Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I know what you are thinking. As we have come to the end of Advent, and are at the crest of the snow bank that is the season of Christmas, you are thinking, let's look once more at the Song of Zechariah. You're not? Well, that's what I was thinking.

If you don't know the Song of Zechariah, it comes from the Gospel According to Luke (Luke 1:68-79) and can be found on page 92 of the Prayer Book as one of the canticles for Morning Prayer. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, sings this song on the occasion of his son's naming, shortly after – at least in the text – Mary has sung the Magnificat. Zechariah, like Mary, is filled with the Holy Spirit. (A popular image in the Gospel according to Luke and the Book of Acts, aka Luke II: The Holy Spirit Strikes Back). And like Mary, he is so full of joy that he sings. He sings of the promises of God to the People Israel.

Song is big with us liturgical types. Hymns, Carols, Canticles, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs are all part of who we are as followers of Jesus. The Book of Psalms was Jesus' Hymnal 1982.

I knew Madeleine L'Engle as an author of children's literature before I knew her as an Episcopalian. In her book, Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation (most appropriate for this season), Madeleine writes of her childhood: “At Christmastime my parents held open house on Sunday evenings, and a dozen or more people gathered around the piano, and the apartment was full of music, and theology was sung into my heart.”

The songs we sing matter. They are important. They form us in ways we cannot fully grasp, as we sing theology into our heart.

Just as Mary and Zechariah could not contain their joy at the prospect of all those Spirit-driven hopes they had for their children, I hope that we are unable to contain our excitement for what the Holy Spirit is doing in our times, through the extended family of God. Here. Right Now. Joy to the World! The Lord is Come! How can I keep from singing?

Merry Christmas. Do some singing with friends, family, church-people, non-church-people, whoever may be around. Don't worry if you're not Pavarotti. As Psalm 100 says, “Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord.” As with all things churchy, the important thing is the participation not the performance.

♪♪♪ Joy to the World! The Lord is Come ♪♪♪

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