joy – The Raynville Rambler

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.

O Rex Gentium: All nations of the world

group of people with diverse ages and ethnicities in church
Source : PNG Of People In Church

Today’s hymn from sing praise is to go with the 6^th Advent antiphon, ‘O rex gentium’ (‘O King of the peoples’) and is ‘All nations of the world’ by Edwin Le Grice, a new name to me among hymn-writers. It’s not specifically an Advent hymn, rather a setting of Psalm 100, which is one of the most joyful of all the psalms.

Its theme is finding joy in serving God. To put that into context, think of all that a ‘secular Christmas’ comprises, at least in ‘normal times’, although this year people are being more reflective as Covid-19 continues to take its toll on society. Buying and exchanging gifts more out of duty than love, watching whatever the TV companies choose to put forward as entertainment, putting up with our less lovely relations, and maybe eating rather more than is good for the digestion.

Such things, while not wrong in themselves, don’t usually lead to the sort of joy that the psalmist calls on the nations of the world to seek. Rather we are to serve God willingly, bringing every aspect of our lives to him in prayer, ‘approaching his courts with song’ (i.e. entering fully into worship as a pleasure and not a duty), and adoring him for his ‘gracious mercy, truth and love for evermore’. That needs to be at least part of our Christmas observance if it is to be truly joyful.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Kirche, Sydenham
Photo © Malc McDonald (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered’ by Fred Pratt Green. In the book it’s set to the tune Finlandia, but John wrote his own, perhaps more appropriate with its melancholic melody for the darkness that is in the lyrics.

The words are based on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who notably wrote his late theology from a prison camp. That is important background as we read or sing some of the words of the hymn: ‘hearts by their old foe tormented’, ‘evil days bring burdens hard to bear’, ‘bitter suffering, hard to understand’.

Fortunately we who sing this hymn now are not persecuted by fascists or tortured for our faith. But such things are still going on in the world, and increasingly so. As the crises now facing the world come together – climate change, overpopulation, increasing division between rich and poor, and increasing hatred between different racial or religious groups – who is to say that we might not end up there within the lifetime of those now living? In the meantime, we each have or own foes, burdens and suffering, however small in comparison, and we can have them in mind as we sing.

What makes Bonhoeffer’s words remarkable is the hope and faith that shine through the darkness. ‘Confidently waiting, come what may’ from the pen of a man knowing he would face execution is remarkable. ‘God … never fails to meet us each new day’ is a statement of faith in a life that survives death. If that seems unachievable, ‘trusting though with trembling’ is perhaps a more realistic aim. And the last verse asks ‘If once again, in this mixed world, you give us the joy we had … we shall … dedicate our lives to you alone’. We ask here not for a life free of suffering, but one in which Christian joy can be found amid its troubles.

Before the War, Bonheoffer had been the pastor of a German-speaking congregation in South London. The church illustrated above is the building that replaced his church that was destroyed in wartime bombing in 1944, even as he himself was imprisoned back home in Germany for his part in plotting the overthrow of the Nazi regime.

Come, sing the praise of Jesus / Come to me

The hymn I chose for 20 October (but didn’t have time to comment on yesterday) was ‘Come sing the praise of Jesus’ by Jack Winslow, who was an English priest (and looking him up he was at one time chaplain at Lee Abbey in Devon). But he set it to the well-known American tune ‘Battle hymn of the Republic’. John found a version in another book with five verses but I’m commenting on the Sing Praise version which only has three.

This is a joyful hymn as befits the stirring tune. We are invited to praise Jesus, in verse 1, for his wondrous birth and life lived for others. In verse 2 we rejoice in serving him ourselves, experiencing pardon for sin and healing for sorrow along the way; and in verse 3 we once again praise him, this time giving him glory as Lord of creation who guides all our ways and looking to the future when ‘the world shall be his empire’. Each verse ends with ‘for Jesus Christ is King’, followed by the chorus ‘Praise and glory be to Jesus… for Jesus Christ is King’.

Today’s song, in total contrast, was ‘Come to me’ by John Bell. It’s a short song to be sung repeatedly and reflectively. The words are simple and quoting Jesus: ‘Come to me, come to me, weak and heavy laden, trust in me, lean on me, I will give you rest’. They are among the Bible verses called the ‘comfortable words’ in the Book of Common Prayer at the invitation to communion, as we remember that Jesus welcomes anyone to his table who comes in faith, whatever their condition.

The ordained staff member who led our office prayers this week commented that we are in a period in the church year between the ‘creation season’ in September and ‘remembrance season’ in November, with nothing particular to focus on, and that the Covid restrictions of the last 18 months have left many people feeling somewhat despondent and some quite isolated. The colder, wetter, darker days of autumn also encourage a retreat from summer activity into a more restful and reflective pattern of life. We might not feel like singing joyfully, and if all we can manage is to sing or say quietly the ‘comfortable words’, that is absolutely fine. But Winslow’s hymn reminds us that even if there is no particular celebration in the church calendar, we are always part of the worldwide Church, and the time is always right to praise Jesus, who is at the heart of our faith, if we can bring ourselves to do so.

A week of worship

I’ve been on holiday for the last week without access to a computer, which is why there have been no posts this week – it’s too difficult to type much on a mobile phone. So here is a briefer commentary than usual on all this week’s hymns. I have been singing them all, as well as attending three very different worship services – communion in a parish church, Cathedral evensong, and harvest festival in a Baptist chapel. In all of them, music has played a key part, whether provided by a robed choir or a couple of guitarists – you can work out which is which.

Sunday 19 September

“Peace on earth to all your people”, a Scottish version of the canticle Gloria in Excelsis. See 12^th September for my previous comments on this canticle. The present version departs from the standard text in a few places, such as in verse 2 where it has “receive our song of praise” rather than “receive our prayer”; I’m not sure that’s a sensible change as the original is really a prayer for mercy. And in verse 3, “God in heaven” rather than more specifically “Christ in heaven”.

Monday 20 September

“Creating God, we bring our songs of praise” by Jan Berry and sung to the well known (sometimes over-used) tune ‘Woodlands’. The first verse addressed to the ‘creating God’ celebrates life, work, skill and joy. The second to the ‘forgiving God’ expresses sorrow for our anger, strife and emptiness. The third to the ‘redeeming God’ refers to the ‘fragile hope’ that he will make all things new, which is an honest acknowledgement that it does take a good deal of faith to hold on to that hope. The last verse addressed to the ‘renewing God’ looks to a future of harmony, peace, justice, dignity and pride – all the things that are often lacking in our earthly societies. Overall this is a good summary of what the Christian life is about.

Tuesday 21 September

“For the music of creation” by Shirley Murray. The first verse suggests that music is a sort of metaphor for creation, as it requires creativity in us. God is described as the ‘world’s composer’ and we as the ‘echoes of his voice’. The second verse lists various types of instrument, and different types of music – ‘simple melodies’, ‘hymns of longing and belonging’, ‘carols from a cheerful throat’, lullabies and love-songs. The music we make doesn’t have to be ‘religious’ to please God. The last verse refers to movement in worship – ‘hands that move and dancing feet’ – for the idea still sometimes found in Western churches that we have to stand up straight and immobile when singing in church probably seems weird to many Christians around the world for whom the whole body is used in worship.

Wednesday 22 September

“Earth’s fragile beauties we possess” by Robert Willis. John provided his own alternative tune to this one. The theme is life as pilgrimage. The first verse looks at the ways we should move through this life leaving as little impact as possible on those ‘fragile beauties’. The second looks at ‘earth’s human longings’ in grief, loss, famine, plaque and sword, referring to Christ’s cross as well as the story of Exodus, the archetypal pilgrimage. The last verse reminds us that we possess not only the beauties of earth but God’s own image, any deliberate damage to which was borne by Christ on the cross. This is a hymn for our times as people are realising too late the irreversible damage we have already done to this fragile world.

Thursday 23 September

“We give God thanks for those we knew” by Michael Perry, a hymn about healing and wholeness. It reminds us that Jesus came to bring healing through his love, and still does, but that we too should “dedicate our skills and time” to address the suffering around us.

Friday 24 September

“Maker of all whose word is life” by Elizabeth Cosnett. It’s a wedding hymn, addressing the Trinity: the Father as God of truth and faithfulness, Jesus the Son who knew earthly happiness, and though unmarried himself brought joy to the wedding guests when he turned water into wine, and the Holy Spirit as guide and bringer of steadfastness. The last verse reminds us that we need God’s grace to help us keep our wedding vows.

Sunday 26 September

The final song in this section, for the weekend of 25^th/26^th September, was a setting of “Holy, holy holy Lord” by Geoff Weaver. There’s probably not much to say about this short and familiar text, but John did suggest it was an appropriate response to the Old Testament reading about the dedication of Solomon’s Temple when the shekinah-glory of God filled the place.

As man and woman we were made

A church wedding.
Photographer John Dray / public domain

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “As man and woman we were made” by Brian Wren from the ‘wedding’ section of the hymn book. The hymn is set to the tune ‘Sussex carol’ which (coincidentally?) was also used for a hymn that Linda and I had at our wedding, “As two we love are wed today” by John Bell and Graham Maule.

The first verse references God the life-giver who made us all in his own image and brings people together with the potential to make new life (although that’s not true for all of us). Verse 2 praises Jesus who gave his life for love and in the sign of water changed to wine at a wedding demonstrated the joy that his presence can bring. Verse 3 reminds us that he rose again to new life, presenting this as a sign of the hope that should inform a couple during their times of difficulty.

The final verse makes no mention of God; but then, after the ceremonies of a religious wedding are over, I imagine few people do as the party begins. It’s a celebration of the sheer joy of two families coming together as a new family begins. “Then spread the table, clear the hall, and celebrate till day is done”. God, though unacknowledged, is there in the love and joy.

This is, of course, the ideal. We all know of marriages, even those sealed in church, that end in hatred and abuse; and it’s not unknown for the wedding celebration itself to descend into violence where family feuds are reignited with drink. No wonder that the hymn urges “let peace go deep between us all and joy be shared with everyone”. But those are the exceptions, and no reason for a couple not to make their vows to each other in the hope that the joy of the wedding day will lead to a life that is mainly happy, and for those who do have faith, the hope that any difficulties they experience can be overcome with God’s help.

Now with the strength of your Word

Today’s offering from Sing Praise is a short canticle or acclamation, “Now with the strength of your Word” by Fintan O’Carroll and Christopher Walker. It’s essentially the same as both “Father we praise you as Lord” on which I commented on 14 February, and “Now he is living, the Christ” (17 April), with the same ‘Celtic’ fourfold Alleluia as a refrain, but different words for the cantor’s verse. In this instance it is “Now with the strength of your Word, send us to be your disciples, to bring all the world to the joy of your Kingdom”.

The words are a reminder that the purpose of the Christian life is to share in Christ’s redemption of the world. How we do that is another question: while some have the gift of an evangelist or a charismatic personality, most of us struggle to find opportunities to share the good news in our daily life. But perhaps it isn’t just a matter of ‘telling people about Jesus’; the phrase ‘bring all the world to the joy of your kingdom’ reminds us that Jesus said he came not that we should conform to some uniform idea of perfection but that each in our own way should ‘live life in all its fulness’ while loving God and our neighbours. To bring others into that joyful life may mean just saying something that brings a smile to their face, or doing some act of kindness that relieves them of their burden for a short while.

See what a morning

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is a modern classic, “See what a morning” by Stuart Townend. It has a very catchy tune, assisted by a syncopated rhythm that suits the joyful theme. There is no separate chorus but each of the three verses has the same last line: “For he lives, Christ is risen from the dead!”

The first half of each of the first two verses set out some of the evidence for the resurrection from the Gospels: folded grave clothes, tomb filled with light (i.e. angels), the angels announcing that he is risen, Mary hearing Jesus speak her name. The rest is what follows from that evidence in terms of our Easter faith, described near the start as “the dawning of hope in Jerusalem”. God’s salvation plan, once “borne in pain, paid in sacrifice” is fulfilled as Christ lives. The voice of the risen Lord is “speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace”, but it also “spans the years … [and] will sound till he appears”, for the resurrection is a timeless event.

The last verse perhaps looks forward to the feast of the Ascension at the end of the forty days of Easter, with Christ now “one with the Father through the Spirit” and reigning as King. The final lines are a series of shouts of triumph making the most of the syncopations: “We are raised with him, death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered, we shall reign with him, for he lives, Christ is risen from the dead!” Though the Resurrection will keep theologians debating until Kingdom come, a congregational hymn like this keeps its theology short and punchy.

Jesus is risen, Alleluia!

Christians in Ihimbo, Tanzania
From the website of St Stephen’s Lutheran Church, WSP

There are no doubt several hymns or worship songs with this title, but the one I have chosen today from Sing Praise is John Bell’s translation of a Tanzanian song of praise. I love the simple and easily learnt melodies and harmonies of East African songs, coming from a part of the world where communal singing is still an essential part of life in a way that has been lost in most ‘developed’ countries.

African Christians also seem to have a joy in their faith that we have lost in an over-cautious and over-intellectualised Western religion. From the start, this hymn is full of the confidence and joy of the first Christians that Jesus is alive and worthy of praise. Just listen to some of the phrases in this song: “Come let us worship him, endlessly sing!”; “Blest are the hearts which for him rejoice”; “Go and tell others, Christ is alive”; “Let heaven echo, let the earth sing: Jesus is saviour of everything”; and the final line, “Therefore rejoice, obey and believe”. This hymn will truly send me into the day rejoicing.

We shall draw water joyfully

*Jesus and the Woman of Samaria,*
*painting by Henryk Siemiradzki*

Today’s Easter song from Sing Praise is “We shall draw water joyfully”. It’s one of those set for cantor and congregation, with the cantor’s line adapted slightly for each of the three acclamations.

These three cantor’s acclamations are based on Isaiah chapter 12, and express firstly confidence in God’s salvation, secondly the thanks due to him for his ‘mighty deeds’ and thirdly a psalm of praise to the Lord as we make his works known. Thanks and praise to God in response to his saving acts are a regular theme in the Hebrew scriptures and in Christian worship.

The chorus is to a tune that fits the words – fast, flowing and joyful as we sing “We shall draw water joyfully, singing joyfully, from the wellspring of salvation”. he chorus could just as easily be said to be based on Jesus’ own sayings about himself offering ‘living water’. The ‘water’ here is metaphorical and represents both something that meets the needs of our physical life (which of course is utterly dependent on H₂O) and also a spiritual refreshment contrasted with the insipid and sometimes dangerous forms of spiritual sustenance that this world offers us.