Monday Morning Music Ministry

12-23-24

Merry Christmas!

In contemporary etiquette we seldom use the opening portion of the sentiment (“Have yourself a…”) or the closing portion (“… is my wish for you!”) or whatever. Unless mumbled in desultory fashion, as frequently it is, it suffices as seasonal sincerity. (Hmmm… and is “Happy New Year” actually meant to cover the entire year, or just New Year’s Eve celebrations?)

Well, this borders on inanity, but I have been thinking about the “Merry” part of the phrase. Our culture does generally regard Christmas as merry, happy, jolly, bright, warm, blissful, and full of cheer. Churches generally celebrate the holiday in similar moods. After all, we observe the birth of Jesus! The Lord God incarnate, God-with-us, the Only Begotten Son who became flesh and dwelt among us. After four weeks of Advent, the arrival of the Prince of Peace.

“Merry” can be an understatement!

I am not a party-pooper, but I believe we – the world in general and Christians, surely, in particular – should be aware of, and never forget, the “other side” of Christmas. We are partly seduced and neglectful of the full Christmas story. And I am not going on a curmudgeonly anti-tinsel-and-Hallmark rant. Whatever nudges us toward Merry is a good thing, especially these days.

The “census” obligation that had Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem from Nazareth, could not have been easy for a poor couple, especially young Mary, nine month pregnant. I have often wondered if their rejection from inns had anything to do with opprobrium over her condition – a pregnant unmarried girl (although betrothal was often regarded on a level with marriage among some Jews). I wonder whether an innkeeper said, “You two can go out back if you want.”

No room? Whatever; Scripture foretold of the Messiah’s humble birth. And that should make us grateful if not Merry – He came as one of us, most lowly, and not as the king He was.

Let us go back earlier than the Birth. Jesus’s arrival was not a “Here I come, ready or not!” event. It was not a surprise. It was prophesied in Scripture in many places and many ways. The manner and place. His lineage. And, eventually, even what He looked like and how He would suffer and die and be raised to life. The Wise Men knew how to find Him. And it was not only obscure, observant Jews who knew all this. The Roman authorities knew, and were afraid, and believed – not in the opportunity for their salvation, but believed in the threat that the Messiah might represent.

From that belief, even before Jesus was born, male babies were sought, and killed, in case one of them might be this Messiah. There were “birth pangs” throughout the land: the sighs and screams and crying of many mothers. It is known in history as the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”

The classic, beautiful old lullaby “Lully, Lullay” has a peaceful aspect to its tune. Sometimes we don’t listen to the words, or hear them in the original Old French tongue… but the song is really a lament of a mother whose baby has been slaughtered.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny child, Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny child, Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do, For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing, Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging, Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight, All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor child for Thee! And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing, Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

As Mary had birth pangs, which I believe she did, all of Palestine at that time endured emotional pain and much suffering too. Such social birth pangs, metaphorically, are not again spoken of in the Bible until the End Times.

Those creches and manger scenes we see on lawns and in parks, whether carved wood or plastic, are as colorful and antiseptic as the Baby Jesus’s manger was not. A manger, after all (the word derived from the Latin mandere, to chew, and close to the French and Italian words today, “to eat”) is not a cradle. It is where animals eat, so the Savior of mankind lay on straw likely amid bits of food, bugs, and spittle.

Mary, who was of course visited by an angel (and responded to conception by the Holy Spirit) knew much more than that she would bear the Savior of mankind. She knew her heritage… which included what students call eschatology: the future of the faithful; and End Times. I believe from the moment she rejoiced with her cousin Elizabeth (who carried John the Baptist) she knew that her Son would be the Paschal Lamb, that He would die for mankind’s sins.

And we can pause too at the mention of John the Baptist. When he preached in the wilderness, even he had a message about what would be called Christmas. He did not speak of get-togethers and joy, nor much that would be Merry. He bellowed: “Repent!!!”

Continuing in metaphors, we can imagine that when the Baby Jesus first opened his eyes, He might have beheld his parents and shepherds and various animals. It is plausible that He saw the Cross, too.

The Cross – His ministry, persecution, passion, and death – awaited Jesus. It is why He came to earth.

He came to die. And we, who deserve punishment and death for our sins and our transgressions against a Holy God, will live, for eternity, because of that Babe in the Manger. Let us appreciate more fully the overwhelming presence of God’s love, His plans for us, and the Greatest Present of All, that we should observe and celebrate at Christmastime. So…

Merry Christmas!

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Click: The Coventry Carol

12-25-22

As we have shared here, often, the birth of Jesus, His ministry and even His death and Resurrection, were not events that took place in a vacuum.

The ancestry of Mary and Joseph are delineated in the Gospels, generation by generation. Myriad prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus in so many aspects that would baffle statisticians. Hundreds of years before Bethlehem, the Book of Isaiah described things like the betrayals Jesus would suffer; even his physical appearance.

Whether from ignorance of Scripture or the Hallmarkization of our culture, a lot of us think that Mary looked up one evening and wondered “Who’s that angel?” Oh, she was surprised. She certainly was humbled. But… she knew Bible prophecy.

She knew that God had planned that a virgin would conceive in the City of David… that the Baby would be the Incarnation of God… that His purpose would be to serve as the Salvation of His people. His job description, we might say today.

And she knew – as she knew Bible prophecy so thoroughly; as did her betrothed, Joseph – that her baby Boy was destined to be the Servant King. And also the Man of Sorrows. She was humbled; she was full of joy; she knew there would be smiles, and tears. Perhaps the lot of all mothers. But Mary knew.

Her response to the angel, and with her cousin Elizabeth, has become known as The Magnificat. It is one of the Gospel’s tenderest and most profound passages, part of many liturgies and church music, including one of J S Bach’s foremost works.

My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden: For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.

For He that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is His Name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him, throughout all generations.

He hath showed strength with His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He, remembering His mercy, hath helped his servant Israel: As He promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, forever.

Mary knew, because she knew prophecy, because an angel had visited her, that her beautiful, innocent baby Boy would do great miracles; heal the sick; comfort the afflicted; indeed, save His people and be the Savior of humankind.

And she knew no less that her beautiful baby Boy would grow up to be despised and rejected; acquainted with grief; wounded, smitten, and whipped for the punishment sinners deserved; brought like a lamb to the slaughter; put to death with the wicked. Mary knew.

She rejoiced to be used of God in such a role. But how excruciating nonetheless to be a mother in all these moments. Mary knew.

So she prayed her Magnificat – “my soul doth magnify the Lord” – and she planned with Elizabeth the birth of their babies; and traveled with Joseph (again fulfilling prophecy) to the spot where Scripture said the Messiah would be born. Humankind’s Messiah. Her baby.

No room in the inn? We know the story. So humanity’s Savior was born in a manger. Once again, try to erase the greeting-card scenes from your mind. “Manger,” from the Latin “to eat,” is where the animals chomped their hay, and it is reasonable to assume that the Christ Child came into His world amidst a few bugs and some animal spittle. A little town, a crowded hotel, the backyard where cattle and sheep slept and ate. Mary thought she already knew “humble.”

But that evening, the rough manger piled with straw became a King-sized bed. Mary knew.

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Click Video Clip: Mary, Did You Know?

12-13-21

Certain holiday songs are appropriate on certain holidays, naturally; and others seem inappropriate at any other times of the year. “I’m Dreaming Of a White Christmas” might soon be labeled as Politically Incorrect, but in the meantime would be out of tune, so to speak, if sung in the middle of August. But… we always can dream.

Similarly odd, or anomalous, is the incidence of songs that are relevant at any time of the year but are relegated to one season only. Shoved into the storage closet, as it were. Handel’s The Messiah is an oratorio about the entire life of Jesus, from prophesies 700 years previous to His birth (in Isaiah) to His Incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and Ascension. Its performance is appropriate at any, and all, times during the year. But it is consigned to the Christmas season, and seldom heard otherwise, even in parts.

And some holiday music, church hymnody, shifts outside its logical boxes.

One of the most significant musical pieces (and indeed, sermon topic or cited prayer) is what has come to be called, from its Latin name, the Magnificat. It is the very simple, very brief prayer offered by Mary concerning one of the most profound events in the history of humankind: the Incarnation. God became man to dwell among us.

The angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she was chosen to to bear the Savior, who would be conceived as a miracle by the Holy Spirit. Overwhelmed, humbled, and full of Grace, she knew the prophesy that a virgin would conceive, and… her prayer was a reaction that the Messiah would be her son.

Her cousin Elizabeth, herself pregnant with the future John the Baptist, visited her. As recorded in the first chapter of Luke:

When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, [her] babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit… “As soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”

And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Many thoughts and blessings and lessons can be inspired by that simple but profound prayer. Imagine her thoughts… her humility… her responsibility… her coming sorrow (for she knew the whole of prophecy, from Scripture)… the favor of God Almighty.

One aspect we might note is how the unborn child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy at the mention of the coming Messiah. A lesson, surely, to those who deny the humanity of the unborn.

I mentioned the “shifting” days of observance in church and holiday music; surely Mary had nine months until the birth of Jesus; yet Advent, properly named for what is profitable to contemplate, is an appropriate time to think about the Magnificat – how Mary confessed that her soul “magnified” the Lord.

Just as deceptively simple but utterly profound – in a musical context – is the Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach. If you are not familiar with it, and if you have ever listened to Handel’s The Messiah, I really urge you to open the video performance linked below. Very much shorter than Handel’s oratorio – surely an “oasis” you can find amid holiday busyness – it is a miracle composed by the greatest of humankind’s music masters.

I devoted attention to its multiple aspects in my biography of Bach (who has been called “the Fifth Evangelist,” and, had he been Catholic, would have been declared a saint). And I spoke about this work at the magnificent 150-year-old St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Flint MI at their Bach Festival some years ago.

As a musical genius but also as a Bible scholar, Bach’s exegesis of Mary’s prayer, employing no other text, sometimes focuses on one word (e.g., “Magnificat”) or two; “Omnes Generationes” takes Mary’s awe-struck realization that “all generations” will call her blessed. Groups within the choir sing “all generations” over and over, high and low, over each other, in tender harmony… and one has the impression of the hosts of Heaven raining down praises.

Any mere description is unworthy: it must be heard. Bach composed it in 1723, shortly after his appointment to St Thomas Church in Leipzig. Our video features a performance in an old church, and on period instruments of Bach’s day.

May I suggest, in this Advent season, assisted by the supernal music of Johann Sebastian Bach, that we pause to contemplate the miracle – and God’s miracle plan – of this season. The Creator of the Universe emptied Himself to become human, to remind us that He knows our sorrows and joys and hurts and hopes; and that He offered this Son as a sacrifice against the price justly required for our rebellion and sins.

No, I don’t fully understand it either. But God is LOVE, after all.

And when I hear it, I leap for joy too.

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Click: Magnificat