Evensong: The government shall be upon his shoulder

The first reading at Evensong today is the famous and very beautiful passage from Isaiah (Is 9:1-7) we often hear read at Advent carol services:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626) reflected on this passage, by exploring how Jesus as a human "child" and yet also the divine "son" was so perfectly fitted to this prophecy. It is right and proper, he says, that each should bear the weight of his own punishment. "Meet it is every one should bear his own burden."

Our nature had sinned, that therefore ought to suffer; the reason why a Child. But that which our nature should, our nature could not bear; not the weight of God's wrath due to our sin: but the Son could; the reason why a Son. The one ought but could not; the other could but ought not.

This is why, we believe, Jesus was both God and Man: Man could not bear the burden, but must; God need not bear it, but only he could. And having thus established with pristine orthodoxy the two Natures of Christ, Andrewes now crowns his argument by confessing the one Person.

The "Child," and the "Son;" these two make but one Person clearly; for both these have but one name, "His Name shall be called," and both these have but one pair of shoulders, "Upon His shoulders;" therefore, though two natures, yet but one Person in both.

This is the faith of the Council of Chalcedon on AD 451, the last of the Great Councils to be taken without demur by the Anglican tradition.

The "government" which Christ bore was, of course, not temporal government. It was, in the first place, the weight of the demands of the Law.

A burden, saith St. Peter, neither he, nor the Apostles, nor their "fathers, were able to bear." This He did, and bare it so evenly as He brake, nay bruised not a commandment.

"But there is another sense" he went on, "when the Law is taken for the punishment due by the Law".

It is that which our Prophet meaneth when he saith, "He hath laid upon His shoulders the iniquities of us all." And not against His will; "Come," saith He, "you that are heavy laden, and I will refresh you," by loading Myself; take it from your necks, and lay it on Mine own.

He bore this weight alone, Bishop Andrewes reminds us; and it was weight he could not cast off. "Which His suffering, though it grew so heavy as it wrung from Him plenty of tears, a strong cry, a sweat of blood, such was the weight of it;—yet would He not cast it off, but there held it still, till it made Him 'bow down His head and give up the ghost'".

Yet this is not all that Christ carries on his shoulders. As we approach Advent, it is appropriate that we are already thinking of Christ's coming to us again, bringing with him our reward.

At His first coming, you see what He had "on His shoulders." At His second He shall not come empty, "Lo, I come, and My reward is with Me," that is, a "Kingdom on His shoulders." And it is no light matter; but, as St. Paul calleth it, "an everlasting weight of glory."

The picture is of the pulpit in Winchester Cathedral, where Lancelot Andrewes was Bishop. Photo by "Mattana" at Wikimedia Commons.

Thomas Tallis: O nata Lux

Today is the anniversary of the death of Thomas Tallis in 1585.

One of our greatest English composers, he was master of a controlled and unmistakably sacred sound that for me serves as a template against which music suitable for the English liturgy must be measured.

The short piece O Nata Lux is an excellent example of this unique air.

O nata lux de lumine,
Jesu redemptor saeculi,
Dignare clemens supplicum
Laudes precesque sumere.

Qui carne quondam contegi
Dignatus es pro perditis,
Nos membra confer effici
Tui beati corporis.

O Light born of Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive
suppliant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members
of thy blessed body.

Tallis was not only a composer, but also a choirmaster and organist, and it is a shame that so little of his organ music survives. His early career was in various monasteries, including Dover Priory in 1530-31, and the Augustinian abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham until its dissolution in 1540. He rose to the position of organist at Canterbury Cathedral, and finally to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543.

His career spanned the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Like his near contemporary William Byrd, Tallis's own views seem to have remained sympathetic to the Roman theology of the day, but also like Byrd he served Protestant monarchs of the Reformation, providing them with music and enjoying the freedom to believe in private pretty much what he pleased.

Tallis has remained an icon of English church music without peer. The video opposite is the organ Prelude "Master Tallis's Testament", by English composer Herbert Howells (1892-1983).

St Clement of Rome on faith and works

The second reading at Mattins today is from the Epistle of St James (Jas 2), and includes his famous insistence that faith without good works is a dead faith.

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

This was the constant refrain of the English Reformers, too; but as George Bull (1634-1710) found, the influence of Continental preaching against works had allowed some unwelcome notions to take root in English soil.

For it is, alas, too well known, that the greatest part of those who call themselves Christians, secure of the mercy of God, the merits of Christ, and of their own salvation, pass their days without the least anxiety, being at the same time very far short of a true Christian life. Their good works, which they never perform, they renounce, acknowledge themselves the worst of sinners, and then tranquilly depend on Christ, the Mediator, to obtain salvation for them.

Today is the Feast Day of St Clement, a very early Bishop of Rome in the AD 90s and one of the so-called Apostolic Fathers, who is possibly mentioned in Phil 4:3. Like James, Clement brings faith and works together harmoniously. Having spoken of the descendants of Jacob, Clement wrote:

And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

But though truly believing, we should not rest in self-satisfied confidence. "The good servant" says Clement "receives the bread of his labour with confidence; the lazy and slothful cannot look his employer in the face".

Shall we become slothful in well-doing, and cease from the practice of love? God forbid that any such course should be followed by us! But rather let us hasten with all energy and readiness of mind to perform every good work.

Those who have faith in Christ are his servants, and not servants of sin; but that doesn't make them profitable servants. To be of profit to our master, we need to be prompt to his will; then we will be able to look him in the face. In the words of the Book of Homilies (1547),

LET us therefore, good Christian people, try and examine our faith what it is. Let us not flatter ourselves, but look upon our works and so judge of our faith what it is. Christ himself speaketh of this matter and saith, "The tree is known by the fruit" (Mt 12:33). Therefore let us do good works and thereby declare our faith to be the lively Christian faith.

John Wesley on righteousness, imputed and imparted

The Epistle today is from Jeremiah (Jer 23:5-8), and prophesies the coming of the Messiah named "The Lord our Righteousness".

The Revd John Wesley (1703-1791) picks up on this title as a title of Christ, and looks at what his "righteousness" is, and how it affects us. First, as to what the human righteousness of Jesus is:

It is a copy of his divine righteousness, so far as it can be imparted to a human spirit. It is a transcript of the divine purity, the divine justice, mercy, and truth. It includes love, reverence, resignation to his Father; humility, meekness, gentleness; love to lost mankind, and every other holy and heavenly temper. And all these in the highest degree, without any defect or mixture of unholiness.

Then, as to how it is communicated by Christ to us, initially it is imputed, i.e. supposed to be in us when actually it is not.

But in what sense is this righteousness imputed to believers? In this: all believers are forgiven and accepted, not for the sake of any thing in them, or of any thing that ever was, that is, or ever can be done by them, but wholly and solely for the sake of what Christ hath done and suffered for them. I say again, not for the sake of any thing in them, or done by them, of their own righteousness or work.

This, Wesley firmly believes, is the faith of Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. They may express it in different language; they may come to blows over the language they prefer; but at root, he believes that all of us believe that, in Thomas Aquinas's terms, "no man can merit the first grace", which is justification.

Like Aquinas, Wesley then asserts that we are justified by faith alone. "That we are justified by faith alone, is spoken to take away clearly all merit of our works, and wholly to ascribe the merit and deserving of our justification to Christ only". But he knew only too well that he was already famous, or infamous, for teaching imparted righteousness, or in Wesley's terms "inherent" righteousness, another doctrine in fact shared by Aquinas and the English Reformers.

"But do not you believe inherent righteousness?" Yes, in its proper place: not as the ground of our acceptance with God, but as the fruit of it: not in the place of imputed righteousness, but as consequent upon it. That is, I believe God implants righteousness in every one to whom he has imputed it.

This leads to Wesley affirming his characteristic teaching, sanctification, an actual change in us whereby we are the subjects of a real change, from sinners to saints.

I believe "Jesus Christ is made of God unto us sanctification," as well as righteousness: or, that God sanctifies, as well as justifies, all them that believe in him. They to whom the righteousness of Christ is imputed, are made righteous by the Spirit of Christ, are renewed in the image of God, "after the likeness wherein they were created, in righteousness and true holiness."

You might say, that as Israel was brought out of captivity in Egypt and Babylon (as Jeremiah writes), so now in our justification we are called by his Name in the midst of our captivity to sin, and for our sanctification we are brought out of captivity, into the liberty of the children of God.

The picture is of the Rectory at Epworth, where John Wesley grew up. Photo by David Wright, Geograph.

Archbishop Williams in Rome

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, gave a speech recently in Rome, an Address at a Willebrands Symposium which you can read here.

Briefly, Dr Williams believes that Christianity is about filial holiness, which is made possible when human beings are brought into the life of the Trinity through God's incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.

The doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation are thus non-negotiable. All others, including Papal Primacy and the ordination of women, are of secondary importance, of value only insofar as they promote this filial holiness. For Dr Williams, "[t]he central question is whether and how we can properly tell the difference between 'second order' and 'first order' issues".

The whole speech is testimony to a clever man fascinated by the work of theological construction. He is utterly engrossed in "finding ways" to do things, and clearly enjoys the intellectual challenge posed by coming up with novel solutions to hitherto intractable problems.

His predecessor Thomas Cranmer, however, would undoubtedly have said that the central question is this: Which things belong to "the godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers", and which to "innovation and new-fangleness"? He would say, I think, that filial holiness demands filial obedience, and that in key ways, the modern Church of England has not been obedient to the order, in nature and in grace, that our heavenly Father made known to us by his Apostles.

Archbishop Bramhall (1594-1663) made Dr Williams's distinction between primary and secondary teachings, but note how different was his conception of them: "Whatsoever wanteth either universality or perpetuity is not absolutely necessary". He cited Augustine on his side:

St. Augustin setteth us down a certain rule, how to know a true genuine Apostolical tradition; "Quod universa tenet Ecclesia, nec Conciliis institutum, sed semper retentum est, non nisi auctoritate Apostolica traditum verissime creditur" — "Whatsoever the Church doth hold, which was not instituted by Councils, but always received, is most rightly believed to have been delivered by Apostolical authority."

But neither the words "Church Fathers" and "Patristics", nor the things they imply, occur in Dr Williams's speech. Equally, he does not appeal to any of the Anglican Divines, or refer to his priceless liturgical inheritance. Imagine Patriarch Bartholomew giving a speech on the same subject! In the words of St John Damascene (8th century, pictured),

As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He [God] revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition.

Henry Purcell: Ode to St Cecilia

Today is the Feast of St Cecilia, patroness of music. According to Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 600), Cecilia died in AD 176-180 at the hands of the Roman government.

As it was the anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell only yesterday, and as I'm not the world's number one Benjamin Britten fan, I chose a short extract from Henry Purcell's Ode To St Cecilia (1692) as the music to mark the occasion.

2. Hail! Bright Cecilia, Hail! fill ev'ry Heart!
With Love of thee and thy Celestial Art;
That thine and Musick's Sacred Love
May make the British Forest prove
As Famous as Dodona's Vocal Grove.

13. Hail! Bright Cecilia, Hail to thee!
Great Patroness of Us and Harmony!
Who, whilst among the Choir above
Thou dost thy former Skill improve,
With Rapture of Delight dost see
Thy Favourite Art
Make up a Part
Of infinite Felicity.
Hail! Bright Cecilia, Hail to thee!
Great Patroness of Us and Harmony!

The reference to our "British forest" is to the pipes of organs and woodwind instruments, which should outmatch the famous oak groves of the ancient Greek oracle Dodona, whose priestesses discerned the will of the gods through the breeze sighing through the leaves.

Bishop John Gauden (1605-1662), a close confidante of King Charles I, regarded sacred music as a necessary element in our worship, and grumbled loudly at those enthusiasts of "Religious Reformations", who seemed to regard it is as a virtue to "make the mass or lump of religion more sour and heavy than God in His Word hath required".

I conceive no true religion, but such as is flatted with vulgar fears, can forbid Christians to make the best (which is a religious) use even of music, referring it, as all honest and comely things, to God’s glory.

Bishop William Beveridge on stirring up the will

The Collect for today, The Sunday Next Before Advent, reads:

STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bishop William Beveridge (1637-1708, pictured) asked in his Private Thoughts Upon A Christian Life, Do I really want my salvation dependent on my own fitful devotional feelings, or sketchy knowledge of what is good?

I am sure, to say none shall be saved, but those that will of themselves, would be sad news for me, whose will is naturally so backward to every thing that is good. But this is my comfort, I am as certain my Salvation is of God, as I am certain it cannot be of myself. It is Christ Who vouchsafed to die for me, Who hath likewise promised to live within me; it is He that will work all my works both for me and in me too.

God stirs up our stupefied wills as only he can, so that he can actually do within us those things which bring us the reward of salvation.

And hence it is, that where God intends to work over a soul to Himself, He doth not only pass an enlightening act upon the understanding and its apprehensions, but likewise a sanctifying act upon the will and its affections, that when the soul perceives the glory of God and the beauty of holiness, it may presently close with, and entertain it with the choicest of its affections.

The chiefest way in which God does this is through the Holy Communion. Writing in The Necessity And Advantage Of Frequent Communion, he says,

As we must constantly believe what He hath taught, so we must constantly trust and depend on Him for all things necessary to our Salvation, according to the promises He hath made us. He that does not do this cannot be truly said to believe in Christ at all; or at least, not to any purpose. But it is impossible for us thus constantly to believe in Christ, without keeping Him always in our minds; and it is as impossible for us to keep Him thus always in our minds without frequent receiving of this Holy Sacrament.

It is the whole liturgical act which does this, by presenting his sacrifice before our eyes.

For He hath so ordered it, that this Sacrament doth not bring Him into our remembrance only in a slight and superficial manner, without making any impression upon our minds, but it exhibits and presents Him to our very eyes as dying for our sins; or, to use the Apostle's words, "Herein Jesus Christ is evidently set forth before our eyes as crucified among us," (Gal 3:1), whereby our minds are deeply affected, and our faith confirmed in Him.

And yet it is also the bread and the wine themselves, "not common bread and wine, but His Own body and blood, not in a carnal, but in a spiritual or sacramental sense", a sacrament so powerful, he says, that it brings us the blessings of Christ more effectively than if the bread were indeed his very living flesh, and the wine his very blood.

Overcome with a sense of his dependence, Beveridge ends his Private Thoughts on grace and our sadly damaged free will with an impassioned prayer.

Whither, therefore, should I go, my dear and blessed Saviour, but unto Thee? "Thou hast the words of eternal life," and how shall I come but by Thee? Thou hast the treasures of all grace. Thou that hast wrought out my Salvation for me, be pleased, likewise, to work this Salvation in me. Give me, I beseech Thee, such a measure of Thy grace, as to believe in Thee here upon earth, and then give me such degrees of glory as fully to enjoy Thee for ever in Heaven.

John Sheppard: Nunc dimittis

John Sheppard (1515-1558) lived through the turmoil of the early English Reformation, under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.

This Nunc Dimittis is one of the earliest examples we have of music specially written from the new English Prayer Book, in this case the then planned Book of 1559 through which Elizabeth would seek to draw a line under what had gone before.

It is simple, clear and elegant. It invests the text with joy and serenity, without cluttering the words or making it last any longer than necessary. English sacred music at its best.

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
2 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation : which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
3 To be a light to lighten the Gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.

You can find a CD of Sheppard's music on my website, sung by the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.

William Warburton on the folly of changing God’s order

The first reading at Evensong today is from Isaiah (Is 5:18-29).

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

At a time when everything is being inverted, when "progress" is to revert from democracy to the discredited politics of a privileged elite, when "marriage" tries to join those who simply cannot become one flesh, it is not surprising that these words strike a chord.

William Warburton (1698-1779) told us many years ago, that when man tries to invert the natural order of his Maker, he simply makes another "order" in his own image.

God, as Creator of the World, is Author of the constitution of Nature; and as moral Governor of the World, he is Author of the constitution of Grace. It is impiety, therefore, in man to attempt any alterations in either System: whether it be by putting asunder what God hath joined together, the crime here forbidden; or by joining together what God hath put asunder; which is generally the next step in this progress of human folly. For when men have dissolved the established combinations made by God, their preceding interests invite them, or their subsequent necessities draw them on, to make others of their own.

This "order" inevitably proves to be disorder. Over the last forty years, the harvest of this attitude has been a broken society - broken families, drug addition, abortion, spiralling sexual disease, and an emptying Church.

But it is enough to shew what mischiefs attend, and what impieties accompany, the separating by human will, or by human Authority, what God by his will, or his nature, hath joined and united. For what can be conceived more destructive than to violate the settled order of things; or more impious than to counterwork the designs of Him who established that order?

I truly do not think that Christianity is a matter of academic research, an endless University seminar in which we try to construct something we think justifiable according to our own wisdom. The question that faces us is not, Which teachings are wise in our own eyes?, but Which teachings are Apostolic tradition?

The picture above is of Gloucester Cathedral, where Warburton was Bishop from 1759. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Thomas Gisborne on brotherly love

"Let brotherly love continue" says the author of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 13:1) in our Mattins reading today. In what short supply brotherly love may be at the present time, it is hardly necessary to remind ourselves.

The Revd Thomas Gisborne (1758-1846) emphasises that "brotherly love" is something shared between Christians especially. It is not a universal benevolence: it is something that is especially felt and cultivated among Christians, who share one Father as adopted brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Yet what creates this brotherhood? Gisborne points first to our separation from the world, to which Hebrews refers in saying that as Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach". Gisborne writes:

As the Jews were to have no communication with idolaters; so likewise are the servants of Christ enjoined to keep themselves apart from an unbelieving world, to have no fellowship with the workers of iniquity. They have heard the express command, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Secondly, there is the unique Christian hope, "the covenanted blessings of Redemption", to which again Hebrews refers, in reminding us that we have been "brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant".

To Christians is distinctly revealed that effectual atonement through the blood of the Lord Jesus, which was obscurely shadowed forth by the sacrifices of the Temple. To them is clearly disclosed that genuine sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was represented under figures by the washings and other purifying rites ordained in the Ceremonial Law. To Christians is unfolded that glorious rest which remaineth in Heaven for the people of God, of which the rest to be enjoyed in the land of Canaan was but a type.

Nevertheless, the duties of brotherly love do not lapse once we perceive that others do not hold fast to the traditions passed onto us from the Apostles. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" says the Letter to the Hebrews. "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines". Yet these people are still our family, Gisborne tells us.

Even when a professed Christian refused obedience to the commands of the inspired apostles of Christ, and was, on that account, to be openly disowned by the church, and treated according to our Lord's direction, as a heathen man and a publican, the love of brotherhood was not to be forgotten. We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition received of us. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle; note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy: but admonish him as a brother.

These traditions of the Apostles do not automatically make us love like brothers; but they do adopt us into one family in the first place. And from the spiritual bonds of love we have not just with each other, but more importantly with our brother Jesus, our Father the God of Peace may (as Hebrews wishes) "make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."