All for Hymn: Dec 25, 2009

Christmas Day: Gustav Holst

Christmas Day: An Excerpt from Augustine

This excerpt from a sermon by St. Augustine was read towards the end of our Christmas Eve service.

Awake, mankind!

For your sake God has become man.

Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead,

and Christ will enlighten you.

I tell you again: for your sake,

God became man.

You would have suffered eternal death,

had he not been born in time.

Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh,

had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh.

You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness,

had it not been for this mercy.

You would never have returned to life,

had he not shared your death.

You would have been lost

if he had not hastened to your aid.

You would have perished,

had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate

the coming of our salvation and redemption.

Let us celebrate the festive day

on which he who is the great and eternal day

came from the great and endless day of eternity

into our own short day of time.

He has become our justice,

our sanctification,

our redemption,

so that,

as it is written:

Let him who glories glory in the Lord.

Truth, then, has arisen from the earth:

Christ who said, I am the Truth,

was born of the Virgin.

And justice looked down from heaven:

because believing in this new-born child,

man is justified not by himself but by God.

Truth has arisen from the earth:

because the Word was made flesh.

And justice looked down from heaven:

because every good gift

and every perfect gift is from above.

Truth has arisen from the earth:

flesh from Mary.

And justice looked down from heaven:

for man can receive nothing

unless it has been given him from heaven.

Justified by faith,

let us be at peace with God:

for justice and peace have embraced one another

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

for Truth has arisen from the earth.

Through Him we have access to that grace

in which we stand,

and our boast is in our hope of God’s glory.

He does not say: “of our glory,”

but of God’s glory:

for justice has not come out of us

but has looked down from heaven.

Therefore he who glories,

let him glory, not in himself,

but in the Lord.

For this reason,

when our Lord was born of the Virgin,

the message of the angelic voices was:

Glory to God in the highest,

and peace to men of good will.

For how could there be peace on earth

unless Truth has arisen from the earth,

that is, unless Christ were born of our flesh?

And he is our peace who made the two into one:

that we might be men of good will,

sweetly linked by the bond of unity.

Let us then rejoice in this grace,

so that our glorying may bear witness

to our good conscience by which we glory,

not in ourselves, but in the Lord.

That is why Scripture says:

He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head.

For what greater grace could God have made

to dawn on us

than to make his only Son become the son of man,

so that a son of man might

in his turn become son of God?

Ask if this were merited;

ask for its reason,

for its justification,

and see whether you will

find any other answer but sheer grace.

Christmas Day: Gelobet Seist Du Jesu Christ

Carl Schalk once said of this hymn, "Now THAT is a Christmas song!" You can follow along in Lutheran Service Book, Hymn 382.

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ,

Daß du Mensch geboren bist

Von einer Jungfrau, das ist wahr;

Des freuet sich der Engel Schar.

Kyrieleis!

Praised be you, Jesus Christ

that You have been born as a man

from a virgin - this is true -

at which the host of angels rejoices.

Lord, have mercy!

Des ew'gen Vaters einzig Kind

Jetzt man in der Krippen findt,

In unser armes Fleisch und Blut

Verkleidet sich das ewig Gut.

Kyrieleis!

The only Child of the Eternal Father

is now found in the manger,

in our poor flesh and blood

eternal goodness has clothed itself.

Lord, have mercy!

Den aller Welt Kreis nie beschloß,

Der liegt in Marien Schoß;

Er ist ein Kindlein worden klein,

Der alle Ding' erhält allein.

Kyrieleis!

He whom the whole globe of the earth could not enclose

now lies in Mary's bosom;

He has become a little baby

Who alone maintains everything.

Lord, have mercy!

Das ew'ge Licht geht da herein,

Gibt der Welt ein'n neuen Schein;

Es leucht't wohl mitten in der Nacht

Und uns des Lichtes Kinder macht.

Kyrieleis!

The eternal Light enters here,

It gives the world a new splendour;

It shines in the midst of the night

and makes us children of the light.

Lord, have mercy!

Der Sohn des Vaters, Gott von Art,

Ein Gast in der Welt hier ward

Und führt uns aus dem Jammertal,

Er macht uns Erben in sein'm Saal.

Kyrieleis!

The Father's Son, God by nature,

became a guest here in the world,

and leads us from the vale of sorrow

he makes us heirs in his hall.

Lord, have mercy!

Er ist auf Erden kommen arm,

Daß er unser sich erbarm',

Und in dem Himmel machet reich

Und seinen lieben Engeln gleich.

Kyrieleis.

He has come on the earth in poverty

to have compassion on us,

and in heaven He makes us rich

and like his dear angels.

Lord, have mercy!

Das hat er alles uns getan,

Sein' groß' Lieb' zu zeigen an.

Des freu' sich alle Christenheit

Und dank' ihm des in Ewigkeit.

Kyrieleis!

He has done all this for us

to show his great love,

at this all Christendom rejoices

and thanks Him for this in eternity.

Lord, have mercy!

Translation: www.bach-cantatas.com

Christmas Day: The Glory of the Father

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

We beheld the glory of the Father,

We beheld the glory of the Father

Full of grace and truth.

In the beginning was the Word;

the Word was with God,

the Word was with God.

In Him was life,

and the life was Light of men.

He came to His own,

and His own,

and His own received Him not.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

We beheld the glory of the Father,

we beheld the glory of the Father

full of grace and truth.

John 1, selected verses

Christmas Day: Mendelsohn: Psalm 98

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for He has done marvelous things;

His right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for Him.

The Lord has made His salvation known

and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

He has remembered his love

and His faithfulness

to the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth

have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout for joy to the Lord,

all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

make music to the Lord with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of singing,

with trumpets

and the blast of the ram's horn

shout for joy before the Lord,

the King.

Let the sea resound,

and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

let the mountains sing together for joy;

let them sing before the Lord,

for He comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity.

Christmas Day: Psalm 98 (Dutch Paraphrase)

Hymn 792 in Lutheran Service Book

The English text is under copyright.

Christmas Dawn: He is Alpha and Omega

~~~~~

Christmas Dawn Surprise!

The tune comes in at about 45 minutes.

Christmas Dawn: Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising

Lutheran Service Book, Hymn 374

The Lutheran Hymnal, Hymn 90

The first tune you hear is the correct tune, but the choir is singing
"He Whom Shepherds Once Were Raising."

The text in LSB and TLH is under copyright.

The faint sound of the boy sopranos in the distance is because each of the four boys is placed at the four corners of the sanctuary. They each alternate a line from the song. The choir comes in with the second tune. Finally, the congregation joins in this refrain while the boys rotate to the next corner of the sanctuary:

God's own Son is born a child, is born a child,
God in sinners is reconciled, is reconciled.