READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 40:1-8
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
- St. Matthew 11:2-10
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Who speaks to us on this third Sunday of the new Church
Year, saying,
“And Jesus
answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see’”
In the Arch-epic, “The Collision of Cousins”, John the
Baptist and Jesus meet and the heavens open upon them.
In response to Jesus being baptized, not anything else. In
light of that, however, because of today’s Gospel talking about John, he is a
witness to heaven’s open door in front of him and privy to the words and the
song he heard, at Jesus’s baptism.
Thus, today’s Gospel is included in God’s Word to reveal to
us that heaven follows Jesus. This points us to faith, that we can trust in
God’s Word to be as powerful for us as it was for those who first used it. If prophets use it to sing,
then we sing. If angels use it to proclaim, then we proclaim. If God uses it to
create all things, then we are recreated as we sing it and believe it.
The song John heard, or maybe the Holy Spirit gave him
authority to sing and it become a song of heaven, is of course our Angus Dei:
“O Christ Thou Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy
upon us.” John sang this while pointing to and at Jesus in the flesh. Heaven
acknowledging its Lord and Master.
Heaven follows Jesus. He came into this world at Gabriel’s
annunciation from heaven to St. Mary. His birth saw the opening of heaven to
shepherds in the fields, watching their flocks by night. His circumcision was
marked by St. Simeon’s song.
His baptism, His Transfiguration, and even His Crucifixion
and resurrection all saw heaven intently focused on the Son of Man. Either
singing, chanting, or speaking. Heaven is revealed on earth and it resides in,
with, and under Jesus Christ.
Returning to our Gospel reading: when John the Baptist
wishes to ask Jesus a question, why doesn’t he just send a prayer flying to
heaven? Why does he send earthly messengers on an earthly mission, instead of a
spiritual one, out in the desert or something?
John’s message gives us our clue: “Are you the Coming One?”,
he asks Jesus.
He got the idea for this question from only one place: the
Word of God. First, he remembers hearing the last book of the Old Testament
say, “’Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before
Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the
Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, He shall come,‘ saith
the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:1). He shall come.
And second, from his father’s prophetic song, sung at his
birth, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you
will go before the Lord to prepare his ways”, from St. Luke 1:76.
God’s Word and heaven’s intrusions onto earth meet up to
create faith in John, though he still doesn’t completely grasp what is actually
going on. Because no matter what John does, he will not be released from that
prison until he is beheaded. And no matter what answer Jesus gives, He will not
be released from His Greatest Work until He dies on the cross.
Repent! In our sin, we despise heaven’s songs. But we don’t
despise them outright, that would be going against God’s Word. No, we despise
them secretly. We see them. We hear them. We even acknowledge them. But we
believe we can do better. We see these songs the angels sing and believe that
they are just examples for us to start from. Square one.
We see the Lord’s own Prayer this way as well. It is just a
template, an outline of what prayer should be. It is the first step our
heavenly Father has given us to grow from. We need to take it and improve it,
adapt it to our own lives, which may or may not have anything to do with lives
in 1st century Palestine.
Since it doesn’t and we are not Israelites, why is it we
think we can make better songs than those that have been handed down to us?
Heaven’s words are heaven’s words and heaven’s songs are
heaven’s songs. Just as the Lord never changes, neither do His words, commands,
or songs. That means that when heaven opens up to us on earth and we hear those
angelic songs, they are songs sung in eternity and are pleasing to God.
“in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father
who is in heaven” (St. Matthew 18:10), says Jesus. And St. John confirms
this in Revelation when he sees and hears “around the throne and the living
creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads
and thousands of thousands, singing with a loud voice” (Rev 5:11)
Job confesses: “who laid [the earth’s] cornerstone, when
the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job
38:6-7)
What does this mean? It means we take what Jesus has given
us and hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. We have been given His
songs, His prayer, and we should honor Him by using them “as is” and “as
instructed”, that is to pray, praise, and give thanks.
Our hymns are heavenly hymns and they retain their holiness
and force, though they are sung by earthly sinners. Singing the angels’ “Gloria
in excelsis”, from the shepherds, is not just imitating them, it is placing us
in the same category as them. As in, with their songs on our lips, we now
ascend to heaven to see God face to face. We litteraly sing in the choir of
angels.
And since certain songs have been placed in the Holy
Scriptures, they retain their same force as well. True of St. Mary’s
Magnificat, St. Zechariah’s Benedictus, and St. Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis, for
example.
And still remains true, now, when we employ them. Hearing
and believing God’s Word either sung to us or spoken to us. If you are
searching for the pure Church, than you can get no closer than her songs gifted
to us from heaven.
That’s right. Through the only One Who has descended from
heaven and ascended to heaven, comes our hymns. Through the sole mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, comes the thoughts, words, and
prayers from His Church.
Since they are handed over to His Church, they are in turn
handed over to us. They are our tradition. Our heavenly tradition in which we
can make ourselves certain, in faith, that we are a part of the Church
Triumphant. Yes, if the Lord’s Word, the heavenly songs, echo on our lips and
move through our voice, then we confirm our membership in the One Body of
Christ.
So sing your songs, dear children in Christ. Do not be
ashamed of what has been handed down to you and be hesitant to change those
things. Be encouraged in all humility to create new songs in faith.
Dr. Luther says,
“Clearly, singing spiritual songs is good and pleases God.
This is clear to every Christian. Everyone knows the examples of the kings and
prophets in the Old Testament who praised God with singing and playing poetry
on all kinds of musical instruments. From the very beginning of Christendom,
this use of music has been common.
St. Paul also instituted this use of music when he urges the
Colossians to sing spiritual songs and psalms to the Lord with gusto in order
that, God’s Word and Christian doctrine might be used and put into practice in
many ways.
The arts are not to be thrown out by the Gospel, as some
people who think they are super-spiritual say. I would be glad to see all the
arts, especially music, placed in the service of Him Who has given and created
them.” (To You we pray God the Holy Ghost; What Luther says, 980:3095)
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