I love Christmas music. One of the challenges I faced when serving as a local church pastor is that there is so much great Christmas music and it is challenging for any local church pastor and church music director to share all of it during the Sundays of December. One of the ways that I found to share more of the good Christmas music was to incorporate a “Service of Lessons and Carols” into some worship experience during the Advent or Christmas season.
Most every year, my wife Ann and I will make plans to go to at least one musical experience during the days leading up to Christmas. In 2024, we had the experience of attending a presentation of Handel’s Messiah in downtown Charlotte. Whether the music of the Messiah is “your cup of tea” , it is a beautiful piece to experience. If you have never heard the full version of the Messiah, know that it is filled with Scripture and has three parts as follows: the first part focuses on the prophecies of the Messiah; the second part focuses on the passion and redemption of Christ Jesus; and the third part focuses on the resurrection of Christ Jesus.
As I prepared to attend the Messiah last year, I did a little study of the background of the piece of music that was written in the 1700’s. One of the things I was reminded of is that at the end of his composition of the Messiah, Handel wrote three letters: S.D.G. Those three letters are an abbreviation for a latin phrase: “Soli Deo Gloria” which in English means “To God alone the glory”.
Several years ago, I came across a copy the Westminister Catechism that had belonged to my Grandparents. They attended the Presbyterian Church and it was used in the process of becoming a member of the church. In that catechism, persons learn a series of questions and answers. One of the first questions is: “What is the chief aim of mankind?” The answer to that question is this: “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Whether we be a musical composer like Handel… a pastor preparing for a Christmas Eve Service… or a parent trying to maintain their sanity amid the fever-pitch stresses of daily life with young children, are we living our life to give glory of God? In these December days, surely many of you will hear that passage of scripture that says “Glory to God in the highest” or perhaps you may sing that song whose chorus says “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” Glorifying God is not just a song to be sung at Christmas or a portion of scripture to read this time of year. No, it I a way of life that all those who bow their knee at the babe of Bethlehem are called to aspire to. Let it be in these days and everyday. Merry Christmas- Pastor Randy Wall
No comments:
Post a Comment