3:3, 6; 2 Corinthians 5:17
He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Greenery is brought in during reading
What better celebration of life than the birth of a baby? It reminds us all how precious life is, how life itself is nothing less than a miracle. As a little child receives life for the first time, we are in awe of the life we have also received and the handiwork of God. But the baby Jesus in the manger was not given life, he was life. But not only that, he is the giver of eternal life. For all of us who have put our faith in Jesus, we have been born again. We have received new life, abundant life, and eternal life through him. As we hang the greenery, the evergreens, they are a reminder of this life that never ends. They remind us that this little baby has been from the beginning and will be for all eternity. They remind us of our hope in the future – that even though we see merely a reflection of heaven today, we will one day see Jesus face-to-face and will experience true life for all eternity as we live with the Father in heaven.
Carol: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” #88
Nellie Garner The Christmas Tree
Children are invited to decorate the two Christmas trees
Today, the Christmas tree is the center of our festivities. Glittering with lights and ornaments, it is a part of the beauty and meaning of Christmas. There are several legends and stories about the Christmas tree.
The first use of the Christmas tree was in the medieval German Paradise Plays, held outdoors and portraying the creation of humankind. The Tree of Life was a fir tree decorated with apples. Later other ornaments were hung upon them, such as paper flowers and gilded nuts. In England branches or whole trees were forced into bloom indoors for Christmas. From these beginnings the use of a tree at Christmas was established. Martin Luther was perhaps the first to use a lighted tree.
The story is told that on one Christmas Eve Martin Luther wandered outdoors and became enraptured with the beauty of the starry sky. Its brilliance and loveliness led him to reflect on the glory of the first Christmas Eve as seen in Bethlehem's radiant skies. Wishing to share with his wife and children the enchantment he had felt, he cut from the forest an evergreen, glistening with snow, and took it home. He placed upon it candles to represent the glorious heavens he had seen. The use of a candle-lighted tree spread to all Europe, then America came to regard it as the central ornament of Christmas.
Carol: “The Birthday of a King” #102
Charles Mitchell Jesus, “The Way”
The Star Atop the Tree
Scripture and Narration John 14:6, Matthew 2: 1,2,9
Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me. . .
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. . . and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
Start atop the tree is pointed out.
Just as the Star of Bethlehem pointed the way for the wise men to find the Christ child, so that Christ child grown to be fully man while being fully God points the way for us to come back to God from whose presence we have strayed. Many men over many centuries have tried to find God thinking that there are many ways, many still so think, but there is only one Way and that Way is Jesus. We place a star atop our tree to remind us of the star that led the wise men. The star led the way, but more so to remind us that Jesus is the way.
Carol: “There’s a Song in the Air” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 185
Nellie Garner Jesus, “The Savior”
The Poinsettias
Scripture and Narration Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Poinsettias are brought in during reading
The bright, blood-red poinsettia has become the most popular of all Christmas flowers. “The legend of the poinsettia tells of a poor village boy in Mexico who wanted to give the Holy Child a gift, but had no money. In desperation, he picked some weeds on his way to church to leave as his gift. He prayed to God to help him show his love and God answered by turning the weeds into a beautiful star-shaped flower with bright red leaves. The poinsettia has been a Christmas symbol ever since signifying how Jesus meets the needs of His believers.” The star of the flower is said to represent the star that stood over the Christ Child, while the red leaves represents the shed blood of Christ who came to be our Savior. Let the poinsettias of Christmas always be a reminder that the cross looms close to the humble manger – and that the baby that was born there, was born to die a cruel death and to reconcile us to the Father.
Carol: “O Holy Night” (New Baptist Hymnal) # 194
Charles Mitchell: Jesus, “The Alpha and Omega”
The Nativity
Scripture and Narration Revelation 1:4-8
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Nativity is pointed out in the baptistery.
One of the most heart-warming expressions of Christmas is the Nativity. The Nativity speaks of the mystery of God's wisdom. Why God chose to send his son into our world as a baby of humble birth, born in common surroundings, we do not know. What we do know is that God reached out to all people including the poor and wealthy, the simple and the wise, the powerless and the powerful. All who found him knelt in humility before him. Knowing God is possible because he came to us, at our level. Whenever we see a Nativity we find ourselves with Mary and Joseph; with the Shepherds, and with the Wise Men; bowing before the manger, overwhelmed by God's expression of love in coming to us.
Today we display a Nativity in our sanctuary, and many of us, outside our homes. Who is this Holy child in the manger? Why the angel’s songs? Why such great celebration? Amidst the cooing and crying, laughter and tears, spit-up and dirty diapers, was it evident to anyone just who this baby really was? Could you look into those little sparkling eyes and the see the whole of creation reflected there? Did anyone suspect that this little bundle of joy was the Alpha (the beginning through whom all things were created) and the Omega (the end, the final sacrifice, the reconciler of the world)? Do we even realize that today as we celebrate some 2,000 years later? Maybe Mark Lowry captured it best when he wrote:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am.
As we gather together this Advent, let us prepare our hearts – not for just one more season of pretty lights and flowers, trees and presents, parties and relatives. Let us gather around the manger and peer in on the Christ Child – the Word made flesh; the Light of the World; The Way, The Truth, and The Life; The Savior; the Alpha and Omega; the Messiah. Let us come, let us worship, Christ the Lord!
Carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” #89
Worship Leader Jesus, “Our Joy”
Scripture and Narration Luke 2:10; I Thess. 2:19; Col. 3:16
For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy for unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.. . .
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?
At Christmas time, we greet each other with the traditional greeting, “Merry Christmas.” It is a greeting, yes, but it is a prayer as well, for it means, “May you have a merry Christmas.” How bleak and dull would be the world if we’re not for Jesus, but, thanks be to God, He did come amidst Angel choirs praising for Joy – truly, as Paul says, He is our Joy.
Scripture and Narration Col. 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And so we go out into the world to proclaim from the highest to the lowest that “Jesus Christ is born.”
Carol “Joy to the World” #87
Benediction Bro. Bart
And now may God, Creator of light, and trees and flowers, grant us peace. As we have decorated this place of worship, may we also live lives of worship decorated with God’s forever things—forever love, forever life, forever living, forever growing, forever…green. In the name of God’s love and light in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Gilgal Carol Sing with Scriptures
Carol Sing (Revised)
Gilgal Baptist Church
Duncanville, Al
November 30, 2009
A Service of Lessons and Carols
Celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ, Our Savior
Prelude
Invocation
Welcome John Saxon
Welcome Carol “O Come, All ye Faithful” (Vv. 1-3) #89
Offertory Prayer
Offertory
In The Beginning
Genesis 1:1a; John 1:1, 2
In the beginning, God ………
In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Carol “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” (vv. 1, 2,5) #121
The Prophesy – His Coming
Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel...
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Carol “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” (Vv. 1,2) #77
Bethlehem
Micah 5:2,4,5a
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times...
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. . .
And he will be their peace.
Carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (Vv.1,4) #86
Carol “Angels we have Heard on High” (Vv. 1-3) #100
The Annunciation to Mary and Joseph
Luke 1:26-33; Matthew 1:18-23
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." . . .
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."
Carol “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” (Vv. 1-3) #101
Carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (Vv. 1,2) #76
The Holy Birth
Luke 2:1-7
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Carol “Away in a Manger” Children
Carol “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come” (vv. 1,2) #87
The Angels’ Announcement
Luke 2:8-14
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Carol “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (Vv.1,4) #93
Carol “Angels from the Realms of Glory (Vv. 1,2) #94
The Shepherds’ Response
Luke 2:15-20
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Carol “The First Nowell” (Vv. 1,4) #85
Carol “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” (Vv. 1-3) #95
The Visit of the Magi
Matthew 2:1,2, 8-11
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are” (Vv. 1-5) #113
Our Response
John 20:31
31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Carol “Good Christian Men Rejoice” (Vv. 1-3) #96
Benediction Bro. Bart
Lighting of the Candles and Carol “Silent Night, Holy Night” (Vv. 1-4) #91
Postlude “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come.”
Gilgal Baptist Church
Duncanville, Al
November 30, 2009
A Service of Lessons and Carols
Celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ, Our Savior
Prelude
Invocation
Welcome John Saxon
Welcome Carol “O Come, All ye Faithful” (Vv. 1-3) #89
Offertory Prayer
Offertory
In The Beginning
Genesis 1:1a; John 1:1, 2
In the beginning, God ………
In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Carol “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” (vv. 1, 2,5) #121
The Prophesy – His Coming
Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel...
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Carol “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” (Vv. 1,2) #77
Bethlehem
Micah 5:2,4,5a
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times...
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. . .
And he will be their peace.
Carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (Vv.1,4) #86
Carol “Angels we have Heard on High” (Vv. 1-3) #100
The Annunciation to Mary and Joseph
Luke 1:26-33; Matthew 1:18-23
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." . . .
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."
Carol “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” (Vv. 1-3) #101
Carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (Vv. 1,2) #76
The Holy Birth
Luke 2:1-7
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Carol “Away in a Manger” Children
Carol “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come” (vv. 1,2) #87
The Angels’ Announcement
Luke 2:8-14
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Carol “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (Vv.1,4) #93
Carol “Angels from the Realms of Glory (Vv. 1,2) #94
The Shepherds’ Response
Luke 2:15-20
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Carol “The First Nowell” (Vv. 1,4) #85
Carol “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” (Vv. 1-3) #95
The Visit of the Magi
Matthew 2:1,2, 8-11
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are” (Vv. 1-5) #113
Our Response
John 20:31
31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Carol “Good Christian Men Rejoice” (Vv. 1-3) #96
Benediction Bro. Bart
Lighting of the Candles and Carol “Silent Night, Holy Night” (Vv. 1-4) #91
Postlude “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come.”
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Seasons of the Choir
I believe there are 4 seasons of the choir.
1. Fall, Thanksgiving through Christmas
- Winter break
2. Winter, early spring through Easter
- Spring Break
3. Late Spring through July 4th
4. Lazy, hazy, crazy daze of Summer.
The Important dates are:
August boot camp
-Start learning fall music
-start looking at Thaksgiving and Christmas music
October Mini Camp
-Polish off Thanksgiving music, work seriously on Christmas music
Thanksgiving
Christmas season begins when Thanksgiving ends. We'll be doing a lot of Christmas music. Two questions:
1. Do you want to take the Christmas program on a weekend mini-tour?
2. Do you want to see if we can go carrolling in Northport for the street festival?
Winter Break
February - Spring training. Work on Spring and Easter music.
Easter.
Spring break.
July 4th Performance
Start summer program.
Needs:
1. Recruit new choir members
2. Buy New Baptist Hymnals for the choir.
3. Rehearsal times and length.
1. Fall, Thanksgiving through Christmas
- Winter break
2. Winter, early spring through Easter
- Spring Break
3. Late Spring through July 4th
4. Lazy, hazy, crazy daze of Summer.
The Important dates are:
August boot camp
-Start learning fall music
-start looking at Thaksgiving and Christmas music
October Mini Camp
-Polish off Thanksgiving music, work seriously on Christmas music
Thanksgiving
Christmas season begins when Thanksgiving ends. We'll be doing a lot of Christmas music. Two questions:
1. Do you want to take the Christmas program on a weekend mini-tour?
2. Do you want to see if we can go carrolling in Northport for the street festival?
Winter Break
February - Spring training. Work on Spring and Easter music.
Easter.
Spring break.
July 4th Performance
Start summer program.
Needs:
1. Recruit new choir members
2. Buy New Baptist Hymnals for the choir.
3. Rehearsal times and length.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Alabama, Alabama, We Will Aye Be True to Thee
"Alabama" is the state song so adopted by the state legislature in 1931. However, the poem, "Alabama" was originally written by Miss Julia Tutwiler in the 1870s. She had studied in Germany and while there, became enamoured of the "Austrian Hymn" the German National Anthem. When she returned to Alabama, she was impressed to write the poem "Alabama" to be sung to that tune.
After World War I and with the rise of Nazism in Germany, all things German fell out of vogue, so the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a contest to write a new tune to the poem. The winning entry was submitted by Mrs. Edna Gockel Gussen of Birmingham. In 1931, by Act No. 31-126, "Julia Tutwiler's "Alabama," set to Mrs Gussen's tune, became the official state song.
The song describes the width and breadth of the Great State of Alabama and each verse, save the last, ends with a pledge, "we will aye (ever) be true to the." The last stanza personalizes the pledge as it ends, "I will aye be true to thee.
Today, we will sing Miss Tutwiler's hymn-poem as she would have sung it - to the tune of the more singable and familiar "Austrian Hymn."
The full text follows:
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee,
From thy Southern shore where groweth, By the sea thine orange tree.
To thy Northern vale where floweth Deep and blue thy Tennessee.
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
Broad the Stream whose name thou bearest; Grand thy Bigbee rolls along;
Fair thy Coosa-Tallapoosa, Bold thy Warrior, dark and strong.
Goodlier than the land that Moses Climbed lone Nebo's Mount to see
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
From thy prairies broad and fertile, Where thy snow-white cotton shines.
To the hills where coal and iron, Hide in thy exhaustless mines.
Strong-armed miners--sturdy farmers: Loyal hearts what'er we be.
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
From the quarries where the marble, White as that of Paros gleams
Waiting till thy sculptor's chisel, Wake to like thy poet's dream;
For not only wealth of nature, Wealth of mind hast thou to fee.
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
Where the perfumed south-wind whispers, Thy magnolia groves among,
Softer than a mother's kisses, Sweeter than a mother's song;
Where the golden jasmine trailing, Woos the treasure-laden bee,
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
Brave and pure thy men and women, Better this than corn and wine,
Make us worthy, God in Heaven, Of this goodly land of Thine;
Hearts as open as our doorways, Liberal hands and spirits free,
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee!
Little, little, can I give thee, Alabama, mother mine;
But that little--hand, brain, spirit, All I have and am are thine.
Take, O take the gift and giver. Take and serve thyself with me,
Alabama, Alabama, I will aye be true to thee.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Lost Briefcase - The Found Prayer
Susan had surgery today at the hospital surgery center. I had await in the waiting room. I brought my brief case complete with books to read, Bible and devotional book, TREO and my flash drive with a lot of work on it. Surgery went well and I picked Susan up at the drive out and we went home.
At home I figured out that I had left my briefcase in the waiting room. I panicked. It had all that stuff in it. Work lost, treo with all my contacts, financial info and the books and Bible (which I didn't read after all.)I called the place and they called themselves looking for it and found nothing. In a semi-panic, I set out for the place even though they said it wasn't there. On the way, I thought, "thou fool, why are you panicking about this, why have you not just prayed about it? Remember Philippians 4 to worry about nothing but pray about everything. So. I did. I prayed hard and desperately. I asked God that if He could find it in his will, I sure needed that stuff. I meant business. Some of that equipment belonged to the State and I had to account for it. Selfish, I know but I prayed it just the same. I asked God to show me what He wanted me to learn from that experience.
When I arrived, the case was right where I left it. Right where they said it wasn't. Either one of two things happened - either they didn't look very closely for it or perhaps it was actually gone, but God sent it back. The former is the more probable, but the latter is entirely possible. I've seen it happen before. I've seen God re-call history - cause a do-over, give another chance
So, what's the lesson? Perhaps it's in the praying. I pray regularly., but not fervently and desperately. If I prayed as fervently and desperately about things that really matter more than a lost briefcase, I believe God would take notice.
The question is will I take this lesson to heart or will it be lost like the briefcase? We'll see.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
"It is Finished"
It Is Finished
“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up His spirit.”–John 19:30
One of our special songs today is Bill and Gloria Gaither’s ‘It Is Finished” first published in 1976. The song is based on the Seventh, and last of Jesus’ words or saying from the cross.
In his book, Paid in Full, Rick Renner tells us about the meaning of the phrase uttered by Jesus from the Cross, It is finished.” Renner says that” It is finished” is a translation of the Greek word tetelestai, is a form of the Greek word, telos, meaning “ to end; to bring to completion; to bring to a conclusion; to complete; to accomplish; to fulfill; or to finish.” Anything that has reached telos has arrived at completion, maturity, or perfection.
So, what was finished? Was Jesus finished? Did He mean He was dying now and His life was at an end? Well, it a literal sense, yes, but there is much, much more in the phrase and the Gaithers have captured it well.
“There's a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man's soul or its loss”
”On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha's hill “
”The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God's son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries “
”It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord”
Renner tells us that there are four things that are finished or completed:
First, the work the Father had sent Him to do was completed. Another writer says that in the near East, it was the custom for a servant to receive orders from his aster, go do the thing expected and then report back. The manner of reporting was to bow the head say telestai, I have completed the task. So we see that Jesus fully and perfectly completed the work His Father sent Him to do.
That moment of telestai marks the defining victory in the history of the universe. Jesus was called to give up his divine crown for one of thorns, come to Earth, live as a man, be ridiculed, beaten, scorned, scourged, mocked and eventually crucified – what a struggle. And now, it is over. Telestai!
Second, Renner tells us, Telestai is the equivalent of the words uttered by the Jewish high priest when he has completed sacrificing the lamb in the Levitical fashion in the Holy of Holies. When the blood of the lamb was poured on the mercy seat, the sins of the people were forgiven – for another year. Jesus, according to Hebrews is not only our High Priest, but the sacrifice as well, thus he sacrificed himself “once for all.” Never again would blood have to be spilled to atone for man’s sin. That work was finished. Telestai
Continuing, Renner points out that in the commercial world, the phrase, telestai meant that a deal or transaction was completed. In a spiritual sense, Jesus’ blood has bought and paid for our sins – and it’s done. It is paid in full. Telestai.
Lastly, in classical Greek thought, telestai was the phrase used to indelicate the changing of an era or epoch – like going from times BC to times AD. Until that moment, mankind is still under the curse of the law, but at the moment of telestai, a page turned in history and that period is now old news.
But the song is not over; there is yet another verse and a phrase in that verse is yanked from the pages of the news papers. Remember, this song was written in 1976. What was happening then? The Viet Nam War was finally over, but something remained. There were many POWs who were not yet “come home.” Some never would. Gaither alludes to that fact in the phrase, “not all prisoners’ of war had come home.”
“Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn't know that the war had been won
Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free.”
The difference, though Gaither tells us is that the battlefield is not the Mekong Delta or the DMZ or the killing fields of Cambodia, but in our own minds. And the enemy, that Great Satan, has not told us that the war is over. He continues to delude us into thinking that we have to continue to fight the battle. But that is not the case. Second Chronicles 20:15-17 tells us the “battle is the Lords.” And it has been won. It is ours for the claiming, letting go of ourselves and accepting it – accepting Him and His sacrifice, and when we do, we can say, “and now, praise his name, I am free.”
Telestai!
“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up His spirit.”–John 19:30
One of our special songs today is Bill and Gloria Gaither’s ‘It Is Finished” first published in 1976. The song is based on the Seventh, and last of Jesus’ words or saying from the cross.
In his book, Paid in Full, Rick Renner tells us about the meaning of the phrase uttered by Jesus from the Cross, It is finished.” Renner says that” It is finished” is a translation of the Greek word tetelestai, is a form of the Greek word, telos, meaning “ to end; to bring to completion; to bring to a conclusion; to complete; to accomplish; to fulfill; or to finish.” Anything that has reached telos has arrived at completion, maturity, or perfection.
So, what was finished? Was Jesus finished? Did He mean He was dying now and His life was at an end? Well, it a literal sense, yes, but there is much, much more in the phrase and the Gaithers have captured it well.
“There's a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man's soul or its loss”
”On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha's hill “
”The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God's son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries “
”It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord”
Renner tells us that there are four things that are finished or completed:
First, the work the Father had sent Him to do was completed. Another writer says that in the near East, it was the custom for a servant to receive orders from his aster, go do the thing expected and then report back. The manner of reporting was to bow the head say telestai, I have completed the task. So we see that Jesus fully and perfectly completed the work His Father sent Him to do.
That moment of telestai marks the defining victory in the history of the universe. Jesus was called to give up his divine crown for one of thorns, come to Earth, live as a man, be ridiculed, beaten, scorned, scourged, mocked and eventually crucified – what a struggle. And now, it is over. Telestai!
Second, Renner tells us, Telestai is the equivalent of the words uttered by the Jewish high priest when he has completed sacrificing the lamb in the Levitical fashion in the Holy of Holies. When the blood of the lamb was poured on the mercy seat, the sins of the people were forgiven – for another year. Jesus, according to Hebrews is not only our High Priest, but the sacrifice as well, thus he sacrificed himself “once for all.” Never again would blood have to be spilled to atone for man’s sin. That work was finished. Telestai
Continuing, Renner points out that in the commercial world, the phrase, telestai meant that a deal or transaction was completed. In a spiritual sense, Jesus’ blood has bought and paid for our sins – and it’s done. It is paid in full. Telestai.
Lastly, in classical Greek thought, telestai was the phrase used to indelicate the changing of an era or epoch – like going from times BC to times AD. Until that moment, mankind is still under the curse of the law, but at the moment of telestai, a page turned in history and that period is now old news.
But the song is not over; there is yet another verse and a phrase in that verse is yanked from the pages of the news papers. Remember, this song was written in 1976. What was happening then? The Viet Nam War was finally over, but something remained. There were many POWs who were not yet “come home.” Some never would. Gaither alludes to that fact in the phrase, “not all prisoners’ of war had come home.”
“Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn't know that the war had been won
Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free.”
The difference, though Gaither tells us is that the battlefield is not the Mekong Delta or the DMZ or the killing fields of Cambodia, but in our own minds. And the enemy, that Great Satan, has not told us that the war is over. He continues to delude us into thinking that we have to continue to fight the battle. But that is not the case. Second Chronicles 20:15-17 tells us the “battle is the Lords.” And it has been won. It is ours for the claiming, letting go of ourselves and accepting it – accepting Him and His sacrifice, and when we do, we can say, “and now, praise his name, I am free.”
Telestai!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The Miracle of the Cross
Today is a special day – Palm Sunday. Next week, Easter, we focus on the miracle of Jesus’ Resurrection. For Christians, that’s an easy miracle to spot – on the third day, through the miraculous power of God, Jesus was raised from the dead in an immortal body. Hallelujah!
However, this Palm Sunday, we focus on another miracle, a more subtle miracle, a quieter miracle, suggested by a sermon by Michael Card, the co-writer of last weeks’ piece, “El-Shaddai” – the miracle of the Cross. Our focus on this miracle is highlighted by the song brought today by McKayla Medders, “Ten Thousand Angels Cried.” This piece, written by David Patillo, a singer, musician and songwriter, and recorded by Lee Ann Rhymes goes in part like this:
Stillness filled the Heavens, on Crucifixion day.
Some say it rained, I don't know if it's true.
Well, I can just imagine if ten thousand angels cried,
That would seem like rain to me and you.
The angels all stood ready to take Him from the tree
They waited for the words from His voice.
And when He asked the Father 'Why has Thou forsake Me?'
They watched the Savior die of His own choice.
I've never seen ten thousand angels cry
But I'm sure they did
As they stood by
And watched the Savior die.
Have you figured out yet what the miracle of the cross is? It’s not at all anything Jesus did – it’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t come down off the cross. The older song on the same subject, “Ten Thousand Angels,” says, “He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free” – He could have, He was and is God incarnate, Immanuel, God with us – but He didn’t. Instead, He died. What a miracle that Jesus would die for you – for me.
Our song today suggests the scene in Heaven as the angels, amassed in dread array, swords drawn and awaiting the trumpet sound to descend – wait . . . and wait. The call doesn’t come, the trumpet doesn’t sound. Eventually, the angels understand and they are so saddened that their King is dying begin to cry. Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33 and Luke 23:44 tell us that an eerie 3-hour darkness fell on the Earth. Perhaps it rained, we don’t know; but it was as dark as the darkest thunderstorm. Perhaps, just perhaps, that thunderstorm was the tears of ten thousand angels.
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