Monday’s thoughts for the sermon for December 17th
Toys and Joys To The World
The worship theme for Sunday will center on the “Joy” of Christmas. My research will begin with an exploration of the Christmas Carol “Joy To The World”.
This song was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 98:4-9. The hymn proclaims the future establishment of God’s power on earth. The original first line was “Joy to the Earth” but “earth” was changed to “World” in the Methodist Hymnal in 1878.
Isaac Watts was born in England. He was the first of nine children and he received his early education in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He declined an opportunity to study for the Anglican priesthood and instead studied theology and philosophy and became ordained and became pastor of Mark Lane Independent Chapel in London. Because of failing health he retired early in life and spent his later years writing philosophical and theological books, among them Logic. His book was used at Oxford for many years. He wrote 600 hymns and the two best known are “O God Our Help In Ages Past”, and Joy To The World”.
There is joy in the season of Advent. It comes through the wait for the arrival of Christmas, but it also has its roots in the realities of what comes to us as we wait. If we assume that arrival is what Advent points to and we aim for Christmas as our destination, we will miss the arrivals that happen in the waiting; we will miss the joy that comes each day.
What are the joys of Advent?
1. The smiles on the faces of children
2. The searching out for the right thing to give the right person knowing that the thought is more important than the gift
3. The beautiful music of Advent/Christmas
4. The reawakening of magic in a world that is so matter of fact that it misses some of the most important facts
What are your joys at Advent?
What are your joys in Christmas?
One of my convictions for worship is something I’ve acted upon every year I’ve been a pastor is the singing of Christmas carols during Advent. Some see this as premature. Some would argue we ought to be singing Advent hymns during Advent and save the Christmas carols for Christmas and Epiphany(the season after Christmas in January). I like to sing the familiar carols at Advent because they put is into a framework of expectation more effectively than the very dour Advent hymns that reflect a protracted agony of fear and expectation.
What do you think about this? Do you like singing Christmas carols now or should we have waited to sing them at a more liturgically appropriate time?
I’d like to know your ideas on this and I would like your thought about Advent Joy. If you would like other people to see your reflections click on “comments” and put your ideas there. If you wish to respond so that I am the only one who reads your ideas write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles
I’m guessing this falls in with Christmas Joy, but it made me think of the Whos down in Whoville who sang on Christmas morning even after the grinch took all their presents. So maybe that will spark some ideas. (If you want to break it down Pre-Vatican-II-Catholic style, I think I have the Latin translation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” around here somewhere . . . here it is, “Quomodo Invidiosulius Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit”).
I’m not sure if I have fully understood Advent and Christmas. I can understand how there should be happiness that the Son of God is born on earth, but it seems sort of bad for Him, He had a pretty crummy life, it seems. Nobody understood Him, all his friends betrayed Him on some level, and then He died. It seems the rejoicing should come on Easter, when He was resurrected. So I wonder if I’d understand the Joy of Advent/Christmas if I had a better appreciation for the suffering that was going on before and what the expectations of the Messiah were. So maybe advent hymns would be better, but I really like singing Christmas carols before Christmas, they help me get in the mood for it.
So, as you can see, I’m completely unhelpful
I absolutely love the hush and wonder of the Advent songs. They feel like seeds lying under dark and frozen ground. Embedded in their waiting imagry is the expectation of something absolutely “aweful” and unknown. There is an excitement and tension that reminds me of the feel of Christmas Eve, when your aren’t sure what Santa is going to leave by your stocking in the morning.
In Advent hymns, I also find myself more in touch with a medieval world, where hope is hard, angels are scary, and the coming Christ is a transformation, and not the set of a Lexus ad campaign. I find that they push to experience space and time in my busy life.
The problem with Advent songs is that no one knows them. They are slow, ponderous and quiet. They do not ring and sing with joy. They do not rollick and romp and play. I don’t think that most children or many adults can identify with them, and they do not speak to the “holly-jolly Christmas” we are all planning. As a way to communicate with each other during this season, Christmas carols are much more effective across a wider spectrum of people. They are much more engaging and more focussed on love, joy, and peace than the Advent songs. In a world where the rhythm of life does not slow to fit the rhythm of the season, I think the rigid adherence to a Liturgical year is often more alienting than helpful. Fit the music to the message to drive the meaning.
My Advent joys are cooking and singing.
Ben Bleckley,
Typically, Advent is a time of waiting. The songs of Advent are songs that can be understood by women who are pregnant. There is joy in the waiting but there is also fear. The arrival of the child is something they look forward to but also have great concern for. There is pain in child birth. There are unknown factors surrounding the awsome responsibility you take on with the birth of a baby. Advent hymns include this terror. Christmas carols don’t seem to bring the mystique of awsomeness.
That’s how I see it anyway.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Chuck
C.
Thanks for your reflection on Advent songs. I think the primary reason I don’t like to have people sing them is what you suggest. People don’t know them. Also, they seem to be dark songs and not particularly happy songs.
The good part of that is that this season is not happy for everyone. This is a very difficult time for some people. It’s a time when we are supposed to be happy but we may not be happy. It’s a time when there are pressures on us to do what seems impossible and in a time frame that is unrealistic. The Advent songs speak to that more directly than the Christmas carols. That’s the reason I am reluctant to abandon them– even though most years I do.
Chuck