Celebrating our Salvation - Rector's Rambling for December 22, 24, 25, 2019

We now begin again our celebration of our Salvation through Jesus Christ.

Our time of preparation, the Season of Advent, bids us to get ready for the future.  During the four Sundays leading up to Christmas we try to take time away from the hectic bustle of the secular celebrations and preparations.  We do this by looking at God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promise to the people of the original Covent to send a Savior, as well as the preparation for the promise that Jesus will return again in glorious Majesty to judge the living and the dead.

This Advent, I got the chance to attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  Several of our current and former choir members were in the DSO choir that day to offer Handel’s sublime masterpiece to a full house of attendees.  It was wonderful.

Three things struck me while listening to this musical offering.  First, every word is Scripture.  Beginning with the Advent predictions of the coming of the Messiah, Handel follows along the Church of England lectionary through Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection, and then the continuation of his ministry through the Church.

Second, I wonder how many people now understand that in fact every word of Messiah is in fact Scripture.  We as a society are not as scripturally literate, and what used to be commonly held cultural norms that were based on what scripture says have been lost.  Sure, the Halleluiah Chorus is still well-known, but the rest of the piece is also Bible for our greater understanding.

And third, only the first of the three parts deal with Advent and Christmas.  Handel’s Messiah is popular this time of the year, but its message is not only timelessly eternal, but listening to it is a year-round opportunity to be renewed in the faith.

Advent and Christmas are the beginning of the story!  Now let us journey together through the rest of it.