Pastoral Introduction

Pastoral Introduction

As the RSCM celebrates its ninetieth anniversary so the festival service takes the kingship of Christ as its theme, and articulates this through defining scriptural passages in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, the poetry of George Herbert, who gives us the title, King of Glory, King of Peace, and music across the generations.

This conflation of anniversary celebration and kingship could risk a misplaced sense of triumphalism at different levels. Since Christians have often managed to project earthly patterns of kingship - with their sense of stratified hierarchy and power - onto the reality of a God whose power is made perfect in weakness and whose reign is made manifest as, girded with a towel, Christ kneels on the floor of an upper room to wash the dirt off his friend’s feet.

Members of the RSCM the world over have said the Chorister’s Prayer across these ninety years:

Bless, O Lord, us thy servants who minister in thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts we may show forth in our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As they’ve done so they’ve defined the ministry of musicians as the offering of everything that we have to God because everything that we have is gift to us from God. This self-offering is the Christian take on kingship.

In an age where power continues so often to be abused, where the might of tyranny crushes the daily hopes and aspirations of the Gospel for so many - hopes for freedom and fullness of life - we celebrate then the imperishable hope of our calling as disciples. In celebrating we encourage one another to bring in the reign of God’s kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’.

To this task, some words of the Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel draw striking attention:

‘Through song we climb to the highest palace. From that palace, we can influence the universe and its prisons. Song is Jacob’s ladder forgotten on earth by the angels. Sing and we defeat death; sing and we disarm the foe.’

Help us, King of glory, King of peace, who use this celebration resource, so to sing your praises, that our hearts will turn to the oppressed in their misery and our actions will win them liberation.

Chris Chivers

Principal,

Westcott House, Cambridge

The Coming King

Introit

Peter Nardone: O sing to the Lord

Pitoni: Cantate Domino

William Llewellyn: Joy to the world

Greeting

Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him.

These words from St Paul’s letter to the Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 16 are pivotal in our understanding of who Christ is for us.

Christ, the King, the word made flesh, makes the invisible God known in human flesh. He becomes one of us and each of us therefore bears this divine image. We are at one with him in the body of Christ which is the Church and subject to Christ’s just and gentle, challenging and renewing rule.

This is what it means to be a Christian, to be a citizen of a kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

From the cradle to the grave and beyond it Christ’s kingship is revealed in the glories of humility and vulnerability: humility from the Latin humus - earthed; vulnerability from the Latin vilnius - wounded. These offer the fundamental characteristics of his rule.

Angels may fanfare his birth but it is poor shepherds who first visit the manger and define his role as one in the tradition of David, the first king, who speaks truth to power from a position of seeming weakness. This weakness is always earthed, rooted in the cost of discipleship because it is none other than that feet-washing love which transforms the world.

As we welcome one another to this place for this service of prayer and praise, we embrace again this way of sacrificial offering and offer the gift of music to God’s glory now.

Reading: Zechariah 9: 9-10

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the warhorse from Jerusalem;

and the battle-bow shall be cut off,

and he shall command peace to the nations;

his dominion shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The Birth of a King

Hymn

Lo, he comes with clouds descending

1Lo, he comes with clouds descending,

once for favoured sinners slain;

thousand thousand saints attending

swell the triumph of his train:

Alleluia!

God appears on earth to reign.

2Every eye shall now behold him

robed in dreadful majesty;

those who set at naught and sold him,

pierced and nailed him to the tree,

deeply wailing,

shall the true Messiah see.

3Those dear tokens of his passion

still his dazzling body bears;

cause of endless exultation

to his ransomed worshippers:

with what rapture

gaze we on those glorious scars!

4Yea, Amen, let all adore thee,

high on thine eternal throne;

Saviour, take the power and glory,

claim the kingdom for thine own:

O come quickly!

Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!

Charles Wesley (1707–1788),

Martin Madan (1726–1790),

and John Cennick (1718–1755)

The fifth line of each verse is sung three times.

Love divine, all loves excelling

1Love divine, all loves excelling,

joy of heaven to earth come down,

fix in us thy humble dwelling,

all thy faithful mercies crown.

Jesu, thou art all compassion,

pure, unbounded love thou art;

visit us with thy salvation,

enter every trembling heart.

2Come, almighty to deliver,

let us all thy grace receive;

suddenly return, and never,

never more thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,

serve thee as thy hosts above;

pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,

glory in thy perfect love.

3Finish then thy new creation:

pure and spotless let us be;

let us see thy great salvation

perfectly restored in thee:

Changed from glory into glory

till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before thee,

lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Into the darkness of this world

1Into the darkness of this world,
Into the shadows of the night;
Into this loveless place You came,
Lightened our burdens, eased our pain,
And made these hearts Your home.
Into the darkness once again -
Oh come, Lord Jesus, come.
Come with Your love
To make us whole,
Come with Your light
To lead us on,
Driving the darkness
Far from our souls:
O come, Lord Jesus, come.
2Into the longing of our souls,
Into these heavy hearts of stone,
Shine on us now Your piercing light,
Order our lives and souls aright,
By grace and love unknown,
Until in You our hearts unite -
Oh come, Lord Jesus, come.
Refrain
3O Holy Child, Emmanuel,
Hope of the ages, God with us,
Visit again this broken place,
Till all the earth declares Your praise
And Your great mercies own.
Now let Your love be born in us,
O come, Lord Jesus, come.
(Last Chorus)
Come in Your glory,
Take Your place,
Jesus, the Name above all names,
We long to see You face to face,
O come, Lord Jesus, come.

Maggi Dawn (born 1959)

The Teaching King

Reading: The Elixir

Teach me, my God and King,

In all things Thee to see,

And what I do in anything

To do it as for Thee.

Not rudely, as a beast,

To run into an action;

But still to make Thee prepossest,

And give it his perfection.

A man that looks on glass,

On it may stay his eye;

Or if he pleaseth, through it pass,

And then the heav’n espy.

All may of Thee partake:

Nothing can be so mean,

Which with his tincture—“for Thy sake”—

Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,

Makes that and th’ action fine.

This is the famous stone

That turneth all to gold;

For that which God doth touch and own

Cannot for less be told.

George Herbert (from The Temple, 1633)

Reading: 1 Samuel 16

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’ Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, ‘See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better.’ So Saul said to his servants, ‘Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me.’

One of the young men answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, a man of valour, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.’ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, ‘Send me your son David who is with the sheep.’ Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul. And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer. Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for he has found favour in my sight.’ And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

The Shepherd King

Anthem

Jacob: Brother James’s Air

Bairstow: The King of love my shepherd is

Berkeley: The Lord is my shepherd

The Servant King

Reading: John 13: 1–17

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.’

Anthem

Philip Moore: What wondrous love is this

Richard Shephard: A new commandment

Duruflé: Ubi Caritas

Hymn

This is your coronation

1This is your coronation-

thorns pressed upon your head;

no bright angelic heralds,

but angry crowds instead;

beneath your throne of timber,

and struggling with the load,

you go in cruel procession

on sorrow’s royal road;

2Eternal judge on trial,

God’s law, by law denied;

love’s justice is rejected

and truth is falsified.

We who have charged, condemned you

are sentenced by your love;

your blood pronounces pardon

as you are stretched above.

3High Priest, you are anointed

with blood upon your face,

and in this hour appointed

the offering for our race.

For weakness interceding;

for sin, you are the price;

for us your prayer unceasing,

O living sacrifice.

Sylvia G Dunstan (1955–1993)

To mock your reign

1To mock your reign, O dearest Lord,

they made a crown of thorns;

set you with taunts along the road

from which no one returns.

They could not know, as we do now,

how glorious is that crown:

that thorns would flower upon your brow,

your sorrows heal our own.

2In mock acclaim, O gracious Lord,

they snatched a purple cloak,

your passion turned, for all they cared,

into a soldier’s joke.

They could not know, as we do now,

that though we merit blame,

you will your robe of mercy throw

around our naked shame.

3A sceptered reed, O patient Lord,

they thrust into your hand,

and acted out their grim charade

to its appointed end.

They could not know, as we do now,

though empires rise and fall,

your kingdom shall not cease to grow

till love embraces all.

Fred Pratt Green (1903–2000)

His Kingly rule in us

Reading: Praise (II)

King ofGlorie, King of Peace,

I will love thee:

And that love may never cease,