Please read Luke 11:9-13
Okay, so a few years ago I took a Sunday School class about Handel’s Messiah. I found a lot of the information intriguing and compelling and I daresay fascinating. Handel’s Messiah was written in just 24 days in the summer of 1741. I am convinced that this short time frame points to God’s hand in its creation. It was meant to be an Easter oratorio even though it is more often performed at Christmas. It includes all aspects of Christ’s life including the prophecies of his birth, his birth, death, resurrection and his triumphant return. Here is the kicker, it was written during a time when deism was at the peak of its popularity. Deism is the belief that God or god or gods created the universe and then abandoned it ceasing to interact with its inhabitants. People believed that God was out there but unwilling to be relational or a part of their lives in any way. Ask something of him? Fat chance. Seek him? Out of the question. Knock on the door? Go away, no one is home.
Handel’s brilliant masterpiece is full of drama and emotion. It paints beautiful pictures that depict everything from peaceful pastures to a regal throne room. The music runs the gamut from calming to brooding then on to the swelling crescendo of the Hallelujah Chorus. During the performance that the King George attended he leapt to his feet at the Hallelujah Chorus. It was an epiphany! God was not absent. God was not unreachable. God loves his people, yes his creation! This piece of music made people realize that God is accessible, and always has been. This story of our Messiah is the ultimate story of love, God’s love for us. Make no mistake, God did not change, but I think perhaps this was a catalyst for a change in humanity’s perception of God and his love for his people.
This passage in Luke is our personal invitation from God to access him. Jesus is reaching out to us and not only giving us permission but in fact, urging us to approach him. In Hebrews it says, “ So friends, we can now, without hesitation, walk right up to God into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God.” (Hebrews 10:19, The Message) Ask me, dear one, it will be given to you. Seek me, my precious child you will find me. Knock on my door and it will be opened to you, indeed, flung open wide.
Click here, close your eyes, and listen.
Jennie Kind
Posts
I will never forget hearing Handel's Messiah at Benaroya Hall sung with the Seattle symphony. All around me people sat properly in their formal wear and listened respectfully but I was so moved by the glory of what I was hearing that it took everything in me not to raise my hands and worship! At the end I would have definitely come forward if there had been an alter call :) Thank-you for the reminder of this truly inspirational masterpiece.
ReplyDelete