November 29: In the Beginning
♫ Music:
WEEK ONE
November 29 - December 5
THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST
The incarnation is one of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Christians believe that God in Christ took on human flesh when He was born in Bethlehem. Without sin, God became man and walked among us. Yet, the meaning of Christmas, “God with us” is not fully realized until His resurrection. God manifest Himself in the form of a human to redeem mankind through suffering and death. By taking the sins of the world upon Himself and then conquering death through His resurrection, Christ offers eternal life to all those willing to embrace Him. The nativity and the resurrection are inextricably linked together in glorious compassion!
Sunday, November 29
Scripture: John 1:1-4 & 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
IN THE BEGINNING
Have you ever awakened in the night and groped in the darkness to find your way down a dark hallway—your hands carefully searching for the light switch? Have you noticed how spatial sense, balance, and even awareness of object location, become distorted without light to illumine your way? Have you ever arisen early and watched the morning sunrise? First, the darkness; then the light slips over the horizon. Colors emerge and soon your surroundings have transformed from lifeless darkness to light-filled beauty as creation emerges.
My husband Geoff and I enjoy the ocean surrounding Hawaii. When in sunlit shallow reef waters, we enjoy the vivid colors of tropical fish, such as Moorish idols, butterflyfishes, angelfish, and rainbow wrasses. But in deeper ocean depths, light diminishes—as does the color spectrum. Light illuminates the beauty of creation.
As you view You Do It To Me, embrace the vivid centrality of Jesus Christ, the light and hope of humanity. The dark blue hues, purples, and charcoal of the stained glass contrast with a rainbow of reds, oranges, yellows, greens—a reminder of His incarnation and promise. Jesus’ arms—the horizontal beam across the center—and his body—the vertical beam—simultaneously touch heaven and earth. He, the incarnation and the bridge, makes a way for humanity to be reconciled to its Creator and to each other. He was and is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End, our Light, our Hope, our Salvation. Artist John Petts’ gift of this memorial stained glass window, supported by the citizens of Wales, was given to 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. In the aftermath of a horrific, racially motivated crime that killed four young girls, the title You Do It To Me refers to Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats (Matt. 21:35-46). When we love others, we love Christ. When we sin against others, we sin against Christ. His light in us transforms everything. Without His light, we are bankrupt, lost, in utter darkness—his light diminished and unseen.
As you listen to "In The Beginning,” notice the contrasting sounds from dark and somber to bright and light. Music begins with baritone and bass before a high-pitched treble breaks in: light has come. You can hear it, see it, feel it. Soprano voices join, then rising tones and more instruments. Soon the crescendo of full orchestra and choir: creation is here. The light has come—He, the Song, bridging heaven and earth, the incarnation.
Advent: the one who was from the beginning, has come. Hope of humanity; light of the world.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, as we enter into this Advent season, we confess to You our brokenness and dependency. We confess to You our spiritual wanderings and distracted hearts. We confess to You the darkness of our souls without the rescue light of You, our Savior. “Create in us a clean heart” (Psalm 51:10) and a prayerful posture of dependence upon You, the living Word, light of humanity, Divine Initiator, filled with grace and truth. Illumine our way in this Advent season.
Amen.
June Hetzel, Dean of Education
About the Artist and Art
You Do It To Me
John Petts
Stained Glass
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama
John Petts (1914-1991) was born in London, but is widely known as a Welsh artist, recognized for his stained glass artwork as well as his engravings. You Do It To Me began in 1963 after Petts heard about the racially motivated bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The bombing resulted in the deaths of four young girls, ages 11-14. Petts created the piece in memoriam of the girls, but also as a bold artistic interpretation of these words spoken by Christ in Matthew 25:40: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Donated by the people of Wales, You Do It To Me was completed in 1964 and dedicated to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1965. It is one of Petts most famous stained glass works and is affectionately called The Wales Window.
About the Music
“In The Beginning Was The Word” (from Hodie)
Lyrics
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
And the Word was God. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
Full of grace and truth; Emmanuel, God with us.
Ring out, ye crystal spheres, once bless our human ears,
If ye have power to touch our senses so;
And let your silver chime, move in melodious time,
And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow;
And with your ninefold harmony, make up full consort to the angelic symphony.
Such music (as 'tis said) before was never made,
But when of old the sons of morning sung,
While the Creator great, his constellations set,
And the well-balanced world on hinges hung,
And cast the dark foundations deep,
And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep.
Yea, truth and justice then will down return to men,
Orbed in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing,
Mercy will sit between, throned in celestial sheen,
With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;
And heaven, as at some festival,
Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall.
About the Composer
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was a British composer. He was a pupil at the Royal College of Music, after which he studied with Max Bruch in Berlin and Maurice Ravel in Paris. His compositions range from film scores to operatic arrangements. His music is characterized as specifically English, sonically following along the lines of other English composers like Gustav Holst and Frederick Delius. His Christmas cantata, Hodie, composed between 1953 and 1954 at the age of 81, was Williams’ last major composition—and one of his most popular. The cantata, in 16 movements, is scored for soloists, chorus, boys’ choir, organ, and orchestra. Hodie represents a synthesis of Vaughan Williams’ entire artistic career, with elements taken from most periods of his creativity. It is a mixture of the sacred and secular, medieval and modern. In it, Vaughan Williams juxtaposes Scripture with the poetry of John Milton, Thomas Hardy, and his daughter, Ursula Vaughan Williams.
About the Performers
The Richard Hickox Singers were formed in 1971 by the prestigious and famed English conductor Richard Hickox (1948-2008). Hickox’s many accomplishments spoke to the breadth of his prodigious musical knowledge and ability. His conducting debut came in 1971 at St. John’s Smith Square. He went on to found a number of his own ensembles including the Richard Hickox Singers and the City of London Sinfonia. He was named Conductor Emeritus of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and was included on the Queen’s Jubilee Honor list.