Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

In the spring of this year, the son of one of our longtime friends got engaged.  More recently, his bride-to-be was discussing wedding music on her Facebook page.  That got me reminiscing about my wedding music.  This was my processional.  I had a choir of friends sing the hymn while I walked up the aisle.

Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light.

Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
With the fire of life impassioned,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings;
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.

Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure.
Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.

After some quick research, I discovered that the commonly used words to this hymn were actually based on a poem written by Robert Bridges and inspired by a hymn by Johann Schop written in 1642 whose lyrics were, in turn, composed in 1661 by Martin Jahn.  The original German words, translated into English, actually read like this:

Well for me that I have Jesus,
O how strong I hold to him
That he might refresh my heart,
When sick and sad am I.
Jesus have I, who loves me
And gives to me his own,
Ah, therefore I will not leave Jesus,
When I feel my heart is breaking.

Jesus remains my joy,
My heart's comfort and essence,
Jesus resists all suffering,
He is my life's strength
My eye's desire and sun,
My soul's love and joy;
So will I not leave Jesus
Out of heart and face.

The opening stanzas of Mr. Jahn's hymn read as follows:

Jesus, my refuge and deliverer,
Jesus, the ground of my confidence,
Jesus, mighty trampler of the serpent,
Jesus, light of my life!
How my heart longs for you,
Dear Jesus, painfully!
Come, ah come, I wait for you,
Come, O dearest Jesus!

Jesus, delight of my soul,
Jesus, my best pleasure,
Jesus, my sun of joy,
Jesus, it is well known to you
How I love you from my heart
And am distressed without you.
Therefore O Jesus come to me
And stay with me forever and ever.

Whichever words are used, it is clear to me that the focus of the song is Christ and who better to focus on, especially at Christmas.

Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree

This was an exciting discovery for me today, especially since this time of year I put red apples on my Christmas tree alongside holly --- a symbol of the crown of thorns worn by Christ at His Crucifixion --- and ivy --- a symbol of the Trinity.  The piece is performed by the Wartburg College Choir.  Wartburg College is a Lutheran institution located in Waverly, Iowa.

Lyrics
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green.
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ, the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne'er can tell.
The glory, which I now can see
In Jesus Christ, the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought.
I missed of all but now I see,
'Tis found in Christ, the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive.
It keeps my dying faith alive,
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ, the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil.
Here I will sit and rest a while,
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ, the apple tree.

Are You Smarter Than An Atheist?

This evening, I noticed that some of my Facebook friends were taking a religious quiz over at the Christian Science Monitor:  "Are you smarter than an atheist?"  One of my daughter's friends got a perfect score, 32 out of 32!  I didn't do so well.  I got 30 out of 32.  I missed a question on nirvana and one on Maimonides.  I guess I'm not as clever as I thought.  I did do better than average for an American Protestant, though.  Apparently, they average only 16 out of 32 correct.

Here is the test lead in from the Christian Science Monitor website:

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups in a 32-question survey of religious knowledge by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.  On average, Americans got 16 of the 32 questions correct.  Atheists and agnostics got an average of 20.9 correct answers.  Jews (20.5) and Mormons (20.3).  Protestants got 16 correct answers on average, while Catholics got 14.7 questions right.

Frankly, I am a bit disappointed that my fellow Protestants didn't do better.  50% (16/32) is usually considered a failing grade (at least it was when I was in school).  Let's see if we can improve that average, shall we?  Take the quiz!

For a full report on the test findings, click here.

Physical and Financial Needs

Scripture:  1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Are your physical and financial needs sufficiently addressed?  Notice I said needs, not wants.  My physical and financial needs are fine.  At the moment, I have enough money to pay my bills, heat my house, and feed my family (the latter even includes the more-than-occasional trip to a favorite local restaurant).  I certainly cannot complain.  I do not, however, have enough cash on hand to buy a Wii or spend several hundred dollars on Christmas gifts this year.  In fact, my family made the decision to cut back substantially on gift-giving for 2011;  only one gift per person for the adult and, maybe, two for the kids.  Yes, the bottom of the tree will look pretty sparse, but that is ok.  We have some other long-term goals that are prioritized ahead of an opulent, abundant Christmas.

When finances get tight or our own financial priorities dictate a more modest observance of Christmas than what the advertising world seems to tell us is necessary for peace, joy, and happiness, it is helpful to remember that God Himself is familiar with lack.  Why?  Because He Himself experienced poverty in the person of Jesus Christ.  He was born in a stable.  He didn't live in a fine castle with clothes of fine fabric bedecked with expensive jewels.  His earthly father was a carpenter;  His mother didn't work outside the home.  As an adult, He didn't have a permanent home.  He stayed with friends or sought shelter wherever He could while traveling with the disciples.  Yet, God the Father always provided for the needs of God the Son.  God will provide for our needs as well.  In fact, He already has.

The Scripture passage for today outlines what has been given to us as children of God:

- grace in Christ
- speech and knowledge of every kind
- spiritual gifts
- strength to live in Christ
- fellowship with Christ

...because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech adn knowledge of every kind --- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you --- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealingof our Lord Jesus Christ.  He will also strengthn you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful;  by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. --- 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (NRSV)

How do we know that we have these gifts?  Because God is faithful, and because He has been faithful to give us these gifts, how much more will He see to it that our financial needs are met as well.  Notice I said needs, not wants.

May God transform both your finances and your attitudes about your finances this Christmas, bringing you peace as you wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Scottish folk tune about God's provision.

Sibling Relationships

Scripture:  John 1:29-42

So, how are your sibling relationships?  My relationship with my sister hasn't always been smooth sailing.  We were born almost two years apart, have never been extraordinarily close, and are as different as night and day.  She is impulsive;  I am a schedule junky.  She is a hands-on learner;  I like learning from books.  She went to vocational school after high school;  I attended college and spent some time in graduate school.  We certainly don't have the kind of relationship that Andrew and Peter seem to have as illustrated in the first chapter of John, working and worshiping together.

Thus far in my Advent devotionals, the common theme has been transformation:

- Day 1:  Christmas can be transformed.
- Day 2:  A transformed Christmas is about Christ.  God prepares our hearts for transformation.
- Day 3:  The key to a transformed Christmas is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Today, the discussion turned away from the preparation for transformation toward the work of transformation.  The author chose to start with sibling relationships, using as an illustration Andrew and Peter, disciples who were biologically brothers in addition to being brothers in Christ.  In the Gospel of John, Andrew was, at first, a disciple of John the Baptist until John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God.  Then Andrew sought out and was called by Christ.  Excited that he had found the Messiah, Andrew ran to fetch his brother and brought him to meet the Lord.

From what little we are told in this passage (I.e., the brothers work together, meet the Lord together, etc.), we can surmise that Andrew and Peter had a loving relationship that was open enough that they shared much of their life experience with each other.  Using our own life experiences as a guide, we can speculate that such a relationship must have included a certain amount of peacefulness.  Unfortunately, this isn't always true amongst siblings.  Sometimes, the best we can hope for is a truce during the holidays;  sometimes even that is impossible.

So who can transform a broken sibling relationship?  Certainly, we can work at ti by being patient and polite but, ultimately, God needs to heal the breech.  He does that through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Just as He healed the broken relationship between God and us by dying on the cross, Jesus can heal our severed sibling relationships, too.  How?  When we, by faith, believe that Christ is the Messiah, that His sacrificial death was for us personally, and that through His death we receive forgiveness of all our sins, we are transformed.  As new creations in Christ, we can then extend that same forgiving love toward our siblings.

May the Lord work to transform your brother/sister relationships this year, restoring and improving them where need be.

To read today's devotional, click here.