Advent – The Raynville Rambler

Stick with Love: giving

Sermon for Bramley St Peter, 3 December 2022

Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 ; Luke 14:12-14

The congregation were first of all asked some questions, which set the scene for the rest of the talk…

What do the following have in common: the City of Aberdeen, the Royal School of Church Music, the Duchy of Lorraine, and the Greek Navy? Their patron saint is St Nicholas.
When is the feast day of St Nicholas? 6 December.
Who visited this church last weekend and has recently written a book that features St Nicholas? Bishop Arun. His book is titled “Stick with Love”
Here’s the last question, which may seem unrelated but isn’t, as we’ll see shortly. I read something recently about a woman who was criticised on social media for (quote) ‘only’ spending a hundred pounds on each of her children at Christmas. We don’t have children ourselves, and I’m a bit out of touch with these things. So, I looked online to find out the average amount that British parents do spend on each child? According to a recent survey, is it (a) £35, (b) £70, (c) £100 or (d) £190? Answer either (c) or (d): Median £100, Mean £190. In other words,the woman in the story was being criticised for being average, and that’s what commercial pressure does to us – it pushes up expectations.

Let’s draw those threads together. Arun’s book takes us through the season of Advent, which starts today, looking at a famous Christian each day to see what we can learn from them. Some are historical saints; others have become famous in our own time. Saint Nicholas appears of course on 6^th December. He was a real person, a Christian bishop in what is now Turkey about three hundred years after the time of Christ. Historically he was one of the most widely celebrated Christian saints of all time.

What he was most known for was his generosity to the poor. One famous story about him is that there was a man who had lost all of his money. The man could not afford proper dowries, that is wedding gifts, for his three daughters. This meant that they would remain single, unemployed, and living in poverty. Hearing of the girls’ problems, Nicholas decided to help them, but, bearing in mind Jesus’ advice to do good deeds in secret, he went to their house under the cover of darkness and threw a purse filled with gold coins through the window (windows didn’t have glass in them, in those days). The father could then afford for his daughters to be married. It was only later he found out where the money came from. (So now you know where we get the idea of hanging bags of gold coins on the Christmas tree!)

I think Nicholas may also have been motivated by what Jesus taught in today’s reading about being generous to those who can’t repay us, rather than giving only to those who we expect to give us a present in return. That’s something to bear in mind this Christmas. How do we decide who we give presents to, or what particular present to give?

Think particularly about gifts for children. Our motivation might be their pleasure – what are their hobbies and interests? It might be education – what books, toys or games will help them develop useful skills? It might be to develop talent, if they are into sports, arts or music. But there’s nothing wrong with adding something just for celebration – sweets or other food as a treat, for example.

This year, as the environmental crisis looms ever larger, more people are thinking not only of how their gifts might help the person who receives them, but also the human and environmental impact: where was that present made and who made it, how long will it last, and can the materials and packaging be recycled? Now’s not the time to go into this in detail, but you may want to look up A Rocha’s ‘twelve tips for a greener Christmas’ – the suggestions include cooking or buying a meal for that person who has everything, or a gift of your time.

But going back to the season of Advent, what we are really doing in this season is not just decorating our homes and wrapping presents to celebrate Christmas with our families, important though that is. Advent is about preparing our hearts to receive God’s greatest gift. Another question (clue in the title of the book!)

Final question: What is God’s greatest gift to us? His love!

God’s greatest gift to us is not measured in pounds (or if you must, it was about seven pounds, give or take). And like Nicholas’s gift of a wedding dowry, it was given at night, to a family in a poor home. God’s greatest gift is his welcoming, forgiving love, shown most clearly in coming among us as Jesus Christ: baby and man, teacher, healer, prophet, and through his death our Saviour and Lord. Look again at that reading from the letter to the Corinthians: six times in those seven verses Paul mentions Christ. Four of those times he is given his full title: Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was so important to Paul that his Christian hearers understood this. In calling Jesus ‘Christ’ we recognise that he is God as well as man, and in calling him ‘Lord’ we recognise that he has a claim on our lives.

St Nicholas understood this. Leaving aside the legends, we do know that he attended an international conference of bishops in his day that agreed the words of the Creed. Nicholas stood up strongly against those who said Jesus was only a man, and also those who said that being a Christian was just about being good. Nicholas knew that Jesus was also God in human flesh – as we sing in a well-known Christmas carol, “Very God, begotten, not created” – and that it is through his goodness, not our own, that we are saved.

Which brings us, at last, to the question of baptism. Mary and Jimmy have brought their children to be baptised, or christened, in recognition that Quin and Joy are indeed God’s gifts to their family. Unique gifts, each to be treasured for how they are, as God made them. They are christened in recognition that God gave his own son, Jesus, as his greatest gift to each one of us. Together as a family they pledge themselves to come to Christ, to turn to Christ for his guidance, and to follow Christ as part of his family, so that as the children grow, they can receive and grow the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit wants to give them.

What about the rest of us? Well, this Christmas, the best presents we can give to our children, or indeed anyone we care for, are our love and faith. As the Bishop titled his book, let’s ‘stick with love’. That is the most precious and lasting gift of all. If we offer presents as well, let’s choose those that reflect our love for God and family, and our care for the world he has given us. Thoughtful gifts that don’t cost the earth, or break the bank, or expect anything in return. But don’t forget the treats!

And finally, this Advent we’re hanging decorations on our tree each week as we mark the themes of the season. Today we have this one representing ‘GIVING’, with an icon of St Nicholas on the back.

Joy cannot wait

A sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent, St Peter’s Bramley.

The last two Sundays we have looked at hope and peace. This third Sunday of Advent we’re looking at the idea of Joy, and why that cannot wait. But in other Christian traditions, this is the week that the Church thinks about Mary the mother of Jesus, which is why our Gospel reading is part of her story. The two – the theme of joy and the story of Mary – are closely woven together.

One thing that strikes me is that whenever we meet Mary in the Bible she seems to be moving from one place to another. Her life, like that of Jesus himself, was one of constant movement. Or perhaps we should say of constant pilgrimage. And that’s a big difference.

You may think of pilgrimage as a group journeying to a holy place, such as Jerusalem, Rome, Compostela or Lindisfarne. But pilgrimage can also be a way of understanding our own walk with God through life, wherever he takes us. Let’s look at Mary’s pilgrimage, where she encountered difficulties, and also where she encountered joy.

*The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner.*

We first come across the young Mary in her home town of Nazareth when the angel tells her she will become pregnant with Jesus. At first she is puzzled, but quickly accepts it – “let it be to me according to your word”.

Immediately we come to Mary’s first journey. There’s no mention of her even telling Joseph of the pregnancy, instead we see her hurrying to visit her relative Elisabeth who is also expecting a miraculous baby. The word ‘joy’ may not be there in the text, but the idea is. C S Lewis, who called his autobiography ‘Surprised by Joy’, defines joy as a state in which “to have is to want, and to want is to have”. Expecting a son becomes, with joy, the reality of having him.

We can imagine, then, that Mary was bursting with joy and had to tell someone, someone who would perhaps understand her better than her fiancé would. ‘She went in haste’, it says – this joy, and this news, certainly could not wait!

When she reaches Elisabeth’s house, there isn’t even time to put the kettle on. “As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting”, says Elisabeth, “the baby in my womb leapt for joy”. Note that – even the unborn boy knew what was happening, and leapt for joy. Elisabeth herself cannot contain her joy – she was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed loudly “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled!”

Mary’s own song in return is full of confidence and joy. “My spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour … from now all generations will call me blessed”, as indeed we do, these words still said or sung at evening prayer every day.

*Zechariah and Elisabeth (anonymous artist)*

Shortly before Elisabeth’s baby is born, Mary goes home. We’ll come back to her in a minute. But what about Elisabeth’s husband Zechariah? He could tell his own story of an encounter with an angel who announces that their first son will be a great prophet called John. But he is struck with dumbness until the day of the child’s naming ceremony. Unlike Mary, he does have to wait to tell his story! His own joy is in tension with the inability to express it. Yet when his silence is ended, it says, his mouth is opened, his tongue freed and he began to praise God. Thus fulfilling that promise of Isaiah we heard from centuries earlier – “the tongue of the speechless shall sing for joy!” When a baby is born, joy cannot wait.

*Journey to Bethlehem (anonymous artist)*

Back to Mary. We all know the story of the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And this is where it gets hard. Unfortunately, one thing that could not wait was the census, and another was the imminent birth. It cannot have been an easy journey, several days by donkey in the winter or maybe early spring, with all the discomfort of late pregnancy. Is she feeling pleasure during the journey? Probably not.

Could she be feeling joyful, though? As we have seen, that is a different question. The anticipation of bringing the promised Messiah into the world may well have been more than enough to leave her with just the sort of inner peace and joy that allows someone to cope with life’s difficulties. In the words of the prophet Nehemiah, ‘the joy of the Lord is your strength’. And keeping her going too were Elisabeth’s words – “Blessed are you among women”.

And so to Bethlehem. For Mary, the discomfort of the stable and the pain of childbirth. And also the joy that all new parents feel when it’s over and the baby gives his first cry. But there is more to come…

After Mary’s unwanted pilgrimage to Jerusalem, it’s time for her to receive pilgrims from elsewhere. First the Shepherds. They have encountered the angel of the Lord out in the fields, who tells them of the new birth – “news of great joy for all people”. Watching the sheep could wait, this night, but going to see the Saviour could not. And after they have seen him, they again return into normal life ‘glorifying and praising God’. Their pilgrimage was short, but life-changing.

The visit of the Magi. Detail of stained glass window in All Saints, Langton Green (Kent)
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © John Salmon

Next come the magi, wise men, kings, whatever you call them. Their pilgrimage has been an even longer one across desert lands, with only a vague idea that they would find a new king in Judea. But this is enough to keep them going, until, when they reached the house, and – mark this – even before they entered it – they were ‘overwhelmed with joy’. This spiritual joy is the anticipation of meeting Jesus, even before they see him.

Then, finally for now, there is the dedication of Jesus in the Temple, when the old prophets Simeon and Anna are both filled with joy as their own long-held expectations are fulfilled in seeing the Christ-child.

Flight into Egypt. Clay sculpture in the Cappelle del Sacro Monte di Varallo (artist not named).
Photo by Mattana cc-by-sa 3.0

So Mary has travelled far in her own land, known both pain and joy, and Jesus is still a young child. But her pilgrimage is not over. There is the hurried escape to Egypt to flee persecution, and some years later an even longer journey back north to Nazareth. What keeps her going during those difficult years? Surely this: ‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’. It is the love of the Word of God, the memory of those times when we have encountered him, treasured in our hearts, that through our pilgrimage of life keeps us going with a quieter inner joy that is still strong enough to cope wherever our pilgrimage takes us. Joy, like gentleness and patience and other qualities, is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, something not restricted to the chosen few but a state of mind that we can all expect to grow out of our walk with God.

Let’s leave Mary with one more joyful scene, not found in the Bible but one we can deduce from experience: One of my friends, whose son had been something of a black sheep in his youth, and she hadn’t seen him for years, was startled one day to find him knocking on her door to present a grandson she hadn’t even known about. What joy there was then, and what joy there must have been in Mary’s old home when she and Joseph finally get back to Nazareth with Jesus, by then perhaps two or three years old. What would her own mother’s reaction be at seeing her daughter for the first time in years, safely returned home with her young grandson?

So the journey has come full circle: back to the family home, after a lengthy and eventful pilgrimage. Often God does that: he takes us away from the familiar, one way or another, in order to test us, gift us, bring us closer to him, and then bring us back as changed people, ready to serve him with joy.

And so, as you approach the mystery of the birth of Christ this year, whatever the difficulties you face on your pilgrimage at present, may you come into his presence with the spontaneous joy of Elisabeth, the awe-struck joy of the shepherds, the overwhelming joy of the magi, and the deep joy of Mary his mother. This is the joy that cannot wait. Amen.

Hope cannot wait

An Advent sermon for St Peter’s Bramley, Sunday 27 November 2022

Text: Isaiah 2:1-5

I was given the title for this sermon by our new Rector. For more details of the Tearfund project referred to here, see https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2022/06/turning-guns-into-garden-tools-in-the-drc or the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xCD6z3bAas

Advent is often presented as a time of waiting. But over the next four Sundays leading up to Christmas we’re looking at four of the great themes of Christianity as found in the book of Isaiah: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love – and why actually they cannot wait. We start today with the idea of ‘Hope’.

Hope can mean different things to different people. Some of you will know Sue Davey, a member of our congregation who can’t get to church these days. She recently put it like this:

“Without hope life really is hopeLESS. We need to have hope that things will work out in the end, that things will get better. That will be different for every one of us. Hope makes life worth living.”

The prophet Isaiah lived in troubled times like ours. Fewer people were worshiping God and doing what God wanted them to do. There was an increase in crime, leaders had become corrupt, the rich were getting richer and no-one was looking after the poor. In countries all around there was war, and sooner or later war would come even to his city of Jerusalem. The situation may well have seemed hopeless.

But through this book of Isaiah with all these troubles, there runs a thread of hope like a rainbow appearing out of a dark cloud. Isaiah had a vision from God. A vision of what God would do to bring hope out of despair. A vision, as we see in today’s reading, of God breaking into human life to end war and bring peace. This striking image of swords being beaten into ploughshares, that is, weapons becoming farming tools, is a picture of what can happen when we let God make that vision a reality. But what if someone decided to take it literally?

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the hardest places to live on Earth. Decades of war and violence have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of people from their homes. Tens of thousands of children have been recruited by armed gangs to fight.

The Christian development agency Tearfund has a partner organisation that seeks to take positive steps to work for peace and save these children from the physical and emotional harm of war. Last year, more than 3,300 children were rescued from armed groups.

As part of this project, the guns that came with them have been melted down and turned into gardening tools, to put Isaiah’s vision into practice. The outcome is a community that is less in fear of war, and that can better feed themselves. What can we learn from their example?

First of all, it was an ecumenical project. Not one, but many churches of different traditions got involved. Practical forms of mission like this bring Christians together on common ground to work for the good of the community.

But it was hard work. Rescuing children from armed gangs is highly risky. Melting down steel is very hot work; beating it into shape on an anvil as this pastor is doing is hard physical work. Using the tools, whether to dig an allotment or plough with oxen, is equally hard. When we work with God to bring a vision of hope into reality, it will mean hard work in one form or another.

What made it worth the hard work? It was the vision of peace and hope, the vision found throughout the Bible that God wants to redeem people from war, poverty and slavery and give them a hope that will last. it was an idea rooted in the love of Jesus and the hope that he brings. In the words of a Tearfund spokesperson:

“We cannot do what we do without the hope of Jesus.

We cannot do what we do without the power of Jesus.

We cannot do what we do without the love of Jesus.”

Those Congolese Christians realised that the vision of hope couldn’t wait for the fighting to end. They had to act even as war raged around them. As in Isaiah’s day, they heard the call to strive for justice and peace even in the face of the troubles around them.

It’s good to see what’s happening around the world. But Isaiah’s prophecy, although part of God’s plan for the world, was also for the people of his own city, Jerusalem. What might it mean for us, here and now, in Leeds?

Today’s reading also speaks of the ‘mountain of the Lord’s house’. Isaiah’s vision includes many people saying ‘come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’. This is a theme that appears throughout Isaiah and represents Jerusalem, a symbol of the whole Jewish people, but also the coming Kingdom of God. The people who worshipped God in the Temple had a calling to reach out to the surrounding nations and participate in bringing God’s peace and justice to those around them.

A few years ago I spoke in a sermon about the problem of loneliness in our society, which is one of the particular concerns of our own MP, Rachel Reeves. I quoted from another part of Isaiah’s vision, which also draws on that symbolism of the mountain of God. In chapter 25 it says “On this mountain, the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines”. That prophecy may point to the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and the communion service in which we remember that. The broken bread is the life of Christ, broken in order to be shared with everyone who needs it.

Just like turning arms into tools, the sharing of bread as a symbol of the sharing of the life of Christ, and the vision of a feast of rich food in God’s holy place, is one that can be acted out in the reality of people’s daily lives.

Along with other churches and charities in Bramley, we aim to bring some hope this Christmas to families who are struggling to afford food, by giving them a full Christmas dinner. In line with Isaiah’s vision of God’s feast – one of rich food and well-aged wine – we offer not just meat and veg, but all the trimmings, the crackers and the sweets to make the day enjoyable.

In sharing with our neighbours in this way, we want not only to feed them, but also bring the hope that comes from feeling part of a wider community and of participating in the joy of Christmas. If this is what hope looks like for the people of Bramley this Christmas time, hope cannot wait.

Amen.

O Emmanuel: When the King shall come again

Christ in Glory – detail of the East window at
St Andrew & St Mary, Stoke Rochford
Image © Julian P Guffogg and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence

The last of the Advent antiphons, on this eve of Christmas Eve, is ‘O Emmanuel’. In the best known hymn setting of the antiphons, this comes first, but in ancient traditions it’s the last. I haven’t been quoting the full text of these antiphons but I’ve just found a web page where you can see them all, in Latin and English (no doubt translations vary). The suggested translation of ‘O Emmanuel’ is “O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of the Nations and their Saviour, come to save us, O Lord our God”.

The hymn I picked to respond to it is ‘When the King shall come again’ by Christopher Idle, based on Isaiah chapter 35. This is one of many passages in Isaiah held by Christians to be prophesies of the Messsiah/Christ.

Following yesterday’s comment about finding joy in a religious observance of Christmas, this is also a prophecy, and hence a hymn, full of hope. In verse 1, the King comes in power, with life, joy and healing, to end the decay and frustrations of earthly life. Verse 2 is about new life blooming in the desert (symbolic of any situation where lie seems hopeless, dry and exhausting). Verse 3 calls the listener to ‘strengthen feeble hands and knees, fainting hearts be cheerful’. Why? Because God comes to heal all kinds of infirmities (something particularly associated with the ministry of Jesus). Finally, we read of God’s highway, a road (or path of life) where the dangers associated with travel in the ancient world such as lions and robbers are nowhere to be found and the traveller can journey on without fear and praising God.

Putting these ideas together we have something like the ‘Kingdom of God’ preached by Jesus: a world in which we trust in God’s power, live in hope, holistic in our minds and bodies, putting natural fears to one side, and looking towards our eternal home. There is always an uncertainty about which aspects of this eternal life we can expect to experience in this earthly life, and which will only be fully realised when Jesus returns in power, but they are two sides of the same coin.

O Oriens: People, look East!

Dawn over the Bay of Bengal
(c) Stephen Craven

I didn’t get round to blogging about a hymn on 21 December for the good reason that I was working during the day, and out most of the evening carol singing around the streets with neighbours (OK, and in the pub for a couple of drinks to warm up afterwards).

The hymn I picked for the 21^st, when the Advent antiphon was ‘O Oriens’, is the appropriately titled ‘People look east’. There is a well known hymn of that name, and that’s what I thought I had picked, but this is a total re-write of it by Martin Leckebusch to the same tune.

The phrase “People look east” is intended to suggest that as we look to the east awaiting the new light of dawn, so we look that way (which is also nominally the direction of Jerusalem as seen from Europe) as we wait for Christ to appear. The image above (not the first time I have used it this year) is a photo I took in southern India, where every day the dawn is celebrated in prayer by Christian, Muslim and Hindu alike.

Unlike the hymns and readings of the earlier part of Advent that seem to focus on our own sinfulness and the judgement that awaits the unrepentant, this one celebrates the good things we can expect when Christ returns. The first is enlightenment: ‘see a brighter day is dawning, rich with the visions long foretold’. The second is God’s welcome: ‘comfort enough for all our sorrows, justice shaping new tomorrows’, in which we are ‘freed to praise and serve the Lord’.

The third verse speaks of how the coming dawn will put dark fears to flight and clear the clouds of gloom. That is reminiscent of words from ‘Let all mortal flesh keep silence’, another great Advent hymn (not in the Sing Praise book). In one translation this is ‘As the light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away’.

In contrast to this vision of the triumphant Lord of Creation descending from heaven to execute justice on earth, the last verse focuses on the humanity of Jesus: ‘Born of our race, a child so small, hail the promised Lord of all! Nailed to a cross for our salvation’. Yet the last line takes us back to the future: ‘See, he comes in power to reign!’

There is a longing in our hearts

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘There is a longing in our hearts’ by Anne Quigley. It’s from the section headed ‘prayer’, but longing is one of the themes of Advent, and the chorus reflects this: ‘There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord, for you to reveal yourself to us. There is a longing in our hearts for love we only find in you, our God’.

The first three short verses cover various types and occasions of prayer, for others, ourselves and our relationship with God. We pray for ‘justice, freedom, mercy, wisdom, courage, healing and wholeness, and new life’. We pray in ‘sorrow, grief, weakness, fear, sickness and death’. Of course we can also pray in thankfulness and joy, but that isn’t the emphasis in this reflective season of the year. The last verse instead asks God to be light in our darkness.

The last line of all the verses is ‘be near, hear our prayer, O God’. Altogether, with its subdued melody, themes of longing and light in darkness, it’s a very suitable hymn for the season.

Word of Justice

Today’s song from Sing Praise is ‘Word of Justice’ by Bernadette Farrell. It is one of her ‘call and response’ type songs, a style favoured by her Roman Catholic tradition. The response of the congregation to each pair of calls is ‘Alleluia!’ and ‘Maranatha!’ (the latter meaning ‘O Lord, Come!).

The calls are relevant both to yesterday’s hymn and to the Advent season. Relevant to yesterday’s hymn because those seven sayings of Jesus from John’s Gospel are followed here by nine expressions of the Word (that Word which John tells us became flesh in Jesus). The first eight are Word of Justice / Mercy / Power / Freedom / Healing / Comfort / Gladness / Wisdom, each with a following invocation: Come to dwell here, Live among us, Live within us, Save your people, Heal our sorrow, Bring us hope now, Fill our hearts now, Come renew us. And finally ‘Word we long for, Word we thirst for’.

The words are carefully crafted with a logical progression: Justice, mercy and power are in God’s nature, always held in creative tension. Freedom, healing, comfort and hope are what the Messiah was prophesied to bring. And gladness and wisdom are the fruits of him living within us. So in this alone, the song has an Advent theme to us. This is reinforced with the last three calls which take up the titles used for Jesus in this season: Key of David, Son of Mary, Cry of Prophets, Hope of ages, Light of nations, Light in darkness.

Sing we of the Kingdom

Powerstock St Mary (Dorset)
© Derek Voller and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence

Today’s song from Sing Praise is ‘Sing we of the Kingdom’ by Peter Nardone. It’s similar to ‘Advent candles tell their story’ that we had on 5 December, in that there is one verse for each week of Advent. The themes are to an alternative sequence: instead of five themes of Kingdom-Prophets-John-Mary-Jesus, we have Kingdom-John-Mary-Jesus, with nothing specific to the Prophets and no fifth verse for Christmas Day. So all the New Testament characters are brought forward a week, as it were. Again, you could sing verse 1 each week with the appropriate specific verse added for each week.

After saying something about the specific characters (the Baptist’s mission, Mary’s lowliness and Jesus’ life and love), the last lines of each verse are the same: ‘Enable me truly to live my life for God’. I suppose this reminds us that Advent is a period of the year, like Lent, when reflection on the great themes of faith should leave us changed people, or at least with a renewed zeal as we celebrate the birth (or at Easter, Resurrection) of Jesus.

The tune, Powerstock, is by the same composer as the words and named after a village in Dorset (hence the title photo). I found it difficult to sing, with four sharps and some odd intervals. But the metre is unusual too, 11.11.6.6, and I couldn’t find another tune to match it in any of the hymn books on my shelf. Given the choice between these two hymns, I would use ‘Advent candles’.

Praise the One

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Praise the One who breaks the darkness’ by Rusty Edwards.

The hymn is all about Jesus, and is from the ‘General’ section of the book rather than ‘Advent’. I put it into this season because the opening lines, at least, seem appropriate: ‘Praise the One who breaks the darkness with a liberating light. Praise the One who frees the prisoners, turning blindness into sight’. The rest of the first verse recounts some of Jesus’ other miracles, all of which John the Baptist took as a sign that Jesus was indeed ‘the One who is to come’.

The word ‘One’, always capitalised, is what binds this hymn together. The second verse celebrates his powerful words (whether blessing children or driving out demons) and the well of living water that he promised in our hearts. The third verse is more theological (or even soteriological, if I have the right word) as it praises the One who is love incarnate, died and rose to save us by grace, and redeems us in glory. The final line is perhaps the only weakness in the words with a repetition: ‘Praise the One who makes us one’. The last word is to rhyme with ‘done’, so perhaps ‘Praise the Lord who makes us one’ would be better, or ‘Praise the One who is God’s Son’ which would keep the rhyme.

The hymn is copyrighted by an American publisher, and the name Rusty suggests an American writer. The tune ‘Nettleton’, also of American origin, is dated 1813, but the tune is much less staid than English hymn tunes of that era and together with the words makes a great song of praise. The tune was familiar as it is also used for the Iona song ‘We rejoice to be God’s chosen’.

O child of promise, come

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘O child of promise, come’ by James Quinn. It continues the Advent theme of calling on Christ to come and restore all things. The titles for Christ seem to be taken mainly if not entirely from the book of Isaiah that is widely used in Advent: Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, the Lord’s Servant, light to the gentiles, anointed one, Messiah; as are other phrases such as ‘Good tidings to the poor announce, proclaim God’s year of grace’ (v.3)

Two tunes are offered, neither of which was familiar, but both quite singable and broadly in the same style, though one is from the 18^th century and one from the 19^th. John chose to use the latter (‘Venice’).