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Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Fr. J. D. Ousley
Christmas 2006Ps.96“A New Song”
In the Name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
On Christmas, I always think of Phillips Brooks.
You can see a life-size statue of him on the wall of the church, to your right. When he died in 1893, he was Bishop of Massachusetts and the most famous preacher of his time.
Just before he died, during the Christmas holiday of 1892, Bishop Brooks was in this church. His brother, Arthur, was rector of Incarnation, and Phillips Brooks preached his last Christmas sermon from this very pulpit.
Now though he was known in his lifetime primarily for the way he could make Christianity come alive in his preaching, today Bishop Brooks is most remembered for a Christmas Carol that he wrote, "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
Every year, millions of Christians throughout the world sing this carol. This hymn, like all Christmas carols, is a way to celebrate the birth of Christ. As today's psalm tells us, we should "Sing unto the Lord a new song."
We should sing a new song of the new child, born of Mary. We should sing a new song — as the angels sang to the shepherds on the first Christmas eve, outside the little town of Bethlehem: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward all people."
It's possible that Phillips Brooks was actually present the first time that his carol was sung in this church. Imagine that!
Imagine the rector saying, "Well, today, we're going to try a new hymn. It was written by my brother and I hope you'll like it!'
It's possible isn't it that the congregation wasn't thrilled with this announcement! They might not have liked the idea of having to learn a new hymn!
(I once put into a service here a hymn by a distant British relation of mine, Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley. Unfortunately, Sir Frederick's hymn, which was written long before Brooks' carol, has not survived the passage of time — singing it at Incarnation was an experience that not even I want to repeat!)
In any case, imagine Dr. Brooks at the door of our church after the service when his hymn was introduced to the congregation. As he greets people, he hears a range of comments.
Some parishioners think "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is promising — but it still needs work! Others say, "Nice try at hymn-writing, Dr. Brooks — but you might do better if you stick to preaching!"
Popular music is hard to predict. I wouldn't be surprised if only a few perceptive people recognized immediately that the carol is a work of genius. And not even Phillips Brooks himself could have guessed that the few lines he scribbled down in a moment of leisure would, a century later, be played in shopping malls!
Even the best music takes a while to get used to. The members of our choir are professional singers who are able to "sight-read." That means they can sing music just by looking at the notes. But even with this professional skill, they still have to practice singing a particular piece so that it sounds just right.
The problem isn't the song — it's the newness. The problem is not that the song lacks a good tune or interesting words; the problem is that you don't know it and you have to learn it.
And that's a general truth about our religion. God is always prodding us to learn new things.
Of course, religion is also traditional. Christianity is based on teachings and customs that are two thousand years old. Our faith is "tried and true" — beliefs and practices that have been tried by countless believers over the centuries and that have been found to be true.
With this rich heritage, then, Christians need to be convinced that any new idea is a good one. They often require a period of adjustment to enlarge their vision; Phillips Brooks was himself active in the long struggle to enlarge the vision of Americans and abolish slavery.
And because Christians so love the old songs, they can be pretty resistant to anything new. In the Church of the Incarnation a century ago, were there people wondering why they had to sing a new hymn by Phillips Brooks?
"Who needs a new carol? We have plenty of old ones that we love."
Fortunately, that was not the predominant view of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and the rest is history.
However solid our personal faith might be, we can still learn new songs. In my own life, I am grateful now for the way my understanding of Christianity was transformed many years ago during my last year of study, before I was ordained.
Following college, I had attended New York Theological Seminary for two years. Then as now, this seminary concentrates on training parish clergy for urban ministry. There is a lot of emphasis at New York Seminary on practical skills like psychology and on-the-job training.
But then I got married and moved with my wife to England. So I finished my training for the ministry at the University of London.
In London, I studied the philosophy of religion and I realize today that I was given a real gift. This "analytic" philosophy in the British tradition is not for everyone. It requires patient study of logic and close reasoning; for the idea is to teach you sound arguments that you can use to defend the beliefs of Christianity.
And I got a particularly fine training in philosophy of religion;; my tutor, Keith Ward, later went on to become famous in Britain for his defense of Christianity against the attacks of atheistic scientists. (He once debated the scientist Richard Dawkins on BBC television, for example.)
So, every week, Dr. Ward and I would meet to discuss such issues as the evidence for the existence of God. Every week, Dr. Ward would introduce me to new arguments proposed by Christian philosophers that help to demonstrate the truth of the Christian faith.
By the time I completed my degree, I saw that it was possible to be a modern rational person who could appreciate the discoveries of modern science and at the same time I could affirm the ancient doctrines of Christianity.
For me, such an intellectually defensible faith was really a "new song." For I learned that Christianity isn't just a matter of committing oneself to the unknown. God gives us minds and he helps us to use them. He enables us to answer our own questions; he leads us to discover divine truth incarnate in the human world.
New insights in religion don't come easily. Even professional singers have trouble sight-reading difficult pieces of music. So some doctrines — like the sublime mystery of the Incarnation that we celebrate at Christmas — some doctrines will demand our careful attention as we try to perceive God working in our own lives.
But whether we are new to Christianity or lifelong believers, we will want to seek for new revelations of God's love. And there could be no better reminder of that love than the holy child in the little town of Bethlehem.
"How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
still the dear Christ enters in."
And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.