Last Sunday we moved from the usual practices of Ordinary Time into the new possibilities of a new year in Advent. We are all no doubt aware that this is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas-and for the ultimate coming again of Christ at the Last Day. And we know that peace is point at which we hope to arrive at the end of our waiting and watching. But the scriptural lessons we encounter during the Sundays of Advent make plain that this is not a season of passive, patient marking time; scripture shows us that the way to Bethlehem is challenging and disruptive. The wholeness that we hope for in our lives and in the world comes only through testing and struggle and sometimes painful growth.

    Last Sunday, as we considered what the Day of the Lord might mean for us, considering how we all must "account" for what we have done and not done, we were engaged in the beginning stages of preparation. This beginning, looking forward to Christmas, can be fueled by hope and the kind of eager expectation that we see in our children as this season progresses. It can also be tempered by self-examination as we consider what our "report" on ourselves might be.

    This Sunday our lessons show us that active waiting and preparation in Advent includes purification, "coming clean" about our failures and shortcomings and beginning the process "getting in shape" for the fulfillment of God's promises. The prophet Malachi proclaims that the Lord is sending a messenger to prepare the way before His coming; in Old Testament terms this may be Elijah; in terms of the New Covenant it may be John the Baptist. This messenger will be a purifier, getting God's people ready in the same way a metal worker uses fire to refine precious metal, or a textile worker cleans and whitens material.

    Indeed, John the Baptist does appear in our gospel reading. The word of God came to him in the wilderness, and he went through all of the region around the Jordan proclaiming that repentance was imperative for the forgiveness of sins. John was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, Luke writes, as his was the voice of "one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

    This Advent season we will need spiritual strength and courage so that we can open our hearts to be transformed by God's grace. In many small ways we can know every day God's presence, and we can see and feel the holy breaking into the mundane business of life. Through worship together-words, music, images, tastes, and aromas-God provides us with the awareness and the empowering that make us ready for His ultimate revealing. I hope you can be present in the Body this Sunday for that strengthening. Please also consider taking time to worship in the beauty of Advent Lessons and Carols this Sunday at 4 p.m., and enjoying some midday respite this Wednesday with Holy Communion at 11:30 a.m. in the chapel and music in the church at noon. These times of breaking out of your normal routine can be more rewarding than you know.

 

The Very Reverend Beverly Findley Gibson

Ph.D., Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral 

 

  There are two services this Sunday at the Cathedral, our regular morning Eucharist and the celebration of Advent Lessons and Carols at 4:00 p.m. I would encourage you to attend both, as there will be plenty of beautiful music and liturgy throughout the day. The morning service features favorite Advent pieces centering around the old German chorale, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland

(Savior of the nations, come). This tune is originally from the Erfurt Enchiridia of 1524, the second Lutheran Hymnal, and features lyrics of Martin Luther (1483-1546) after Ambrose of Milan (340-397). It is always amazing to me that some of our hymns have been with us in one form or the other almost from the beginning of Christianity. One interesting feature of the great Lutheran chorales is that their original intent wasn't expressly for congregational singing. Luther penned these pieces (often the words and music both) with didactic intent - they were intended to teach the people doctrine in a way that is easily remembered. In the beginning, these hymns were sung as solos or choral pieces. Certainly, the lyrics loose something in translation into English, but many of these chorales still form a large and important part of our modern hymn repertoire. Luther was most likely a genius, and he was certainly aware of literary devices and Classical literature since antiquity. His use of images and repetition, drawn from Ambrose's original, make for a memorable work, indeed. In the original, Ambrose writes, "Come, redeemer," but Luther, adding his characteristic fervor, writes, "Now come, Savior." A survey of a literal translation of the text (not the metrical one in our hymnal) makes its doctrinal, almost creedal nature more obvious. Consider the original fourth and fifth verses, printed below.

  Sunday's music will also feature two settings of this chorale tune by J. S. Bach (1685-1750). The first, an ornamented chorale-prelude, will serve as our prelude. Listen to the plodding, moving bass line referencing the Savior's footsteps. The second setting is our postlude, Bach's cantus firmus version of the chorale. Listen to the enthusiastic figurations of the manuals over a slow statement of the hymn tune in the pedal.

Christopher Powell

Organist and Choir Master