Sacred Beauty
A Sermon by The Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on The Nativity of our Lord: Christmas Eve, December 24, 2022.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined….For a child has been born for us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9: 2-3
This poem, written to give hope to an oppressed people almost 3,000 years ago, has inspired generation upon generation of faithful souls ever since. And these words sing in our hearts tonight. The prophet Isaiah was heralding the dawn of a new day for the people of Judah, and they speak to the deep longing that all of us have for our lives and for our world to be at peace, for all to be made right.
And that is at the heart of the Christmas story, a timeless yearning, a yearning expressed in the Christmas traditions we love so much. Whether we bake cookies, hang lights, watch Christmas movies or gather with family and friends, at the heart of all of it is that desire for connection and meaning-making. We live in a world that discourages us from having a child-like wonder, but at Christmas, we are given permission to reclaim it. When we open ourselves to wonder, we are opening ourselves to God. And when we allow ourselves to be drawn into the mystery of the nativity story, and the words of the prophets fortelling Christ’s birth, we realize that our much loved traditions find their ultimate meaning in Christ, our deepest longings reflected in the face of a little child who is called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace.
We can’t hear these words from Isaiah without thinking of Handel’s Messiah. Beautiful words are made even more lovely when they are put to music. “For unto us a child is born, a son is given.” Handel’s Messiah is a musical masterpiece that takes us into the very heart of the mystery of the word made flesh in Jesus. Handel wrote “Messiah” in just under 4 weeks in 1742 and it is the gift that keeps on giving 280 years later. It was an immediate hit when it was first performed and listening to it is a favorite Christmas tradition to this day. Interestingly, however, it was originally conceived as an Easter offering, since it told the entire story of Jesus, from Old Testament prophecy, to Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. The words of Handel’s Messiah come exclusively from Scripture, 81 verses from 14 books of the Bible, and passages from Isaiah are quoted more than anything else. “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.” These words from Isaiah are sung right before the announcement of Jesus’ birth from the Gospel of Luke.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Since the very earliest days, Christians have paired these passages from Isaiah and Luke; together they express the longing for the Messiah and the realization of him. And Handel’s musical pairing of the two take it to a whole new level.
In a Washington Post music review entitled “Move Over Mariah: For My Christmas Spirit I Went All In On Handel,” writer Michael Andor Brodeur described how he had decided, after Covid and it’s many variants had dampened his experience of the last two Christmases, he needed a sure thing to help him feel the joy of Christmas this year. So, he embarked upon a “Messiah” marathon, going to three performances by three different orchestras. And he said this at the conclusion of his review.
You could feel it in the lobby after each performance as we milled toward the exits, strangers holding the doors, smiling and singing little snatches of the oratorio to each other — everyone oddly charged up for 11 p.m. Done correctly, the “Messiah” can fill your memory with glorious music; but perhaps more critically, it can also top off your heart’s supply of goodwill — the only gift that’s better when you return it.
That is what experiencing sacred beauty will do for us. Beauty is immensely important to the cultivation of the best of the human spirit and to the cultivation of Christian faith. Sometimes we throw up obstacles to faith where there really don’t need to be, thinking that we have to have everything nailed down and empirically proven before we can give ourselves over to faith. Beauty conveys truth as powerfully as historical facts and beautiful experiences can lead us into that place of wonder where we find God, giving ourselves over to the mystery of the Incarnation and the realization that our minds reach their highest aim when we ponder the things of God.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined….For a child has been born for us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9: 2-3