St. Ephrem on Infancy Narratives

I recently finished a series on the collection of hymns for the Nativity composed by Charles Wesley. One of the early Church Fathers who had a profound impact upon Charles and John Wesley was St. Ephrem the Syrian. Not surprisingly, St. Ephrem has given perhaps the largest corpus of hymns to the Church. One of his collections was also on the Nativity...and this collection is much larger than that from Charles. Ephrem's collection can be found in a volume of 'The Classics of Western Spirituality' which you can see here.

My Scripture reading this morning brought me by Matthew's account of the flight to Egypt & the slaughter of the innocents (2.13-18). This passage is profound in its connection with the Exodus narrative, yet the circumstances almost seem to work backwards. In Exodus, the slaughtering of the infants was given as a decree from the king of Egypt. Moses' has to be secretly saved. The immediate danger lies in Egypt. The move in the Exodus story is to get the people out of Egypt. In Jesus' case, the decree was given within the boundaries of what the Israelites considered to be the promised land and the safe place was in Egypt, so Jesus, Joseph and Mary had to go back to the original land of slavery because it meant survival. We can see, then, how Jesus in all stages of his life has reconstituted the story and people of Israel. "Out of Egypt I have called My Son." (Matthew 2. 15; cf. Hosea 11.1).

Appropriately this passage is part of the infancy narratives, which are in view during the time between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6). I have brought up St. Ephrem because one of the hymns he composed on the infancy narratives makes reference to the passage mentioned above. It's Hymn #7 in his 'Hymns on the Nativity.' The reference to the Matthew passage comes in stanza 12, though there are several references throughout the hymn that reveal the 'typology' of seeing Christ through the eyes of the story of Israel.

1. At the birth of the Son a great clamor

took place in Bethlehem, for Watchers descended

to give praise there; a great thunder

were their voices. With this voice of praise

the silent ones came to give praise to the Son

Refrain: Blessed is the Babe by whom Adam and Eve grew young again.

2. Shepherds, too, came carrying

the good things of the flock: sweet milk,

fresh meat, fitting praise.

They divided [the gifts] and gave to Joseph the meat,

to Mary the milk, to the Son the praise.

3. They carried and offered to Him: suckling lamb

to the Paschal Lamb, the first-born to the First-born,

a sacrifice to the Sacrifice, a temporal lamb

to the True Lamb. A fitting sight

that a lamb to the Lamb should be offered.

4. The lamb bleated while being offered

to the First-born. He thanked the Lamb

that came to free sheep and oxen

from sacrifices, even the traditional

paschal lamb that served as a symbol of the Son.

5. The shepherds approached to worship Him.

With their staffs they greeted Him,

prophesying, "Peace, O Greatest

of shepherds! The staff of Moses

acknowledges Your staff, Shepherd of the universe."

6. For You [are the One] Moses acknowledged - he whose

lambs became wolves and whose sheep became

like dragons and his ewes [like]

savage beasts. In the fearful wasteland

his flock became rabid and attacked him.

7. You, then, the shepherds will acknowledge,

for You reconciled wolves and lambs

in the flock. You are the newborn

Who is older than Noah and younger than Noah,

Who pacified all in the ark.

8. For the sake of a lamb, David, Your father

killed a lion. O Son of David,

You have killed the hidden wolf

that killed Adam, the innocent lamb

who grazed and bleated in paradise.

9. By that song of praise brides awoke suddenly

and chose chastity, and virgins

preserved their chastity, and even young girls

were purified. They rose early and came

in throngs to worship the Son.

10. The old women to the town of David came

to the daughter of David, speaking blessings:

"Blessed is our native land whose streets are made light

by the ray of Jesse! Today the throne of David

is established by You, the Son of David."

11. Old men cried out, "Blessed is the Babe

Who restored Adam's youth; he was displeased to see

that he grew old and wasted away, yet the serpent who killed him

shed [his skin] and recovered his youth. Blessed is the Babe

by whom Eve and Adam were restored to youth."

12. The chaste women said, "Blessed Fruit,

bless our fruits, given to You

as first fruits." Aglow, they prophesied

about their children, who, when they were killed,

would be plucked by Him as first fruits.

13. The barren women hovered over and held Him.

They caressed [Him] and said, "O Blessed Fruit [conceived]

without intercourse, bless our wombs

during intercourse. Have pity on our barrenness,

Miraculous Child of virginity."

The footnote on the 12th stanza says this: "The mothers of the slain innocents address Jesus. Their children are types of the resurrected faithful. They are the first fruits of the resurrection, to be plucked by Jesus immediately after his resurrection." That's an interesting way of putting it. Upon the arrival of the Life on earth, the first innocents who are murdered/killed are given a prominent place in the resurrection. From the arrival of the Life on earth, the first reference to death is met with the promise of resurrected life.

Some Ambrose on Christmas

Continuing going through the Ancient Christian Devotional brings some great passages. Like this one from St. Ambrose on Christ who became a Humble Child, taken from his 'Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.41-42.' Notice the beautiful use of paradox and the cleansing imagery of the tears that cleanses us.

He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have mansions in the heavens. He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich. Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord's weakness is our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I owe more to your sufferings because I was redeemed than I do to works for which I was created...You see that he is in swaddling clothes. You do not see that he is in heaven. You hear the cries of an infant, but you do not hear the lowing of an ox recognizing its Master, for the ox knows his Owner and the donkey his Master's crib.

Chrysostom on the Greatness of the Nativity

Reading through the Ancient Christian Devotional brought me to this passage by St. Chrysostom, that all great feasts have their origin in Jesus' Nativity, taken from 'On the Incomprehensible Nature of God 6.23-24,' I thought I would share with you:

A feast day is about to arrive, and it is the most holy and awesome of all feasts. It would be no mistake to call it the chief and mother of all holy days. What feast is that? It is the day of Christ's birth in the flesh. It is from this day that the feasts of the theophany, the sacred Pasch [Passover], the ascension and Pentecost had their source and foundation. Had Christ not been born in the flesh, he would not have been baptized, which is the theophany or manifestation. Nor would he have been crucified, which is the Pasch. Nor would he have sent down the Spirit, which is Pentecost. Therefore, just as different rivers arise from a single source, these other feasts have their beginnings in the birth of Christ.

Idea for Series on the Psalms

I've been contemplating starting a series in the new year on the Psalms in a similar manner to what I did on the Charles Wesley hymns on the Nativity. I'm envisioning including some of John Wesley's notes on each hymn as well as interacting with it myself. (Of course, when it comes to Psalm 119, I'd probably break that up into multiple posts...could you imagine how long that would be?)

What do you think? I appreciate the encouraging comments many of you gave during the Wesley series.

A Christmas Tribute to my Mother

Carrie, the kids, and I are heading down this evening to spend a few days visiting my side of the family in the days leading up to Christmas. I treasure my little hometown near Paducah, Kentucky. Truth be told, I'm not really from a "town" because I was raised on a farm miles away from anything that could be considered "city limits." That affords me the opportunity to claim many towns in my home county as "hometown" because they all are significant to my upbringing. For instance, I went to elementary school in Bandana; my family's farm supply store is in the town of Kevil; my high school is addressed in Barlow; my childhood house has a LaCenter address; Monkey's Eyebrow is just a couple of miles away from Bandana and is likely the most famous of all towns in Ballard County; but perhaps most of my treasured memories are in Oscar because that is where my home church (Oscar United Methodist) is found. This serves as the introduction for this post, which is a tribute to an act near Christmas that my mother did for years.

Christmas is without question my mother's favorite time of the year. You should see the amount of trees she puts up in the house. Each room in her house has at least two (though many of them are quite small). But the part of my mother's Christmas tradition that always stands out to me is an anonymous act she did for a widowed lady in our church for years. Mrs. Polly was her name (she passed away several years ago). Mrs. Polly's husband was a distant relative of my paternal grandmother, who is still living.

My mom is one of the most compassionate people I know. She is tender-hearted and displayed this through her generosity every year by giving gifts to Mrs. Polly when she wasn't looking. Something in my mother's heart stirred to show love to Mrs. Polly, so she decided to give her 12 gifts every Christmas. My brothers and I got to participate by being the deliverers of the presents on one of the Sundays in Advent after dropping off Mom at the church. This would assist in the anonymity of her act because Mrs. Polly would generally already be there. It could be that she figured it out by the time she passed away, but she never gave any indication that she figured out it was my mother who was behind it all. Every year mom would give her 12 gifts for the 12 days of Christmas. Every year, Mrs. Polly would post a thank you note to "the anonymous angel" on the bulletin board in the foyer of the Church the following Sunday.

Now I know that I'm cashing this in, but for Mrs. Polly this act was done in secret, and to many others it went unnoticed. I've been dwelling on this memory this season. And I remember this: "Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you...But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." The act of giving does something in us just as it displays that our hearts are being made more holy. Do some anonymous giving sometime.

Hymns for the Nativity: Epilogue "Hark..."

Though the hymn is not in the 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord,' the most well-known Charles Wesley Christmas hymn is 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.' I was debating about whether or not to post and reflect on it, but since it was sung at the Baptist Church I attended with my in-laws, I took that as a sign that it would be good to at least share the lyrics, because they are very beautiful for Christmas!

1. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,

"Glory to the New-born King,

Peace on Earth and Mercy mild,

GOD and Sinners reconcil'd";

Joyful, all ye Nations rise,

Join the Triumph of the Skies,

With Angelic Host proclaim,

"Christ is Born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,

"Glory to the New-born King!"

2. Christ by highest Heav'n adored,

Christ, the Everlasting Lord;

Late in time, Behold Him come,

Offspring of a Virgin's Womb,

Veiled in Flesh the Godhead see,

Hail the Incarnate Deity,

Pleased as Man with men to dwell,

JESUS, our Immanuel;

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,

"Glory to the New-born King!"

3. Hail the Heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and Life to all He brings,

Ris'n with Healing in His wings;

Mild He lays His glory by,

Born that men no more may die;

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give us second birth.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,

"Glory to the New-born King!"

Is it an accident that one of the great Christmas-time films, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" features this as the tune in the background at the end and the lyrics sung by all the children after screaming, "MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!!" Three Charles' take center stage there: Charles Wesley, Charles Shulz, and Charles Brown!

This is my wife's favorite Christmas song, which makes it have an even dearer place in my heart! Carrie (my wife) also loves Charlie Brown. I'm not sure if these two affinities are related.

I can't help but notice that each of the three stanzas repeat the first two lines. I thought about that this morning in church, and then pondered on the meaning of the phrase "New-born King!" Prince of Peace seems appropriate enough, but to call a new-born a King?!?! Did that push Herod over the edge, that he was Born King of the Jews? Incidentally this phrase "King of the Jews" was also was inscripted on the sign above Jesus' head on the cross.

Jonathan Powers quoted this hymn on twitter several days ago: "Pleased as Man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel!" What a great line! Sometimes I get the feeling that we've been told this notion that Jesus came down grumpy and grouchy because he had to bail us out of hell because of our own stupidity. Let's face it, the last part of that is largely true, but let's not get the wrong idea on Jesus' intent. Somehow he takes delight in becoming human. Does that humble you? me? He loves you, me...us! Imagine you have an older brother who comes to bail you out of jail...before he does, he's more than likely going to give you a lecture about your stupidity and may even make you spend the night in prison before he comes to post your bail. Jesus joins us in the prison cell...and has taken delight in becoming one of us so that he can lead us out of prison. "Pleased..." let that sink in this Christmas!

Finally, with all the "Jesus Christ, Born to DIE!" talk that I hear a lot, it's refreshing to see that Charles puts some other "mission statements" to the birth of Jesus: "...that men no more may die, ...to raise the sons of earth, ...to give us second birth." It's the part that happens after his death (and ours) that Jesus is really after! We are a people of the resurrection. Resurrection implies death, to be sure, and that death is awe-fully important, but the Jesus story does not stop at Calvary, nor even at Easter, but it's Easter that serves as the true promise of our deliverance, now in the "second birth" and in the general resurrection where the "sons of earth" will be raised, "no more to die!" Let's take hold of that promise!

Hymns for the Nativity: XVIII

Hymn XVIII (the last hymn of the collection) of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. All Glory to GOD in the Sky,
And Peace upon Earth be restor'd!
O JESUS, exalted on high,
Appear our omnipotent Lord:
Who meanly in Bethlehem born,
Didst stoop to redeem a lost Race,
Once more to thy Creature return,
And reign in thy Kingdom of Grace.

2. When Thou in our Flesh didst appear,
All Nature acknowledg'd thy Birth;
Arose the acceptable Year,
And Heaven was open'd on Earth:
Receiving its Lord from above,
The World was united to bless
The Giver of Concord and Love,
The Prince and Author of Peace.

3. O wouldst Thou again be made known,
Again in thy Spirit descend,
And set up in each of thine own,
A Kingdom that never shall end!
Thou only art able to bless,
And make the glad Nations obey,
And bid the dire Enmity cease,
And bow the whole World to thy Sway.

4. Come then to thy Servants again,
Who long thy Appearing to know,
Thy quiet and peaceable Reign
In Mercy establish below:
All Sorrow before Thee shall fly,
And Anger and Hatred be o'er,
And Envy and Malice shall die,
And Discord afflict us no more.

5. No horrid Alarm of War
Shall break our Eternal Repose;
No Sound of the Trumpet is there,
Where JESUS's Spirit o'erflows:
Appeas'd by the Charms of thy Grace
We all shall in Amity join,
And kindly each other embrace,
And love with a Passion like Thine.

Yet another beautiful hymn on Advent, this one is appropriately at the end because it speaks of the 4th candle of the Advent wreath: Peace. This is a cry for peace; the peace of Christ's kingdom to come!

I often hear (though not as frequently recently as I had in years past) this phrase: "be (or feel) at peace with..." It tends to be associated with a decision-making process and conveys some sort of ease that is felt with making a certain choice. Now I'm not going to say that this idea is completey ridiculous because I do think that the Spirit often instills with us a sense of rightness and assurance that we're heading in the right direction, but there's a couple of things about this notion. First, to seek after the feeling is misguided. We should be seeking the truth and the right path, which, ironically is probably not going to be marked by ease. Is it possible to feel at peace about taking the path of most resistance? Discipleship ain't easy. The last several theses of Luther's 95 Theses partly address this false sense of peace: "92. Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ's people, 'Peace, peace,' where there is no peace. 93. Hail, hail to all those prophets who say to Christ's people, 'The cross, the cross," where there is no cross. 94. Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells. 95. And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace." Second, and related to this, I hope that when people says this phrase that this really isn't all they think there is to "peace," because it really has very little (if anything) to do with concepts of peace conveyed in the Bible. Okay, I'm stepping off my soap box.

The Biblical concept of peace is more about reconciliation, restoration, and wholeness, more than just about an absence of conflict, though this is also part of the picture. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." My name, Jeffrey, means 'peace.' I like that. My mission in life is to help bring peace/reconciliation between alienated parties: God and human; human and human; human and creation. "God was in Christ reconciling the Cosmos to Himself." In this hymn, that is what Charles was crying for and what we are crying for. That is the cry of Advent...that Christ will fully bring his Kingdom of Eternal Peace. However, this is not an escapist cry. We are called to participate in preparing the way for this kingdom to arrive and renew the face of the earth. We are called to be peacemakers, reconcilers. I think that if you re-read the hymn, you'll discover the centrality of reconciliation as the key component of Christ's reign of peace. That reign has been inaugurated in the Birth of Christ, and will be fulfilled his forthcoming appearance. We are in dark days, let us light up the darkness and prepare the way for the kingdom whose Light will no longer need the sun. "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!"

Hymns for the Nativity: XVII

Hymn XVII of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Where is the holy Heav'n-born Child,

Heir of the everlasting Throne,

Who Heav'n and Earth hath reconcil'd,

And GOD and Man rejoin'd in One?

2. Shall we of earthly Kings enquire?

To Courts or Palaces repair?

The Nation's Hope, the World's Desire,

Alas! we cannot find Him there.

3. Shall Learning shew the Sinner's Friend,

Or Scribes a Sight of CHRIST afford?

Us to his Natal Place they send,

But never go to seek the Lord.

4. We search the Outward Church in vain,

They cannot Him we seek declare,

They have not found the Son of Man,

Or known the sacred Name they bear.

5. Then let us turn no more aside,

But use the Light Himself imparts,

His Spirit is our surest Guide,

His Spirit glimmering in our Hearts.

6. Drawn by Grace we come from far,

And fix on Heaven our wishful Eyes,

That Ray divine, that orient Star

Directs us where the Infant lies.

7. See there! the new born Saviour see,

By Faith discern the great I AM;

'Tis He! the Eternal GOD! 'tis He

That bears the mild Immanuel's Name.

8. The Prince of Peace on Earth is found,

The Child is born, the Son is given;

Tell it to all the Nations round,

JEHOVAH is come down from Heaven!

9. JEHOVAH is come down to raise

His dying Creatures from their Fall,

And all may now receive the Grace

Which brings eternal Life to all.

10. Lord, We receive the Grace and Thee,

With Joy unspeakable receive,

And rise Thine open Face to see,

And one with GOD for ever live.

What a beautiful hymn! It is told from the perspective of the wise men (the first 6 stanzas at least), and Charles has a very intriguing way of taking the story of the wise men and their interactions and reading it through the lens of the political and ecclesial powers of his own day.

If you'll forgive yet another pop culture reference, the story of the wise men reminds me of 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' by U2. I've heard it said that this modern song is the "cry of a lost generation" whereby it indicates the perennial pursuit to fill the void of the heart. I don't think that's what the song is about. I think the narrator knows what he's looking for, he just doesn't know where to find it, which is also true of the wise men. "Where is the holy Heav'n-born Child?"

And this leads us to inquire to whom we shall turn to lead us to the right place. We could turn to our kings and presidents, but we won't find him in these sorts of "courts" or "palaces." No, we're looking for the "Heir of the everlasting Throne." We could turn to sages, philosophy, and reason, which might be helpful in that they may point us in the right direction, but they can't or won't take us there. What about the Church? I must confess I'm unsure where Charles was going here except to admit that the institutional Church often fails in living in accordance with the Name which we bear. When people come looking for Christ, will they find him in our midst? Or at least will they discover that we are on our way to him too? May they not search us "in vain"!

Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us to where Christ is: the ray of the light which "enlightens everyone who comes into the world," John Wesley's preferred Scripture on prevenient grace. This makes sense in light of stanza 6: "Drawn by grace..." The Holy Spirit takes us not only to Christ on the Cross but also Christ in the Manger. Prevenient grace is meant to lead us to meet a Humble Lord so that we may have the same mind of humility. May we be the Church who is guided by the Spirit to see and embody the humble "mind which was in Christ."

Original Sin and Oppression

I wrote what follows & posted it on my old blog a little over a year ago. It's a little more lengthy than most posts, so forgive the long-windedness but I think it would be difficult to break it up into multiple posts. What brought this post to mind is that I recently read John Wesley's sermon 'Original Sin,' which shares much in common, not surprisingly, with his treatise on the same topic, with which I interact below. There are a few more insights I gleaned from the sermon, but I will wait to post on that at a later time. Until then...

In 1756, John Wesley began writing what would be his largest treatise, The Doctrine of Original Sin according to Scripture, Reason, and Experience. This work was written in objection to John Taylor's work from 1740 on the same subject. Taylor's presentation amounted to a Unitarian doctrine of God, an Arian Christology, and a Socinian atonement model, in which Christ's death is really nothing more than a demonstration of the love of God that humans are called to imitate to align themselves in the favour of God. The preface of Wesley's work indicates that he (Wesley, that is) views sin in terms of a disease that needs the healing touch of the Great Physician.

The treatise is broken up into several sections but Part 1 is the brunt of Wesley's own response to Taylor, whereas the rest is heavily borrowed from other authors with whom Wesley shared sentiment. Part 1 is entitled "The Past and Present State of Mankind," and therein Wesley surveys the entire known world to assess the depth and breadth of human wickedness and sin. After reviewing sin's universal reach and effects in the past, Wesley turns his attention to the known world of his own day, noting the kinds and degrees of sinfulness among the heathen, Muslims, and Christians, which he breaks down into Greek/Eastern Christians, Roman Catholics, and Protestants. Even noting that 2/3 of the world population was 'heathen' according to their calculations, I find it peculiar that the majority of Wesley's treatment is on the heathen nations and Protestants. He gives very brief assessments (1 paragraph) of each Islam and the Eastern Church and a fairly short survey (2 pages) of the Roman Catholic Church of his time.

Furthermore, the nature of the activity indicating sin's pervasiveness is quite frequently along the lines of structural oppression and vanity of riches (he saw in Asian cultures of his day), ferocity in mass murderous actions (seen in many Native American tribes and in the Roman Church), and imperialism (seen in European Protestants). In surveying sinfulness in England, even, Wesley shows its extent in economic injustice through schemes of smuggling and harsh treatment of widows and orphans. The all-encompassing nature of sin is expressed poignantly in the final statement of this section of his treatise: 'Still, then, sin is the baleful source of affliction; and consequently, the flood of miseries which covers the face of the earth, - which overwhelms not only single persons, but whole families, towns, cities, kingdoms, - is a demonstrative proof of the overflowing of ungodliness in every nation under heaven.'

Not only is this summative statement, preceded by its examples, indicative of a view of original sin as 'disease,' but it shows its major 'symptoms' in societal and structural sins of murder, oppression, slavery, imperialism, and economic injustice. I find these emphases interesting. In speaking about the nature of sin, would you expect to hear these as the primary 'symptoms' in a sermon or treatise from a preacher today? My guess is that the majority, at least in American evangelical circles, would put their attention toward other sorts of behaviors. That's not to say Wesley's thoughts are normative or that we should address 18th century problems in the 21st century. But I do think that we often tend to ignore how these bigger sorts of issues may still be playing themselves out today, if for no other reason than to not take our own habits into consideration and how they may, unintentionally even, proliferate these structural schemes.

Now, up to this point, I applaud Wesley for his assessment. Even his own countrymen and brothers in the faith are not excused as he reserves his sharpest criticism toward those nearest to him. This section kind of reminds me of the lecture in a class I had in college on 8th Century Prophets with Dr. Dickens. In the opening chapters of Amos, we find several oracles, calling the nations out for their sins. There is a fascinating (and chilling) rhetoric Amos employs when he does this. He begins by pointing out the sins of Israel's worst enemies (Damascus - 1.3-5; and Gaza - 1.6-8) and gradually makes his way to addressing the sins of those neighbors toward whom Israel is more or less indifferent, and then onto their allies (Judah - 2.4-5), but reserves the longest oracle against the sins of his own nation, Israel (2.6-16, and one could say the rest of the book, which is 9 chapters long). When a prophet speaks out against the sins of your worst enemies it's easy to start chanting 'AMEN!' but when you do so, you're caught! Slowly, but ever so surely, Amos made his way to his own audience and they couldn't but hear the judgment of the Lord upon themselves.

Again, no nations, no religions, no people groups are exempt. But there's something interesting about all this: with all this assessing, Wesley never seems to directly address how these 'symptoms' may (or may not) be exhibited in those who are on the receiving end of all these sorts of injustices. His diagnoses/judgments of the 'symptoms' lie primarily upon the heads, hearts, and hands of those who are doing the oppressing; of those who are enslaving others; of those who are smuggling and robbing from the poor; of those who are murdering in mass numbers. We are left to perhaps ask Wesley how he would address the way sin plays itself out in those who are the 'recipients' of these sins.

Furthermore, and here I'm getting to the point regarding the topic I am researching, how does the gospel in general, and the atonement, specifically, speak to them? Of those who are clearly guilty of these atrocious actions, language of guilt and punishment may seem appropriate enough, so long as it calls for reformation of character and the structures that keep these things in motion. We must also recognize, however, that in such reformation, there is an added emphasis, if not a shift, that the linguistic domain of guilt and punishment doesn't really address. But how does Christ's death, the atonement (if we understand it to be the solution to whatever the problem/human predicament is) speak to these others: the oppressed, the enslaved, the imperialized, the widow, the orphan, the murdered?

Hymns for the Nativity: XVI

Hymn XVI of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord' (prepare yourself, not only is it hymn 16, it also has 16 stanzas; well really it has 15 stanzas because he skipped #8):

1. O Mercy Divine

How couldst Thou incline

My GOD to become such an Infant as mine!

2. What a Wonder of Grace!

The Ancient of Days

Is found in the Likeness of Adam's frail Race.

3. He comes from on high,

Who fashion'd the Sky,

And meekly vouchsafes in a Manger to lie.

4. Our GOD ever blest

With Oxen doth rest,

Is nursed by his Creature and hangs at the Breast.

5. So Heavenly-mild

His Innocence smil'd,

No wonder the Mother should worship the Child.

6. The Angels she knew

Had worshipp'd him too,

And still they confess Adoration his Due.

7. On JESUS's Face,

With eager Amaze,

And Pleasure extatic the Cherubim gaze.

(8. He skipped a verse so nothing here.)

9. Their newly-born King,

Transported they sing,

And Heav'n and Earth with the Triumph doth ring.

10. The Shepherds behold

Him promis'd of old,

By Angels attended, by Prophets foretold.

11. The wise Men adore,

And bring him their Store,

The Rich are permitted to follow the Poor.

12. To the Inn they repair,

To see the young Heir:

The Inn is a Palace; for JESUS is there!

13. Who now would be great,

And not rather wait

On JESUS their Lord in his humble Estate?

14. Like him would I be,

My Master I see

In a Stable; a Stable shall satisfy me.

15. With Him I reside:

The Manger shall hide

Mine Honour; the Manger shall bury my Pride.

16. And here will I lie,

Till rais'd up on high

With Him on the Cross I recover the Sky.

In this hymn, Charles appears to engage the characters of the Nativity stories more than anywhere else in the collection. The progression moves from the standpoint of Mary (1-6a), to the angels (6-9), to the shepherds (10), to the wise men (11-12), and ultimately to us and how we are to respond (13-16).

I take it that Charles this starts off from Mary's standpoint by his use of "mine" at the end of stanza 1. Though it certainly doesn't contain the beauty of the Magnificat, Mary's response to the news the angel brought to her is the lens through which this stanza (& perhaps the whole hymn since the rich & the poor as well as the notion of humility are key themes in both the Magnificat and this hymn) is best read. The concept of 'frailty' in stanza 2 communicates, as we have examine before, the fragility & brokenness of our fallen race. In order to bring reparation, Christ has to start at the beginning. Stanza 4 is yet another example of the paradox of the Nativity: it's difficult for me to imagine what it would be like to nurture the Source of my existence. Did Mary ponder this?

This hymn may very well be, as alluded to above, the most vivid picture in this collection of the importance of the 'poor' and of the necessity of our 'humble' response to the Nativity. How about the notion of stanza 11, "The Rich are permitted to follow the Poor." The immediate context points to the ordering of the story, that the first visitors to the Christ Child are of the poorest (shepherds) while the wise men (assumed to be rich given the monetary value of the gifts they brought) came afterward. Read these words from the Magnificat: "He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away." But these 'rich' wise men forsake their richness in giving their gifts away. In that sense the rich are 'permitted' to follow the poor. Because really until we "give all we can," to borrow a phrase from John Wesley, we will not be true followers of Him who became poor for our sake.

This naturally leads to the closing of the hymn, which marks humility and contentment as the path to "the Sky" because that is the path that Christ took his whole life! We should be content with a stable. If we're that easily satisfied then we'll find that our pride and honor-seeking will be 'buried' in the manger. That's a beautiful image! The manger, in this hymn, serves as a type of altar, where our pride is brought to death. I wrote a couple of days ago about great 'R' words associated with the Incarnation and salvation. I missed one: 'recovery,' which I realized when reading the final stanza in this hymn. What a great one it is, too. The path to 'recover the Sky'...the path to glorification goes through the Cross of Christ. And our participation in that involves our willingness to lie with Christ in the manger. "Blessed are the poor (in spirit and otherwise) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Hymns for the Nativity: XV

Hymn XV of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. All-wise, all-good, almight Lord,

JESUS, by highest Heaven ador'd,

E'er Time its Course began,

How did thy glorious Mercy stoop

To take the fallen Nature up,

When Thou thyself wert Man?

2. Th' Eternal GOD from Heav'n came down,

The King of Glory dropp'd his Crown,

And veil'd his Majesty,

Empty'd of all but Love He came;

JESUS, I call Thee by the Name

Thy Pity bore for me.

3. O holy Child, still let thy Birth

Bring Peace to us poor Worms of Earth,

And Praise to GOD on high!

Come, Thou who didsts my Flesh assume,

Now to the abject Sinner come,

And in a Manger lie.

4. Didst Thou not in thy Person join

The Natures Human and Divine,

That GOD and Man might be

Henceforth inseparably One?

Hast then, and make thy Nature known

Incarnated in me.

5. In my weak sinful Flesh appear,

O GOD, be manifested here,

Peace, Righteousness, and Joy,

Thy Kingdom, Lord, set up within

MY faithful Heart, and all my Sin,

The Devil's Works destroy.

6. I long thy Coming to confess

The mystic Power of Godliness,

The Life Divine to prove,

The Fulness of thy Life to know,

Redeem'd from all my Sins below,

And perfected in Love.

7. O CHRIST, my Hope, make known to me

The great, the glorious Mystery,

The hidden Life impart:

Come, thou Desire of Nations, come,

Form'd in a spotless Virgin's Womb,

A pure believing Heart.

8. Come quickly, dearest Lord, that I

May own, tho' Antichrist deny,

Thy Incarnation's Power,

May cry, a Witness to my Lord,

"Come in my Flesh is CHRIST, the Word,

And I can sin no more!"

One brief textual note: in stanza 7 of the 1st ed. (1745), the first line reads: "...make known IN me..." Though 'in' and 'to' can drastically change the meaning of a phrase, I'm not sure that there is really that much difference here because they both are appropriate requests. Charles may have switched the language to "to" because in the order of things, the 'mystery' of the 'hidden life' must be made known to us before they can be made known (or imparted) in us.

Now, if you'll please forgive a pop culture reference, I couldn't help but be reminded of the movie 'A Knight's Tale' upon reading this hymn, especially the line "The King of Glory dropp'd his Crown, and veil'd his Majesty." For the most part the movie is rather silly (it's set in Medieval times and the opening scene has the crowd watching a jousting match making the appropriate noises to the song 'We Will Rock You' by Queen), but the part that redeems for me is the role of the prince. The prince is taking part in the dangerous jousting games and whenever his opponents discover his veiled identity, they always forfeit, which disappoints the prince because he really wants to compete and for someone to compete with him. The only one who does not forfeit upon finding out is another character (the main character, William, played by the late Heath Ledger) who also happens to be veiling his identity of a peasant because peasants are not allowed to compete in the games. When the movie's arch-villain, also a jouster who feels threatened by the successes of William, discovers his true identity, he broadcasts it and William is arrested, bound, and displayed for the public to shame him. The crowds that surround him in his public binding are the peasants in the area from which he comes. The crowds ridicule him, throwing tomatoes (again the silliness), but everyone is silenced when three hooded characters take down their hoods to reveal that it is the prince and two of his guards. Everyone bows in the midst and the prince goes up to William, identifies with him, and sets him free. But he does more than this. He declares that he has discovered that William comes from a noble line, which makes him eligible to perform in the games. And as coming directly from royalty, this declaration is deemed true and irrefutable.

I don't pretend that this storyline does justice to the Wesley hymn, much less to the Gospel story that begins in a manger of a lowly town in ancient Israel. But I must confess that that moment in the movie redeemed it for me as I found a very small hint of an analogy of our True King who arrives but veils his 'Majesty' so that he may redeem the entire world, declaring that we are of royalty (more than nobility) and the declaration (justification) is not a fiction because the declaration is such that the King embraces us as his own and enables us to really become (sanctification) royalty. Of all the things that the King of Glory leaves aside to become Incarnate as a baby, the one thing he does not leave behind is Love. All other virtues that Christ has stems from this: Love. It is, as John Wesley said, his "reigning," his "darling attribute."

Much of the rest of the hymn echoes much of what I've reflected upon before, but I want to include but one more thought. In the last stanza we see once again the true meaning of Advent, connecting the Incarnation and the eschaton. We should not read the statement about Antichrist in this hymn as a reference to the second coming per se, but as referring to what 1 John says about the spirit of the Antichrist, which denies that "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh" (1 John 4.2-3). That spirit denies the Incarnation, denies the Nativity, and in so doing denies the bodily resurrection, which is our future hope. Accordingly, Charles closes the hymn with the 'witness' of the Spirit from God which affirms that Christ HAS "Come in my Flesh" and enables us to sin no more.

Hymns for the Nativity: XIV

Hymn XIV of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. O Astonishing Grace,

That the Reprobate Race

Should be so reconcil'd!

What a Wonder of Wonders that GOD is a Child?!

2. The Creator of all,

To repair our sad Fall,

From his Heav'n stoops down,

Lays hold of our Nature, and joins to his own.

3. Our Immanuel came,

The whole World to redeem,

And Incarnated shew'd

That Man may again be united to GOD!

4. And shall we not hope,

After GOD to wake up,

His Nature to know?

His Nature is sinless Perfection below.

5. To this Heavenly Prize,

By Faith let us rise

To his Image ascend,

Apprehended of GOD let us GOD apprehend.

This is how God brings reconciliation with a fallen humanity: by becoming a child. I can think of no more fitting term to describe this grace other than "Astonishing!"

As we've seen in other hymns before this one the first portion of this hymn communicates how the Incarnation is a redeeming event and the latter portion is about our future hope in the resurrection. There are so many good 'R' words when it comes to describing the saving significance of the Christ event: redeem, rectify, restore, resuscitate, renew, reconcile, revitalize, revive, ransom, raise, resurrect, regenerate, recapitulate, release, rescue, reveal, (is there a way to turn 'make righteous' into a single word?). Charles employs a great word in stanza 2 in 'repair.' It's the fixing of something broken: imagine a broken vessel. God takes the time to piece it back together and does so through the Incarnation! I once saw a preacher use a communion cup that had cracks in it, but the cup had been repaired. He used that as an illustration of God's reparation of our lives and how that enables our 'communion' with God & one another: reparation of broken relationships.

Regarding this reparation and reunification of God & man, hear what St. Irenaeus said regarding the purpose of the Incarnation: "The Word of God, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was revealed by the prophets according to the character of their prophecy and according to the nature of the economies of the Father, by whom all things were made, and who, in the last times, to recapitulate all things, became a man amongst men, visible and palpable, in order to abolish death, to demonstrate life, and to effect communion between God and man!"

Do you see, then, the connection between the Incarnation and the resurrection? Communion between God and humanity means the abolition of death and the application of life (eternal)! That's how we can transition from stanza 3 to stanza 4 without changing the subject. That's how Advent is a season not only of remembrance but of anticipation!

Regarding stanza 4 and the notion of "sinless perfection." As you may know, the Wesleys walked a delicate line in how they understood the relationship between sin and perfection. We can see in this hymn that "sinless perfection" (which is of the highest sort) is what we shall experience in the glorified life after the resurrection. That does not take away from the commandment to "be perfect" in this life, but the Wesleys are clear that the perfection in this life is about perfection in love and that the effects of sin are not completely obliterated until bodily death. That description does not completely suffice in explaining their concept of 'perfection,' but I'll leave that issue for another time where more space allows.

Finally, the last line is beautiful! God has apprehended us! Let us, then, apprehend God! Now in the society I live in, 'apprehend' often has the connotation of being taken into custody by the police. I'm not sure that provides the richest meaning to approximate Wesley's intention here. I think it's more about the Divine embrace. God's arms have opened in our direction! We won't know God until we open ours and welcome his embrace.

Communion with the Trinity

One of John Wesley's later sermons is entitled 'Spiritual Worship' (1780). If you saw that title on a sermon today and listened to the content of Wesley's sermon you might think that there must have been a mistake in the title of the sermon because there really isn't much in the sermon that speaks about 'worship' as it is largely conceived today, in terms of the time slot designated for the gathering of the community of God at the Church on Sunday mornings and/or other times when people congregate there to sing praise songs, hymns, lift up prayers, hear a sermon preached, and (perhaps) receive the Lord's Supper. There's really nothing at all like that in this sermon and though upon first reading the sermon I thought the title as odd, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that what is commonly termed 'worship' today is far too narrow for generations prior to our own. Although Wesley didn't give a title to this sermon upon his first publication of it for the Arminian Magazine, he did give it the title in a collection of sermons several years later, which was the only other record we have of its publication. It is possible that he gave it the title because the last statement in the sermon is a direct appeal to Romans 12.1, "And this moment, and every moment, 'present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,' and 'glorify him with your body, and with your spirit, which are God's'."

That's a pretty good summary of what 'holiness' looks like in the life of the believer, but the majority of the sermon is Wesley's exposition of 1 John 5.20: "This is the true God, and eternal life." It is rather well known that if Wesley were to have had a favorite book in the Bible, it would be 1 John. With that in mind, it is critical that he indicates this passage as a "summing up" (recapitulating) the entire letter. "This" in the passage refers to Christ so Wesley expounds on how Christ is the true God and how He is eternal life. Regarding that Christ is the "true God" Wesley goes through the roles of God and how Christ is God in every case: Creator, Supporter (Sustainer), Preserver, Author of Motion (or "Mover"), Redeemer, Governor, and End (or Goal) of all things. Regarding Christ as "eternal life" Wesley instills that Christ begins imparting the benefits of eternal life even now, primarily which consists of happiness (a synonym for 'holiness' in Wesley's estimation of the word).

But before all this, he remarkably summarizes the contents of the entire letter of 1 John leading up to this chapter in just a few sentences: "The [letter] itself treats: First, severally, of communion with the Father, chapter one, verses 5-10; of communion with the Son, chapters two and three; of communion with the Spirit, chapter four. Secondly, conjointly, of the testimony of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, on which faith in Christ, the being born of God, love to God and his children, the keeping of his commandments, and victory over the world, are founded, chapter five, verses 1-12." Now I'm not sure what you're typical modern-day New Testament scholar would say about Wesley's book survey, but Wesley's read of 1 John is emphatically theological, and Trinitarian at that.

Of course, we wouldn't consider Wesley to be a dogmatic or systematic theologian, but it is quite clear that he does more with the higher points of dogma, say the doctrine of the Trinity, than just indicate that they are formulations for mental or verbal assent. He makes them the heart of holy living! It is said that theology is the servant of piety (or holy living), and Wesley takes this to the highest point of theology: who we understand God to be. It's not just that Chapters 1-4 are about the Father, Son, and Spirit, but that they are about the "communion" with (or knowledge of) the Persons of the Trinity. This approach is affirmed in the latter portion of his sermon when Wesley discusses the essence of religion: "Religion, as to the nature or essence of it, does not lie in this or that set of notions, vulgarly called 'faith'; nor in a round of duties, however carefully 'reformed' from error and superstition. It does not consist in any number of outward actions. No; it properly and directly consists in the knowledge and love of God, as manifested in the Son of his love, through the eternal Spirit. And this naturally leads to every heavenly temper, and to every good word and work."

So...what if we understood 'worship' to be nothing less than communing with the Triune God? Sounds rightly-oriented to me!

Hymns for the Nativity: XIII

Hymn XIII of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Let Angels and Archangels sing

The wonderful Immanuel's Name,

Adore with us our new-born King,

And still the joyful News proclaim,

All Earth and Heaven be ever join'd

To praise the Saviour of Mankind.

2. The everlasting GOD comes down

To sojourn with the Sons of Men;

Without his Majesty or Crown,

The great INVISIBLE is seen:

Of all his dazzling Glories shorn

The everlasting GOD is born!

3. Angels, behold that Infant's Face,

With rapt'rous Awe the Godhead own:

'Tis all your Heaven on Him to gaze,

And cast your Crowns before his Throne;

Tho' now He on his Footstool lies,

Ye know he built both Earth and Skies.

4. By Him into Existence brought,

Ye sang the All-creating Word;

Ye heard him call our World from nought;

Again, in Honour of your Lord,

Ye Morning-Stars your Hymns employ,

And shout, ye Sons of GOD, for Joy.

Two brief comments and then I'll go into an important implication from the first stanza. The first observation comes in relation to a conversation I had with a good friend, Isaac Hopper, who is working on a Ph.D. thesis on the Wesleys' Christology. Upon reading some of my thoughts on this hymn collection, he made a great observation that these hymns are among the richest storehouses of good Christology not only for the Wesleys but for all of the Christian tradition.

The other observation comes in relation to the command in stanza 3 for angels to "behold" the Infant's Face. I will copy a comment made by JD Walt over at leVite camp on another hymn I posted a few days ago: "I think the most important word for Advent-- and for all seasons-- is BEHOLD. It's about the place where seeing and hearing converge and create an opening into the heart where Revelation and Wisdom can be perceived." I thought this comment was very insightful not only for these hymns but also, as he said, "for all seasons."

Finally, for my thoughts, and forgive the perhaps overly theological analaysis: In stanza 1, there is an important implication in the phrase "All Earth and Heaven be ever join'd." Jesus IS the God-man. Not was...he IS. The purpose of the Incarnation was not just for God to become a human so that a perfect sacrifice could be made to bring forgiveness and then Jesus leave his flesh on earth. If that's all that was needed, we really may not need anything in the narrative after the crucifixion of Jesus. But the BODILY resurrection and BODILY ascension means he still is Incarnated and eternally will be in human flesh, though now resurrected. That bears significance for us in that there is something eternally transformative about the nature of what we humans are to become. It's more than just a return to the favor of God. 1 John 3 says "We shall be LIKE him"...Jesus is the first of a type. He is the only begotten Son of God, but the promise we have is more than just about being in the presence of the Triune God. Something about us changes. We change from being mere creatures to becoming "sons (& daughters) of God." In C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, he has a great chapter about this entitled 'Making and Begetting': "One of the creeds says that Christ is the Son of God 'begotten, not created'...To beget is to become the father of; to create is to make. And the difference is this. When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies, a beaver begets little beavers and a bird begets eggs which turn into little birds. But when you make, you make something of a different kind from yourself." So, Christ is the Son of God, "begotten not made." We, though 'created,' through Christ have now been made able to become children of God. Can we say, in other words, that we are no longer merely "made" but now also "begotten"? In Christ being "not created" we are eternally unlike him. But in Christ's Incarnation he has made his "begotten-ness" something to share with us, so in that sense we are to be like him, and eternally so. That's why he's the first of a "type." And that is, once again, why this is yet another valuable contribution to Advent theology, connecting the first coming of Christ with the eschaton (End Times).

Hymns for the Nativity: XII

Hymn XII of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Sing, ye ransom'd Nations, sing

Praises to our new-born King,

Son of Man our Maker is,

Lord of Hosts and Prince of Peace!

2. Lo! He lays his Glory by,

Emptied of his Majesty!

See the GOD who all Things made,

Humbly in a Manger laid.

3. Cast we off our needless Fear,

Boldly to the Church draw near,

JESUS is our Flesh and Bone,

GOD-with-us is all our own.

4. Let us then with Angels gaze

On our new-born Monarch's face,

With the Choir Celestial join'd,

Shout the Saviour of Mankind.

5. Son of Man, will he despise

Man's well-meaning Sacrifice?

No; with condescending Grace

He accepts his Creature's Praise.

6. Will his Majesty disdain

The poor Shepherd's simple Strain?

No; for Israel's Shepherd He

Loves their artless Melody.

7. He will not refuse the Song

Of the stammering Infant's Tongue,

Babes He hears humanely mild,

Once Himself a little Child.

8. Let us then our Prince proclaim,

Humbly chant Immanuel's Name,

Publish at his wondrous Birth

Praise in Heaven and Peace on Earth.

9. Triumph in our Saviour's Love,

Till He takes us up above,

All his Majesty displays,

Shews us all his Glorious Face.

Textual note: in stanza 3, the 1st ed. (1745) read "Boldly to his Cratch draw near." I had to look up 'cratch' and it turns out it is another word for manger. The change from that to "church" is interesting. I'm not sure why Wesley made this move, but it could be that there is something here about the identity and mission of the Church. What if we understood the manger/cratch to be a symbol of what the Church is to be...where Christ, the Prince of Peace, can be found! Christ's humility in the Incarnation is the theme of this section of the hymn, and that may draw our attention to another hymn, a more ancient one, which also happens to focus on the Incarnation: Philippians 2:5-11. And there we find St. Paul exhorting the Church to have "this same mind" that was in Christ Jesus; namely, the mind of humility. Put differently, I'll ask the question, "What depiction of Jesus do people see when they 'draw near' to the church? Is it the Christ who humbly entered the earth via a stable or someone else?" What can be more humble than the Son of God being born in human likeness among cattle, sheep, and so on, in a feed trough? Jesus is in our humble midst, let us cast off "our needless fear."

Moving on...I love the question/answer format of stanzas 5 & 6. To ask these questions about someone of such high worth and to receive the answer is counter to the pomp & circumstance of someone who likes to tout their title and privilege. Would such a high king despise worship that comes from dirty, lowly, off-key shepherds? An "earthly" king might, but this King is no ordinary King. He is also the Shepherd of Israel. He "loves their artless melody." Sometimes I get annoyed with the guy behind me who can't carry a tune in a bucket. It's probably a good thing for our worship leaders to sing on-key and I'd bet the angels that night did, but God wants everyone to "make a joyful noise" knowing that in this life there are going to be some missed notes. I need to get past my annoyance and praise the Lord who gives voice to even those who can't sing that well.

Similarly, for those who have issues with stuttering and stammering while speaking: remember that Christ once had an infant tongue that stammered and made baby noises. He can resonate. He won't refuse our speech or song that in its heart praises him! Hallelujah!

Hymns for the Nativity: XI

Hymn XI of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Light of those whose dreary Dwelling
Borders on the Shades of Death,
Come, and by thy Love's revealing
Dissipate the Clouds beneath:
The new Heaven and Earth's Creator,
In our deepest Darkness rise,
Scattering all the Night of Nature,
Pouring Eye-sight on our Eyes.

2. Still we wait for thy Appearing,
Life and Joy thy Beams impart,
Chasing all our Fears, and cheering
Every poor benighted Heart.
Come, and manifest the Favour
GOD hath for our ransom'd Race;
Come, thou universal Saviour,
Come, and bring the Gospel-Grace.

3. Save us in thy great Compassion,
O Thou mild, pacific Prince,
Give the Knowledge of Salvation,
Give the Pardon of our Sins;
By thine all-restoring Merit,
Every burden'd Soul release,
Every weary wandring Spirit
Guide into thy perfect Peace.

Textual note: in stanza 3, the 1st ed. (1745) read "By thine all-redeeming Merit." The one above reflects the 2nd ed. (1788). The language of that line is strikingly similar to one in Hymn X, which reads "By thine all-sufficient merit." Really, any of these terms makes good theological sense. Redemption connotes the purchase that Christ made for us. In many places in the Wesleys' writings it's about liberty from something, namely the grips of Satan and evil. Restoration is more about a return to something, namely the favor and/or image of God: the former indicating the doctrine of justification; the latter the doctrine of sanctification.

Much of this hymn is about the imagery of light and darkness (esp. stanza 1). It's really a beautiful picture, again, of the connection between the first and second comings of Christ. The language of restoring our eyesight is vivid. The union of God & man in the person of Jesus has a "revealing" quality. Hence, revelation/restoration of sight has a significant role in reconciliation it seems. I want to propose something. I haven't seen this suggested anywhere directly, but I am thinking of the passage in the middle of Mark's gospel where Jesus touched the blind man twice in order to bring full restoration. Mark 8.22-25: "And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see men, but they look like trees, walking.' Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly."

There are many levels of significance here, not the least of which is its placement in the gospel as where the disciples are "getting" that Jesus is the Messiah but don't quite see clearly enough to understand what the Messiah was really going to do (suffer, die, and be raised again). It would take the remaining part of this gospel (and of Jesus' life) for them to be touched a second time, as it were, so that they could truly understand Jesus' identity. But I want to propose this as a rich passage for Advent: the tying together of the first and second appearances of Christ. Though Charles isn't elaborating on this Markan passage here, I think he would get the connection. By the first "touch," Jesus brings a restoration of sight, initially. The blind man began to see and could partly use his eyes, but things were still "cloudy" (stanza 1, line 4) and he needed full "eye-sight" (stanza 1, line 8). This full restoration will come in the new heaven and earth, whereby what began in Christ's first coming will be consummated in the fulfillment of this marriage. Call me an allegorist, but could it be that the "spit" has some sort of connection with baptism? In any case, Christ actually touched the man's eyes on two occasions. Christ touched humanity by becoming one of us. We can now see something, but things are still murky: "For now we see in a mirror dimly...Now I know in part..." We await that second (coming) touch, where we will see clearly: "...but then face to face...then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Much more could be said about this hymn, but I want to at least mention the comfort and humility I sense when reading that God, in Christ, is "chasing all our fears, and cheering every poor benighted heart." God is cheering us on! In all the fan-dome we see in sports today, think upon and live in this: God is your biggest fan, cheering you out of darkness into his marvelous light!

Hymns for the Nativity: X

Now we come to my absolute favorite Advent Song in Hymn X of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. 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.

2. Born thy People to deliver,

Born a Child and yet a King;

Born to reign in Us for ever,

Now thy gracious Kingdom bring;

By thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our Hearts alone,

By thine all-sufficient Merit

Raise us to thy glorious Throne.

Textual note: this reflects the 2nd edition of 1788. The first edition (1745) had "...From our Fears and Sins relieve us..." I like both words but 'release' is probably the better option here because the emphasis is upon a setting free from bondage. But I get why Charles first put 'relieve.' The next line is an appeal to a line from St. Augustine: "You have created us for Yourself, and we cannot rest until we rest in Thee." The idea there conceptualizes the human pursuit for happiness & peace. This pursuit is burdensome but when we find that it is Christ who brings us peace, we can find rest in him. Folksong writer David Wilcox has a great song that relates here in his 'That's what the Lonely is For.' (Seriously, click on that link and read the lyrics!) As he introduces the song in his live album he indicates that the song was inspired by his annoyance with the empty space in the Biltmore mansion and in so doing says something profound (paraphrased): "I discovered I was annoyed because our hearts our built this way. We have hearts that are just HUGE, which hold a tremendous amount of fullness. This is great if there is that much fullness to find, but it sure does leave a lot of room for lonely. So that's annoying! But then I realized that our hearts are not just some stupid, ostentatiously large house, but were designed that way for a purpose. It's the design of your heart. Maybe it's only the empty that can keep you looking long enough to find the fullness that will really suffice." Christ 'relieves' us of our tiring pursuit by entering our atmosphere and hearts. "Come to me, all you who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest." That is a message we need this Advent. That is a message we need to receive in this age!

This hymn, maybe better than any other, bridges together the First & Second Comings of Jesus in a way that best demonstrates the significance of Advent. Perhaps that is why it's my favorite. Herein he fulfills the promise made to Abraham, the blessing through whom "all the nations" would be blessed. Therefore, he is "Israel's strength and consolation" as well as the "Hope of all the Earth." He's the one who was brought to fulfillment God's single plan of rescuing the whole world through the line of and promise made to Abraham, and though that promise has been initially fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus, it will be completely consummated in the second coming.

The second stanza is clearly about the Kingdom, which also ties together the First & Second Comings. Key words identifying this: "reign," "gracious kingdom bring," rule," "throne." It's important that it is by the Holy Spirit that Christ "rules" in our hearts. The Spirit has shown up in several places in the collection and that communicates that although Advent & the Nativity are centered on the Person of Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who makes him known to our hearts and makes him able to reign as King even now!

Hymns for the Nativity: IX

Hymn IX of Charles Wesley's 'Hymn for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Father, our Hearts we lift

Up to thy Gracious Throne,

And bless Thee for the precious Gift

Of thine Incarnate Son;

The Gift unspeakable

We thankfully receive,

And to the World thy Goodness tell,

And to thy Glory live.

2. JESUS, the holy Child,

Doth by his Birth declare,

That GOD and Man are reconcil'd,

And One in Him we are.

Salvation thro' his Name

To all Mankind is given,

And loud his Infant-Cries proclaim

A Peace 'twixt Earth and Heaven.

3. A Peace on Earth He brings,

Which never more shall end:

The Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings,

Declares Himself our Friend,

Assumes our Flesh and Blood,

That we his Sp'rit may gain,

The everlasting Son of GOD,

The mortal Son of Man.

4. His Kingdom from above

He doth to us impart,

And pure Benevolence and Love

O'erflow the faithful Heart:

Chang'd in a Moment we

The sweet Attraction find,

With open Arms of Charity

Embracing all Mankind.

5. O might they all receive

The new-born Prince of Peace,

And meekly in his Spirit live,

And in his Love increase!

Till He convey us home,

Cry every Soul aloud,

Come, Thou Desire of Nations come,

And take us all to GOD!

For some reason words associated with speech in stanzas 1-3 are standing out to me: "unspeakable," "tell," "declare(s)" (2x), "loud...Cries proclaim." Paradox, once again, fills the first part of the hymn. How is it that the "Incarnate Son" (St. John calls him the "Word") is an "unspeakable" gift? Our speech is inadequate to define or describe this Jesus, yet we are still called to proclaim him to the nations. Furthermore, how is it that in becoming an infant Jesus "declares" something? These "Infant-Cries" declare reconciliation and proclaim peace. That is the nature of what our speech should entail: that God & human are reconciled in Christ's birth...and that peace now exists between Earth & Heaven. Aren't these two ways of saying the same thing? Parallelism?

"Peace" is what connects stanzas 2 & 3. And Jesus "declares" himself our Friend. Is there anything that could demonstrate or declare peace more acutely than to know that Jesus is our friend, that he has "assumed our flesh and blood"? This declaration of friendship is another way of expressing the idea of reconciliation that has so richly inhabited the hymns of this collection.

Then there's a shift where the emphasis moves from "speech" to "embrace." The shift happens after the declaration of friendship. There is the notion of "giving" in that he "imparts" his kingdom into our hearts with "benevolence and love." And this so fills our hearts that we join the Divine embrace by "embracing all mankind." If, as we have seen in other hymns and as is clearly manifest in Wesleyan theology that we have a "Universal Saviour," then shouldn't that affect our mission, our theology, our worship? We want all to join this divine "embrace," as it were, by "receiving" the Prince of Peace.

Hymns for the Nativity: VIII

Hymn VIII of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Away with our Fears!

The Godhead appears

In CHRIST reconcil'd,

The Father of Mercies in JESUS the Child.

2. He comes from above,

In manifest Love,

The Desire of our Eyes,

The meek Lamb of GOD, in a Manger he lies.

3. At IMMANUEL's Birth

What a Triumph on Earth!

Yet could it afford

No better a Place for its Heavenly Lord.

4. The Ancient of Days

To redeem a Lost Race,

From his Glory comes down,

Self-humbled to carry us up to a Crown.

5. Made Flesh for our Sake,

That we might partake

The Nature Divine,

And again in his Image, his Holiness shine;

6. An Heavenly Birth

Experience on Earth,

And rise to his Throne,

And live with our JESUS eternally One.

7. Then let us believe,

And gladly receive

The Tidings they bring,

Who publish to Sinners their Saviour and King.

8. And while we are here,

Our King shall appear,

His Spirit impart,

And form his full Image of Love in our Heart.

Could there be a more comforting way to begin a hymn or song than what is seen here? One might expect that to announce that God is going to appear would evoke fear in the audience. Think about the reactions of the people who heard 'Sinners in the hands of an angry God.' But the angels pronounced on the Day of the Lord, "Fear not!" Jesus came not to bring condemnation, fear and dread, but favor, faith, and hope, because his Father is a "Father of Mercies"! Ours is a response that recognizes our own sin and need for God but we have confidence and trust in a God who is merciful to alienated people and a physician to the sick. "Away with our Fears! The Godhead appears." "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'"

How fitting that the news of the arrival of the "meek Lamb of GOD" would first be announced shepherds. "Meekness" is another one of those underused and undervalued Scripture words. Maybe it's because we don't know what it means. Maybe it's because meekness doesn't get noticed. I'm not sure why, but Christ sure did value meekness. "The meek shall inherit the earth (or the Land)." This is pronounced toward the beginning of the Sermon of the Mount. I forget which Church Father brought this out, but it was noted that Moses was described as 'meek' in the OT. But he never stepped foot in the Promised Land. The point made in Jesus' statement is that in the kingdom inaugurated in Jesus, the 'meek' now can inherit the land. Meekness is one of those beatitudes that really is hard to embrace and display in my culture. That Christ as Lamb was 'meek' implies that he silently endured persecution. He silently appeared on Earth as arriving in a stable among more beasts than people.

There's much more that could be said, but I think I'll end this post on the note of 'meekness'. Seems fitting.

On Not Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater

My favorite professor at Asbury Seminary is Joe Dongell. So the first part of this post is a shout out to him. His desire for loving God and neighbor and learning the truth, his eclectic taste in music and bizarre yet hilarious sense of humor (how is it that the parsing of all verbs in his Latin class ends up being verbs of violent action?), his humility to admit where he's wronged another and zeal for integrating the academic and missional life, are traits that I wish to embody if and when I should be fortunate to be found in a post as professor of theology. He has so many one-liners that could keep you busy laughing and pondering all day. Yes, I have a man crush on Joe Dongell.

On several occasions during my seminary journey, I recall him stating what he saw as a general truth when it comes to the human pursuit: "I find that people generally are running away from something more than they are running toward something." I think his observation is accurate. We react to things, to ideas, to events. That's what we do. Our actions, attitudes, and opinions are often geared at trying to avoid errors more than they are at really searching for what is good and true and beautiful. For a while, I must admit, I didn't see anything wrong with this mentality. But then I came to see the folly in always reacting, in always avoiding, that I was missing out on some things I needed to hear. That's not to say that avoiding errors is all bad, but there comes a point when we need to realize that we ought to have an end or goal in sight. Who, at the end of one's life, wants to say, "My sole purpose was to avoid ______ and in that regard I _________ (succeeded/failed?)"?

(Quick aside: as an illustration of how we can grow from one to the other - the early Methodists had one requirement for admission into the society: the desire to "flee the wrath to come." That's certainly along the lines of avoiding something. But the aim after admission is to grasp toward something...namely holiness, which is marked by a whole host of things; most notably the love of God and neighbor. Wow, I could really go on about this, but I have something else in mind for this post.)

Now there could be all sorts of motivations for wanting to avoid certain things. A common reason (excuse?) is that we've seen an abuse of a certain idea. Therefore, we don't want to be associated in any way whatsoever with the thing, the idea, or the party who represents it. The trouble comes when we are confronted with the possibility that although the "opposing" party may have been mostly wrong about what they thought, believed, or practiced, that there was some truth behind or in the midst of them and/or their ideas that we needed to have seen and heard.

What we need in the theological arena today is a good dose of what is commonly called the 'via media.' I would say that John Wesley was a master of "not throwing the baby out with the bathwater." But it's not like he came up with this idea. He was an heir of a theological tradition (Anglican) that didn't seek to avoid one extreme on an issue by going to the complete opposite pole. The Anglican 'via media,' though is not merely a mission of seeking balance in all matters. It is a means of seeking truth in all matters...and the search for truth includes finding what is right and wrong on each end of the spectrum. That Wesley practiced this 'method,' as it were, is evidenced by the fact that he was accused of Pelagianism by many Calvinists and of being antinomian by the moralists of his day.

What I'm calling for here, and what Wesley exuded, is not the typical "buffet-style" approach to religion and theology. Rather, it is a disciplined practice of assessing the truth in what we hear and see and think. I'm not picking and choosing according to what I like and don't like, what makes me feel good, and so on. (At least that's not the aim of my practice.) It is searching for what stands and passes the test of Scripture, how it has been interpreted through the years, to reason, and to the experiences that we have in our own lives and in the testimonies of witnesses for 2000+ years, and comes out on the other side as "true and trustworthy." We don't live in the "middle ground" for the sake of being moderate. We live in the 'middle' because it enables us to hold many seemingly contradictory truths in tension by the Truth, Jesus Christ. So we embrace that Christ has done something FOR us, while at the same time admitting that he is willing and able to do something IN us...and THROUGH us. Many run toward the "IN" and forsake the "FOR" and vice versa. The fact is that both are true. Not 50% of one and 50% of the other. They're both wholly true. Live in that!

For a good case study of how Wesley wrestles and nuances his position, yet seeks unity in the necessities, see his sermon 'The Lord our Righteousness.' In the beginning of the sermon Wesley contends that disagreements are more "in words than in sentiments: they are much nearer in judgment than in language." There's truth there. How many times in theological dialogue/debate do you see the parties just talking past each other, not realizing that they have more common ground than they assume. Some other thoughts from that sermon that apply here: "And why should you be angry at an expression? 'Oh, it has been abused.' And what expression has not? However, the abuse may be removed, and at the same time the use remain." "I allow you to use whatever expressions you choose, and that a thousand times over; only guarding them against that dreadful abuse which you are as deeply concerned to prevent as I am...And be not angry with me if I cannot judge it proper to use any one expression every two minutes. You may if you please; but do not condemn me because I do not." But ultimately, "All the blessings I enjoy, all I hope for in time and in eternity, are given wholly and solely for the sake of what Christ has done and suffered for me."