Liturgy Lesson: December 13, 2020 – 3rd Sunday of Advent
Morning Service (9 and 11)
Call to Worship: Ps. 97:1-9, 12
Prayer of Invocation
Hymn of Adoration: Angels From the Realms of Glory (#218)
Confession
Assurance: Titus 2:11-14
Hymn of Assurance: Thou Who Wast Rich (#230)
Advent Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7
Congregational Prayers
Reading of the Word: Isaiah 42:1-9
Advent Doxology
Sermon: Rev. Eric Irwin
Meditation
The Lord’s Supper: Of the Father’s Love Begotten (#162); O Come, All Ye Faithful (#208, vss. 1-3)
Benediction
*Note: You can click on the hyperlinked titles in the liturgy above to read past Liturgy Lessons about each of those hymns.
The adapted “Divinum Mysterium” plainsong from Piae Cantiones, 1582
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness has not understood it….and the Word was made flesh and made his dwelling among us and we beheld His glory (the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.”
– John 1:1-3, 14
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Music: Plainsong Chant, 12th Cent.
Text: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 4th cent.
In an article for the Gospel Coalition, Kevin DeYoung shares a bit of background about the author of this hymn:
Aurelius Clemens Prudentius was born in Spain in 348 A.D. He was loyal to the Roman Empire and considered it an “instrument in the hands of Providence for the advancement of Christianity.”
Thirty-five years prior to his birth, Christianity had been granted full toleration under the Edict of Milan. With Constantine’s conversion, Christianity became the favored religion of the Empire, a change that is oft maligned by younger evangelicals suspicious of “Christendom,” but must have been a welcome relief and answer to prayer for the beleagured saints in the fourth century.
Prudentius was trained to be a lawyer and rose to high office, serving as a powerful judge. He rose through the ranks of the state and finished his civil career as a court official for the Christian Emperor Theodosius.
At the age of fifty-seven, at the height of his power and prestige, Prudentius grew weary of civic life and considered his life thus far to have been a waste. He was having a midlife crisis (or, given the age span at the time, more like an almost-at-the-end-of-my-life crisis). So the successful lawyer, judge, and civil servant retired to write hymns and poetry. For the last decade of his life, before his death around 413, Prudentius wrote some of the most beautiful hymns of his day.
His poetry was treasured throughout the Middle Ages. His collection of twelve long poems (Cathemerinon), one for each hour of the day, became the foundation for several of the office hymns of the church. But without a doubt, Prudentius’ best known hymn today is Corde Natus Ex Parentis—Of the Father’s Love Begotten.
Given what we now know about Prudentius’ life, it is not surprising that this particular hymn would turn out to be his greatest gift to the church. It is, in essence, an ‘amicus brief’ from a lawyer-poet who was arguing for truth in the 4th-century court of public opinion. A plaintiff named Arius had brought charges against the divinity of Christ, and Prudentius took up the case in defense of orthodoxy.
Arius (c. 250-336) was arguing that God the Father and the Son did not co-exist throughout eternity, that Jesus did not exist through all time. Under this false teaching, Jesus was a creature that, though divine, was not equal to the Father. So, in the 4th century, the judge (a.k.a. Emperor Constantine) called together the jury (a.k.a. First Council of Nicea) to discuss the Church’s official stance on the nature of the Trinity. The council condemned the teaching of Arius, and produced The Nicene Creed, written as a statement of faith which clarified and codified the Trinitarian theology for the church.
Prudentius’ hymn, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” was written shortly after the Council of Nicea. The opening line was “Corde natus ex parentis ante mundi exordium” (literally “Born from the parent’s heart before the beginning of time”). Starting from this point, Prudentius sets forth his argument that the Son has always, is always, and will always be with God and us. It is very clear from the opening statement of his hymn text that Christ is both human and divine, and that he was “begotten” of the Father. If we consider this famous statement from the Nicene Creed, we can easily conclude that this hymn was of the Council of Nicea begotten.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all the world. Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made: who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
The original Latin text contained nine verses, which tell the entire story of God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ. It is a tour de force. The hymn was translated into English by John Mason Neale and Henry Baker in the 1850s and included in the book Hymns Ancient and Modern. Here’s the original version as it first appeared in English (verses in our hymnal are in bold).
Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!
At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!
He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!
O that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!
This is he whom heav’n-taught singers
sang of old with one accord,
whom the Scriptures of the prophets
promised in their faithful word;
now he shines, the long expected;
let creation praise its Lord,
evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring,
Evermore and evermore!
Righteous judge of souls departed,
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!
Thee let old men, thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!
Wow! After reading that I am inspired to stand up and give testimony. I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. If it please the court, I would like to submit a separate brief that shows how this music (sequestered from the text) contains burden of proof for our thesis of Christ’s eternal nature. Per curiam, here’s my argument.
Music can preach. Allow me to explain. We have heard witness from Prudentius who has brilliantly shown the truth of Christ’s divine nature. I believe the melody of this hymn speaks to that truth in a profound and implicit manner.
The melody we are exploring here is a plainchant from the 12th century, which we have given the title Divinum Mysterium (Divine Mystery). The notation of the original chant would have had no metre, time signature, recognizable clef, or measure lines. It would have been a series of markings called neumes that would have been far less structured than our modern hymnal renderings. The free-form chant creates an amorphous and amaranthine (look it up!) quality to the music that is an expression of the timelessness and transcendence of Christ himself. Furthermore, the very shape of the melody mirrors our Lord’s journey. It begins and ends on the same note, briefly halting on a lower pitch below the staff in the penultimate phrase. This exhibits how Christ came from glory, descended into the grave, and unto glory he returned.
I could go on, but I think that is sufficient evidence. I am confident that anyone who sings this melody will agree, and my verdict will be upheld. I rest my case.
Off the record, I’m biased. I absolutely love this hymn. Perhaps that represents a conflict of interest and disqualifies me to testify. But I really don’t care. I believe I have told the truth. If you don’t agree with me, then, as Colonel Jessup said, “you can’t handle the truth.”
– Sheet music
– Recording of original chant
– Instrumental recording