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

First Sunday in Advent

Year B

November 27, 2011

Isaiah 64:1-9

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 from BCP

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37

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

            As has become our tradition at Grace Anglican Church, we will open our Advent Sundays with the above ancient call to worship, adding a verse each Sunday.  It is believed that this traditional music stems from a 15^th Century French processional for Franciscan nuns but it may also have 6^th Century Gregorian origins.  It is one of the most solemn of Advent hymns.

            Is Advent a time of somber yearning or one of joyful anticipation?  It is surely both, and our worship at Grace Anglican Church and our music reflect the duality.  We contemplate and celebrate both, the first and second Advents of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  We will sing for our opening processional hymn Charles Wesley’s

                                    Lo!  He comes with clouds descending…

                                    Alleluia!  Christ the Lord returns to reign.

                                                            “Lo!  He Comes with Clouds Descending”

            How Firm a Foundation will be the hymn we sing to surround the reading of the Gospel.  This hymn is chosen to highlight the reading of 1 Corinthians.  This hymn has been a favorite for over a century and a half….and has been sung to many different tunes.  The words were written by Charles Wesley and published as 14 six-line stanzas in John and Charles Wesley’s Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1742.

            Rejoice, Rejoice Believers our recessional hymn is paired with the Gospel reading of Mark.  This Advent text has been in the Hymnal since 1871.  It appears here with the Welsh hymn tune LLANGLOFFAN.  The text has been called one of the finest hymns written by Laurentius Laurenti, a leading hymn writer of the German Pietistic school and first published in 1700.  The  hymn has been suggested to be sung the First Sunday of Advent in Years A and B.  We are now entering Year B in our liturgical practice.  We sang this hymn recently when the Gospel reading was  the story of the Bridegroom approaching and the lamps of the virgins had no oil. 

The choir will sing the first two verses of  Remember, O Thou Man during the Offertory, calling us to remember God’s promise to send His Son to redeem the world.   The words and lyrics of this old Advent/Christmas carol were written by Thomas Ravenscroft ( 1592-1635).  He started his career as a chorister at Chichester Cathedral and then moved to London to serve in St. Paul’s Cathedral.  It was an exciting time in London as the Theatres were hugely popular and showing plays by such noted playwrights as William Shakespeare.  Ravenscroft grew to know many of the actors and writers of this era and wrote music to accompany some of the plays that were produced at the Globe Theatre.  Here is a link to the Advent verses:

                                                http://youtu.be/qGMoGOFQULU

During Advent at Grace Anglican Church we will strive to set a reflective mood during Eucharist.   Contemplate the Isaiah scripture and the somber words to the flute music from the loft of this familiar spiritual:

My Lord what a morning,

When the stars begin to fall.

1.     You’ll hear the sinner mourn,

2.     You’ll hear a sinner pray

3.     You’ll hear a Christian shout,

4.     You’ll hear a Christian sing,

To wake the nations underground!

Looking to my God’s right hand

When the stars begin to fall.

            “My Lord, What A Morning”

The season of Advent is a time to call to mind all the “comings” of God.  Jesus came and will come again.  He wants us to be a part of that new world, and He helps us and leads us on that journey to the kingdom.  When we are confident that Christ will come again we can live as if it has already taken place.  We are prepared when we live under the reign of God—even now before its fulfillment.

Do we prepare for Christ’s return by attempting to figure out when it will take place?  That would surely help us be better prepared.  No, we are told to be ready at all times for we do not and we cannot know the time of God’s choosing.  We are the “inter-Advent” people, those living between Jesus’ first and second coming.  Most people misunderstood or missed Him completely the first time.  Will we be ready the second time? 

Sources:

Wikipedia.com

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Tune My Heart to Sing

English Hymns and Hymn Writers

YouTube.com

New Year's Eve for Liturgical Christians

Pentecost 22, November 20, 2011

CHRIST THE KING

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Psalm 100 from BCP

Ephesians 1:15-23

Matthew 25:31-46

Traditional Collect

ALMIGHTY AND EVERLASTING GOD, whose will it is to restore all things in thy well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under His most gracious rule; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~

NEW YEAR’S EVE

The church year comes to a festive close this Sunday of Christ the King. It is the church’s “New Year’s Eve” when we try to sum up the past year and look forward to the next with new eyes and renewed hope.

The tradition of the church year in an Anglican church walks us through the life of Christ by bringing to the remembrance all that the Lord has done. It is simultaneously the life of the church and of each of its members, as well. For a Savior who was born, lived, and died on this earth knows our lives intimately. And a Savior who came back to life and grants the same to His followers is a story worth repeating.

And repeat it we do. Though different seasons and festivals highlight specific parts at different times, each time we worship we recount the story. Its familiarity is comforting; its repetition forms and builds up the community. And yet, it is ever new, for the Holy Spirit comes to each person as it will.

On a day called “Christ the King” we proclaim the glory of God as we are able. Boisterous music and full liturgical celebrations are ways we proclaim and experience the specialness of the festival. Psalm 100 and Jubilate, Jubilate Deo (Let Us Praise You) will be sung from the loft during Eucharist, carrying on the celebration of the King of Kings. The music for Jubilate is attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and arranged by Alan Bullard.

It would be easy to turn the whole day into a jubilant party—too easy, in fact. Fortunately, the gospel reading comes along to remind us of the rest of the story. It tells us of the nature of this King.

The recessional hymn, Lord Whose Love Through Humble Service was written in 1961 by Albert Bayly, a British Congregational minister, in response to an appeal by the Hymn Society of America. It is rich in scriptural references to the life, ministry and the suffering upon the cross of our Lord. It closely relates the life and mission of Jesus to the lives and responsibilities of contemporary Christians.

As much as we’d rather just tell of Christ’s glory, we realize that telling only part of the story is not telling the story at all. God’s message is of grace and judgment; Christ’s life was one of the cross and the crown; human life is made up of joy and sorrow.

The Sovereign has given orders to work, watch, wait and the grace and power to carry them out. Most importantly, He promises to remain with us through it all. Thomas Kelly’s classic hymn – our sequence hymn - celebrates this King’s solidarity with His subjects:

They suffer with their Lord below;

They reign with Him above;

Their profit and their joy to know

The mystery of His love.

         “The Head That Once Was Crowned”

Erik Routley says of this hymn, “…here is what is perhaps the finest of all hymns; Thomas Kelly has here comprehended the whole Gospel, and he tells the Good News and of the mysterious mercy by which we may lay hold on it.” Thomas was born July 13, 1769 (180 years and one day before my birthday), in Dublin, the son of an Irish court judge. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, to be a lawyer, he later changed to the Anglican ministry and became a most earnest evangelist, preaching “righteousness by faith” in spite of the prohibitions placed upon him by the archbishop. Refused entry into Anglican churches, he preached in unconsecrated buildings and finally left that communion and built a number of his own churches –with his own money. He died in Dublin on May 14, 1855.

God comes to us in both our suffering and in our celebrating to lead us through yet another year of grace—a year for telling and singing and living the gift of salvation.

Sources:


Wikipedia.com


Hymnal ’82 Companion


Companion to the SDA Hymnal


Deacon Ron Jutzy


Then Sings My Soul


A Treasury of Hymns


Tune My Heart to Sing


Hymns and Human Life, Routley


Use It or Lose it!

Pentecost 22, November 13, 2011

Judges 4:1-7

Psalm 123 from BCP

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

~~~

Use it or lose it

This Sunday’s gospel is Jesus’ parable of the talents. We will read of a wealthy man entrusting his worker with varying amounts of cash as he leaves on a trip and how they invest it-- or not.

Though “talents” here refers to money, Christians of every era have understood the connection to skills and abilities. There are many important lessons that we can learn from this parable. First of all, talents are not given so much as gifts but as loans. Repayment is assumed; interest is expected. Secondly, not all are given the same amount. We need not waste time worrying about or lamenting our portion; our time is best spent using and increasing what we have been given. Sharing is preferable to comparing. Lastly, those who make good use of their talents receive even more abilities and more opportunities altogether. Jesus has described for us the proverbial admonition, “use it or lose it.”

The people at Grace Anglican Church have many talents. We have been provided a wonderful arena in the church for our talents to be shared, invested and returned with dividends. We depend on each other, encourage each other, honor each other and pray for each other in our various ministries. As Anglicans we come together with our varied talents to mysteriously portray what God has loaned to each of us in worship to proclaim and praise the source and inspiration for all our gifts.

Rise Up Ye Saints of God, one of our hymns this Sunday and suggested to go with the parable of the talents. We are admonished in the hymn to:

“have done with lesser things

Give heart and soul and mind and strength

to serve the King of kings.”

The hymn by William P. Merril, was originally written as an urgent need of a brotherhood hymn. At a time when the brotherhood movement was strong in the Presbyterian Church, this hymn was a trumpet call to men to stand up and be counted for God with the opening words of, “Rise up, O men of God!” Some of us may recall singing those words. For reasons of inclusive language, certain changes have been made. In addition to the substitution of “ye saints” for “O men,” the concluding stanza included the phrase “As brothers of the Son of Man.” It now reads, “and quickened by the Spirit’s power.” Today this hymn is found in most mail-line American hymnals, giving it a strong ecumenical thrust.

Our service at GAC always opens with the Collect of the Day read by the priest after we sing the “Gloria”. You will always find it at the top of the insert page that has all the scriptures for that Sunday. Our clergy usually read it in contemporary language. Here is what it says this week in traditional language:

“Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that, by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou has given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

To go with this collect we will sing, O Christ the Word Incarnate, one of the best-known of all hymns for Holy Scripture. This hymn has been in the Hymnal since 1871. Again, there have been some alterations to clarify the misunderstanding of the use of “Word” as it appeared in the original first line of the text, “O Word of God Incarnate” meaning Christ, the Word Incarnate.

Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round will be the hymn we sing before and after the Gospel is read, but here corresponds to the New Testament reading in Thessalonians, encouraging us to “build up each other.” John W. Chadwick, an American poet, wrote the hymn for his graduation from Harvard Divinity School on June 19, 1864. Composed at a time when there was much anxiety concerning the outcome of America’s Civil War, the hymn is a call for unity, clearly articulated in st. 2, which begins: “We would be one in hatred of all wrong.”

The composer of the hymn tune, Song 1, was Orlando Gibbons. He was baptized Christmas Day, 1583, at St. Martin’s Church, Oxford. His father was one of the town musicians. Orlando was in King’s College Choir, Cambridge, at age 13, and in 1605 became organist of the Chapel Royal. He held that position for the rest of his life (20 years). He received the B. Mus. From Cambridge in 1606, and in 1622 the honorary D.Mus. was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford. Becoming organist at Westminster Abbey on 1623, he conducted the music for the funeral of King James I. Unfortunately, he fell ill and died at Canterbury Cathedral, June 5, 1625, at the early age of 41, and was buried there. His compositions include anthems, several services of worship, and a wealth of polyphonic choral music. Somehow, his hymn tunes were not appreciated until Ralph Vaughan Williams introduced them in the English Hymnal, 1906; this brought about their revival, which has lasted until the present time.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on the verses taken from Habakkuk 2:20. The original was composed in Greek as a Cherubic Hymn in the fourth Century AD. In modern times, the Ralph Vaughn Williams arrangement of a translation from the Greek by Gerard Moultrie to the tune of Picardy, a French medieval folk melody, popularized the hymn among Christian congregations that worship liturgically.

Below you will find a link to this beautiful piece as sung by the choir and orchestra of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch, New Zealand in June of 1999. The recent earthquake did tremendous damage to this magnificent cathedral. You will see pictures of the beautiful interior if you click on this link as you listen to the music:

http://youtu.be/ufb9_He0EPg

Here is an organ and English Horn playing it as well. Filmed in what looks to me like an ancient church in St Andrews, Kimbolton…just beautiful!

http://youtu.be/p-4nuLjkIPk

What a marvelous piece of work is each and every person God has created! As we see in just looking over the music we are privileged to use in our services at GAC, men and women throughout the ages have used their God given talents to provide His church with beauty in music. But we all have something important to contribute to the whole.

Do we want more talent? Then let us wisely and generously use what we have. We may discover that we already have more than we ever imagined.

What is your unique role? Are you using it?



Sources:

Wikipedia.com

Hymnal ’82 Companion

Companion to the SDA Hymnal

Deacon Ron Jutzy

Then Sings My Soul

A Treasury of Hymns

Tune My Heart to Sing

YouTube.com

Give Me Oil in My Lamp, Keep Me Burning....

Pentecost 21, November 6, 2011
1928 Book of Common Prayer Service
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7 from BCP
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
~~~


Give me oil in my lamp, keep my burning…

On this Sunday after All Soul’s/All Saint’s Days we come together to celebrate with believers of all time. Anglicans stress community, remaining intentional in worship, study and communion with each other as we prepare for the return of our Lord.

Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers will be the processional hymn this Sunday at Grace Anglican Church in Boise. Watching for the Lord to come is the subject of this hymn, based on Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins, our Gospel reading. This hymn has been in our Hymnal since 1871. It was first published by Laurentius Laurenti in his Evangelica Melodica, 1700, a collection of words and music for the entire Christian church year.

Lorenz Lorenzen was born June 8, 1660, in Schleswig (at that time a duchy ruled by Denmark). His father was a town burgess and loved music, so he saw to it that his son was musically educated. Lorenzen studied at the University of Rostock, where he changed his name to the Latin version, Lauarentius Laurenti. In 1684, at the age of 24, he became cantor and director of music at the Cathedral Church of Bremen, Germany, and held this position for 38 years until his death on May 29, 1722. He was 62 years old. Rather young, I must say.

The tune, LLANGLOFFAN is a melody from Hymnau a Thonau er Gwasanaeth yr Eglwys yng Nghymr (Hymns and Tunes for the service of the Church in Wales, edited by The Rev. Daniel Evans, rector of Corris). David Lewis was well known for collecting and arranging of old Welsh tunes. The resemblance between this tune and the English folk song “The Jolly Miller of Dee” has been noted.

Here is a link to that tune: http://ingeb.org/songs/millerof.mid

The New Testament reading of 1 Thessalonians is complimented by our sequence hymn, Jerusalem, My Happy Home. We will sing of all the saints being united to joyously welcome Jesus’ return to earth.
The author of this hymn was identified simply by the initials of F.B.P. This probably refers to Francis Baker, pater (or priest), a Roman Catholic imprisoned for his faith in the Tower of London during the sixteenth century. Some authorities state that the author was Father Laurence Anderton, who lived during the reign of King Charles I. A British Museum manuscript, which is undated but of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, gives a text of 26 four-line stanzas under the title “A Song Made by F.B.P. To the Tune of Diana.” The editors of Hymnal ’82 employ, respectively, stanzas 1, 12, 22, 23 combined with 25, and 6, slightly modified, of the “F. B. P.” version. This text has been in the Hymnal since 1865.

The music for this hymn is named LAND OF REST. It is to Ralph Vaughan Williams that musicians look with deep admiration for his matching of English Folk tunes with texts in the English Hymnal. A similar sense of gratitude is due Canon C. Winfred Douglas for his extensive use of American folk hymnody in the Hymnal ’40, of which this matching of a classic text with a beautiful American folk hymn tune is an example and a stroke of sheer genius. Perhaps this was paving the way for American Anglicans and British Anglicans to share in the rich tradition of Anglican hymnody.

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, again, a hymn reflecting the saints witnessing the final completion of the restoration with our Lord. The text, originally intended for the first Sunday of Advent, has been in the Hymnal since 1892, however it has a broad use for other Sundays as we match it here with Sunday’s Gospel reading in Matthew.

Psalm 78:1-7 and the anthem, Jubilate will be the music the singers in the loft present. Jubilate Deo (Let Us Praise You) is attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and arranged by Alan Bullard. It is correlated with the Old Testament reading, reflecting the command of Joshua to the people of Israel to serve and praise the Lord at all times.

Let us praise you,
Let us praise you,
Father, let us praise you,
We rejoice in you,
O Father,
Let us give you praise.
         Jubilate, Jubilate, Jubilate Deo


Remember the Sunday School song, “Give Me Oil In My Lamp, Keep Me Burning?” As we remember and honor all the souls and saints of the church now and all time….We are admonished to keep oil in our lamps. We refuel in our worship, reading the word and coming to the table to form disciples to share the gospel message in our community.

As we approach Advent, the tension rises in expectation of something we look forward to but “see through a glass darkly.” God has promised to be with us and to fill us, even in our waiting. May our prayer be,
“Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.”

Sources:
Hymnal ’82 Companion
Companion to the SDA Hymnal
Deacon Ron Jutzy
Then Sings My Soul
A Treasury of Hymns
Tune My Heart to Sing
YouTube.com