O Come, O Come Emmanuel! 2

Second Sunday in Advent

Year B

December 4, 2011

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13from BCP

2 Peter 3:8-15

Mark 1:1-8

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

Redeem thy captive Israel,

That into exile drear has gone

Far from the face of God’s dear son

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

~~

O Come, thou branch of jesse, draw

The quarry from the lion’s claw;

From the dread caverns of the grave,

from nether hell, thy people save

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

            The second verse of the 15^th century French carol, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, will be sung from the loft of Grace Anglican Church in Boise this week.

            As is the case with several carols and hymns for Advent and Christmas in current common use, our opening hymn, Hark, a Thrilling Voice is Sounding has gained greater acceptance and use in American Churches through the recordings  of Advent lessons and Carols by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge.  This hymn is found in two tenth-century sources.  In Roman use it is assigned to Lauds (3 AM morning services, often combined with Prime or Morning Prayer) during Advent. 

            O Day of God, Draw Nigh will be the hymn surrounding the reading of the Gospel.  The words were composed and contributed by R.B. Y. Scott for a hymn sheet of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order in 1937.  In view of its expressed hope for peace and justice on the verge of a cataclysmic Second World War, it gained inclusion in hymnals under the General Hymns in the section, “Social Religion” under the subsection “War and peace”.  The text of the hymn is calling for Christians to pray for God’s promise to “…..make all things new”.

At the Offertory, the choir accompanied by the organ and piccolo, will sing, Comfort, Comfort Ye My People by John Ferguson, an organist, composer and teacher. 

A small church choir in the loft: http://youtu.be/jqhJEO7n8qM 

            Gretchen Ediger, flute and Pat O Neil will play the familiar piece from Handel’s Messiah, Come Unto Him and He Shall Feed His Flock during Eucharist.  Again, looking forward to Christ’s coming as predicted in Isaiah 40. 

            On Jordan’s Banks the Baptists Cry, our recessional hymn is one of the most widely used of the Advent hymns.  This is because it was one of the few texts in the hymnal related to the ministry of John the Baptist and the Baptism of our Lord. The Gospel reading will make that connection.  The original Latin text was a hymn, again, for Lauds during Advent.  It was published in 1763 in the Paris breviary by Charles Coffin. 

            What is the wilderness that John the Baptist refers to? 

            It is the wilderness of solitude, making time to be in contemplative prayer so that we may deepen our awareness of God’s presence in everything, of Christ’s boundless compassion and mercy, and of the surprising, ever-changing and life-renewing movements of the Holy Spirit. 

            It is the wilderness of attachments, where we find the spiritual reserves to break the chains that keep us in bondage to idols such as money, material goods, power and fame.

            And it is the wilderness of that music which springs from God’s own heart, pure in expression, filled with love and free of prideful affectations.  Let us cultivate this music and convey it’s truth.

                                    O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

Sources:

Wikipedia.com

Augsberg Press

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Deacon Ron Jutzy

One Minute Devotions

English Hymns and Hymn Writers

YouTube.com