December 21: Behold Your God
♫ Music:
Day 23 - Monday, December 21
Title: BEHOLD YOUR GOD
Scripture: Isaiah 40:9, 60:1
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Poetry:
Assured
by Alexander Posey
Be it dark; be it bright;
Be it pain; be it rest;
Be it wrong; be it right—
It must be for the best.
Some good must somewhere wait,
And sometime joy and pain
Must cease to alternate,
Or else we live in vain.
BEHOLD YOUR GOD
It’s been half a year since I moved to Portland, Oregon, to continue my vocation as a pastor. After saying goodbye to our beloved friends in the Biola community, we made our pilgrim way North. It was a tumultuous time to move, but we soon settled and learned how to live in our new city. New friends and neighbors were generous with advice, some helpful, some not. But as this long, grey winter begins, one tip has become law to me: when the sun comes out, you go out.
In these long, dark days the sun seems scarce, but not altogether absent. Even in the drizzliest days, the light will suddenly crack open the grey. And when it does, it is time to drop everything, go outside, and catch the beauty of this break. Sitting at my desk, I watch sunshine stream through the window and I bolt outside to a spot lit world. The light is thick and golden, spilling out onto a freshly-washed world. Even the charcoal clouds are transfigured, catching nimbus light.
This rhythm of cloud and sky has become a parable to me. The year has been a long, grey slog. With the threat of calamity, we battened down the hatches and watched the sun slip away. There have been moments of hope and reprieve, but only to be darkened once again by the winter sky.
In this weather-worn state, Isaiah is made bold by the Lord. The prophet is instructed to climb like the sunrise. From the peak, call out the good news: The Lord is beginning to shine! Call out to the ones who live under the long, dark shadow. Tell those weary ones to lift up their heads and look: the first rays of gold are piercing the sky.
Friends who are weary, hear Isaiah’s call. Now is the time for us to rub our eyes, blink, and look again at the new light. It is a posture that asks us to look up and away from ourselves, to see the one already shining. It is the posture we must adopt as we behold Ludger Hinse’s sculpture, Lichtkreuze. Suspended in sacred space, we look up and outside ourselves to see the light refracting through the colored acrylic and glass. And the longer we let our gaze rest, the light begins to breathe, pulsating through the prism as the sky shifts.
This act of holy gazing is the beginning of adoration. We hear Isaiah’s call to lift up our eyes to behold the Lord and find that we too, begin to shine. And so the prophet continues: you, too, must arise and shine. You, too, will refract the light that you see. You, too, will take the light of hope into your heart and begin to shine---even in the long winter night.
Weary ones of God: Behold! Even though all seems dark, there is a light that is shining. Just beyond the shadow, “some good must somewhere wait.” No matter the darkness, the light cannot be overcome. It cannot be extinguished. It is a small flame, holding steady as the sun prepares to rise. Can you see it?
Prayer:
Inhale: God’s light is shining
Exhale: On me even now
Chad Glazener
Biola Alum
Pastor of First Covenant Church
Portland, Oregon
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Lichtkreuze (Cross of Light)
Several different installation views
Ludger Hinse
2017
Coated acrylic glass
2 x 2 m
Hedwigs Cathedral (2018 Installation)
Berlin, Germany
Video of Cross Installation:
https://www.ludgerhinse.de/Videos_Kreuze/Lichtkreuze.html
In recent years, artist Ludger Hinse has dealt intensively with the symbol of the cross in his work. Working with the theme “Cross of Death - Cross of Life,” Hinse opens up the physical-aesthetic, political, and theological facets of cross symbolism. For the artist, the cross is a symbol of death and torture, redemption and resurrection, as well death and life. His projects seek to bring “the cross as a sign of signs” back into people's lives. Depending on the time of day and the incidence of light, his iridescent and colorized acrylic light crosses appear differently in each installation. Hinse comments that, “‘My crosses are dreams of a way to this different mode of being, they are signs of hope. They show us something that goes beyond death, they show us something of the coming world. They show us light and colours, abundance and joy: in that way they offer comfort.”
https://www.reform-magazine.co.uk/2019/06/art-in-focus-june-2019/
https://www.erzbistumberlin.de/medien/pressestelle/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/pressemeldung/
news-title/ein-jahr-lichtkreuz-im-erzbistum-berlinaktuell-zu-sehen-in-neuruppin-3829/
About the Artist:
Ludger Hinse (b. 1948) is a German artist who lives and works in Recklinghausen, Germany. Having had a varied career over the years as a civil servant, educator, chairman of a labor union, the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen Museum director, and the director of the Bochum Art Museum, Hinse now devotes himself full time to his art. From 2007 to 2009 he worked on the project The Cross with the Cross in which he organized 77 exhibitions in 21 cities. He considers the cross as a sign of peace and redemption, gratitude and humility, devotion to the hereafter, and memory of the here and now. Hinse pays special attention to perspectives and light lines, opening and compactness, corridors and seating, ornamentation, volume and stylistics in each installation environment in order to enhance the presentation of the crosses. The iridescent and colorized acrylic light crosses appear differently and shimmer in different shades of color depending on the time of day and the incidence of light.
http://heiliggeisthamm.de/was-ist-los/ruckblicke-und-berichte/projektkreuz/der-kunstler-ludger-hinse/
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludger_Hinse&prev=search&pto=aue
Music #1:
“His Kingdom Now Is Come (Behold! Behold!)” from the album Justice Songs
Lyrics:
The light shines in the darkness
And the darkness cannot overcome
Behold! Behold! His Kingdom now is come!
The valleys will be lifted
And the mountains will be brought down low
Hear the voice cry from the highway
Make way for the Prince of Peace
God of Justice, Righteous Judge
Behold! Behold! Behold!
Our Defender, Prince of Peace
Behold! Behold! Behold!
Father to the fatherless, Our Strong Deliverer
Behold! Behold! Behold!
There’s trouble in the water; we’re marching through
Performers:
The Porter’s Gate was founded to help worship leaders respond theologically to the pressing questions of our times through the writing of new worship songs and the creation of new liturgical resources. “We wanted to release as many songs as we were able to record for use by churches in a time where worship leaders are looking for songs and liturgical resources that give expression to the unusual and troubling circumstances of 2020 that our congregants and neighbors are experiencing,” explains co-founder Megan Wardell. Their latest two albums, Justice Songs and Lament Songs, were released in September of 2020. “We have been writing these songs for almost a year, at first as in-person songwriting retreats, and then remotely through email and zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic,” says co-founder Isaac Wardell, who also produced the albums. “Listeners will notice if you look at the songwriting credits that some of these songs have 5 or 6 authors. It was our intention to get a variety of people in the room, people from different backgrounds, at churches that worship very differently, interacting on these themes and scriptures of justice and lament.” This past July, a small group of musicians merged quarantine bubbles on a farm in Central Virginia to record the fruit of those songwriting sessions. Some collaborators are familiar from past projects: Liz Vice, Sandra McCracken, Latifah Alattas, Paul Zach, Jessica Fox, IAMSON, and John Swinton. There are also a few new faces including Matt Maher, Jon Guerra, Brian Nhira, and Taylor Leonhardt.
https://www.theportersgate.com/
Composers/Lyricists:
Brian Nhira, Isaac Wardell, Leslie Jordan, Lorenzo Baylor and Paul Zach
Brian Nhira is a singer/songwriter who is originally from Zimbabwe. When he was young, his parents worked as traveling pastors and traveled with Brian and his three siblings all over Oklahoma and Africa to work with their ministry, which is where Brian started singing. He attended Oral Roberts University where he served as a worship leader. Recently, Brian has gone back to Africa to work with his parents' ministry, Hope for All Nations, visiting impoverished children and orphans in Zimbabwe and Uganda.
https://www.nbc.com/the-voice/credits/credit/season-10/brian-nhira
Isaac Wardell is a record producer and composer who primarily writes sacred music. He is the director of Bifrost Arts, an ecumenical organization closely linked to the Presbyterian Church in America that produces written and recorded religious music and frequently performs at Christian universities and conferences. Wardell founded Bifrost Arts in 2008, "to enrich the Church and engage the world with beauty and truth through music beautiful enough that non-Christians are attracted to it." He is also currently the Director for Worship Arts at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
https://www.trinitycville.org/Isaac-Wardell
Leslie Jordan is a Tennessee native, worship leader, writer and songwriter. Jordan served on staff at Journey Church for ten years as a worship leader and, alongside David Leonard, formed the band All Sons & Daughters. From 2010-2018, All Sons & Daughters released one live album, five studio albums and one compilation. Their final release as a band, Poets & Saints, was Grammy Nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Album of 2016. Leslie currently serves as a staff-writer for Integrity Music Publishing. She spends most of her days co-writing with artists around the Nashville area. Leslie is passionate about social issues and is actively involved in her community as well as several local and global non-profit organizations. Three years ago, Leslie was given a vision to provide a safe place for writers & songwriters to find their original voice, which led to the development of a songwriting community and Nashville-based 501-C3 Non-Profit, The Fold. The Fold is the perfect marriage of her two passions: music and non-profit organizations.
https://www.weareworship.com/us/worship-leaders-2/leslie-jordan/
Lorenzo Baylor is a singer/songwriter and worship leader in Nashville, TN.
Paul Zach (b. 1986) is the Director of Worship at Portico Church, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. “I used to describe myself as having a pretty big allergy to a lot of church music. By that I mean I felt like a lot of songs were making me say things to God that I didn’t want to say, or didn’t believe, so I think early on I perhaps spent time writing songs and picking songs for the church with a real chip on my shoulder. But I’ve gotten over a lot of that now, and actually since working for a church I feel much more creatively fulfilled than I ever did touring with a rock band, I think there’s something fun about writing songs that are meant to be sung together and if people aren’t singing with you then you aren’t doing your job right. It’s grounded me in a different way that’s really helpful for me. I’ve found that through seasons of doubt and facing those fears, songwriting for me has actually been one of my main ways to commune with God.”
https://www.paulzachmusic.com/
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: 9. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion
Lyrics:
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
get thee up into the high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up,
be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God! Arise, shine;
for thy light is come,
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Alexander Lawrence Posey (1873–1908) was an American poet, humorist, journalist, and politician in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. He founded the Eufaula Indian Journal in 1901, the first Native American daily newspaper. For several years he published editorial letters known as the Fus Fixico Letters, written by a fictional figure who commented pointedly about the Muscogee Nation, Indian Territory, and United States politics during the period of the dissolution of tribal governments and communal lands. Posey died young, drowned while trying to cross the flooding North Canadian River in Oklahoma.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Posey
About the Devotion Author:
Chad Glazener
Pastor of First Covenant Church
Portland, Oregon
Chad Glazener, an alumnus of Biola and the Torrey Honors College, is a pastor and writer. He currently serves as lead pastor of First Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon. He is a beloved son of God, Rachel’s husband, and Maddie, Lucy, and Henri’s dad.