Notes on the Notes – December 19, 2021

Advent 4

Our Deepest Gifts – Joy 

This Week’s Music:

“Light a Candle”

“Light a candle for joy in the darkness,
In each trial, we know you are near;
Advent watching and waiting for Jesus,
God with us, is wiping our tears,
Emmanuel, joy is here:
Joy is here!”

Our Advent candle-lighting response was written by Lisa Waites in 2018. Our Advent theme for this week is Joy.

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (VU #60) 

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
Glory to God in the highest;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

The original four verses of “O Come All Ye Faithful” were discovered in an eighteenth century Jacobean manuscript with John Francis Wade’s signature.  At one time historians believed that Wade had simply discovered an ancient hymn by an unknown author, possibly St. Bonaventura, a thirteenth century Italian scholar.  Further examination, however, has led many to believe that Wade wrote both the words and music of this hymn himself.  The lyrics are a celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Hear Carrie Underwood sing the carol at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8oc1ovRsnk

See Pentatonix’s interpretation of the carol at:  https://youtu.be/Mj7Pr42rliI

See the carol in worship at Westminster Abbey:  https://youtu.be/l1wHyMR_SCA

Hear Frank Sinatra sing the carol at:  https://youtu.be/NczzSYC-s10

“When God is a Child” (VU #7 v. 3)

“Joy is a song that welcomes the dawn, 
Telling the world that the Saviour is born.
When God is a child there’s joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
And none shall be afraid.”

We will be using one verse of this hymn by Brian Wren for each week of Advent. The words of the song will be reflected in our Advent art work.  Brian Wren wrote this hymn for Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Chicago in Advent 1985.  The tune MOON BEAMS was composed for Wren’s text by Joan Collier Fogg in 1987.

“She Walked in the Summer” (VU #12) 

“She walked in the summer through the heat on the hill.
She hurried as one who went with a will.
She danced in the sunlight when the day was done.
Her heart knew no evening who carried the sun.

Fresh as a flower at the first ray of dawn,
She came to her cousin whose morning was gone.
There leaped a little child in the ancient womb,
And there leaped a little hope in every ancient tomb.

Hail, little sister, who heralds the spring.
Hail, brave mother, of whom prophets sing.
Hail to the moment beneath your breast.
May all generations call you blessed.

When you walk in the summer through the heat on the hill,
When you’re wound with the wind and one with Her will,
Be brave with the burden you are blessed to bear,
For it’s Christ that you carry everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.”

This song is a thought-provoking narration of the the encounter between Mary and her older cousin Elizabeth, when Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary is carrying Jesus. The music is simple, arising from the folk song revival in the late 1960s. Sister Miriam Therese Winter wrote the song in 1968 for the feast of the Visitation, then celebrated in the summer. The text was altered for more inclusive language and re-published in Woman Prayer, Woman Song (1987).

“My Soul Cries Out” (MV #120)

Mary’s response to her visit to Elizabeth is the song of praise known as the Magnificat.   It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymn texts and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn.   The text below is a paraphrase of Luke 1:46-55 where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.   In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the child moves within Elizabeth’s womb. When Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings what is now known as the Magnificat in response –  her “yes!” to God.

“My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight, and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
For the world is about to turn.

From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, every mouth be fed,
For the world is about to turn.

Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast;
God’s mercy must deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
‘Till the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
Who is turning the world around.

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
And the world is about to turn!”

“The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy” (VU #73)

“The virgin Mary had a baby boy;
The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The virgin Mary had a baby boy
And they say that his name is Jesus.

The angels sang when the baby was born…

The shepherds came where the baby was born,…

He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
Oh, yes! believer! Oh, yes! believer!
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.”

This West Indian Christmas carol comes from the Edric Conner Collection of West Indian Spirituals (1945).  He collected it from James Bryce, who gave his age as 94, in 1942. The refrain may be older than the verse, perhaps coming from an African folk song.  It was arranged by John Barnard for Hymns for Today’s Church in 1982.

Hear the Kingston Trio at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A7zivz_XIqE

See the Gaither version at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wgO14-LGsHs

“Joy to the World” (VU #59) 

“Joy to the world!  The Lord is come:  let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth!  The Saviour reigns:  let all their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the earth with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love, and wonders, wonders of his love.

This text is a paraphrase of Psalm 88:4-9.  It was written by Isaac Watts and first published in his Psalms of David in 1719.

Enjoy this carol by:

Hillsong at: https://youtu.be/cnsk7iXFCtY

Boys’ choir “Libera” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IH8A86FLs0

Played on handbells at:  https://youtu.be/mh6vyghzmM0

“There’s a Song of Love” 

“There’s a song of joy in my heart;
Joy is a gift from Jesus.
There’s a song of joy in my heart;
Joy is a gift from God.
Alleluia!  Joy in my heart is singing praises.
Alleluia!  Joy is a gift from God.”

Our benediction response for the season of Advent was written by Handt Hanson (1996) with piano adaptation by Henry Wiens.

Bonus video: