William H. Willimon - "Mary's Song" (December 18, 1988)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
♪ Joy to the world ♪ | 0:01 | |
♪ The Lord has come ♪ | 0:04 | |
♪ Let Earth receive her king ♪ | 0:05 | |
♪ Let every heart prepare Him room ♪ | 0:09 | |
♪ And heaven and nature sing ♪ | 0:14 | |
♪ And heaven and nature sing ♪ | 0:16 | |
♪ And heaven and heaven and nature sing ♪ | 0:20 | |
♪ Joy to the world the savior reigns ♪ | 0:25 | |
♪ Let men their songs employ ♪ | 0:29 | |
♪ While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains ♪ | 0:34 | |
♪ Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy ♪ | 0:38 | |
♪ Repeat, repeat the sounding joy ♪ | 0:43 | |
♪ He rule the world with truth and grace ♪ | 0:48 | |
♪ And makes the nations prove ♪ | 0:53 | |
♪ The glory of His righteousness ♪ | 0:58 | |
♪ And wonders of His love ♪ | 1:02 | |
♪ And wonders of His love ♪ | 1:04 | |
♪ And wonders, wonders of His love ♪ | 1:08 | |
(choral singing in foreign language) | 1:22 | |
("Silent Night" by Francis Xavier Gruber) | 2:31 | |
(choral singing in foreign language) | 2:35 | |
♪ Silent night ♪ | 3:32 | |
♪ Holy night ♪ | 3:37 | |
♪ Shepherd quake at the sight ♪ | 3:42 | |
♪ Glories stream for heaven afar ♪ | 3:51 | |
♪ Heavenly hosts sing alleluia ♪ | 3:58 | |
♪ Christ the savior is born ♪ | 4:06 | |
♪ Christ the savior is born ♪ | 4:17 | |
(choral singing in foreign language) | 4:43 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:36 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:41 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:47 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:54 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:59 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:07 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:11 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:18 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:25 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:31 | |
♪ hallelujah ♪ | 6:37 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to Duke Chapel | 7:19 |
on this fourth Sunday of Advent. | 7:22 | |
We have been led in worship by Mr. Bill Graham | 7:26 | |
and the North Carolina Boys Choir, | 7:31 | |
making their seasonal visit to Duke Chapel | 7:33 | |
and we thank these boys and their parents | 7:37 | |
for being with us once again | 7:41 | |
and making this service so special. | 7:42 | |
I remind you that the North Carolina's Boys Choir | 7:46 | |
will be back with us as usual | 7:49 | |
at our 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service. | 7:52 | |
We'll have services again this year at 5:30. | 7:57 | |
A 5:30 service of carols and communion | 7:59 | |
and then our 11 p.m. service | 8:05 | |
of carols and lessons and the North Carolina Boys Choir. | 8:08 | |
Today at four this afternoon, | 8:14 | |
the Durham Civic Choral Society will present | 8:17 | |
their Christmas concert here in the chapel | 8:21 | |
and we invite you for that special concert. | 8:24 | |
Now, let us continue our worship. | 8:29 | |
(uplifting organ music) | 8:42 | |
("Gloria Excelsis Deo" by Antonio Vivaldi) | 8:46 | |
(choral singing in foreign language) | 8:49 | |
(soft organ music) | 10:59 | |
♪ O Come, O Come Emmanuel ♪ | 11:43 | |
♪ And ransom captive Israel ♪ | 11:50 | |
♪ That mourns in lonely exile here ♪ | 11:58 | |
♪ Until the Son of God appear ♪ | 12:05 | |
♪ Rejoice, rejoice, ♪ | 12:12 | |
♪ Emmanuel ♪ | 12:18 | |
♪ Shall come to thee O Israel ♪ | 12:22 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 12:31 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 13:01 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 13:04 | |
♪ Emmanuel ♪ | 13:06 | |
♪ Shall we come to you O Israel ♪ | 13:10 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 13:20 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 13:51 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 13:54 | |
♪ Emmanuel ♪ | 13:56 | |
♪ Shall come to thee, O Israel ♪ | 14:00 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 14:12 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 14:44 | |
♪ Rejoice ♪ | 14:47 | |
♪ Emmanuel ♪ | 14:49 | |
♪ Shall come to thee O Israel ♪ | 14:54 | |
- | Oh wisdom breath of the most high, | 15:08 |
pervading and permeating all creation. | 15:11 | |
Congregation | Come and make us friends of God. | 15:15 |
- | Oh Lord of lords and leader of the house of Israel, | 15:19 |
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush | 15:23 | |
and gave him your law on Sinai. | 15:26 | |
Congregation | Come and save us with your mighty arm. | 15:30 |
- | Oh root of Jesse, standing as a signal to the nations, | 15:34 |
before whom all kings are mute, to home the nations | 15:39 | |
will do homage. | 15:44 | |
Congregation | Come and save us, delay no longer. | 15:46 |
Nancy | Oh key of David, and ruler of the house of Israel. | 15:50 |
When you open nobody can close. | 15:54 | |
When you close, nobody can open. | 15:58 | |
Congregation | Come and proclaim liberty to the captives | 16:01 |
and set free the oppressed. | 16:05 | |
Nancy | Oh radiant dawn, splendor of eternal light | 16:08 |
and sun of justice. | 16:11 | |
Congregation | Come and give light to those | 16:13 |
who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. | 16:16 | |
- | Oh king of the nations, the ruler they long for, | 16:19 |
the cornerstone binding all together. | 16:23 | |
Congregation | Come and save the people you fashioned | 16:27 |
from the dust of the Earth. | 16:30 | |
- | Oh Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, | 16:32 |
the anointed of the nations and their savior. | 16:35 | |
Congregation | Come and save us oh Lord, our God. | 16:39 |
Nancy | The spirit and the bride say come. | 16:43 |
Congregation | Amen. | 16:47 |
Lord Jesus you are the one to come. | 16:49 | |
- | Let us pray. | 17:04 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 17:06 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit so that as the word | 17:10 | |
is read and proclaimed we might hear with joy | 17:14 | |
what you say to us this day. | 17:18 | |
Amen. | 17:21 | |
The first lesson is from the book of Micah. | 17:24 | |
The 5th chapter, the 2nd through the 5th verses. | 17:27 | |
Now you are walled about with the wall. | 17:34 | |
Siege is laid against us. | 17:38 | |
With the rod they strike upon the cheek of ruler of Israel, | 17:41 | |
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, | 17:46 | |
who little to be among the clans of Judah, | 17:49 | |
from you shall come forth for me | 17:54 | |
one who is to be ruler in Israel, | 17:56 | |
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. | 18:00 | |
Therefore he shall give them up until the time | 18:07 | |
when she who is in travail has brought forth, | 18:11 | |
then the rest of his brethren shall return | 18:15 | |
to the people of Israel. | 18:17 | |
And he shall stand and feed his flock | 18:20 | |
in the strength of the Lord, | 18:23 | |
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. | 18:25 | |
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great | 18:30 | |
to the ends of the Earth. | 18:35 | |
And this shall be peace | 18:38 | |
when the Assyrian comes into our land | 18:40 | |
and treads upon our soil. | 18:43 | |
Here ends the lesson. | 18:46 | |
The gospel is taken from Saint Luke. | 18:50 | |
The first chapter, the 39th through the 55th verses. | 18:53 | |
In those days, Mary arose and went with haste | 19:02 | |
into the hill country to a city of Judah | 19:07 | |
and she entered the house of Zachariah | 19:12 | |
and greeted Elizabeth. | 19:14 | |
When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, | 19:17 | |
the babe leaped in her womb. | 19:19 | |
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. | 19:22 | |
And she exclaimed with a loud cry, | 19:25 | |
blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit | 19:28 | |
of your womb. | 19:32 | |
Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord | 19:34 | |
should come to me? | 19:38 | |
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, | 19:40 | |
the babe in my womb leaped for joy. | 19:46 | |
And blessed is she who believed | 19:50 | |
that there would be a fulfillment | 19:52 | |
of what was spoken to her from the Lord. | 19:54 | |
And Mary said: | 19:58 | |
My soul magnifies the Lord, | 20:01 | |
and my spirit has rejoices in God my savior. | 20:04 | |
For He has had regarded the lowest state | 20:08 | |
of His handmaiden. | 20:10 | |
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. | 20:12 | |
For he who is mighty has done great things for me, | 20:18 | |
and holy is His name. | 20:22 | |
And His mercy is on those who fear Him | 20:24 | |
from generation to generation. | 20:27 | |
He has shown strength with His arm. | 20:30 | |
He has scattered the proud in the imagination | 20:34 | |
of their hearts. | 20:37 | |
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, | 20:39 | |
and exalted those of low degree. | 20:42 | |
He has filled the hungry with good things, | 20:46 | |
and the rich he has sent empty away. | 20:50 | |
He has helped his servant, Israel, | 20:54 | |
in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our ancestors. | 20:56 | |
To Abraham and his posterity forever. | 21:02 | |
Here ends the lesson. | 21:07 | |
(gentle organ music) | 21:18 | |
♪ My soul doth magnify the Lord ♪ | 21:27 | |
♪ And my spirit hath rejoiced ♪ | 21:36 | |
♪ in God my savior ♪ | 21:42 | |
♪ For he has regarded ♪ | 21:47 | |
♪ the humility of his handmaid ♪ | 21:52 | |
♪ For behold ♪ | 22:03 | |
♪ For behold ♪ | 22:07 | |
♪ From henceforth all generations ♪ | 22:10 | |
♪ shall call me blessed ♪ | 22:16 | |
♪ For He that is mighty ♪ | 22:23 | |
♪ And hath done great things ♪ | 22:30 | |
♪ And holy is His name. ♪ | 22:34 | |
♪ And his mercy is (muffled choral singing) ♪ | 22:41 | |
♪ Generations ♪ | 22:55 | |
♪ He hat showed strength in His arm. ♪ | 22:58 | |
♪ He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart ♪ | 23:04 | |
♪ He hath put down the mighty ♪ | 23:25 | |
♪ from their seat ♪ | 23:30 | |
♪ And hath exalted ♪ | 23:33 | |
♪ from the humble ♪ | 23:37 | |
♪ He hath filled the hungry with good things ♪ | 23:42 | |
♪ And the rich ♪ | 23:48 | |
♪ he hath sent empty away ♪ | 23:53 | |
♪ He remembered His mercy ♪ | 24:00 | |
♪ and opened His servant ♪ | 24:06 | |
♪ Israel ♪ | 24:09 | |
♪ As he spoke to our fathers, ♪ | 24:13 | |
♪ to Abraham ♪ | 24:18 | |
♪ and his seed forever. ♪ | 24:22 | |
♪ Glory, glory be to the Father ♪ | 24:40 | |
♪ and to the Son ♪ | 24:47 | |
♪ and to the Holy Ghost. ♪ | 24:50 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning is now, ♪ | 24:56 | |
♪ and ever shall be, ♪ | 25:03 | |
♪ World without end ♪ | 25:10 | |
♪ World without end ♪ | 25:14 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 25:18 | |
- | I suspect that many of you are anxious for me | 25:41 |
to get off my chest whatever it is I want to say to you | 25:45 | |
this morning and get out of the pulpit so we can get on | 25:49 | |
with the music of Christmas. | 25:54 | |
We have restrained ourselves during these Sundays of Advent, | 25:58 | |
confined ourselves to the singing of the somewhat | 26:04 | |
somber slow-moving hymns of Advent. | 26:07 | |
Hymns which speak of yearning and expectancy. | 26:12 | |
O come, O come Emmanuel | 26:18 | |
and ransom captive Israel. | 26:22 | |
But now anticipation is tiptoeing near fulfillment. | 26:28 | |
Now we're almost ready to sing of Christmas. | 26:34 | |
And Christmas is the season of singing par excellence. | 26:39 | |
So this is one of those Sundays, when the words | 26:45 | |
of a poor prosaic preacher just don't seem to match | 26:50 | |
the majesty of the event | 26:54 | |
which unfolds before us. | 26:58 | |
As I recall, I think Easter felt a little like this too. | 27:01 | |
I know I once thought that Billy Graham couldn't fail | 27:06 | |
as a preacher after George Beverly Shea had sung | 27:09 | |
and the 500-voice Crusade Choir, | 27:12 | |
but after being around here I've come to think differently. | 27:16 | |
For after one has heard the music of a great choir | 27:21 | |
and a great organ, there's just nothing left | 27:25 | |
for the preacher. | 27:28 | |
I'm tempted to tell you that these boys are not as angelic | 27:32 | |
as they appear now in reality. | 27:37 | |
But I know that you're attraction is not for | 27:42 | |
how cute they look, but the beauty of the music they sing. | 27:44 | |
This is a time when nothing will do | 27:48 | |
but music. | 27:53 | |
Christmas, | 27:54 | |
the season of singing. | 27:55 | |
And of course, no gospel does this better than Luke. | 27:59 | |
Isn't it interesting that when Luke tells the story | 28:03 | |
of the birth of Jesus, he does so through poetry | 28:06 | |
and music. | 28:11 | |
Old decrepit Zachariah learns that he's going to be a daddy. | 28:14 | |
And what does he do? | 28:19 | |
He sings. | 28:20 | |
Poor peasant Mary hears that she's going to be a momma | 28:21 | |
and she sings. | 28:25 | |
Elizabeth sings. | 28:26 | |
Simeon sings. | 28:28 | |
The angels sing. | 28:30 | |
Everybody's singing in the Gospel of Luke. | 28:31 | |
I think in your own life you know what this is like. | 28:34 | |
Say you're moving through some ordinary prosaic Monday. | 28:38 | |
There's washing awaiting you and letters to be written | 28:43 | |
and dusting to be done, and then you get this call | 28:48 | |
or a knock at the door, and you are surprised | 28:51 | |
by some announcement of good news. | 28:54 | |
And what is your first reaction? | 28:58 | |
You sing innately without even thinking about it. | 29:01 | |
You go through the rest of your day with a song. | 29:06 | |
Mary's good news evoked exactly the same response. | 29:13 | |
Mary sang. | 29:17 | |
Would you sing if you had been Mary? | 29:21 | |
After all, Mary is being great with child, | 29:26 | |
is not something that she or anybody else | 29:30 | |
could explain or understand. | 29:33 | |
It wasn't something that she had planned or chosen | 29:35 | |
and how we modern people like to understand | 29:37 | |
and plan and choose. | 29:40 | |
It certainly put her in a bad way with her fiance. | 29:43 | |
The angel told Mary fear not, but I wonder | 29:47 | |
if old Simeon's song came a little closer to reality | 29:51 | |
when he told her that being blessed among women also meant | 29:56 | |
that her motherhood would be mixed with much pain. | 30:01 | |
A sword will also pierce your side, Simeon said. | 30:06 | |
Motherhood wouldn't be easy for Mother Mary, | 30:13 | |
and yet she sang. | 30:15 | |
My soul magnifies the Lord. | 30:17 | |
My spirit rejoices in God my savior. | 30:20 | |
I tell you this is no lullaby | 30:28 | |
that Mary sings, her Magnificat. | 30:30 | |
The words of the Magnificat thunder forth like a battle cry. | 30:34 | |
My soul magnifies the Lord. | 30:40 | |
He has shown strength in his arm. | 30:42 | |
He's scattered the proud in the imaginations | 30:45 | |
of their hearts. | 30:48 | |
He has put down the mighty from their thrones. | 30:49 | |
He has sent the rich empty away. | 30:52 | |
It's not too sweet a Christmas carol. | 30:58 | |
It's a chant about someone up high being brought low, | 31:04 | |
someone low being brought up. | 31:07 | |
You won't hear women singing like this, | 31:11 | |
except maybe in places like Soweto or Warsaw, | 31:14 | |
Harlem or South Chicago. | 31:20 | |
This is a dangerous kind of singing. | 31:24 | |
A couple of years ago the government in Pretoria | 31:29 | |
banned the lighting of candles or the singing | 31:35 | |
of Christmas carols in Soweto. | 31:37 | |
When asked by the press why, the South African scrooge | 31:43 | |
replied, well you know how emotional Black women are. | 31:47 | |
These Christmas carols tend | 31:53 | |
to have an undesirable emotional effect upon them. | 31:55 | |
You let some poor Jewish woman like Mary sing | 32:01 | |
or a Black mother in Soweto sing, you don't know | 32:04 | |
where it might lead. | 32:08 | |
I'm a child of the 60s. | 32:13 | |
When the German magazine Der Speigel did an article | 32:17 | |
on the student revolt of the 1960s, | 32:21 | |
Der wielden Sechziger | 32:27 | |
the wild 60s, I found it interesting that most | 32:29 | |
of the article was about the music of the 60s. | 32:33 | |
The German writer said you cannot understand | 32:40 | |
what drove rebelling, chanting, protesting, | 32:43 | |
out of control students out into the streets | 32:47 | |
of Detroit or Berlin or Paris or Chicago | 32:52 | |
or Duke | 32:57 | |
if you never heard Janis Joplin sing, | 33:00 | |
if you never heard Bob Dylan whine, | 33:08 | |
the times they are a-changing, | 33:12 | |
if you never sat at a Jimi Hendrix concert | 33:16 | |
and felt a solid wave of piercing rock sound | 33:20 | |
rush past you with such force that it parted your hair. | 33:23 | |
If you never heard them, then you missed it. | 33:30 | |
The 60s, times of violence and peace, protest, | 33:34 | |
civil rights, and a changing world order began | 33:39 | |
as a nearly spontaneous outburst of boogie | 33:44 | |
in the streets. | 33:48 | |
It was a world torn loose by the solid throbbing | 33:50 | |
of hard rock, or the sound of a group of people | 33:55 | |
in a Black baptist church singing We Shall Overcome. | 33:59 | |
So as Shakespeare says, music hath power to sooth | 34:07 | |
the savage beast. | 34:11 | |
Yes. | 34:13 | |
But I tell you, music also has power to cut loose, | 34:16 | |
to release, to pull down, to raise up. | 34:20 | |
So I would have you imagine Mary's Magnificat | 34:25 | |
sung not by Anita Bryant, | 34:29 | |
accompanied by the Oral Robert Singers, | 34:32 | |
but rather sang by Janis Joplin backed up | 34:36 | |
by the Rolling Stones. | 34:38 | |
Imagine that, you'll get my point. | 34:39 | |
The Magnificat. | 34:43 | |
A while back our choir director was lamenting | 34:46 | |
that the teaching of choral music is declining | 34:49 | |
in our schools. | 34:53 | |
This makes it difficult to recruit students | 34:56 | |
for the chapel choir. | 35:00 | |
In a time of grim, back-to-basics lock step education | 35:03 | |
you see we don't have time for these frills, | 35:06 | |
these music, these art, just these frills. | 35:09 | |
We train people to sit all day, eyes fixed | 35:18 | |
to a computer terminal, hands on the computer keyboard | 35:20 | |
rather than fingers on a harpsichord. | 35:25 | |
A while back I entered the chapel late one night | 35:30 | |
and I found here a medical student | 35:33 | |
seated at the keyboard of our great organ, | 35:38 | |
playing it for everything it was worth. | 35:41 | |
He's training to be a doctor and that's good. | 35:46 | |
But when he wants wings to fly, he can be an organist. | 35:51 | |
I predicted to him there will be times | 35:57 | |
when the only thing separating you from insanity | 35:59 | |
as a physician will be that keyboard. | 36:03 | |
Think this December of all those brothers and sisters, | 36:10 | |
near and far, who have lost the ability to sing. | 36:14 | |
Voiceless, rendered speechless by life. | 36:20 | |
A missionary once told me that when a child | 36:26 | |
is near starvation, | 36:30 | |
when the child is utterly emaciated | 36:34 | |
and very near death because of hunger, | 36:36 | |
the child no longer cries | 36:41 | |
and the doctors grieve because they know that the child | 36:46 | |
is very close to death | 36:49 | |
when tears dry up and the child is silent. | 36:51 | |
The hunger is so deep that it has moved beyond pain, | 36:58 | |
beyond feelings to utterly empty, | 37:03 | |
hopeless silence. | 37:07 | |
As a pastor I've seen it in my own church. | 37:12 | |
If you're hurt often enough in life, | 37:17 | |
deep enough, | 37:21 | |
if you're disappointed, defeated, pushed down enough, | 37:23 | |
before long, you withdraw | 37:27 | |
and become quiet and silent. | 37:32 | |
The government is proud to report | 37:39 | |
that Soweto is silent this Christmas. | 37:41 | |
Santiago has accepted its dictator | 37:46 | |
and is at peace this Noel. | 37:49 | |
Harlem has stopped hoping for the holidays. | 37:52 | |
You see the world has its brand of silent night. | 37:59 | |
There is nothing either holy or bright about it. | 38:05 | |
I can't remember a Christmas when there weren't enough | 38:13 | |
starving children, enough grieving mothers, | 38:15 | |
enough newly opened graves, enough raging King Herods around | 38:19 | |
to mock our Yuletide cheer. | 38:24 | |
How dare you people sing | 38:29 | |
with the world in the state it's in? | 38:32 | |
First century Judea | 38:37 | |
December darkness. | 38:40 | |
No star in the sky, people shut up inside their houses | 38:44 | |
for fear of Roman soldiers, | 38:50 | |
streets deserted and fearfully quiet. | 38:53 | |
You see one way to handle an oppressive situation | 38:58 | |
is to just keep your head down, keep your lips buttoned | 39:01 | |
and out of sight. | 39:03 | |
But wait, what do we hear? | 39:08 | |
There in the dark silence | 39:11 | |
is a pure clear feminine voice singing. | 39:13 | |
It cuts through the night. | 39:18 | |
My soul magnifies the Lord. | 39:22 | |
He has put down the mighty from their thrones | 39:26 | |
and exalted those of low degree. | 39:30 | |
And before King Herod knows what's happening | 39:34 | |
lights go on and doors are thrown open | 39:36 | |
and people burst out into the streets, | 39:38 | |
chanting, moving restless people on the march | 39:41 | |
and Herod regrets that he gave his troops time off | 39:44 | |
for the holidays. | 39:47 | |
You better be careful of music. | 39:48 | |
But there is one experience in life | 39:54 | |
that'll make you quiet. | 39:59 | |
Death. | 40:03 | |
What happens to people when death walks in their front door? | 40:08 | |
Numbed, speechless silence. | 40:13 | |
I just didn't know what to say, people will say. | 40:19 | |
What is there to say in the face of such numbing presence? | 40:25 | |
He's better off now. | 40:33 | |
I want you to know that we're all thinking about you | 40:36 | |
and if we could do anything for you, you please call. | 40:38 | |
It's just God's will, you'll just have to accept it. | 40:42 | |
It's God's will. | 40:46 | |
If you get busy and keep yourself busy before long | 40:49 | |
you won't think about it any more. | 40:52 | |
You see such trite, utterly inadequate words, just words, | 40:55 | |
you might as well keep quiet and that's what | 41:00 | |
most of us do in the face of death. | 41:02 | |
We keep quiet, we accept, we resign. | 41:07 | |
We quietly adapt. | 41:11 | |
Then a grieving family shows up at church for the funeral | 41:17 | |
and what does the church do? | 41:20 | |
It takes them by the hand and it makes them to sing. | 41:22 | |
A mighty fortress is our God | 41:25 | |
or oh God our help in ages past. | 41:27 | |
It coaxes them to sing. | 41:30 | |
And I tell you such singing in church is pure defiance, | 41:33 | |
clench-fisted impudence in the face | 41:37 | |
of omnivorous | 41:40 | |
silencing death. | 41:43 | |
Death just hates music, | 41:47 | |
as do all tyrants. | 41:52 | |
So in her singing, Mary becomes the premiere disciple | 41:57 | |
because she's the very first to hear the good news | 42:03 | |
that God is with us, | 42:05 | |
and the very first to sing. | 42:09 | |
As Martin Luther once said in a Christmas sermon | 42:13 | |
three miracles happened that first Christmas. | 42:16 | |
First, God became human. | 42:20 | |
Second, a virgin conceived | 42:24 | |
and third, | 42:28 | |
Mary believed. | 42:31 | |
For Luther, the most important of the three miracles | 42:38 | |
was the very last. | 42:41 | |
Mary believed. | 42:44 | |
Despite all the oppression and the closed doors | 42:46 | |
and the brick walls and the blind alleys | 42:49 | |
and dark, silent grinning death Mary believed. | 42:51 | |
She sang, and thus she is called blessed among women | 42:56 | |
because she hears and responds, she sings. | 43:03 | |
And thus, she is a model for the rest of us. | 43:07 | |
Mary, | 43:13 | |
don't you know there are going to be | 43:17 | |
dark days ahead for you? | 43:18 | |
Don't you know that your joy as a new mother | 43:23 | |
is going to be mixed with much pain? | 43:25 | |
Just down the road in Rama, can't you hear Rachel weeping | 43:29 | |
and wailing for her slaughtered babies? | 43:33 | |
How dare you to sing when Rachel weeps? | 43:37 | |
Mary, | 43:41 | |
how can you sing? | 43:43 | |
It's a question that always can be asked of Christians. | 43:47 | |
How can you sing? | 43:53 | |
And in your life too, you know | 43:59 | |
life is not all Christmas carols and joy. | 44:02 | |
Dark January days lie ahead | 44:07 | |
just beyond our Yuletide gladness. | 44:11 | |
Days are short, nights are long. | 44:14 | |
But for now, faith enables us to sing. | 44:18 | |
We sing because we believe. | 44:25 | |
No. | 44:28 | |
I think we believe because we sing. | 44:30 | |
Lift up your heads. | 44:35 | |
The king of kings is drawing near. | 44:39 | |
The savior of the world | 44:42 | |
is here. | 44:47 | |
Let us sing. | 44:49 | |
(orchestral music) | 44:52 | |
(uplifting choral music) | 45:19 | |
- | The Lord be with you | 46:52 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 46:53 |
- | Let us pray. | 46:55 |
Eternal God, mother and father to us all | 47:12 | |
with whom nothing is impossible. | 47:17 | |
In the expected silence of thy sanctuary | 47:22 | |
we offer our song unto thee as we continue | 47:26 | |
in our pilgrimage toward Bethlehem. | 47:29 | |
We come as shepherds out of our curiosity, | 47:33 | |
our loneliness, our longing to know thee. | 47:38 | |
We come as wise men, feeling like strangers, | 47:44 | |
looking in the wrong places, unsure of what we may encounter | 47:50 | |
along the way. | 47:55 | |
We come in response to the angels singing, | 47:58 | |
having heard their proclamation, having been reminded | 48:02 | |
of this great gift of love. | 48:06 | |
We come as Mary and Joseph, answering the call | 48:11 | |
to obedience which requires us | 48:15 | |
to give our very lives unto thee. | 48:18 | |
Help us in this final moment of preparation | 48:23 | |
to rid ourselves of all that divides us from thee, | 48:27 | |
to empty ourselves in order that we may be filled. | 48:32 | |
We pray thee gracious God to bless those for whom | 48:39 | |
there is little joy in this season of joy. | 48:42 | |
Bless those who are aged and forlorn, | 48:47 | |
for those who are paralyzed by a sense of uselessness. | 48:51 | |
Bless those who have suffered loss | 48:57 | |
and are acutely aware of their grief in this season. | 49:00 | |
Bless those who are poor. | 49:06 | |
Bless those who are ill and must spend this time | 49:09 | |
of joy in pain. | 49:13 | |
Bless those who are hungry and long to be filled. | 49:15 | |
Bless those who are far from home, | 49:21 | |
and especially those who have no home, | 49:24 | |
feeling lonely and forgotten among strangers. | 49:28 | |
We beseech thee reconciling God, send thy spirit | 49:32 | |
among all people this blessed season. | 49:37 | |
Make this a time when those who have quarreled | 49:41 | |
may be reconciled. | 49:44 | |
Make this a time when those who have drifted apart | 49:47 | |
will find each other again. | 49:50 | |
Make this a time when a vision of peace on Earth | 49:53 | |
in our own homes, in our own communities, | 49:58 | |
will be renewed within each of us. | 50:01 | |
We thank thee, o loving God, for the greatest | 50:06 | |
and best gift of all, Jesus Christ our Lord, | 50:09 | |
that he took our common life upon him to be like us | 50:15 | |
in order that we might be like Him. | 50:19 | |
May Christ be born again within the hearts of each of us. | 50:24 | |
This we ask for thy love sake. | 50:29 | |
Amen. | 50:34 | |
Now in this season of joyous expectation, | 50:38 | |
let us give thanks unto God. | 50:41 | |
(gentle organ music) | 50:52 | |
("Offertory Hymn") | 51:05 | |
(singing in foreign language) | 51:06 | |
♪ Glory to the highest ♪ | 54:43 | |
♪ The highest to Glory ♪ | 54:44 | |
(inaudible lyrics) | 54:47 | |
♪ Glory be to God. ♪ | 54:50 | |
♪ The highest to glory ♪ | 54:54 | |
♪ Glory, glory in the highest ♪ | 54:58 | |
♪ Glory, glory in the highest to glory ♪ | 55:01 | |
♪ Glory, glory, the highest of glory. ♪ | 55:07 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:11 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:14 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:17 | |
♪ Glory in the highest ♪ | 55:18 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:22 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:24 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 55:26 | |
♪ Glory in the highest ♪ | 55:28 | |
♪ Glory to glory ♪ | 55:31 | |
♪ The highest to glory ♪ | 55:34 | |
♪ Glory, glory in the highest glory ♪ | 55:38 | |
♪ Glory to glory, the highest of glory ♪ | 55:44 | |
♪ Glory glory in the highest ♪ | 55:49 | |
♪ Peace be on Earth ♪ | 56:08 | |
♪ Peace be ♪ | 56:13 | |
♪ Peace on Earth ♪ | 56:19 | |
♪ Good will ♪ | 56:21 | |
♪ Good will ♪ | 56:26 | |
♪ Good will towards man. ♪ | 56:32 | |
♪ Glory to glory in the highest of glory ♪ | 56:40 | |
♪ The highest glory glory in the highest ♪ | 56:45 | |
♪ And forever ♪ | 56:50 | |
♪ Peace ♪ | 56:53 | |
♪ Peace ♪ | 56:56 | |
♪ On Earth. ♪ | 56:59 | |
♪ Peace on Earth ♪ | 57:00 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 57:02 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 57:05 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 57:07 | |
♪ Glory to Glory, the highest to glory ♪ | 57:10 | |
♪ The highest glory, glory in the highest glory ♪ | 57:15 | |
♪ Peace on Earth ♪ | 57:23 | |
♪ Peace on Earth ♪ | 57:29 | |
♪ Good will ♪ | 57:35 | |
♪ Good will ♪ | 57:41 | |
♪ Toward man ♪ | 57:47 | |
♪ Peace ♪ | 57:52 | |
♪ Peace ♪ | 57:55 | |
(uplifting organ music) | 58:01 | |
(organ drowns out singing) | 58:31 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:42 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:46 | |
(organ drowns out choral singing) | 58:50 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:02 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:05 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:08 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:11 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:15 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 59:23 | |
- | Oh Lord God whose chosen dwelling | 59:35 |
is the heart of the lowly. | 59:37 | |
We give thee thanks for the many joys of this season | 59:40 | |
when we remember it is more blessed to give than to receive. | 59:43 | |
Most especially we thank thee that thou dost | 59:47 | |
reveal thyself in the holy child Jesus, | 59:50 | |
thereby sanctifying all humanity. | 59:53 | |
We beseech thee to make us humble in faith and love | 59:56 | |
that we may know the joy of the gospel | 1:00:00 | |
which is hidden from the crowd and reveal to the simple. | 1:00:02 | |
In Christ's holy name we pray. | 1:00:06 | |
Our Father who art in heaven | 1:00:09 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 1:00:12 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 1:00:14 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:00:17 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 1:00:19 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 1:00:22 | |
who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, | 1:00:25 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 1:00:29 | |
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever. | 1:00:31 | |
Amen. | 1:00:36 | |
(uplifting organ music) | 1:00:38 | |
(organ drowns out choral music) | 1:01:24 | |
Reverend | And now may the peace of God which pass us all | 1:04:03 |
understanding abide in your hearts and minds | 1:04:05 | |
now and always, amen. | 1:04:08 | |
(soft organ music) | 1:04:13 | |
(mumbling choral music) | 1:04:21 | |
(dramatic organ music) | 1:05:20 |