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A WORD FROM THE RECTOR
Greetings in the
Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Happy new
year! Today we begin a new Church
year; we enter a season of expectancy.
Last week we ended the prior Church year with the celebration of the
universal kingship of Jesus. But recall
that at that Feast of Christ the King our Gospel lesson spoke of judgment, of
the king who has come in glory separating the sheep from the goats. At Advent I the Gospel speaks once more of
the day of judgment:
“[W]atch ... for you do not know when the time
will come” (Mark 13.33).
Watch. That’s what we do in Advent. We live in the “not yetness”
of the season as we live in the “not yetness” of this
life, looking for our Lord, awaiting His coming, trying to live each day
prepared for that hour the time of which we do not know.
How then are we to live? In the collect for Advent I we pray that by
God’s grace “... we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the
armor of light ...”, that when that last day does come we may rise to life
immortal. All that we do now is
preparation for that last day. So the
question of how we are to live thus becomes:
How do we cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of
light?
We got pretty clear signals in
all those lessons about judgment with which the last year came to an end,
lessons which tell us that faith is to be active, that we are to take risks and
bear fruit. Put these teachings together
with the collect for Advent I and it becomes clear that the armor of light is
put on in how we allow God’s light to shine forth in our lives by doing His
will, His work.
The armor of light shines in
our liturgical white of Easter joy and the kingship of Jesus, but it shines
also in the red of martyrs and the purple of this season of penitence. Active ministry and watchfulness involve the
self-giving that seeks to lift up the
sorrows of this world that they may be redeemed in our Lord’s Passion, and the
penitent offering before God of the prayers and sacrifice of His people.
When Jesus tells us to watch, to keep awake,
He challenges each us: What will you
do? How will you put on the armor of
light? We can start by recognizing that
the works of darkness require darkness.
And what is darkness but the absence of light? The works of darkness are, therefore,
interior; they thrive when we turn inward.
But when we reach out we open up, and in the open shadows cannot
abide. Putting on the armor of light
means taking the light which we have been given by God and sharing it, to let
it shine.
There are many ways that you
can do this in this season and life of “not yetness,”
this season and life of watching for our Lord:
many ways, but each will involve doing something. The many ministries of this parish are
summarized in a booklet available in the parish office and on our website
(under “Our Mission”). These ministries
are diverse but they all involve activity, even if that activity is something
you do alone when you pray for those on our parish prayer list. Whether we are in ministry in private or
together, each time we act in our Lord’s Name, His light shines forth through
us.
In this
season of Advent consider one ministry that we all can do. Take the prayer list in your bulletin and
combine this with the names found in the parish directory. This will give you a list of people who you
may not know and those who you know very well.
Take this list, and every day lift up several names before God in
prayer. Lift them up, whether you are
praying for a known need or not. In
doing this you will be rendering service and you will be brought closer
together with your fellow disciples. In
doing this you will be lifting up any hurt or ill to be redeemed in our Lord’s
Passion, sharing in a ministry of “com-passion” (literally, “passion with”)
both with those in need and with Jesus.
In doing this you will be offering the prayer and sacrifice of a
penitent heart. The armor of light will
combine the red of martyrdom, the purple of penitence, the green of everyday
life, and the black of mourning, to shine with the white of the coming of our
Lord at Christmas. May the works of darkness be cast out
by this active light of expectation, service, and worship. Strong armor, indeed.
Yours
in Christ Jesus,
VESTRY
HIGHLIGHTS
Treasurer’s report:
Operating account balance = 14,887.30; Capital account balance =
$15,364.40, which includes $13,500 balance donated for the new organ.
A new organ has been purchased and will be
installed Dec. 15-16. Several volunteers
are needed to help those days. The donor
will be recognized at a special commissioning service and concert to be held in
January.
The church roof will be replaced due to
hail damage. Insurance payment has been
agreed, resulting in on net cost to the parish.
We are on track to achieve 100% payment of
2008 pledges by year end, and an increase in average attendance of 10%.
Grace Notes
Music:
The musical highlight of the month will be the arrival of the new
organ! This instrument will arrive and
be installed in the week of 14 December, and so we will be able to enjoy this
major enhancement in our music ministry at Christmas. In January we will formally dedicate and
bless the organ, with an a service to include an organ
recital.
The instrument is an Ahlborn-Galanti from
The season begins with Lo! He comes with clouds descending (no. 58),
in which the Second Coming is described and welcomed. Following the First Advent emphasis on the
Second Coming, the balance of the season is concerned more with the story of
how the Lord is announced and how He is expected. Thus at Second Advent the lessons and hymns
shift away from the imagery of apocalypse to the message of John the Baptizer
that the Lord is nigh, including no. 75, There’s a voice in the wilderness
crying and no. 65, Prepare the way, O Zion.
At Christmas we can of course
bring out old favorites. Included are
83, O come, all ye faithful, 96, Angels we have heard on high,
and 100, Joy to the world! the Lord is come. The latter is one of Isaac Watts’ most famous
hymns, helped in a major way by the tune from G. F. Händel. No. 115 is sung to the famous tune “Greensleeves” generally attributed to that “bad boy” King
Henry VIII! Finally, the offertory
anthem at the late vigil on 24 December is hymn 82, Of the Father’s love begotten. Verse three is a wondrous summation of the
Nativity message:
Let the heights of heaven adore him; angel
hosts his praises sing;
powers, dominions, bow before him, and extol our God and
King;
let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert
ring,
evermore and evermore!
In this season of joy, let us raise our voices to welcome and praise our
Lord!
Holy Days:
In Advent the emphasis is on the season rather than on feast days. Nonetheless, the calendar remains filled with
notable observances. We actually begin
the month with a November saint, St. Andrew the Apostle (patron of
Two apostles are remembered in
December proper: Thomas (21st)
and John (27th). Martyrs
include St. Lucy (13 Dec.), St. Stephen (the first martyr or “protomartyr,” 26 Dec.), and the Holy Innocents (28
Dec.) The Feast of the Holy Innocents
recalls the massacre of all male children under the age of two years, killed in
King Herod’s attempt to rid himself of the Christ child (Matt. 2.16-18).
The Prayer Book and lectionary
provide for three different Masses for Christmas, and we will celebrate all
three: Christmas I as a vigil service on
24 December, at 4:30 p.m. This service
will be especially suitable for families.
Christmas II will be a vigil service on 24 December, at 11:00 p.m., and will
include the choir. Christmas III will be
celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Christmas day.