12 14 01
Call to Gather
Greetings in the name of the Lord! We welcome you here this evening for our second Annual Messiah Sing! In the name of Christ who unites all sisters and brothers as one in God, we come together in this season of Advent.
Let us pray.
Our God, we have heard the voice of the prophet, sent as a herald of Good News. We are to prepare a way for the coming of our long-awaited Savior. We are to remove the obstacles in our lives that would hinder his coming to us.
And so we pray that in your Spirit, you would help us
to cast away the doubts born of disappointments, that we may receive the Savior in faith;
to cast off the mantle of self-sufficiency, that we may receive him humbly;
to cast away the pride borne of knowledge and arrogance, that we may be open to the mysteries of this Advent;
to cast away the hate and violence in our lives and in the world, that we may find peace, justice, and reconciliation among us and with nations around the world;
so that this year, the Savior may come to us, not in the expected and anticipated ways of our own making,
but in the wonder and mystery of your love for us.
We pray in the name of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Tonight’s Program
One way for us and for millions of people each year to prepare once again for the coming of the Lord is to sing George Frederic Handel’s The Messiah, probably the most influential and widely performed oratorio of all time.
Some of us who are participating in the Advent Bible studies read this past week in James Moore’s book that in 1741, Handel was stumbling blindly down a dark street in London. He had fallen on hard times. He was depressed, despondent, and filled with despair. Jealous rivalries, ill health, and a series of devastating misfortunes had brought him to this hopeless and miserable state.
A cerebral hemorrhage had caused a partial paralysis in Handel and he was losing his sight. His creativity had all disappeared in the cloud of troubles that enveloped his life. His self-esteemed was shot, and he was haunted by self-doubts. Drifted away from God, nearing the age of sixty, his income gone, and his health shattered, Handel thought his life was over.
In this defeated frame of mind, he returned at night to his home and found a large package at his door. When he opened the package, he found the words to a new sacred piece of music and a letter from Charles Jennens, asking Handel to write the music to it.
When Handel leafed through the pages, his eyes felled upon a passage that captivated him. It read, “He was despised and rejected. He looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no one—neither found anyone to comfort him.” Handel identified with these words. Those words, written originally about Jesus, actually described what Handel himself was feeling at that moment—despised, rejected, and alone.
With a growing sense of kinship, Handel read on; and he found these words: “He trusted in God and God did not leave him…God gave him rest.” Now the words began to come alive and to glow with meaning for Handel! They stirred his soul and warmed his heart. He read on: “I know that my redeemer liveth. Rejoice, Rejoice. Hallelujah!”
Handel could feel the creative forces resurrecting and surging within him once again. Wondrous, incredible melodies straight from heaven rapidly tumbled, one after another, into his mind. He grabbed pen and paper and began to fill page after page with amazing confidence and swiftness. All through the night he wrote. Breakfast was brought in to him the next day, but he would not stop to eat.
Day after day, the old master worked vigorously, ignoring all who came into the room. Sometimes he became so moved by what he was writing that he wept and shouted. At last, he finished. Exhausted, he fell onto his bed and slept for seventeen hours. But on his desk was the musical score of one of the greatest and most beloved pieces of sacred music ever written.
When we sing “The Hallelujah Chorus,” we will stand as the custom that originated when King George II of England stood to his feet during this breath-taking selection. Since no one remains seated when the king stands, the audience at that presentation also stood. And, they fully understood the king’s reason for standing: No one (even a powerful earthly monarch) sits in the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, to whom “every knee shall bow.”
In later years, Handel suffered many more infirmities, but he never gave in to despair again. He became blind, but his spirit remained undaunted at the end; for his heart was the music of The Messiah, along with the sure knowledge that God held the key to life.
Like Handel, we sometimes find that we are depressed and lonely. We pray that this evening as we sing The Messiah together that you too like millions around the world will know that when we trust God, God will never leave us.
Program Leaders
We are happy to have Wallace (Charcoal) Choy direct this evening and Joy S. Ng accompanying on the organ. This is not only an inspiring time of sacred music but an evening of fun and Christian fellowship. We invite you to sing (as I will be) that God is with us—Emmanuel.
Following the singing of The Messiah, we’ll conclude the evening with a selection of Christmas carols and a reception of coffee and cookies upstairs on the third floor.
Benediction
God shall reign forever and ever,
For Jesus Christ is the King of kings, Lord of lords!
Go from this place with the confidence that
God bless you and keep you.
God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
God look upon you with love and give you peace. Amen.