Messiah

My most favorite piece of Christian Art is George Frederick Handel’s Messiah. As an audio-visual learner, I engage with things I hear at a deep level and I remember things I hear exceptionally well.

I love Messiah because it fits well into more than one season in the Christian year. It’s most popular to hear Messiah around Christmas time, which is very fitting. But Messiah is a very powerful work for Easter time as well. I have always, even as a small child been attracted to how this work speaks into both events. Considering it theologically, Messiah makes a claim that Christmas and Easter are closely linked. I agree with that. As Ross Douthat wrote in the New York Times in response to the events in Newtown, CT, the cross looms over the stable. This is a good word for right now, and I think it’s a generally good way to remember Christmas. That this babe in cloths came into the world to redeem all creation, and that task will cost him his life. But the fact that the “Halleluiah” Chorus reminds us is that Christ didn’t stay dead. Christ rose again!

My two favorite parts are the beginning tenor piece from Isaiah 40:1-5. “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people sayeth your God, sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare, her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.” This is my favorite passage in the whole bible and the melody that Handel puts this powerful scripture to makes it perfect.

My second favorite is the ending, where for nearly 5 minutes the whole choir sings only one word, “Amen.” Not only is this artistically brilliant for an ending to any oratorio, but it creates an emotional vibe that confirms and supports what John writes many times earlier in Revelation, that these words are trustworthy and true.

Mostly, I love this work by Handel because to the emotional effect it has on me and so many other people. It is said that when this was first performed, the “Halleluiah” chorus came and the king of England jumped to his feet and stood at attention like he was a private in the army. Therefore, we all stand when this part comes. Any work of art that moves one who is arrogant as a human king to stand in pure respect is truly powerful and range and power of the feelings it wells up in me and my friends pared with the simple beauty of the music moves me more than any visual art.

Advent: Christ

Today we light the final candle on the Advent Wreath, the Christ Candle.

Most churches I know of light the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve, but this year is special because Christmas is on a Sunday. Traditionally the Christ Candle is lit on Christmas Day. We’re used to lighting it  the night before because that’s when we are all gathered together. But this year we get to gather on Christmas Day itself.

What can be said about the Christ Candle? What words can begin to describe the one for whom we light this candle? This candle burns for the one at whose name every knee will bow in Heaven, on Earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

To me, this candle burns the brightest of all the Advent candles because it is in Jesus Christ that the other four candles are fulfilled.

Jesus Christ is the promised one foretold by the prophets. He is the Messiah (משיח), the Christ (Χριστος). Jesus is the one Isaiah speaks of in chapter 9:6, “For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulders. And His name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Jesus Christ is also the fulfillment of our hopes. He is the one in whom our hope for a better tomorrow is rooted. He is the one who promised never to leave us. Jesus is the only one in whom we find the kind of intimate relationship we all long for so desperately. Only in Jesus do we find ourselves totally known, to the smallest detail, and absolutely loved beyond all we can fathom.

Second, Jesus is the fulfillment of Peace. It is He that bestows peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts. We know that in Jesus, God climbed down into our trenches and faces our battles with us. We know that we are not alone. We remember what He tells us, “In this world you will face tribulation. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.” We also know that one day He will return and all creation will be made new.

Third, Jesus is the fulfillment of Joy. It is Christ who walks with us through fire and bring us out alive on the other side. Jesus is the divine purpose in our lives that gives us a joy that is so much deeper and stronger than fleeting feelings of happiness. It is Him that we see when we look back on our past experiences and trials and realize that God was at work. Rightly did the angel say to the shepherds that first Christmas night, “Behold I bring good new of a GREAT JOY which will be for all the people.”

Finally, Jesus is the fulfillment of Love. It is the example of Christ that we look to in order to love others. It is in Jesus that we see proof that we are loved. In Christ crucified, we see love so immense that God went to the cross and died on our behalf to settle our accounts. Out of love God did what we could not in order to make things right us, God and one another. In Christ we see proactive love that didn’t wait for us to cry out for help or say we’re sorry. That love acted first and forgave us even before any of us now were ever born.

May the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love of Christ Jesus be with and yours this Christmas Day and forever; and may the light of Christ, the Light of the Word shine in your heart all the days of your life.

Merry Christmas.