December 27: God's Servant: Light to the Gentiles
♫ Music:
Day 25 - Wednesday, December 27
Title: GOD’S SERVANT: LIGHT TO THE GENTILES
Scripture: Isaiah 49:1–7 (NKJV)|
“Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.” “And He said to me,‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’ ” “And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.”
Poetry & Poet:
“The Nativity”
by Christopher Harvey
UNFOLD thy face, unmaske thy ray,
Shine forth, bright Sunne, double the day.
Let no malignant misty fume,
Nor foggy vapour, once presume
To interpose thy perfect sight
This day, which makes us love thy light
For ever better, that we could
That blessèd object once behold,
Which is both the circumference,
And center of all excellence:
Or rather neither, but a treasure
Unconfinèd without measure,
Whose center and circumference,
Including all preheminence,
Excluding nothing but defect,
And infinite in each respect,
Is equally both here and there,
And now and then and every where,
And alwaies, one, himselfe, the same,
A beeing farre above a name.
Draw neer then, and freely poure
Forth all thy light into that houre,
Which was crownèd with his birth,
And made heaven envy earth.
Let not his birth-day clouded be,
By whom thou shinest, and we see.
LIGHT TO THE GENTILES
Recently, a partial solar eclipse was visible from my home in Southern California. I took a few moments with some friends amid some typical Saturday morning activities to try to “observe” it. Despite all the scientific explanations I learned as a child, there is always some latent unease at the momentary obscuring of the sun. Deep in my body I am conscious that every aspect of my life on earth depends on the light and heat of the sun, let alone its mass and gravity, and in some profound way, eclipses remind me that even the sun is not all powerful, not eternal. It is a creature like me, and there was a time before the sun gave its light, and there will be a time when its light will cease.
In Genesis, God’s creation of light precedes the creation of the sun and moon. “Let there be light” are the first recorded words of God, thus light and word are intertwined from the start. This intertwining places within the created order, and the lines of Genesis, twin signs that point to the eternal Son. The prologue to the Gospel of John, which fills Genesis 1 with meaning, pulls these images together in the way only poetry can. The incarnated Son of God is Word, Life, and Light in the matter of a few opening lines. Even when the present created order comes to ruin, Christ, the eternal Word, will continue to give and be Life and Light.
Many of the cosmic signs of the creation story create the patterns and the grammar of God’s subsequent revelation. Sin enters the world, and darkness takes up residence. Yet, in many crucial moments of God’s plan, his light literally appears in the darkness, though often to unexpected people in humble places. When Moses is living a life of settled exile, away from his people and the land of his childhood, YHWH manifests His presence as a fire on the horizon, a fire which burned without consuming fuel (like the light before the sun in Genesis 1). Poor speaking Moses would be sent as deliverer to the enslaved children of Israel.
Today’s reading from Isaiah reveals the breadth of God's redemption through his Servant. Naturally, the text returns to the image of light, linking the Messiah back to the creation (Genesis) and forward to Incarnation (John). Beyond all expectations, the Servant will bring light to the “ends of the earth.”
In Simon Huslein’s Nest One, a man-made “nest” of tree branches is woven into a sphere with electric lights. The “nest” was placed into a dying tree, and at sunset the switch was thrown. Nest One was placed in trees throughout Burgundy, making this man-made sign available to many throughout the region. The nest, symbolizing new life, is intertwined with an extravagant moment of colored light that bursts forth as the sun sets. The numerical facet of the work’s title suggests that there could be many more, in many more places. Nest One moves my thoughts to Moses suddenly encountering God in the countryside of Midian, its repeatability reminds me that Jesus of Nazareth, the Eternal Light, shines forth everywhere, always.
Prayer
And now in age I bud again,
After so many deaths I live and write;
I once more smell the dew and rain,
And relish versing. Oh my only light,
It cannot be
That I am he
On whom thy tempests fell all night.
––– from George Herbert
Jonathan Puls, M.F.A., M.A.
Chair of the Art Department
Associate Professor of Art History and Painting
Biola University
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 Art:
Nest One Light Installation (2 views)
Simon Husslein
2007
Branches, electronic equipment
1.6 m. x 1.6 m. x 1.6 m.
Installation at Espace Château DES
Burgundy, France
Photos by Simon Husslein
Nest One was an installation by German-born artist Simon Husslein, who describes the piece as a woven sphere glowing at sunset, with changing colors that symbolize new life planted into a dying tree.
About the Artist:
Simon Husslein is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Switzerland who develops products, immersive virtual reality installations, and spatial designs. Husslein studied industrial design at Darmstadt University of Applied Science and completed his master’s degree at the Royal College of Art in London, England. He has completed projects in Zurich, Tokyo, London, and Shanghai.
https://husslein.net/
About the Music #1:
“Troparion for the Nativity of Christ” (Single)
Lyrics #1:
Male Voice:
The Lord said unto my lord,
Sit down at my right hand
Until I make thy enemies the
Footstool of thy feet.
Chorus:
Thy Nativity of Christ our God
Has shown to the world
The light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worship the stars
Were taught by a star
To adore Thee.
The son of righteousness
And to know thee
The orient from on high
O Lord, Glory to Thee.
Male Voice:
A scepter of power
Shall the Lord send
Unto thee out of Zion.
Chorus:
Thy Nativity of Christ our God
Has shown to the world
The light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worship the stars
Were taught by a star
To adore Thee.
The son of righteousness
And to know thee
The orient from on high
O Lord, Glory to Thee.
Male Voice:
With Thee is dominion in
The day Thy power and the
Splendor of Thy saints.
Chorus:
Thy Nativity of Christ our God
Has shown to the world
The light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worship the stars
Were taught by a star
To adore Thee.
The son of righteousness
And to know thee.
The orient from on high,
O Lord, Glory to Thee!
About the Composers #1:
Nazo Zakkak is a composer who has committed his musical efforts to serving the Orthodox Church. While his music has been performed by the choirs of Archangel Voices, St. Vladimir Seminary, the Spirit of Orthodoxy, Benedict Sheehan, and the Society of St. Romanos the Melodist, his heart lies in the service of the average Orthodox parish. He has trained choirs, singers, and choral directors to help them dive deeper into the salvific and beautiful power of hymnography. His desire is to encourage congregational singing, guide choral leadership, and teach about the musical traditions of the Orthodox faith. Ultimately, the core of his service lies in creating simple yet beautiful music that will engage singers and laity alike. He is a professional pianist, choir director, and composer with a bachelor’s in jazz from SDSU and an M.F.A. in composition from UC Irvine.
https://www.nazozakkak.com/
About the Performers #1:
Choir: St Joseph the Betrothed, Houston, Texas with director Andrew Ghiz
About the Music #2:
The Light Has Come” (Single)
Lyrics #2:
Wonderful Counselor, mighty God among us,
Everlasting Father, Prince who rules in peace;
To us a Child is born, to us a Son is giv’n.
To those who walked in darkness,
The Light has come.
Son of God, Son of Man, Word of God incarnate,
Suffering Saviour, glorious risen Lord;
For God so loved the world, to us he gave His Son;
No more we walk in darkness,
The Light has come.(2x)
King of kings, Lord of lords, Son of God exalted,
Name above ev’ry name, Lamb upon the throne;
This King will come again, He is the Father’s Son;
No more a world in darkness –
The Light has come.
The Light has come.
Composer #2: Lyrics by Chick Yuill
Chick Yuill has spent over forty-five years in full-time ministry and church leadership. Most of this time has been devoted to leading and pastoring local congregations, both in the UK and the USA. He is a passionate communicator and has appeared on national radio and television in the UK, speaking on issues of faith and morality. He has been a regular speaker at major Christian conferences, at churches, venues, and conferences throughout the UK as well as in Canada, USA, South Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Europe. In all that time, writing has been an intrinsic part of his ministry. He has written extensively for several publishers on various aspects of Christian life, with a particular emphasis on what it means to be an authentic, whole-life follower of Jesus in the rapidly changing world of the twenty-first century. It is this passion to engage with the wider culture beyond the walls of the church that has stimulated his desire to write fiction. His motivation is to explore truth imaginatively and at a depth that only fiction allows, to do so from the perspective of a definite Christian worldview, and to do it in such a way that will allow both people of faith and readers with no definite faith commitment to engage with a well-told story.
https://instantapostle.com/author/yuill-chick/
About the Performers #2:
The Evans Family is a multigenerational family of singers and musicians whose passion is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with the gifting that he has given them—playing and singing to bless others and to teach people about the love of God. Together as a family they perform and sing music that will uplift and encourage people to have a closer walk with the Lord Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/@EvansFamily/about
About the Poetry and Poet:
Christopher Harvey (1597–1663) was an English clergyman and poet. Harvey was the author of The Synagogue, a series of devotional poems appended anonymously to the 1640 edition of George Herbert's The Temple.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Harvey_(poet)
About the Devotion Author:
Jonathan Puls, M.F.A., M.A.
Chair of the Art Department
Associate Professor of Art History and Painting
Biola University
Jonathan Puls (M.F.A., M.A.) is a family man, a painter, and sometimes a writer. He teaches drawing, painting, and art history courses in Biola’s Department of Art and currently serves as its chair. Jonathan enjoys working with young artists and supporting creative work of all kinds.