Notes for Sunday, May 27

Sunday we celebrate the Festival of Pentecost!

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Ezekiel 37:1-14

SERMON: What Shall We Do With The Bones?

ANTHEM: Come Down, O Love Divine, D. Busarow

The words to this traditional Christian hymn were written by Bianco da Siena (d. 1434), and appear in Laudi spirituali del Bianco da Siena, edited by T. Bini, 1851. The words were translated from Italian to English by Richard Littledale for the 1867 version of The People’s Hymnal. Vaughan Williams composed the harmonization of the first verse that appears in the version we will sing.

Bianco da Siena was a follower of B. Giovanni Colombini. The two lived in Italy during the “golden age of vernacular ascetical and mystical literature.” Colombini’s early private life was apparently marred by avarice, ambition, and a proneness to anger. His reading of the biography of St. Mary of Egypt is supposed to have transformed him completely, into a man of incredible humility and meekness. He converted his home into a refuge for the needy and suffering, and lived out his life in apostolic poverty.

Bianco is known for his mystical lyrics. The etymology of the word mysticism implies a relation to mystery. In philosophy, mysticism refers to a desire of the human soul towards an intimate union with the Divinity.

The mystery of God will be on full display Sunday, as we celebrate God’s gift of Holy Spirit. As we sing, let us feel and feed our souls’ desire towards union with the Divinity. For as we will hear with the Invitation to Worship, “God’s Spirit has been poured out on all flesh.”

HYMNS AND RESPONSES:
#128 On Pentecost They Gathered
Austrian Hymn (response)
Stuttgart (children’s recessional)
#127 Come, O Spirit
Sanctus #581
#129 Come, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us

OTHER ITEMS:
Prelude: Andante Cantabile, from Symphony No. IV, C. Widor
Offertory: Elevation, from Messe Basse, L. Vierne
Postlude: Carillon, L. Vierne

Vierne was an assistant to Widor, at Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Vierne suffered from congenital cataracts, and used Braille for most his work later in life. His oft-stated lifelong dream was to die at the console of the great organ of Notre Dame. Which he did, June 2 1937, during the closing section of a recital, with his left foot resting on the low “E” pedal.

Until Sunday, Bonnie

Notes for Sunday, May 6

Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Easter.
We celebrate the baptism of John Mathew Willock!

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11-12, passim

SERMON: A Faith For Life

ANTHEM: Children’s Letters to God

Shearer’s musical setting of these letters brilliantly captures the paradox inherent in children – their endearing inexperience in the world and their other-worldly wisdom.

The congregation will smile at the text of the letters printed in the bulletin – at Robert, at the thought of Noah’s ark (which some of us may have wondered about these last few days) and the three-cat-dilemma. But the serious tones of the musical settings of the other letters will remind them of the wisdom of children. Wisdom that we often grow blind to, the more we have seen of the world.

What does your God think about nonbelievers? The answer to this question speaks volumes about one’s concept of God; about one’s daily motivations. Does your God favor believers over nonbelievers? (Put differently, do you accept Pascal’s wager as sound?) If so, what challenges does your view pose for belief versus faith? If not, what challenges does your view pose for daily living? (Last summer, I found myself out to lunch with colleagues one afternoon – a group of one Muslim, one Jew, one Hindu, one Lutheran, one Protestant – at the downtown Lebanese Catholic church that serves lunch each Wednesday. Fantastic! The Lutheran and I were trying to explain the difference between Catholics and Protestants. We noted the distinction between salvation by virtue of good works and salvation through the grace of God. And our Hindu colleague asked, “If one gets to heaven by the grace of God and not as a result of good works, then why bother being good?” How would you answer?)

What is it like in heaven? I spend a good portion of my days as an economist trying to help students grapple with the problems that insatiable human beings face in a world of scarcity. Counter-examples are often a useful learning tool. And we sometimes try to think about how to adapt our models of a finite world to describe what it might be like in heaven. (As theologian M. Douglas Meeks suggests, God is perhaps the ultimate economist. And the Bible is arguably a codification of rules for living the optimal life in a world of scarcity.)

What is it like when you die?

Rabbi Sandy Sasso writes that all children by age five have a conception of God – whether or not they’re taught spirituality/religion by their parents. And that they ask large questions. She suggests that what children need from us is a language they can use to converse about their inherently deep ideas. I would suggest that we need their questions just as much.

(Sasso writes wonderful books for children – “God’s Paintbrush” and “In God’s Name” are among her best known. And she has edited a marvelous volume entitled “Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World’s Religious Traditions.” What “religious” books did you grow up with as a child? I nearly wore out our Purple Puzzle Tree books and records. (Yes, I still play them – chuuuurple, chuuurple, chuuurple.))

HYMNS AND RESPONSES:
#582 Memorial Acclamation
#495 We Know That Christ Is Raised
#579 Gloria Patri
#524 With Grateful Hearts Our Faith Professing
#106 refrain, Alleluia No. 1

OTHER ITEMS:
Prelude: Children’s Prayer and Child’s Dream, F. Peeters; Jesus and the Children, G. Martin
Postlude: Toccata in Seven, J. Rutter

Until Sunday,

Bonnie