18 November
Did that sequence hymn sound familiar?
It’s one we do about once a year, but the tune shows up more often.
We’ll probably hear it again in Lent, but with different words:
Lord, who throughout these 40 days for us did’st fast and pray/teach us with thee to mourn our sins and close by thee to stay.
It happens with some frequency…the music for one hymn gets changed out for another…harmonies get added…the poetry is rewritten…you can learn a lot of history by looking at the teeny tiny print at the bottom of the hymns that list the sources.
Our opening hymn: All my hope on God is founded: the text is a nineteenth century translation and adaptation of a 17th century German poem, with music also adapted by Herbert Howells, in the 20th century.
The sequence hymn was also adapted…
The offertory hymn has two different tunes side by side in the hymnal…
And I’m grateful to Stephan for his music notes, but I have to admit that as a theatre major rather than a music major, when I see the words “Turn back, O man…” I don’t think Gustav Holst, but rather Godspell.
The communion anthem one a folk song one a spiritual both mediums that are constantly evolving.
And our closing hymn…the music is from a German melody, based on a French song, and that tune also has other words (hymn 408—Sing praise to God who reigns above)
All of the music today has been remixed to a certain degree.
And it’s not just the music.
It happens with scripture too.
This period between All Saints Day and Christmas—this extended Advent—this ending and beginning—is framed in our lectionary by two great poetic pieces that echo one another across centuries.
The Song of Hannah—which we heard today in place of the Psalm—and just before Christmas we hear the Song of Mary, the Magnificat. The second is a remix of the first.
Listen.
My heart exults in you, O God;
my triumph song is lifted in you. (Hannah)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; * (Mary)
Do not heap up prideful words, or speak in arrogance; (Hannah)
God has scattered the proud in their conceit. (Mary)
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the weak are clothed in strength. (Hannah)
God has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly. (Mary)
Those once full now labor for bread,
those who hungered now are well fed. (Hannah)
God fills the hungry with good things, *
and the rich are sent away empty. (Mary)
God’s mercy is on those who fear him *
in every generation. (Mary)
God destroys and brings to life, casts down and raises up;
gives wealth or takes it away, humbles and dignifies. (Hannah)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Mary)
My heart exults in you, O God;
my triumph song is lifted in you. (Hannah)
It’s a remix.
And so much of scripture is.
Hannah’s song is essentially a psalm—an ancient praise poem to God—in fact in many ways it’s sort of a prototypical psalm—but it’s not included in the book of Psalms, it’s given to Hannah to say in the book of Samuel.
And Mary’s song in Luke is more than an echo of Hannah’s…both songs are placed in the mouths of mothers who have just been told that against all odds, and despite it being utterly impossible—they will bear a son…(because with God nothing is impossible).
Both are more than simple praises to God, because both boldly reframe the covenant, reframe God’s promise—God’s dream of a just, peaceful, and reconciled world—that God (with our help) is working to bring about…
In both, the mighty are cast down, the lowly are lifted up…the hungry are fed…everyone has enough…
These songs get remixed again by Jesus…when he starts in on “Blessed are the poor, the meek, the merciful”… Sometime between now and Christmas sit down and read the Magnificat (Luke 1:44-55); then read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. And if you ever wonder where Jesus gets some of this stuff…he learned it from his mother!” And remixed it.
And it’s not just Hannah and Mary…
This passage from the letter to the Hebrews: Is a remix.
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,”
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
That’s not a direct quote. It’s a restatement, a paraphrase, a remix of Jeremiah…
The gospel passage from Mark today—the beginning of what is known as the Markan apocalypse, is a remix of “classic” apocalyptic texts like Daniel, and prophetic texts like Isaiah, and Ezekiel and Jeremiah, all of which reference, reflect and remix each other in ways that keep many Rabbis and Old Testament scholars busy.
The covenant—the message—gets remixed over and over and over, but the song remains the same. Or the tune changes but the core message remains the same…I will be your God, you will be my people. Love God. Love your neighbor. Change the world. Repeat (and remix) as necessary.
As I said on the Feast of All Saints…now it’s our time…it’s our turn…our task to remix this message for us and for those who come after us…we have the responsibility of taking the wisdom of our elders…and the passions of our youth…and writing them into our own stanzas—spinning our own rhymes out of them —remixing this message with our words…and with our lives…singing out these praises with our hearts and hands…and living out these promises with every choice we make… the promise that God’s dream is coming true…the lowly are lifted up…the mighty are humbled…God’s mercy extends to all who seek justice. This is our time…when we get to become the living stones that shapes the path for others…
Like all creative, live-giving processes…this means letting go, as well as taking on. It will require us to say goodbye to some things…so that we can welcome others… It will require saying “no” to some things so that we can say “yes” to others. It is a time of endings and beginnings…
“Is this the end?” the disciples want know. Well…Yes. And no. “This is the beginning of the birthpangs,” replies Jesus. It might be the beginning of the end, but it’s also the end of the beginning. Remember the promise is always that out of the old comes the new. Out of death comes life. Out of brokenness comes wholeness. God is in the business of transformation and thus remixing…over and over and over…Just like all our songs (and Psalms) tell us…
“And lo, already on the hills the flags of dawn appear,
Grid up your loins, ye prophet souls, proclaim that day is near:
The day to whose clear shinning light all wrong shall stand revealed,
When justice shall be throned in might, and every hurt be healed;
When knowledge, hand in hand with peace, shall walk the earth abroad;
The day of perfect righteousness, the promised day of God.” (Hymn 615)
Amen.
This is draft text of the sermon and may vary considerably from the recorded version. Please excuse any grammatical or typographical errors, and please do not cite without permission.