Jesus Left His Home in Glory
Choral Advent Calendar for Sunday, Nov. 17
To learn more about the Choral Advent Calendar project, read here.
This Lord’s Day, Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholics will hear at Liturgy the Gospel parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21)—at least, they will if their church’s lectionary follows what’s called the “Lucan Jump” (and yes, that’s a real liturgical term). The temptation to horde, and to revel in what one has stored up, Jesus here condemns as folly. In his Incarnation, he has shown us a different path, for “he did not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, assuming the form of a slave” (Phil. 2:6–7). He “laid aside his crown for my soul,” to quote a carol which may or may not appear in this Advent Calendar in the future.
This morning’s selection treats of this theme. It comes to us from rural Southeastern Kentucky. In the late ’90s, a recording was made of a Christian community of Old Regular Baptists at a hymn-sing. Their practice was to “line out” the hymns: the words of each line would first be sung by the leader, and then repeated by everyone—a very practical approach when there’s not an abundance of hymnals at hand. But it also allows each phrase to sink more deeply into the heart. (A similar practice is found with Byzantine hymnography, when stichera and other hymns are led by a canonarch. An example of such may or may not appear in this Advent Calendar in the future.) The glory to come on that “glad day” when we’ll all arise in the likeness of God is a good thing for us to hold dear on this first day of the week when some mournful women found a tomb open and empty.
1. Jesus left his home in glory, Came and died for you and me. No one knows how Jesus suffered On the Cross of Calvary. 2. I will sing of my Redeemer Til the day he calls for me To be with him up in heaven In the bright eternity. 3. Praise his Name, his Name forever; Lift your voices in his song! Spend your time in serving Jesus; Sing his praises all day long! 4. Go on, brethren, go, rejoicing: Some glad day, we’ll all arise! In his likeness, we’ll be shining; Then we’ll all be satisfied!