Howard Thurman – American author,
theologian, civil rights leader – wrote:
“When the song of the
angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes
are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas
begins:
To find the lost, to heal
the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the
nations, to bring peace among others, to make music in the heart.”
The work of Christmas sounds
like the welcoming and building of kindom.
I don’t know how much energy
you have as we enter into 2022. I suspect that some of us are weary and are living
day-to-day, maybe hour-to-hour, preserving energy for ourselves and those close
to us, for the jobs and tasks we have to do. Thinking about the kindom – the world
made whole- is daunting, especially when we know that we are to have a hand in
bringing God’s kindom near.
The Christmas story reminds us that God chose
to come and live among human beings in the circumstances of poverty, sickness, oppression,
and instability. Jesus -the Word- came to bring good news to a weary world.
These two centuries later the prophets’ words continue to be read, Jesus’ birth
warms hearts, the wise men show commitment to the cause – the weary world takes
notice of Emmanuel, God-with-us. As we enter into 2022, we are asked to go back
to our everyday lives and begin the work of Christmas.
Honestly, I am weary, and as
the end of 2021 came, I wondered what New Year’s resolutions or words of wisdom
I had for myself. Then Howard Thurman’s final
phrase hit home – as something doable, achievable, enjoyable – make music in
the heart.
Many of you have been
preaching this to me over the past month!
I have enjoyed and been
ministered to by people sharing with me music that nourishes their spirits.
With the music comes a blessing of getting to know people more fully: their
faith, feelings, and current wellbeing. Music shared has included:
Country songs that share a
vision of kindom; Christmas carols that take one back to memories of youth and young
faith; new Christmas songs that expand one’s understanding of Jesus; bagpipe
airs that pull tears of mourning from the heart; concerts that move one to a
new place where all is well; new hymns that allow listeners and singers to express
recent history and circumstances; songs that are prayers too deep for words.
Often it is the music, not
necessarily the words, that has the greatest affect. The music holds the
listener in a safe place while exploring and expressing a wealth of emotions
and sentiments; scary feelings and ideas we try to avoid. The music helps us
work out feelings, memories, things we don’t even know we are worrying or
thinking about. Music grounds us in the present and leaves us with more hope, with
a stronger sense of who we are, and in the moment a wholeness of heart.
In the Christmas story there
are lots of songs: Zechariah sings a
song on the naming day of John the Baptist, Mary sings a song at finding herself
chosen to birth Jesus, the angels sing a song for the shepherds, Simeon sings a
song at the sight of the Messiah. The
Gospel of Luke has these four songs as key components to the nativity story. The
early church kept the songs and wrote them into the liturgies of the church. We
know them as the Benedicta, the Magnificat, the Gloria, and the Nunc Dimittis.
The songs sung, praise and
give thanks to God. In a time of poverty, sickness, oppression, and instability
the singers express a welcome of hope born into the world, praise at the arrival
of the Messiah, the coming of the kindom of God, and a possibility of wholeness
for a weary world. The songs whisper to the human heart: hope, peace, love,
joy.
Consider the pieces of music
that whisper to your heart: songs that bring out the tears, songs that calm,
songs that reset frayed nerves, songs that bring back good memories, songs that
speak to faith, songs that affect your soul – that empower you, songs that feel
so deep you can’t explain what it is about them that makes everything feel better;
yes, those songs that have you stop and turn up the volume and listen with your
whole being – the Word whispering hope, peace, love, joy.
Some of the songs that whisper
the good news to me: on a frayed nerve day it is Tchaikovsky’s March Slave
followed by the 1812 Overture, played loud through headphones; on days to evoke
emotions like those I feel around remembrance, war, loss, faith, it is the hymn
Eternal Saviour Strong to Save; on any day the good news is whispered to
me in hymns set to the tune of Finlandia. And there are so many more.
Consider the pieces of music
that whisper to your heart. Feel the feelings that the music leaves in your
being. ‘That feeling’ is the music made in your heart. It is God-with-us, the Spirit at work within,
the Word whispering to you, good news to the very heart of you.
This gift is not self-serving,
when there is music in your heart, your being embodies the hope, the peace, the
love, the joy of God-with-us – so that music flows, perhaps even sings, from
you, to wash weariness from the world. This is the Word made flesh at work.
Yesterday, on the octave of
Christmas- the church calendar marks the observance of the Name of Jesus; 8 days
after birth would have been the traditional day when boys were named and circumcised. Observing the day reminds us that we begin a
New Year in the name of Jesus.
As we heard in John’s
Gospel, Jesus is the Word. The New Year dawns in Jesus’ name. In our hearts is Jesus,
the Word, who continually speaks – whispering – it is a new year, a fresh start
for you to share the good news for the healing of the weary world.
Find the lost, heal the
broken, feed the hungry, release the prisoner, rebuild the nations, bring peace
among others, make music in the heart.
And perhaps, “make music in
the heart,” is the starting point for all the rest to fall into place. If our
hearts sing – whether sorrow or joy and every other emotion too- Jesus the Word
will whisper and good news will be set free … from my heart to yours, from
yours to theirs, from us to neighbour, from neighbour to enemy, from enemy to nation…
one heart at a time until all are filled and weariness transforms to wholeness
and peace.
#forthehealingoftheworld
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