Announcement to shepherds

8Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9The Lord's angel stood before them, the Lord's glory shone around them, and they were terrified. 10The angel said, "Don't be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you--wonderful, joyous news for all people.11Your savior is born today in David's city. He is Christ the Lord.12This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger."13Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14"Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors." 15When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go right now to Bethlehem and see what's happened. Let's confirm what the Lord has revealed to us."16They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

Luke 2:8-16, CEB Common English with Apocrypha

I was looking at this passage from the Nativity narrative in Luke, a reading that has become so familiar to us.  Maybe too familiar.  How many times have we watched Linus reciting the passage for Charlie Brown and his friends?  How many Christmas cards have we received with beautiful (or not so beautiful) artists' representations of this event?  How many Christmas pageants have dressed the kids up to represent the shepherds, and Mary, and Joseph, and maybe even the donkeys or sheep?  It is too easy for the whole thing to become quite unreal, like a fairy tale populated by dragons and pixies. I'm not sure, but as soon as someone even mentions the word "shepherd,' I think of the picture perfect representations of shepherds I've seen in a hundred different manger scenes.  I don't think about the reality of what an actual shepherd's life and work must have been like.  I sing "Gloria in excelsis Deo," and I don't think about how horrifying, how shocking it would be to have "a great assembly of heavenly forces" suddenly appear on the scene.  And I can't for the life of me picture what would be going through someone's head, when he ran to see a baby that had been described by angels.  Would he arrive to find a softly glowing scene, as we see on so many Christmas cards, or would the reality be far more squalid?

My point, if there is one, is that the cultural distance between us and the events that we recite every year around this time often seems to be almost impossible to overcome.  Not that I think we should abandon our celebrations of the Christmas Story.  But I think, perhaps, we should always attempt to discover the real humanity at the heart of this amazing, unbelievable tale.  For it is unbelievable, isn't it?  It doesn't make much sense at all.  Matthew and Luke's stories are almost completely different, and years later, when Jesus is roaming the countryside, preaching and healing, no one ever mentions the amazing things that happened when he was born.  Take out the infancy narratives, and you still have the story of Jesus' life and work.  In fact, take out the infancy narratives, and you have the Gospel According to St. Mark.  The beginning of the story, that we celebrate each year around Christmas time, is just that...a beginning.  But it's not the whole story, and not even the most crucial part of the story.  Just a thought.

Some readers of my blog may remember the battle I had with the Metro Codes Department a little while back, over the nasty duplex down the street from us.  (I appeared on the news and everything...)  Well, we received the wonderful Christmas gift this year of having the thing torn down.  Here's what it looked like a few days ago...

Matthew 2:1-3

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We've seen his star in the east, and we've come to honor him." When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him.

Common English Bible (2011-06-13). CEB Common English with Apocrypha

King Herod found the birth of the child who was being honored as the Messiah of the Jews to be a troubling thing.  And the people were "troubled with him."  I don't know if I had ever noticed this little phrase before.  But it made me think of the current economic crisis, for some reason.  Our government is certainly troubled, and during this season of rampant consumerism, we the people are troubled right along with them.  Perhaps I'm reaching here, but the fact remains, it's difficult to go through the Christmas season these days without considering the economic situation of the country, as well as my own economic situation.  After all, don't most of us go a little crazy during this season?  We buy so many things, we buy more food...we shop and shop and shop and SHOP.  And then the New Year arrives, and the bills arrive with it.

I realize King Herod's situation was most likely not any sort of economic problem.  But I think he did feel a loss of control over his political power base.  Or at least, he perceived a potential loss of control.  And isn't that exactly what we fear around the holiday season?  Will we get the right thing for a loved one?  Will that Christmas bonus come this year?  Will we have to return a bunch of stuff immediately after Christmas Day has come and gone?

And the thing is, we should be anticipating the arrival of Christmas with joy.  But I will tell you, I rarely feel that Christmas anticipation until somewhere around December 24th.  Before that, life is often too busy to really appreciate what's ahead.  Perhaps I'm too close to Herod's state of mind, and not close enough to the magi's way of thinking.

Amos 5:18-27

A statement of divine disgust

Doom to those who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or sought refuge in a house, rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. Isn't the day of the LORD darkness, not light; all dark with no brightness in it? I hate, I reject your festivals; I don't enjoy your joyous assemblies. If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food-- I won't be pleased; I won't even look at your offerings of well-fed animals. Take away the noise of your songs; I won't listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, house of  Israel? You will take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images, which you made for yourselves. Therefore, I will take you awaybeyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is the God of heavenly forces. (CEB)

This is the reading for today's date in the Lectionary.  It's an interesting passage to consider, especially in this Advent season.  We always say we are waiting during Advent.  Waiting for what?  Well, for Jesus to come.  The early apostles were waiting, too.  But they already knew Jesus; they were waiting for Him to come again.  Meanwhile, reading this passage, I have to wonder if the Day of the Lord spoken of in Amos would be anything like what people think.  I'm not going to get into End Times stuff, Left Behind and all that.  No, I'm wondering what it would be like if God decided to become incarnate again, right now.  Would it be wonderful or terrible?  Would we embrace Him, or reject Him, as we did the first time?  Would it be accompanied by trumpets, or silent like that night in Bethlehem two thousand years ago?

The passage above begins "Doom to those who desire the day of the LORD!"  (I guess that answers my "wonderful vs. terrible" question above.)  It would be all to easy to dismiss this kind of language, and lean on the (incorrect) idea that the Old Testament God is a God of wrath, and the New Testament God is a God of love.  It would be easy to say, "The prophet is talking about the end of days here, not a special visit from God to check up on us."  That may be true as well.  But I am suddenly reminded of Jesus' parable of the Sheep and the Goats, in which the goats seem to be so surprised that they are not immediately welcomed into the kingdom of God.  If God showed up now, tonight, and wanted to review my life and actions with me, would it be enjoyable?  I think not.  I think I would see the hundreds, or the thousands, of times I had not honored Him or not done His will.  I think I would see all of the myriad times I've ignored my neighbor in the name of my own interests.  I think it would be very difficult.  May we remember that as we wait through Advent.  May we make our lives a pleasing offering to the Lord, as we wait for his coming.

I won't be writing my thoughts on every single chorus of Handel's Messiah, but I would like to cover a few of the other really good ones in this post.

Why don't I begin with the ever popular "Hallelujah Chorus"?  Technically, this one belongs to the Easter portion of the Messiah.  In fact, when I performed the Messiah at a church I used to sing at, the director pointedly did not include the Hallelujah Chorus, and I'm pretty sure he got some complaints from parishioners who thought we had merely forgotten it.  It's become such a popular chorus on its own that many people cannot imagine a Christmas concert without it.  Here's the traditional text:

Isn't it interesting, just looking at the text, how very uninteresting it is without the wonderful music Handel wrote? Not a lot going on--the words need music to make them come alive!  Also, lots of people are surprised to find out that the text for the Hallelujah Chorus comes from the Book of Revelation.  Here are the two passages from which the text comes, as they appear in the Common English Bible (I have put the exact bits used in the chorus in bold print):

Rev. 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and always." (CEB)

Rev. 19: 6-16 

"6And I heard something that sounded like a huge crowd, like rushing water and powerful thunder. They said, "Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, exercised his royal power! 7Let us rejoice and celebrate, and give him the glory, for the wedding day of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8She was given fine, pure white linen to wear, for the fine linen is the saints' acts of justice." 9Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Favored are those who have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb." He said to me, "These are the true words of God."10Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said, "Don't do that! I'm a servant just like you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the witness of Jesus. Worship God! The witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!" Christ defeats the beast 11Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war justly. 12His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He wore a robe dyedl with blood, and his name was called the Word of God. 14Heaven's armies, wearing fine linen that was white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth comes a sharp sword that he will use to strike down the nations. He is the one who will rule them with an iron rod. And he is the one who will trample the winepress of the Almighty God's passionate anger. 16He has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords."

As you can see, Handel just uses snippets from the passages quoted above, but to such great effect.  It's one of the highlights of any performance of the work.

Another great moment in the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah is the chorus with the text quoted below:

Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows!
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Most Christians will recognize this text from Isaiah's Suffering Servant songs.  Handel's setting of the text is powerful in the extreme.  As the chorus sings the line "He was wounded for our transgressions..." you can hear the pain and suffering in all the interweaving dissonances and resolutions. And then "the chastisement of our peace" interrupts almost indignantly.  Beautiful.  Listen here to hear what I mean.

Here's the context, as it appears in the CEB:

It was certainly our sickness that he carried, and our sufferings that he bore, but we thought him afflicted, struck down by God and tormented. He was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed because of our crimes. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed. 

Pretty different, but almost as dramatic as the traditional text.  Is it any wonder that such a great percentage of Handel's work is pulled from the prophecies in Isaiah?  Indeed, perhaps one of the key pieces of our Western culture that has led to us viewing the Old Testament as a Christian document (rather than in its original Jewish context) is music like Handel's Messiah.  Handel, unlike Bach, was not primarily known in his time for his sacred works.  He was an extremely popular opera composer, and indeed, he recycled a few opera pieces in the Messiah. The inherent drama of passages like the one quoted above is likely part of what inspired Handel to compose his most famous work.  Nowadays, only hardcore opera fans of baroque opera are familiar with Handel's operas, but just about everyone is somewhat familiar with Messiah.

These couple blog posts of mine have been a very, very brief introduction to some of the text of Handel's Messiah.  Hopefully, some of my thoughts will inspire you to check out recordings of this great work.  There's definitely more to it than just the Hallelujah Chorus.  (If you've never heard it before, the Amen at the very end of the work will blow you away.)  There are so many ways to interact with Scripture in fresh ways: reading a new translation, studying visual works of art, and listening to great works of music based on passages of Scripture.  Once again, if there is an orchestra in your area doing Handel's piece, or parts of it, I encourage you to attend it this year.  Even better, find a Messiah sing-along.  Even if you don't read music that well, sitting amidst other singers is a great way to experience the grandeur of Handel's work.

As a member of the Nashville Symphony Chorus, Advent season is always the time of year in which we prepare for our annual performance of George Frederic Handel's famous piece, Messiah.  If you've never heard at least the "Christmas portions" of Messiah, do yourself a favor and attend a performance (or a sing-along) this season.  It's an amazing way to experience the cadences of the King James Bible, upon which most of Handel's texts were based.

In the context of the Common English Bible's blog tour, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the famous texts we sing in "King James English," and see how they sound in the more contemporary English of the CEB.  Here are a few of the texts that the chorus sings each year (I may blog several days on this subject):

"And the glory of the Lord"

Messiah libretto: "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.  And all flesh shall see it together.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

  CEB text: "The LORD's glory will appear, and all humanity will see it together; the LORD's mouth has commanded it." (Isaiah 40:5)

My thoughts: We see, of course, the more inclusive term "humanity," instead of the rather archaic-sounding "flesh."  I find it interesting to see "commanded it," instead of "spoken it."  (I also find the CEB's use of contractions refreshing: "the Lord's glory" and the "Lord's mouth.)

"And He shall purify"

Messiah libretto: "And he shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." 

CEB text: "He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. They will belong to the LORD, presenting a righteous offering." (Malachi 3:3)

My thoughts: This is one of my favorite choruses in the entire piece.  It's marvelously fun to sing, and it always amazes me how Handel was able to build such a wonderful chorus on such a small text.  The CEB uses Levites, quite appropriately, instead of sons of Levi, but otherwise, the text is pretty similar to the traditional text.  I do like "they will belong to the Lord" a lot.

"For unto us a child is born"

Messiah libretto: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.  And the government shall be upon his shoulder.  And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

CEB text: "A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and authority will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

My thoughts: This is one of the most beloved choruses in Handel's Messiah, with good reason.  It's really a treat: go, listen to it right now!  (Try this recording on Grooveshark...it's a little slow, but you can hear every note.)  The CEB text doesn't really tread any new ground here, other than using "authority" in place of "the government."  In fact, the CEB sounds downright traditional here.  Which isn't such a bad thing, I guess...

If you ever get a chance to participate in a Messiah sing-along, or if your church is large and prosperous enought to be able to perform the Messiah, I highly recommend the experience.  The text comes alive in through music, in a way that is difficult to achieve merely through reading.  

64:1If only you would tear open the heavens and come down! Mountains would quake before you 2like fire igniting brushwood or making water boil.  If you would make your name known to your enemies, the nations would tremble in your presence. 3When you accomplished wonders beyond all our expectations; when you came down, mountains quaked before you. 4From ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any god but you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him! 5You look after those who gladly do right; they will praise you for your ways. But you were angry when we sinned; you hid yourself when we did wrong. 6We have all become like the unclean; all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag. All of us wither like a leaf; our sins, like the wind, carry us away.7No one calls on your name; no one bothers to hold on to you, for you have hidden yourself from us, and have handed us over to our sin. 8But now, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand. 9Don't rage so fiercely, LORD; don't hold our sins against us forever, but gaze now on your people, all of us...

Common English Bible (2011-06-13). CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha

Before I begin blogging in earnest for the CEB blog tour (see my last post), I wanted to share a few thoughts about Advent and Christmas, and how they are interpreted in our modern consumer-driven culture.  A few things you should know, though:

• First, I have worked in retail for the past twenty years, and currently work part-time at a large department store in Nashville.  (Those who know me personally know which one it is, but I shan't name it here...)
• Second, I also work at a Methodist church as Music Director, and as part of my duties, I select hymns for worship, largely based on the Methodist liturgical calendar.
• Third, I was raised Lutheran, so I tend to gravitate towards a pretty traditional view of the liturgical calendar.  In other words, to me, Advent is Advent, and Christmas is Christmas, and "ne'er the twain shall meet."
• Fourth, due to the necessities of scheduling, I always schedule the Christmas cantata for my church choir on the Sunday before Christmas.  (This ends up conflicting with my third point above.)

How often I've heard someone say something like, "They play the Christmas music in the department stores earlier each year!"  Now, I'm not sure if this is actually true, but since I work in a department store, I can assure you that our store started the Christmas music some time early in November.  Growing up, my parents always had a strict rule that Christmas music was not to be played until the day AFTER Thanksgiving.  Right off the bat, if you read my bullet points above, you'll see that this rule has absolutely nothing to do with my own traditional understanding of the Advent season as it relates to the liturgical celebration of Christmas.  So, even though I (and many others) constantly decry the early commercial use of Christmas songs and carols, there is a considerable amount of variation in how most Christians celebrate Christmas, and when they celebrate it.

Every year at the church where I direct music, someone tells the pastor, "We should be singing more Christmas carols in December!"  This certainly blurs the difference between Advent and Christmas, and I have no doubt that it is the influence of the commercial version of Christmas that has caused many Christians to look at Advent as a sort of extension of the Christmas season.  This is why I often wonder if our "celebration" of Christmas has any connection whatsoever with the traditional liturgical observance of the Nativity.  All the trappings of the Christmas season, from the decorations in our homes to the music on the PA at the stores, have almost nothing to do with the religious observance of the "feast of Christmas."

I have to ask myself, does it really matter?  Do we really need to "put the Christ back in Christmas," or remind people that "Jesus is the reason for the season"?  (I can't help but think those slogans have a peculiarly commercial sort of ring to them.)  Appealing to Scripture doesn't really help too much, because the Bible doesn't seem to encourage any ritual observance of Jesus' birth.  I mean, the Nativity only made it into two of the four Gospels, and with a different narrative in each one.  Even our conflation of the two narratives into one "Christmas story" is a tradition that we've developed over the years.  You know, Linus's big speech in A Charlie Brown Christmas? "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night..." (KJV)  It's so engrained in our consciousness, that the CEB's more modern rendering sounds strange to our ears: "Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night." (CEB)  Sure, it means the same thing, but it doesn't sound like Christmas!

My whole point here, as far as I can figure out, is this: everyone has an idea of how they think Christmas should be celebrated.  Heck, even my Jewish boss at a place where I worked in Chicago many years ago demanded a Santa Claus for the big holiday sale!  Our cultural preconceptions and the actual content of our religious faith don't always have a lot to do with each other.  My desperately trying to maintaing the liturgical distinction between Advent and Christmas isn't really any more sensible, in a way, than the lady who snapped at me a few years back when I wished her a happy holiday, "You mean MERRY CHRISTMAS!"  (Well, actually, I still think that lady was really mean, and didn't represent either the commercial or the religious "spirit of Christmas" very well...)  It's pretty hard to remove our cultural glasses, and look at things with a fresh vision.  Do yourself a favor this Christmas season (or Advent, or whatever), and try reading the Advent and Christmas passages from a translation that is unfamiliar to you.  Come to think of it, you could try reading the Common English Bible.  Hint, hint...

Once again, I am participating in an Advent blog tour hosted by the good folks who brought us the Common English Bible (CEB).  I have discussed the CEB several times on this blog, and continue to interact with this new translation. 

The “Thank You – Come Again – I Promise” blog tour is a chance to explore a host of bloggers who have been invited to meditate on the Advent season, using the CEB as their common Bible text.  You can learn more about the tour at their official website.

The tour actually kicked off on November 20, but I will begin blogging in earnest this Sunday, on the first Sunday in Advent. I encourage readers of my blog to check out the many other excellent bloggers participating in the tour at the website linked above.  Also, I encourage you to LIKE one of the Facebook pages hosted by the CEB, LiveTheBible.  Liking the page will enable you to print out some beautiful calligraphy Bible verse pages.  

As always, thank you for reading.

[I received a free electronic copy of this book from the blogger program at booksneeze.com.]

I was interested in reading this biography of Tolkien for a few reasons, chief among them being that I have already read and reviewed a couple other bios from Thomas Nelson's "Christian Encounters" series, and have found them to be worthwhile, and that I used to be quite a big Tolkien fan in my youth.  I have never reached the level of fandom that some Lord of the Rings fans do, but I have read the LOTR trilogy a couple times in my life, and have read The Hobbit numerous times.

Looking back on my reading of Tolkien in my youth, it occurs to me that I used to (and imagine many modern American fantasy fans still do) sort of lump Tolkien in with all the other fantasy authors I read.  Terry Brooks, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Piers Anthony--they all seemed to be of the same type.  I always preferred Lewis above all the others, but I did keep coming back to The Hobbit.  LOTR was a little more problematic, as I started the trilogy several times, but always got bogged down about half way through the series. Indeed, I didn't finish the LOTR trilogy until I was in my twenties.  All of this exposition is to demonstrate that, although I was pretty familiar with C.S. Lewis's bio, J.R.R. Tolkien has always been a little bit of a mystery to me.  And most biographies of Tolkien that I've picked up in my life are extremely dry and academic in tone.  Not so this recent bio by Mark Horne.

Horne's Tolkien bio is a quick read, easy to digest in a single afternoon or two.  But it's all here: Tolkien's interest in languages, his friendship with Lewis, his academic career, and of course, the success of the Middle Earth tales, for which Tolkien has become so famous.  Tolkien's Roman Catholic Christian faith is explored, and its influence on his literary work.  It's quite clear from reading this bio that Tolkien is a million miles a way, philosophically speaking, from most modern fantasy authors.  Indeed, the fact that Tolkien was writing stories about hobbits, elves and orcs, is largely incidental to his interest in presenting the Elvish language and the history that informed it.  And, of course, the impact of his Christian faith on his work is impossible to overlook.

I was particularly interested in the amazing story of how the Middle Earth books became such big "hits."  It turns out to be a far more complex story than I would have guessed.  Not at all how I suppose a series like Rowling's Harry Potter series is achieved these days.  Without Tolkien though, I wonder how the fantasy market would look today.

I imagine that there are far more complete biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien out there, but I think Horne's bio is an excellent and reader-friendly place to begin.  His bibliographic info at the end of the book is a great source to lead the reader to more complete works.