Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Come and see the shining hope that Christ’s apostle saw’ by Christopher Idle. It’s based on some of the scenes in the Book of Revelation, and set to an American tune ‘Marching through Georgia’. We sang it at our church on Advent Sunday to bring a stirring start to the season.
The contrast in the first verse is between ‘confusion on the earth, and in heaven an open door’. Confusion is indeed all around the earth as at the moment, what with uncertainties around the Covid pandemic and climate change, as well as wars and famines in many places – just the sort of thing Jesus said would have to happen before he comes again. The second verse is about the gifts that God gives, Jesus being the greatest of them, by which we can cope with these confusing times. The third verse returns the scene to heaven where the ‘mighty multitudes’ forever sing praise to God.
The last line of each verse is the same, effectively forming a bridge to the chorus: ‘Love has the victory for ever!’ The chorus with its repeated Amens celebrates justice being restored and ‘the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord’. The overall message is that whatever the confusion and challenges around us, at the same time there is another kingdom, which Jesus said is among us or within us, where all the world’s problems cease to exist.
The ‘open door’ of the first verse may perhaps be identified with Jesus who called himself ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’. The way into the heavenly kingdom. But he also warned that the way is narrow and few enter the door. So although Advent is full of hope, it’s also full of challenge. The message of repentance and of waiting in holiness goes hand in hand with the expectation of being among those restored to eternal life when Jesus finally returns.
We also sang it last Sunday, on the first Sunday of Advent, and I can find little to add to Stephen’s comments. He rightly highlights the refrain “Love has the victory for ever” which ties the whole thing together and makes it cohere. Maybe because of the tune the hymn is very well-known.
The “open door” is of course that of Revelation 4:1, and I think it is the backdrop to the top picture in the East Window at St Luke’s Church Eccleshill, before which Christ stands with the stars in his hand and the lampstands in front of him (Rev 1:12-16). (But others tell me I am reading too much into the picture.) But Stephen is right to ask how it relates to other scriptures, for the fact is that the picture-language of Revelation has always been simultaneously multifaceted and obscure.