Advent Day 4: The Glory of the Lord | King of Glory

Glory Window, Gabriel Loire, stained glass artist
Philip Johnson, architect, 1975
Chapel of Thanksgiving, Thanks-Giving Square, Dallas, Texas
Photographer: John McStravick of Dallas, Texas
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

“And the Glory of the Lord” from the album Messiah. Performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Philharmonic Choir, composed by George Frideric Handel.

“Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates” from the album The New Young Messiah. Performed by Michael English from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” arranged by Robbie Buchanan.

Poetry:

“The Wild”
by Wendell Berry

In the empty lot ” a place
not natural, but wild ” among
the trash of human absence,

the slough and shamble
of the city’s seasons, a few
old locusts bloom.

A few wood birds
fly and sing
in the new foliage

–warblers and tanagers, birds
wild as leaves; in a million
each one would be rare,

new to the eyes. A man
couldn’t make a habit
of such color,

such flight and singing.
But they’re the habit of this
wasted place. In them

the ground is wise. They are
its remembrance of what is.

The Glory of the Lord

Sometimes it’s hard to look up.

Sometimes we have so much on our plates in the present moment and so much to occupy our minds that we forget to raise our eyes and look beyond our own circumstances.

Sometimes the present circumstances seem hopeless.

Sometimes all we see, is

‘...the empty lot “a place
not natural, but wild” among
the trash of human absence,

the slough and shamble
of the city’s seasons, a few
old locusts bloom’
(Berry, 1999).

In such times, in these ‘city’s seasons’ (Berry, 2019), to glorify God is more than our individual human habits can manage.

In such times, we need the encouragement of others who, like the birds in Berry’s poem, habitually partake in the ‘wise’ ground and call us to a corrected living in the present moment. A corrected living as participation in ‘a remembrance of what is’ (Berry, 2019). A remembrance of who God is and who we are in light of who he is.

In such times, we need the words of Scripture, the words of Isaiah and the writer of Psalm 24 to declare the glory of God when we are unable to ‘make a habit of such color.’ In today’s scripture passages, we read (or hear in the musical selections) prophetic declarations of a glorious King- a Messiah who has come first in the incarnation, and who will also return to rule and reign in his second coming. We wait in this Advent season, remembering and anticipating- remembering Christ’s first coming and anticipating his second.

Sometimes we wait well, a present moment participation in ‘a remembrance of what is.’ Sometimes we wait with disinterest and distraction -sometimes with impatience.

He is the King of Glory, no matter our circumstances - no matter how we wait. The Psalmist encourages us,

‘...O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9)

In such times of ‘remembrance of what is,’ our hearts will be stirred into a habit of praise even as our emotions are slow to catch up. Like Loire and Johnson’s Glory Window, our hearts will twist upward toward our God - toward glory. Towards the King of Glory.

‘Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.’ (Psalm 24:7-10)

He is indeed! Let us remind one another of this wisdom as we wait in a ‘remembrance of what is’ and as we lift up our heads and our hearts to the King of Glory.

Prayer:

You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

(Te Deum Laudamus, BCP, 2019)

Hallelujah - we praise you!

Amen

Sian Draycott
Instructor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, please visit our website via the link in our bio.