In days gone by, church bells would ring throughout the town when a special announcement was to be shared: a birth, a death, significant community news. As I sat down to my piano with this scripture on the music stand, the sound of pealing bells broke out as I put my fingers to the keys. Do you hear them when you listen? I didn't notice it then, but as I listened later to what I had played, I heard those announcing bells, and the sound felt so appropriate!

Days later, I was playing this song while my boys lounged about in the living room. As I played, a wind rushed through the door causing all the ornaments on our Jesse Tree to sway back-and-forth. I ended the song, and the breeze stilled. Of course, I hadn't noticed because my gaze was forward at the piano, but my boys shouted in amazement, "Do it again, Mom! Start playing the song!" I did. And the breeze came up again! It was truly mysterious. And the ornaments - they weren't just swaying, they were dancing! And then, so were we!

I pray this opening song of Advent will move you to dance in the mystery of God's spirit moving in your world with this most magnificent announcement: "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse." .

Usually when I write a new song, I set the text in front of me at the piano, put my hands on the keys and just start reading / playing / singing and wait to see what takes form. This time, when I sat down with these two scriptures, "O Holy Night" kept coming to mind. I've never borrowed a tune to write a new song, so this felt a bit like cheating. But, as I played and meditated on the familiar words of that Christmas hymn alongside these scriptures, it did seem somehow fitting to join the two. Consider this:

"Oh Holy night, the stars are brightly shinging..."

Do you hear a connection to the text in my song where we meet God in the beginning creating the heavens?

"It is the night of our dear Savior's birth..."

... and the beginning of makind.

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining,"

What a contrast to the parallel creation text that states how we were created in God's own image: in the image of God he made them!"

"'Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth."

But at his appearing, we realize our true worth - that we were created in His image and we were called "very good." Do you see how our worth only comes by His design and pronouncement? How his birth reminds us of our own created value? The parallel line in my song depicts God's grief in knowing how we'll turn away from our inherent value: the music becomes minor again as we hear "In the image of God He made them." Do you hear in the music how this line turns it's head away, or hangs its head low, in sorrow? The sound of the music tells how we grieve His design.

"A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;"

Yet, even knowing how we'd grieve Him, "God saw all that He had made,..." it must have been thrilling! This new and glorious world that He had created - He called it very good!

But the music take a minor turn again: what God knew just lines before comes to pass now. And we have but one response: "Fall on your knees!" Like sheep, we've wandered far from that God-pronounced design and plan: each of us has turned to our own way. What can be done to return to that new and glorious creation of which we were the crowning glory?

The answer: "but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all?" When you reach this point in the music, can you hear the resolution and mourning all wrapped up in one? Can you imagine God in heaven gently releasing his own infant son into the manger as you hear those notes step down? He is so innocent and vulnerable as he's let down into his earthly bed.

In this grand gesture, God Himself takes our sin and error and turns us into a new creation. We are made like Him again! The whole purpose of His birth is his death... and life! There's a pattern here: He gave us life, we make it death. He takes our death and makes it life.

There can be but one response to this incredible truth:

"Oh hear the angel voices! O night divine! O night when Christ was born. O night, O holy night, O night divine."

This is Christmas! Christ came, putting into motion that plan of redemption that would allow us to fully bear and reflect His image. His coming signals the hope for completion of our own design and purpose. O night divine, indeed!.

“Look up!”

Perhaps the Advent message could stop right there: “Look up!” On a wall above my desk at home, I chalked this quote from A.W. Tozer, “As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once.”

“Look up!" Have we exalted Him to this right place? Do we look up at the stars, which indeed we cannot count, and remember whose we are? Whose world this is? Who is in control of our lives and circumstances? Do we trust that He will do the work of making of us what He has ordained, providing for our needs, even making our name great? I am not speaking of earthly gains of greatness. What I mean is this: do we trust that exalting God to His proper place actually, in the end, exalts us to ours? “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, and at the proper time, He will himself exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:6) What does it mean here to be "exalted" except to be raised with Him out of our death and into His life? So, the question really becomes: do we trust that exalting God is the way that we will gain life? Remember the reflection from Day 2: there is a pattern here and throughout scripture: He takes our death and makes it life. Our exalted place is found when we trust Him to truly bear His image through us to the world.

Tonight, as a family we considered the second scripture listed here, Genesis 12:2. Look at the pattern of the scripture: God will do three things (notice, it’s not Abraham who will do these things, it’s God):

I will make you into a great nation,

I will bless you,

I will make your name great, and…

…and then, what happens to Abraham? He becomes a blessing! God works, His chosen human coworker gets to bless. This is the perfect pattern of God putting His life in us. (It is also, incidentally, the same pattern we see in God’s creation of the world: He creates three things and then blesses with an extra creation on the third day, He creates three things and then blesses with a extra creation on the second third (or sixth) day). This is God’s design: He blesses, He blesses, He blesses, and then we become a blessing. Is there a better way to live than this?

Next, we asked each other: Who has blessed you? We shared our ideas and then summarized our reflections by saying, “________ has blessed me by ___________.” This led us to realize that our experiences, not just people, have blessed us. That led us to realize that even difficult experiences have blessed us! This is rich to consider. Mine out these questions for yourselves.

Next, we pondered, “How do we bless?” Do you know that your very personality is meant to bless? Your size and your shape are meant to bless? Your skills and your talents are meant to bless? Your ideas are meant to bless? You are an image bearer of the life-giving Christ! How can you bless with who you are? How can you bless with what you say? By what you do? With your resources? Might I challenge you to save that last question for last? Reach into who God has made you in order to realize how He intends for you to bless. Physical resources bless, too, of course, but largely we control those blessings and determine them. Because we are accustomed to control, we tend to consider those blessings first, overlooking the blessing of His very design placed in our being. Ask God: “How have you designed me to bless?” Ask yourself: “If I had access to zero physical resources, how would I bless?”

And then, look up at the sky. If it is a clear night, listen to this song outdoors while looking up and marveling at the stars. Hear the twinkling in the music - the constancy of the singing stars. Then listen as the music changes to depict GOD’S power doing the work through Abraham. Hear all that HE promised to do. Listen to the music change again, this time from power to gentleness, as you remember that Abraham becomes a blessing. This was the promise to Abraham, yes. But, I believe, it is the covenantal pattern God intends for our lives as well.

Tonight, let the scripture, the stars and the music draw your eyes ever upward. “As God is exalted to the right place in your life, a thousand problems will be solved at once,”... and “you will be a blessing.”

When you listen to the song that accompanies today’s scripture, I hope you hear four things:

First, the gentle, trustworthiness of God encountering Jacob in his sleep with beauty and mystery,

Second, the mounting near-anger of God reminding Jacob of who HE is and what HE has promised to Jacob’s fathers (since Jacob had acted as if he’d forgotten),

Third, the merciful sweetness of God’s constant promise of provision to “be with” Jacob and watch over him wherever he goes (notice the name of Immanuel here? “Be with”), and

Fourth, the adamant and awesome declaration of God again making unmistakably clear that He WILL do what He has promised.

This dream scene is a contrast of power and kindness, comfort and might. God is making abundantly clear that He will not be deterred in fulfilling His covenant with Abraham and Isaac, nor will Jacob’s deceitful habits stand in the way of His plans being made manifest through Jacob and his family. God is mercifully inviting Jacob to see and hear His power and His provision - not just for the world, but for him specifically: “I am with you. I will watch over you wherever you go.” He comes in quietly (Jacob is asleep after all), but His message builds until He is clear by His words that He has a distinct and purposeful plan for Jacob’s life. Can you imagine the amount of comfort and confidence that would give a man whose devious life choices have just caught up with him and are about to undo him?

This is grace extended. The ladder? It’s the way - the glorious path of righteousness. The movement up and down? Perhaps this represents Jesus himself coming down so that Jacob (and we) now have a way up. Is it not representative of the very character of Jesus?:

Who, being in very nature[a] God,     did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7  rather, he made himself nothing     by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,     being made in human likeness.

8  And being found in appearance as a man,     he humbled himself     by becoming obedient to death—         even death on a cross!

9  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place     and gave him the name that is above every name,

10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,     in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,     to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11).

Remember the verse from Day 5 from 1 Peter 5:6: Not only is He made low to be exalted, we also are invited to be humbled in order to be exalted with Him. This up-and-down movement is everywhere in scripture, and it is here in Jacob’s dream, beautifully depicted with the movement of angels.

This song started as the simple musical phrase that you hear in the opening and accompanying the words, “And I am with you, and I’ll watch over you wherever you go.” I was taken by this personal extension of care and compassion by the massively powerful God of forever - it was as if a lullaby-like quality of God’s loving character gently appeared out His majestic greatness. Weeks later, I was sitting in my living room in a rare moment of quiet, and the last musical phrase, “What I have promised you…” started playing in my mind. I went to the piano, and the rest of the music for the passage filled in. I hope that the musical interpretation of this scriptural text can help lead you to the same response that Jacob had upon waking:

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

“How awesome is this place,” indeed!

The account of Joseph meeting his brothers who have come to Egypt is simply astounding. I recently read the entire account of Joseph’s life with my own family, and we were ALL riveted (Genesis 37-50). At the end of each day’s reading, my boys would plead, “Keep going!" Mind you, it wasn’t as if this were the first time we’ve read it. It is just simply astounding.

The moment that this particular scripture captures is so rich with emotion and so highly charged with tension… it is truly a gripping scene. Just lines before, the text reads, “Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, ‘Have everyone leave my presence!’ So there was no one with Jospeh when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.”

Can you imagine how moving this would have been?

But what makes the account even more astounding is how, in many ways, it parallels with the story of Jesus. Consider just this one line: “It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” If you read with Jesus in mind, you will find many other striking parallels in the life of Joseph. This is one of the features that makes the Hebrew Scriptures so convincing: Jesus’s coming is foretold throughout, and his fulfillment of the scriptures is amazingly complete.

It is these kinds of “connections” that make the scriptures come alive to me. As I read this scripture and considered it musically, I could hear the hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” playing alongside the text:

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free,

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee

Israel’s strength and consolation

Hope of all the earth Thou art

Dear desire of every nation

Joy of every longing heart

Born thy people to deliver

Born a child and yet a king

Born to reign in us forever

Now thy gracious kingdom bring

By thine own eternal spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone

By thine own sufficient merit

Raise us to thy glorious throne

Do you hear the connections? Born to set his people free… Israel’s strength and consolation… Born thy people to deliver… Born a child and yet a king. Now consider the text:

“… God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Joseph is literally delivering Israel! (Jacob's new name given to him after wrestling with God).

As you listen to today’s song, I hope you can hear the overtones of the hymn set to a minor key. Why minor? This moment must have been intensely sad for Joseph - it cannot be depicted in a major key. The past hurts of his brothers’ betrayals and abuses, the years of suffering unjustly in prison, the decades of loneliness and family-less-ness that had been buried for so long all rise to the surface in this moment of encounter with his brothers. This is not a happy reunion. This is an intense confrontation with his past. And while it may become happy, this moment is profoundly sorrowful and emotional before it becomes, ultimately, forgiving.

I hope the music depicts these feelings and intensities alongside the incredible capacity of Joseph to not only forgive, but to claim and proclaim the incredible work of God’s grace in his life to bring about good from what his brothers meant for incredible evil. This is truly a remarkable man whose life was directed and protected by a far more remarkable God.

May this God of our father Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob and now of Jospeh “rule in all our hearts alone.” And may we realize this Advent season how He was born to set us - His people - free.

Have you ever read through the book of Jeremiah? Or even a portion of it? If you have, you will understand how soothing the words of this song seem. Everything that precedes this poetic interlude is utter devastation, terrible gloom, stern warning and disturbing lamentation. These words are so very hopeful in comparison - like a beacon shining out of complete darkness.

Take a moment to read verses 3 and 4 of chapter 23 as well. This is what the LORD will do to save His people from those who “have not bestowed care on them…”

"'I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, no will any be missing,' declares the LORD."

And then the words of this song appear, written as an announcement:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch.

A King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior."

This must have been a most comforting interlude, especially for Jeremiah who could not stop himself from speaking desolation at every turn and at every opening of his mouth. What kind of blessing was this, for God to have “put His words in [Jeremiah’s] mouth” (ch.1:9) when all of those words were doom? Until this. Until this soothing, hopeful passage: “The days are coming”! What desperate relief must have befallen Jeremiah at this beautiful pronouncement!

Friends, the days are indeed coming! Do not harden your hearts toward Him. Turn toward him, and take courage! Find hope! He is coming.

This is not my own declaration. It is His.

I actually almost laugh (or wince) at my own “declaration” as I sing these words so very off-key at times. But, I don’t care… flat, out-of-tune, off-key… let my voice yet declare it!

So, as you listen, hear the approaching intro music building in anticipation of this announcement of relief. When the voice enters, it is not grand. It is meant to feel like gentle assurance, much like the "fear nots" of so many other instances when Mighty God delivers pronouncements to people who would otherwise be deathly afraid of His appearance. The middle section is meant to depict that safe, protected pastureland where the flock is well cared for and tended by caring shepherds - pleasant and pure. And then, the mounting music gaining strength to the pronouncement of His name, like a musical drumroll unveiling the One who will do this: “Our LORD, Our Righteous Savior!” who is that very "Branch" that will bear fruit whom Isaiah foretold as coming up from the stump of Jesse (Day 1). The song rounds out with Jeremiah’s voice again, repeating to himself (ourselves) the reassurance of this desperately needed promise: relief and salvation will come… and it will come in Christ.

And Christ will come again.

Many of the readings in this Advent liturgy have hundreds of years, or at least several decades, between them. But from now until Christmas, the length of time between scriptures shortens. In today’s case, Habakkuk is a contemporary of Jeremiah (yesterday’s reading). On a timeline, these two scriptures would be very near one another.

Both Habakkuk and Jeremiah understood that the Babylonians (also called the Chaldeans) were going to attack, plunder, and capture the Israelites. God was going to allow His people to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians because of His people’s continual decisions to turn away from Him to serve and worship other gods.

Habakkuk is rightfully afraid; this is a dreadfully fearful reality! And yet, again and again, we read throughout Habakkuk that he determines to trust God no matter what. He trusts in God’s promise to bring justice to the captors and to set His beloved people free. He trusts in Israel’s eventual salvation. Read Habakkuk 3:17 (and all that preceding): though he foresees desolation, Habakkuk trusts God’s character - His compassion and loyal love toward the Israelites - declaring: “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

And then notice the very last line of chapter 3:

“For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.”

This recorded prayer of Habakkuk is meant to be sung! While Habakkuk is acutely aware of all the calamity that is to come, he chooses to sing of his hope and trust in a Savior!

And so we also sing in this season of waiting. I want to invite you to listen to the beautiful recording of “Carol of the Bells” linked beneath my song for today (you'll have to close this box in order to click it). At the end of this reflection, I then invite you to listen to my song and hear the correlations drawn between this well-known tune, these lyrics and the words of Habakkuk that we read today.

Listen to the recording. Then consider these lyrics from “Carol of the Bells”:

Hark how the bells,

sweet silver bells,

all seem to say,

throw cares away

Christmas is here,

bringing good cheer,

to young and old,

meek and the bold.

Ding dong ding dong

that is their song

with joyful ring

all caroling.

As in the first verse of this carol, Habakkuk chooses to throw off his cares and place his trust in the promise of a coming Savior. This is not just a hope that he holds, it is a hope that he holds out: “to young and old, meek and the bold” - to all the Israelites, to all of us.

We read in Habakkuk 3:16: “I heard and my heart pounded.” What did Habakkuk hear? The wrath and power of the LORD over hills and mountains, rivers, streams and sea.

Now look again at the lyrics from "Carol of the Bells.” What pounds? The sweet silver bells:

Oh how they pound,

raising the sound,

o'er hill and dale,

telling their tale.’

The Babylonians were known for their swift horses and skilled riders. Their coming would have felt and sounded like the rumbling of hooves pounding in the distance as they approached Jerusalem. Can you feel and hear these horses’ hooves as you listen to today’s song: “Habukkuk’s Bells”? But Habakkuk would not be silenced by the pounding of this impending doom. He would stand at his watch and wait for the coming salvation of the LORD! He turned his heart’s pounding into bells pounding - bells announcing the coming hope of a people freed from captivity!

Gaily they ring

while people sing

songs of good cheer,

Christmas is here.

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas,

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas.

On on they send,

on without end,

their joyful tone

to every home.

Ding dong ding... dong!

But they would have to wait. The Israelites would have to wait for seventy years before this gaily sung carol would ring from every home - seventy years before salvation would come to them. “Though it linger, wait for it… it will certainly come, it will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3)

And so we, too, wait. We station ourselves on the ramparts and wait for His coming again to release us into perfect freedom, singing our hope in the face of trial, desperation, dismay, and fear.

We sing: Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry, Christmas!

We remember:

Christ came.

Christ will come again,

At the time of His own revealing.

"And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” Zechariah 14:20.

We all have learned that writers should not share their first drafts. Works should be revised, edited, reshaped, and polished before they are ready to put forth to the world. I am definitely going against that grain with these two songs: my voice is painfully flat, I have a crackle in my throat that needs to be cleared, and I even realized just now that I uploaded a bonified “sketch” in the first song where you hear me sort of messing with a few new ideas that linger in the last minute of the recording. Oops. I really didn’t mean to share that part.

But, it does make me wonder - it makes me wonder about John the Baptist. I always imagine him as an “against the grain” kind of guy. I recently asked one of my sons what he wants to be when he grows up. He replied, without hesitation, “I don’t know. I just want to be hairy and live outside.” Really? Is that a normal thing for kids to think? Maybe. But that’s kind of how I imagine John the Baptist: a bit of a grungy renegade who doesn’t really give much thought or value to what others think. He’s his own man. Rough around the edges, but he knows who He is.

What does that have to do with the song? I guess I don’t really mind what others think about my processing the song out loud. To me, it’s part of the beauty. Maybe you can think of it a bit like watching a sculptor and enjoying the process of seeing him carve something beautiful out of rough hewn rock. Maybe the myriad imperfections can help you imagine John - not exactly a singer, most likely. He probably hummed off-key while he walked through the Judean countryside eating his wild honey. Maybe?

But, if he did, he did it while perplexingly and joyfully contemplating the coming of the Messiah. That’s what I do, too: I sing off key while I wonder about the coming of Christ, and it gives me joy. So much joy that I’m willing to make a fool of my musical self in order to share it with you. I played the recording for my family this evening and at the end of the song, my almost 13-year-old son genuinely remarked, “That was beautiful.” And in that moment, my foolishness on display was so completely worth it. The scriptures were beautified to my son through my musical rough draft. Glory hallelujah!

Like the song, John was the unfinished product. He must have seemed so close to the Messiah the people were expecting - so close! Even the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him if he was the Christ! (John 1:19). But, “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’’” (v.23).

As you listen to this first song, you might utilize some of the imagery I’ve mentioned to help you contemplate the scriptural text and how John was used to reveal Jesus. There are also a few other features that you might enjoy considering:

First, notice how the scriptural text is only three short sentences. Likewise, the musical accompaniment is structured into triplets. 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Do you hear it? This pattern might also make you think of the way a flame dances on a candle. Light one and watch the light flicker and dance as you listen to these words about The Light!

The phrasing of the text is a bit different than we’re used to - it doesn’t flow as three sentences. Instead, there are three phrases, followed by a fourth statement. If it were a poem, it would look like this:

1 - There was a man

2 - Sent from God

3 - His name was John

HE CAME

1 - as a witness to testify

2 - concerning that light

3 - so that through Him all might

BELIEVE

When you see the text this way, perhaps you will notice the emphasized message: He came. Believe!

And then the last lines form a final triplet:

1 - He himself was not the Light

2 - He came only as a witness to the Light

3 - The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

You might also notice as you listen that there are some accented bass octaves. Can you imagine each of those being the sculptor’s hammer falling as he chisels away the next revealing line of the final image, that is Christ?

Finally, the motif (or the tune) you hear in the intro and the outro is like traveling music, for that is what John was - a traveler. He travels into the scene to carry out his purpose, and after that purpose is made complete, he travels out again. He knows his place. He knows his purpose. And when Jesus comes, he will joyfully step aside:

“A person can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:27-30)

John makes this one thing perfectly clear: our joy is only complete in Christ.

I love this song. It fits the same description as the previous one: voice wavering, notes flat. What’s to love? I think I love it because it came as such a surprise to me. I never intended it to become a song. It just sort of did one morning.

It was a Sunday morning. My family had gone off to church, but I just couldn’t muster the emotional energy to go; I needed some time alone to refresh my spirit. After my crew of four boys plus dad had left the house, I slumped down into a chair in my living room. I was so tired, I just started to cry. Out came a flood of tears. I wanted to be alone because I felt alone and misunderstood. We had recently moved overseas (again) to a new location with a new community and new neighbors and a new… well, everything. That happens when you move: you feel unknown in the unknown because usually you are and it is.

I don’t remember exactly what tipped my thoughts to John the Baptist, but I started thinking about him - maybe it was that he was alone in the wilderness, like I felt. I started thinking about his words, “Prepare the way for the Lord,” and I wondered how John’s voice had sounded when he first delivered his new message. I imagined him going out with gusto, with voice booming and face a-flush with passion and energy: “Prepare the way for the Lord!” But as the days wore on, I imagined his voice waning, almost groaning as he kept repeating his message: “Prepare the way for the Lord…” By now, I imagined him weakly pleading with anyone who might listen, “Please hear me, believe my message…”

As I considered his words, “Prepare the way for the Lord,” I suddenly heard the familiar lyrics of “Joy to the World” playing in my mind: “Let every heart PREPARE Him room…” I kept singing, and as I did, the lyrics of that familiar carol started to tell the story of John the Baptist in the Judean wilderness, over the “fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains.” It was so fitting! When I came to the third verse, there it was: John’s message that I had been singing all my lifelong at Christmastime but never noticed!

Can you just imagine, John walking along, wearily talking with infrequent passersby when he unwittingly steps square on a thorn sticking out of the rough terrain? Can’t you just see him stopping mid-sentence, hunching over to pluck that gnarly thorn from his flesh, but instead of slumping over in defeat, giving in to discouragement, he rises erect with new strength, holding that thorn up in front of him and calling out:

“No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow!

Far as the curse is found!

Open your hearts!

Prepare Him room!

Let earth receive her King!!

Oh, Let heaven and nature sing at the joy of His coming,

For He IS coming!!”

The lyrics suddenly connected so clearly! How had I never noticed it before?

And that exhaustion in his voice, it is replaced with strength and confidence as he remembers who he is: (Do you hear that in the music - that rising voice as we approach the chorus?)

The angel Gabriel had told John’s father, Zechariah, that John would “go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah.” What image first comes to mind when you remember Elijah? Is it not fire from heaven that he called down when he challenged the priests of Baal and the Asherah? Then, it makes perfect sense that John would call out with renewed passion:

“I baptize you with water, just as Elijah doused that altar. But as the LORD sent fire from heaven to consume the water, so after me comes One who is more powerful than I; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire!”

Holy Spirit and fire!

Holy Spirit and fire!

Holy Spirit and fire!

Oh, let earth receive Her King!

**************************************

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heav’n and nature sing,

And heav’n and nature sing,

And heav’n, and heav’n, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love.

My piano sits right next to a large picture window overlooking our yard. As I sat with this scripture at my piano one (rare) quiet afternoon, looking outside, I wondered what it might have been like for Mary to have this encounter with the angel, Gabriel. I had just finished hanging a load of clean laundry out on the line, and I imagined Mary may have been doing something similar - mundane, daily chores.

I like this image: it illustrates the daily doings of our lives as the natural access point for God to meet with us, for Him to speak with us. It causes me to think that He may be more interested in the faithful execution of mundane tasks than He might be in the infrequent acts of great accomplishment. This is good news for most of us ordinary people.

I often say that I love doing the dishes because that is where I hear from God most clearly. Do you ever think of your mundane tasks in this way? Access points to meet with the Almighty?

I pondered the simple task of hanging laundry that I had just completed, and I wondered how Gabriel would have appeared to Mary doing just such a task. I tend to think he would have approached gently, so as not to completely startle her, and so I imagine he may have appeared sort of gradually. What would that have been like?

I imagined my laundry hanging limp in the warm afternoon stillness. I imagined them starting to gently sway, and I thought of how I stop and notice a gentle breeze when it starts up. It doesn’t startle me, but it does draw my attention. How would such a breeze sound on the piano? I started playing and immediately the sound of wind chimes floated up off the keys. Can you hear them, too? Something has stirred them to sound. What was it?

Perhaps it was like that: something gentle enough to draw Mary’s attention without completely scaring her. Even so, I imagine Mary would have frozen in place at the appearance of Gabriel. I expect his greeting would have been spoken in a soft and gentle tone in order to soothe Mary’s fear and to convey his intention of peace and kindness. Still, I imagine Mary nearly paralyzed with disbelief, and so I decided to repeat the angel’s opening line of greeting in the song. Maybe she would have had to take a moment to register that this angel who was speaking to her was actually real, to gain her composure enough to really perceive and consider his words.

As he delivers his message, “The Lord will give him the throne of his father, David,” you will hear the music rising and falling. This represents Mary calling to mind the past promises of God and then coming back to the present moment. Gabriel goes on, “And he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever.” Again, you will hear in the music Mary’s mind reflecting back on all the prophecies that she knows so well from her Jewish upbringing. And then the culmination of the announcement, repeated for emphasis just as the first line was: “And His kingdom will never end! And His kingdom will never end…”

Listen as the wind chimes come to a gradual rest as the moment of revelation comes to a close and Gabriel takes his leave as gently as he came. Mary takes it all in. She replays it all, repeating the words to herself. She looks around to make sure she is still grounded in physical reality. She looks down and rubs her hand slowly over her virgin belly. She looks up in wonder at the place where Gabriel stood, the place where now she sees only… the laundry. Oh yes! The laundry… and the angel! The clothesline… and the promise! The basket… and the baby!

Modesty encounters Glory. Glory appears to modesty.

And Mary goes on hanging her laundry in awe of God’s presence and promise.

May we do the same.

Matthew 1:18-25

Today’s song depicts the third angelic encounter that we read of in this series of Advent scriptures.

When I sat down with this scripture at my piano, I simply put my hands on the keys, closed my eyes and listened to what emerged. It was late at night. My whole family was in bed. As I played, I envisioned how it might have been for Joseph to wake up in the middle of the night to an angel calling his name. I don’t imagine it must have been a jolting awake. I think it was a gentle stirring, a slow awakening that sort of came into being.

Like the wind chime illusions in the previous song, “The Visitation,” there is also gentle movement in this song. You’ll notice the music doesn’t form a tune, rather it is just music moving. I wonder if this is what an angelic encounter would have been like - lovely, mesmerizing, thought provoking, but not possible to pin down or translate concretely into our limited physical dimensions or experience. It is harmonious, to be sure, but it is not ordered in a predictable way as a typical song might be. It keeps the eyes of our ears continually wandering… wondering.

Isn’t that like our God? Moving, yet mystical. Beautiful, yet mysterious. Familiar, yet surprising.

But this mystical encounter is recorded in bookended fashion: just before it comes the very concrete litany of the genealogy of Christ. (Is there any form of writing that speaks more to our organized, predictable, concrete mode of thinking than a well-ordered list?) And after the encounter, we are told that this message from the angel ties the bow on Isaiah’s prophecy. If we needed concrete evidence for our logical minds, it is there. But between those solid, cerebral bookends comes this mysterious, spiritual encounter with the heavenly realms. We read the scripture with our eyes, we consider it with our minds….this song is meant to portray it for our ears so that we are more completely moved by it in our hearts.

When I got to the end of singing the scriptural text, after the better part of an hour, without thinking, I sang the words, “Lo, ho a rose e’er blooming…” I suddenly paused, almost stunned. I put my hands down on my lap and wondered, “Where did that come from?” It was most definitely unplanned, but it did certainly seem as though it were meant to part of the song. Somewhat perplexed, I reached for my hymnal to examine the text in this beautiful, traditional German carol, which is a personal favorite. Here are the lyrics:

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming

From tender stem hath sprung!

Of Jesse’s lineage coming,

As men of old have sung.

It came, a flow’ret bright,

Amid the cold of winter,

When half spent was the night.

****************

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,

The Rose I have in mind;

With Mary we behold it,

The virgin mother kind.

To show God’s love aright,

She bore to men a Savior,

When half spent was the night.

****************

This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender

With sweetness fills the air,

Dispels with glorious splendor

The darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God,

From sin and death He saves us,

And lightens every load.

****************

Look closely at these lyrics. Notice (perhaps for the first time, like me) how the carol includes all the pieces I’ve just described:

Verse one tell us of the genealogy of Jesus: “Of Jesse’s lineage coming…”

Verse two reminds us of that very prophecy from Isaiah that is fulfilled in this scriptural text: “Isaiah ’twas foretold it…She bore to men a Savior…”

And, finally, verse three reflects the words of the angel: “He will save His people from their sins.”

I sat still on my bench. I had never known this correlation before, and yet it came through my fingers and out of my voice without my even knowing. I still feel completely moved and perplexed by that experience. I doubt I shall ever forget it.

And Joseph? Why is it HIS rose that is blooming in the title of my song? Because the title of today’s scripture passage is, “Joseph accepts Jesus as His Son.” The rose that is blooming in that German carol - the rose that is blooming in Mary’s womb - it is the Rose that now belongs to Joseph. Between the list and the prophecy, Joseph encountered the mystery. And now he knows. He knows and accepts the Christ!

May we also know and accept Him wholly.

Amen.

The two songs for today are a bit childlike; I originally had my own children in mind when writing these. It seems to be tradition for many families to read this account from Luke aloud as a family on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, so I thought it appropriate to have a narrative component in each one to remind us of the story-telling nature of this oral tradition which has passed the truth of this narrative from generation to generation.

The first song depicts the very birth of Jesus. Having given birth to four sons of my own, this is a very personally touching scripture. Although laborious and physically taxing, there is at the same time a deep tenderness and fragility about bringing a baby into the world. I hoped the gentle quality of this song would depict that sweetness and purity and would cause us to take pause from all the other details - the prophecies fulfilled, the historical accounts - to remind us that this is the the very tender focal point toward which every narrative until now has pointed. Strength and vulnerability meet in this most exquisite moment of Jesus’s birth: God has begun his engagement with His people in the most intimate way possible: as one of them.

(Reflect on the continuation of this scripture with the second song and reflection below.)

The second song for today is a continuation of the same scripture and depicts the appearance of the angels to the shepherds, announcing Jesus’s birth. The ongoing “sparkle” in the upper register is meant to illustrate the stars twinkling over the fields where the shepherds were watching over their sheep. As in my other songs, I chose to use a gentle voice for the angel. In this case, I thought a gentle voice was particularly appropriate - I imagine it is almost as though the angel is sharing a glorious secret for the first time. What an amazing moment! The secret that has been kept in the heavenly realms since the beginning of time is now revealed for the very first time on earth!

I particularly like how the word “manger” is pronounced in the phrase, “You will find the baby wrapped and lying in… a manger.” I imagine the angel smiling with eyes twinkling in delight, as he reveals this very important detail that would no-doubt be loaded with meaning for the shepherds: the manger as His birthplace means that this baby king is like them! He is not unapproachable; He is Immanuel - come to dwell among them, as one of them, as one of the lowliest among us.

The joining of the angelic chorus is a mere outline of what is in my mind’s ear for this portion of the scripture: a grand chorus of multiple voices, crossing over, under and around one another, echoing across the plains from one end to the other. If the sound in my mind were projected on a screen, it might look something like the Northern Lights. Can you imagine these vocal northern lights as you listen?

And then, as quietly as the angel came, the chorus dissolves into the quiet of the night, leaving the shepherds again on the peace of the plains to contemplate this news - this beautiful experience - that was just delivered to them: the highest of praise shared with the lowliest of men. As the Northern Lights flash across the great expanse of sky, so the love of God in Christ reaches from the highest Being in heaven to the lowliest men on earth.

No one expresses this width and length and height and depth more clearly than Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”

And Amen.

And Amen.

Christ has come! The Messiah is Born! Hallelujah!

When I wrote the original sketch for this song months ago, I was reflecting on how strange it is what we believe: a virgin conceives by the Holy Spirit? She gives birth to a son, who is God in human form? It all sounds a bit mythological, doesn’t it? I thought to myself, “What child IS this?” You’ll hear echoes of this carol in the opening of today’s song. It is a melody that is full of wonder, beauty and mystery, as is our faith. I played it as I wondered, “Why would we believe that this child is the Christ?”

And, if those were all the details we had, it would be very strange indeed. But our beliefs are not myth, nor are they based on a thin collection of narratives that make a nice volume set of stories. On the contrary, we’ve just read through 25 days of scriptures that point us to Jesus being the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies recorded by several authors and affirmed by historical evidence. That is truly amazing, and also fitting for the opening lines of the song found in the scripture reading for this day, “Long ago, God spoke MANY times, and in MANY ways through the prophets…” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

I still do wonder at the strangeness of it all, sometimes, don’t you? And I think that’s ok. Usually I find that my questions and wonderings lead either to new discoveries and/or deeper faith. Both are worthwhile ends. And, as I explained in the reflection on December 23: though they are fascinating and wonderfully interwoven throughout scripture, I am not wooed by the facts only; I find every time that I am convinced by “the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ” that can only be revealed to a heart that is illumined by the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). I encourage you to pray for this as you wonder!

Today’s scripture continues, “But now in these final days, He has spoken to us through His Son…” Do you realize what this means? It means that Jesus’s very life speaks to us! The wonder takes a turn toward discovery. The music has changed. The scripture implies, I believe, that Christ not only fulfills what was spoken to and by the prophets, but that he speaks anew with messages and teachings and ways of living by his own demonstration that bring light to the old covenant and usher us into the new. Jesus not only fulfills the role of Final Prophet but also of great High Priest who makes atonement for us by His own life. His very life speaks!

And finally, today’s scripture ends with, “The son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.” As I came to this line, I intuitively started singing, “Go-o-o-o-o o-o-o-o-o o-o-o-o-o o-ria! In Excelsis Deo!” This was quite a shift! From the minor, doubtful key at the beginning to this major, affirming announcement at the end? Yes! As I told you, wonderings usually lead to new discoveries and deeper faith, and I think that singing this refrain was the spirit-led inclination of my heart to remind my mind through music that this child was the newborn King, the Messiah:

Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King….

That word “radiates,” It implies a sense of “going out from,” doesn’t it? We use it when we talk about how beautiful someone or something is: “Isn’t she radiant?” meaning, “Doesn’t glorious beauty exude from her?” And that is exactly what Jesus does: He exudes the glorious beauty of God, who is Love.

Finally, He “expresses the very character of God!” How does God describe His own character? He describes himself to Moses in chapter 34 of Exodus as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.” He goes on to say that He is just - not leaving the guilty unpunished.” And this is the purpose of Christ’s life on earth: to take the “punishment” or the consequence for our own sin and the choices that lead to self-ruin. God brings justice because He is loving and compassionate, and His most compassionate act was to come into this world as a human, to be “God with Us,” to be “God for us,” and to die in our place, allowing us to experience His glory:

“God has chosen to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!” (Colossians 1:27).

GL-O-O-O-O-O O-O-O-O-O O-O-O-O-O O-RIA!

In Excelsis De-e-o!

All Glory to God in Christ, the newborn King!

This song includes all the sounds of daily life live from my living room, including someone dropping silverware while setting the table, my husband scraping scaps of food into the dog bowl, and a child stopping by the piano to ask me something while I play. This is how I make music - in the midst of the familiar chaos of our home.

Last year my 10-year-old told me this was his favorite Christmas scripture, so of course I had to put it to music for him. (It's actually the song that got me started on writing the rest of this Advent collection!) I could have just played for him the amazing song by the same title that is part of “The Messiah” by George Frideric Handel (which, I can assure you, is far more amazing than mine, and of course I also did play a recording for him), but I wanted a version that would be more approachable for my young children. This is the result of that desire.

As we read the scripture together, we loved seeing that His name would be called, “Wonderful.” Our translation has a comma after the word “Wonderful.” I’ve noticed that’s not true in all translations, but I thought it was wonderful that our Savior was named, “Wonderful,” don’t you?

I hope you can carry this song and its truth with you as you venture out of the holiday season back into your own everyday life, complete with your own chaotic background noises. Let Christ’s birth cut through the chaos. And remember, He is grand, as depicted by Handel in “The Messiah,” but He is also approachable, as in my simple version of the same scripture. May you find Him to be both.

Merry Christmas!