Sermon of December 6, 1998 Rev. Mark Trotter First United Methodist Church of San Diego (619) 297-4366 Fax (619) 297-2933 Isaiah 11:1-10 Matthew 3:1-12 "THE MESSIAH" Tonight the Chancel Choir, the Masterwork Chorale, and orchestra, will present the Christmas portion of Handel s Messiah. The Messiah remains one of the venerable traditions of Christmas. I imagine many of you have sung it in church choirs, or community choruses, or Messiah sing-alongs. Let me ask, how many of you have sung in the Messiah? Almost everybody. That s wonderful. It is a great tradition. Joseph Sittler recalls his boyhood as a Lutheran in the midwest, growing up in a small town. He said that in that small town that the annual presentation of the Messiah by the Lutheran Church was something like the Passion Play at Oberammergau. The soloists were selected from the citizens of the community: the grocery clerk, the school teacher, the bartender sang the bass every year. There was some celebrity in being chosen, like Oberammergau. To be chosen to be www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 1/6
a part of the play, to be a part of the Messiah in mid-west America, in the small towns and church communities, was an honor that you carried with you all year long. Sittler then mused on the popularity of the oratorio. He concluded that the texts, the score, and the magic of the season, all come together to produce something that is quite extraordinary. It is not unlike Oklahoma. I hope Handel will forgive us for saying this, but like Oklahoma, it combines all the combinations of a winner. First the libretto, the beautiful biblical texts. Most of them come from the incomparable poetry of Isaiah. The Oklahoma analogy lends itself to point out that Handel did not select the texts. Like Richard Rodgers, he had his Oscar Hammerstein, a man named Charles Jennens, who selected and arranged the texts in the order they appear in the oratorio. We will come back to the meaning of the texts, but the genius of the selection is that they are texts that practically sing themselves. They are just extraordinarily beautiful texts. We are all familiar with them. The music, as Sittler points out, is a unique combination of traditions. And perhaps only Handel could have pulled this off. He was a German who studied Italian opera in Italy, and then lived in England. The Messiah reflects all of that. The English religious sentiment, which is highly aesthetic, rich, yet simple. It was the classic period of the English language. The 17th and 18th centuries, Shakespeare, the King James version of the Bible, and the Book of Common Prayer. Elegant, simple, beautiful prose. The libretto reflects that classical English. Handel s own native tradition would have been the German chorale, which tends to be more foreboding and sometimes even ponderous. But he combined the English of the text with Italian opera music. The result is a masterful vehicle for expressing the feelings that we have at Christmas time. Others explain the genius of the work by recounting the source of Handel s inspiration. There was the story of the frenzy with which he composed the oratorio. He wrote it in thirty days. In his own words, he noted that as he was writing The Hallelujah Chorus, the text for which comes from the Book of Revelation, which was a vision to John of Patmos, I did think that I did see all of heaven before me, and the great God Himself. With anecdotes like that, it just adds to the wonderfulness of this great piece of music. Along with the story, of course, of the King standing during The Hallelujah Chorus. Tradition says that when the Messiah was presented for the first time in England, it was presented in Westminster Abbey, and the King was present. He was so overcome with the grandeur of The Hallelujah Chorus, that he stood. These traditions just enhance the work. If you are coming tonight, you are in for a real treat. I want us to look more closely at the texts, though, and the way they are arranged. Incidentally, the choirs tonight are going to present the Christmas portion, with a few arias and choruses, like The Hallelujah Chorus, taken from the second portion of the Messiah. The passion part of the www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 2/6
Messiah will be performed by the same ensemble during Lent, at the concert in March The oratorio begins with the tenor singing these words from Isaiah, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Handel uses that the same way that Isaiah uses it. Those words open the prophet s message to us. Handel uses it the same way, to announce that God is about to act in a special way to redeem his people. The Book of Isaiah is actually a collection of probably three prophets. The words comfort ye my people come from the prophet known as II Isaiah. His words begin in the 40th chapter. II Isaiah was with the exiles in Babylon. He announces to them that God is about to rescue them, to free them from bondage and take them back to Jerusalem. So, comfort my people. Tell them that their warfare is over, and their iniquity, their sin, is pardoned. And a highway is being prepared for them to return them to their home. So, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Then come the highway specifications. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight, and the rough places plain. So, come home. That is the message of Isaiah. Come home. Your past is forgiven. It is the same message that Jesus preached to us. Those words are not unlike the message of The Prodigal Son, Jesus favorite parable, which is also an invitation to come home. Israel was in exile in Babylon, the prodigal son was in the far country. That is the phrase that Jesus used. He is in the far country, like Babylon. Israel trusts God s invitation to return. The prodigal son swallows his pride, ends his rebellion, and comes home to be forgiven. So, comfort ye my people; your warfare is ended, your rebellion is ended. Your iniquity, your sins, are pardoned. So come home. What comes next is absolute genius. As we move toward the nativity scene, like pilgrims, Handel alternately announces judgment and grace. We approach this mystery of what God has done hesitantly, in fear, as if we do not know exactly what to expect. First come the prophecies of judgment. They are Old Testament texts written by prophets who realized what it would mean if God should actually come to us, to forgive our sins, to restore us to the life that God would want us to live. It means that we will have to change. If this Messiah has come to save the world, then the whole world must change. So immediately after the tenor announces the gracious invitation, Comfort ye my people, and the chorus sings that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, the bass comes in with the judgment. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts:--Yet once a little while and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. After the shaking of the foundations of life, after the judgment, then, and only then, will the Messiah come. The Christian gospel is not cheap grace. If we are to be redeemed, we must change. That www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 3/6
change may be costly. For us to change may mean we have to stop what we are doing and turn around, go another direction. Repent, is what that is called. For the world to change, institutions and nations will have to change. And they don t change willingly or easily. The larger the institution, the greater the nation, the more resistant they are to hearing words of repentance. Institutions and nations rarely change. We live in a time of huge institutions, international corporations, continuing to get larger and larger. If nations and multi-national corporations are going to change, then something will have to shake them. So, I will shake all nations. The bass continues. But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner s fire. Then the chorus concludes with, He shall purify the sons of Levi, because they believed that you could not stand in the presence of God as a sinner. You must be purified, made holy, before you can stand in front of the Holy God. You notice that the season of Advent follows the same pattern. This is the second Sunday in Advent. The first Sunday in Advent was the time for an announcement. We announced that the Messiah is coming, so prepare. It was like what the tenor sang, on the first Sunday in Advent. Then on the second Sunday, the bass strolls in and tells us to repent. On the second Sunday of Advent, every year, the gospel lesson is the story of John the Baptist. In fact, Matthew, our gospel for this year, identifies John the Baptist as the one that Isaiah was talking about when he prophesied, A voice is crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Isaiah meant one thing with those words, Matthew meant another thing. Matthew meant that John the Baptist is the one who has come to get us to repent. So the judgment was expected. If God is going to come to rescue us, then there must be a judgment before he comes. So look out. Then comes the announcement of grace. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. Do you see what happens? This is wonderful. Instead of a fire coming to consume us, it is like light coming into the darkness of our lives, to lead us to a new life. So, arise, shine, for thy light is come. The alto sings that. Then the bass sings, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. And then the chorus sings. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. We are now ready for the high point in the oratorio, the coming of the Messiah, the actual presence of God on earth, as promised. Handel, to allow us to prepare for the holiness of this moment, stops everything, for what is called the Pastoral Symphony, a short, meditative, quiet time, as we contemplate what this will mean, that God will be with us. www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 4/6
And then, unlike the expectation, but true to Luke s narrative, the birth of Christ is told with shimmering understatement. The scene is simply the angel s announcement to the shepherds. Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Then the chorus sings the angel chorus, Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men. That s it. It is as inconspicuous, and as quiet and humble, as the event itself. Luke says Mary pondered all of this. And that is what we are supposed to do. What does this mean? Handel had us all prepared for judgment, something very, very big, the shaking of the foundations, the trembling of the nations, the refining fire. Who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? Then he appeared, silently. How silently the wondrous gift is given. Perhaps that is why the holiest night of the year is Christmas Eve, because it captures the mystery of his coming. The less said on Christmas Eve, the better. All that is needed is to tell the story, and then light some candles against the darkness, and sing Silent Night. Silent night, holy night. Wondrous star, lend thy light; With the angels let us sing, Alleluia to our King; Christ the Savior is born. Then the oratorio exits this holy scene, the way I imagine the shepherds exited the stable at Bethlehem, joyfully, but reverently. For the most amazing thing has happened. God has visited us, and we are still standing. The earth didn t shake. The heavens didn t fall. The nations are still intact. Instead of coming as a refiner s fire, he came with a baby s cry. So, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee. The soprano sings that wonderful aria. Then Handel introduces the shepherd theme, which he uses to tell the story of Jesus passion in the second part of the oratorio. The alto introduces it. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. And ingeniously, as the oratorio began with an invitation, Comfort ye my people; tell them that their warfare is over, and their sins are forgiven, so the Christmas part of the Messiah ends with another invitation, Come unto Him, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and He shall give you rest. Those are the words that Jesus spoke in the 11th chapter of Matthew. In Matthew they come just after he hears that John the Baptist has been arrested and executed. We heard John s www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 5/6
words this morning, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Those are words that can get you arrested, as they got John arrested, and then executed. Jesus heard the news, John has been executed. He immediately heads for Jerusalem, and his execution. Which means that the judgment John the Baptist preached, and which everybody expected would be upon us before the Messiah would come, was, in fact, put on the Messiah. You will have to return this spring, in March, when the choirs will sing the second half of the Messiah, the wonder that he would take upon himself, the judgment that we were to receive. In the second part of the Messiah, Handel will dwell on those texts that deal with the suffering of the Messiah. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrow. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. He took upon himself the judgment that was expected to come to all of us before God would ever come to us. So between John s death and his passion, he took on our sin, and said, Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. St. Augustine, who before coming to Christ journeyed to all the religious, and intellectual, and sensual shrines in the Greek and Roman world, said of these words, Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, No where have I found an invitation such as this. And he accepted it. He said, yes. Maybe Handel will be the preacher who will beckon you to do the same. Help us to be masters of ourselves, that we might be servants of others, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Click here to send your comments via e-mail to Rev. Mark Trotter. If you find these sermons of benefit, please let us know. Printed or audio tape copies of all sermons are available by subscription. Your e-mail is welcome. Click here to send e-mail to the church staff. Sermon page volunteer, Dave Watters NEWS * SERMON * MUSIC * KIDS * YOUTH * COUNSELING * MAIL * HOME www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr120698.html 6/6