{"id":2656,"date":"2020-02-09T11:00:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2021-01-19T11:01:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T16:01:34","slug":"2656","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2020\/02\/09\/2656\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bach Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 2:1-12<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew 5:13-20<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear just the sermon<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the reading and hearing of the day\u2019s Scripture we are given a word of encouragement and a look to the future.<\/p>\n

We can appreciate both the word and the look, surrounded as we are every day with the unexpected consequences of sin, the unexpected news of illness and death, and the unexpected threats that come from feelings of loss and meaninglessness.<\/p>\n

Together we are followers of Jesus.\u00a0 We may follow from a long way off, but we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.\u00a0 Together we work to develop disciples, in the heart of the city and in the service of the city.\u00a0\u00a0 And being a disciple is a matter of the heart.\u00a0\u00a0 Coming to Jesus may not be a matter of a moment or a day.\u00a0 It may not be caused by lightening or earthquake.\u00a0 It may not be from a command that is as plain as the nose on your face.\u00a0 But it is always a matter of the heart.<\/p>\n

Now St Matthew has imagined for his church and for the church of all time a great scene. Followed by many, both disciples and future disciples, Jesus ascends a mountain.\u00a0 Like John Brown ensconced in the Adirondacks, like Moses up on Mt. Nebo, like the Jewish heroes at Masada, Jesus takes to the high peak, and as is the custom, he sits to teach.\u00a0 His words are as fresh and pure this morning as they have been for nearly 2000 years.<\/p>\n

He offers us a word of encouragement and a look to the future.<\/p>\n

You are the salt of the earth.\u00a0 You are the light of the world.<\/p>\n

The most striking feature of this utterance is that it is spoken to and for a community.\u00a0 The you is plural\u2014you all<\/em>.\u00a0 Or as it is said of the plural of you all in the south\u2014all you all.\u00a0 This is a word for the church, the body of Christ.\u00a0 For you\u2014for all you all.\u00a0 You can be salt\u2014but not on your own. You can be light\u2014but not by yourself.\u00a0 You can be a disciple of Christ\u2014but not free-lance.\u00a0 There are no free-lance Christians.\u00a0 Jesus encourages the community of disciples.\u00a0 And his images that follow are common:\u00a0 a city, a house, all people.\u00a0 That which banishes the darkness of fear and loneliness is light.\u00a0 That which redeems the rotten blandness of selfishness is salt.\u00a0 Light and salt are found in community.\u00a0 The most striking feature of this teaching is that it is spoken to and for–a community.<\/p>\n

The second most striking feature of this utterance is its breadth and depth.\u00a0 You\u2014all you all\u2014are salt and light of—what?\u00a0 Your mind? One family? A school or church or two? No.\u00a0 You are the salt of the EARTH and the light of the WORLD.\u00a0 Let your light shine before ALL HUMANS!\u00a0 A community that is salt and light is deep and wide.\u00a0 Our church is at the heart of Boston and heard around the world.\u00a0 After all, this is a mountain top word.\u00a0 It is meant for the whole community.\u00a0 This is a word of encouragement and a look to the future, for a church at the heart of the community.\u00a0 When we plan and dream at Marsh we try to think world-wide and a half century deep.<\/p>\n

One of the winds beneath our wings comes from our music ministry.\u00a0 Yes, at Christmas and Easter, on Communion Sundays, for special University services like Matriculation and Baccalaureate and Martin Luther King Sunday, but also, and notably so for us, on our twice a term Bach Sundays.\u00a0 The word and music of these days keep us moving forward together, salt and light.<\/p>\n

Dr. Jarrett, what should we listen for in our cantata this Lord\u2019s day?<\/p>\n

Dr. Scott Allen Jarrett<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, just as you\u2019ve predicted for us Dean Hill, today\u2019s cantata as with our scripture lessons offers a word of encouragement and a look to the future. As we have in past surveys, we are studying and performing the works Bach wrote for a specific occasion \u2013 liturgical or temporal. This year surveys four cantatas Bach wrote for New Year\u2019s Day. Cantata 16 \u2013 Herr Gott, dich loben wir, follows a now familiar path in both libretto and design. Bach\u2019s librettist features from the outset an excerpt of the famous Te Deum hymn, known to have been sung at the start of the new year. In the opening movement, you\u2019ll hear four lines from the Te Deum set like a chorale tune in long notes in the soprano part. The lower three parts have a much more active part that proceeds without instrumental breaks or interludes. All the vocal parts are doubled by a member of the orchestra, except the first violins have an entirely independent part adding a fifth voice to the otherwise four part texture.<\/p>\n

The opening of the cantatas is of interest to me: it\u2019s as if Bach begins in the third or fourth measure of the piece In material we would characterize as episodic. It\u2019s as if a melody has already been played and we enter immediately into motivic development. Or, were it not for the episodic material, we might expect this to be a delicate aria accompanied by continue only.<\/p>\n

Similarly the opening movement comes to a close somewhat suddenly without closing ritornello and on a half-cadence \u2013a sense of a grand pause. A secco recitative ensues sung by the Bass, drawing us from the ancient hymn, sung throughout the centuries, to the present moment with none other than a word of encouragement and a look to the future: \u201cWhat have you not done, O god, since time began for our Salvation? And how much does thy breast still perceive of thy love and faith? And should we not sing in fervent love? Therefore, a new song sing out!\u201d<\/p>\n

The old modal hymn that ambled along in the first movement, erupts into a joyful chorus in C major with full chorus in full acclamation: \u201cGod\u2019s goodness and faith is renewed each morning.\u201d A word of encouragement, a look to the future.<\/p>\n

With the conclusion of this extended, tri-partite opening, we take inward turn. The alto steps forward to offer a prayer for God\u2019s blessing in the new year, as he enjoins us to place our trust and faith in Christ Jesus. This is the first mention of Jesus in the cantata, and it parallels and invites the inward turn toward soul-searching and personal reflection. In such proximity to Jesus\u2019s name day and presentation in the temple, the theological image of Jesus living in the hearts of all believers is close at hand: \u201cBeloved Jesus, thou alone shall be my Soul\u2019s wealth. We shall, therefore, before other riches enthrone Thee in our faithful Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though this shift inward toward Jesus might seem late in the canata \u2013 the next to last movement \u2013 at seven minutes, this rumination balances the opening movements taken together. The aria itself is score for tenor, continuo, and either violetta or oboe da caccia. Though the music is written in 3-4 time, Bach confuses the meter and placement of the downbeat often enough, that the longer line. The Cantata concludes with a four part chorale setting Bach had used two days before to conclude Cantata 28.<\/p>\n

So how do we account for this? Here we skate toward the thinner ice of speculation and conjecture,
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But worship alone, even when shot through with glorious music as today, is not enough, alone, \u00a0for salt and light.\u00a0\u00a0 For love there need to be places to love one another.\u00a0\u00a0 Every Sunday morning here we host ten or so smaller groups.\u00a0 Here is a morning study group.\u00a0 Here is a circle of student interns.\u00a0 Here is the Marsh choir.\u00a0 Here is the Thurman choir.\u00a0 Here is Take Note\u2014take note!\u00a0 Here is the intercessory prayer assembly, quiet before worship.\u00a0 Here is a children\u2019s room.\u00a0 Here is a luncheon or coffee following worship.\u00a0 Here is a Bible Study following worship.\u00a0 Here is a mission group, Abolitionist Chapel.\u00a0 Here is a group heading out to visit shut-ins and nursing home.\u00a0 For salt not to lose its savor, and for light not to grow dim, there need to be places and spaces for nourishment.<\/p>\n

This takes commitment.\u00a0 It takes investment.\u00a0 You cannot have that kind of fellowship or friendship in a six-week seminar.\u00a0 It takes a lifetime of prayer and study and searching the Scriptures.<\/p>\n

Now I know we have many of our own questions about the Bible, and they are good ones.\u00a0 Did David write the Psalms?\u00a0 Was Jesus born in December?\u00a0 Does Paul condemn slavery in Philemon?\u00a0 And so on.\u00a0 Good for us.<\/p>\n

But today somewhat beside the point.<\/p>\n

Growth in Christ comes not from our questions about the Bible, but from the Bible\u2019s questions about us.<\/p>\n

*Have you reckoned with the shortness of life?\u00a0 Psalm 90<\/p>\n

*Have you lead a life worthy of God?\u00a0 Ephesians 4<\/p>\n

*Have you earnestly sought the higher gifts?\u00a0 1 Cor 12<\/p>\n

*Have you reckoned with the real force of evil and<\/p>\n

the strength of the final enemy?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 Cor 15<\/p>\n

*Do you tithe?\u00a0 Do you share your faith?\u00a0\u00a0 Mal 2<\/p>\n

*How does your generation\u2019s character compare to others? Matt 28<\/p>\n

In antiquity it was Diognetus who loved the passage about salt and light.\u00a0 Around 130 ad he wrote of the people of salt and light.\u00a0 He is speaking of you, you all, all you all:<\/p>\n

They display to us their wonderful and paradoxical way of life.<\/p>\n

They dwell in their own countries, but merely as sojourners.<\/p>\n

Every foreign land is to them their native country.<\/p>\n

And yet their land of birth is a land of strangers.<\/p>\n

They marry and beget children, but they do not destroy their offspring.<\/p>\n

They have a common table, but not a common bed.<\/p>\n

They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.<\/p>\n

They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven<\/p>\n

When reviled, they bless.<\/p>\n

When insulted, they show honor.<\/p>\n

When punished, they rejoice.<\/p>\n

What the soul is to the body, they are to the world.<\/p>\n

What salt is to earth and light is to world are you to this county, this region.\u00a0 You are the salt of the earth.\u00a0 You are the light of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Sursum corda!\u00a0 Lift up your hearts!<\/p>\n

-The Reverend Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/em><\/p>\n

–Dr. Scott Allen Jarrett, Director of Music<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 Click here to hear just the sermon The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill In the reading and hearing of the day\u2019s Scripture we are given a word of encouragement and a look to the future. We can appreciate both the word and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,36,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2659,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions\/2659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}