Treasure in Heaven and the Thief

 Luke 12:32-34

"Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, 
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 

Sell your belongings and give alms. 

Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, 

an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Thomas 76

Jesus says: 

    "The Kingdom of the Father is like a man, a merchant, 

    who has a burden and found a pearl. 

    This merchant is a wise man: 

    he sold the bundle and bought the pearl alone. 

    You also seek his treasure which does not perish, which lasts, 

    into which the moth does not enter to consume and where the worm does not destroy."

Luke 12:35-40

Gird your loins and light your lamps 

and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, 

ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. 

Amen, I say to you, 

he will gird himself, have them recline at table, 

and proceed to wait on them. 

And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, 

blessed are those servants.

 

Be sure of this: 

if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, 

he would not have let his house be broken into. 

You also must be prepared, 

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Thomas 21

Mary says to Jesus: 

    "Who are your disciples like?" 

He says to her: 

    "They are like little children 

    who have made their way into a field that does not belong to them. 

    When the owners of the field come, they will say: 

        'Get out of our field!' 

    They then will give up the field to these people and let them have their field back again."

    "That is why I tell you this: 

    If the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, 

    he will watch before he comes 

    and will not allow him to force an entry into his royal house to carry off furniture. 

    You, then, be on the watch against the world. 

    Gird up your loins with great energy, 

    so that the brigands do not find any way of reaching you; 

    for they will find any place you fail to watch."

The Parable of the Rich Fool

 

Luke 12:13-14

Someone in the crowd said to him, 

    "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

But He said to him, 

    "Man, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

Thomas 72

Some person [said] to him, 

    "Tell my siblings to share my father's possessions with me." 

He said to that person, 

    "My good fellow, who has made me into an arbitrator?" 

He turned to his disciples and said to them, 

    "So am I an arbitrator?"

Luke 12:15

Then he said to them, 

    "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; 

    for not even when one has an abundance 

    does his life consist of his possessions."

Luke 12:16-21

And he told them a parable, saying, 

    "The land of a rich man was very productive.

    And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 

        'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'

    Then he said, 

        'This is what I will do: 

        I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, 

        and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

        And I will say to my soul, 

            "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; 

            take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'

    But God said to him, 

        'You fool! 

        This very night your soul is required of you; 

        and now who will own what you have prepared?'

    So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Thomas 63

Jesus said, 

    "There was a rich man who had considerable wealth. 

    He said, 

        'I shall invest my wealth so as to sow, reap, plant, and fill my barns with crops, 

        lest I run short of something.' 

    These things are what he was thinking in his heart, 

    and that very night the man died. 

    Whoever has ears should listen!"

Sirach 11:18-19

One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial,

   and the reward allotted to him is this:

when he says, ‘I have found rest,

   and now I shall feast on my goods!’

he does not know how long it will be

   until he leaves them to others and dies.

Music for Christmas: Nativity

Nativity
Christopher Orczy
2008

With my second major religious work, I have taken the moment of Jesus' birth as the subject. It is a long piece, 37 minutes.

You can listen and download here.

As in the earlier Annunciation piece, the source material was recorded on the Feast day; in this case Christmas day 2007. Likewise, the image for the artwork was again taken from English Altars by Percy Dearmer.

Whereas in Annunciation, I used the text from Luke and expressed each "moment" of the dialogue between Gabriel and Mary with some inspiration from secondary, apocryphal sources; this time I wanted to express a singular idea: that of the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Upon looking at the two Gospel narratives depicting the birth of Jesus one is struck by how scanty the information regarding the actual birth is. In both Matthew and Luke it is almost mentioned in passing.

And Joseph arose from his sleep,
and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him,
and took unto him his wife;
and knew her not till she had brought forth a son:
and he called his name JESUS.
Matthew 1:24-25 RV

And she brought forth her firstborn son;
and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 RV

We are give more detail on events that occur after; in the case of Matthew, the wise men; in Luke the angels and the shepherds.

Turning to non-canonical sources, there are some fantastic versions of the actual birth, in particular The Protevangelium of James (c 150). At the moment when Mary goes into labour, she tells Joseph, who leads her to a cave. He then heads off to Bethlehem in search of a midwife. He experiences a vision:

And I Joseph was walking,
and was not walking;
and I looked up into the sky,
and saw the sky astonished;
and I looked up to the pole of the heavens,
and saw it standing,
and the birds of the air keeping still.

And I looked down upon the earth,
and saw a trough lying,
and work-people reclining:
and their hands were in the trough.
And those that were eating did not eat,
and those that were rising did not carry it up,
and those that were conveying anything to their mouths did not convey it;
but the faces of all were looking upwards.

And I saw the sheep walking,
and the sheep stood still;
and the shepherd raised his hand to strike them,
and his hand remained up.
And I looked upon the current of the river,
and I saw the mouths of the kids resting on the water and not drinking,
and all things in a moment were driven from their course.
Protevangelium of James 18.

The idea that time is stopping, that eternity is becoming temporal is a beautiful depiction;

Once Joseph returns with the midwife, visual phenomena that is usual for describing God's presence is described. We see this same imagery used at the Annunciation earlier in the Protevangelium of James:

And they stood in the place of the cave,
and behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave.

And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave,
and a great light shone in the cave,
so that the eyes could not bear it.
And in a little that light gradually decreased,
until the infant appeared,
and went and took the breast from His mother Mary.
Protevangelium of James 19.

The stilling of time, and the light and cloud images are a mythical description of:

And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among us
John 1:14 RV

The Nativity piece is an attempt to put all this together, as much as it is possible. I didn't want to compose a Christmas piece using the Shepherds or the Wise Men; my interest was far less about narrative. I liked the idea of birth, the idea of a new beginning. While both Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus' being born, they don't tell us about his birth.

The other idea that guided the piece was from later in Luke. When Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the Temple, Simeon the prophet holds Jesus in his arms, and after blessing them, says to Mary

Behold,
this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel;
and for a sign which is spoken against;
yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul;
that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.
Luke 2:34-35 RV

Maybe it is my natural gloominess, but while I think Christmas is wonderful: we are after all celebrating God's love for us, there is a darker side. Simeon's prophecy that this baby will be the falling and rising of many is both good news and bad news. It also hints at what is to take place on Calvary 30 or so years later. While the birth of Jesus is the best thing to happen, to be a follower of Christ is not "an easy option". Simeon states to Mary (who may be seen as the ideal follower of God's Word) that a sword will pierce her soul, and the thoughts of many will be revealed. Many will not see the light, and many will be persecuted for speaking of it. It is a difficult road, but one which once shown, is impossible to deny.

Merry Christmas everyone.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
John 3:16 RV

Music for Advent: Annunciation

Annunciation
Christopher Orczy
2007

Since today is "The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary", I thought it most fitting to post my piece "Annunciation".

You can listen and download it here.

Annunciation
7 Atmospheres for Luke 1:26-38

1. Mary

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee,
named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David;
and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Within Luke’s Gospel, we are told very little about Mary. She is a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph, who is of Davidic descent. We aren’t told of her appearance, her expression, or her manner.

2. Appeared

And he came in unto her,
and said,
Hail,
thou that art highly favoured,
the Lord is with thee.

Similar to the previous passage, we are not told anything of Gabriel’s appearance, or the manner of his arrival. Several of the apocryphal writings are more descriptive in their retelling of this passage.
The Nativity of Mary (600 CE) has "he filled the chamber where she was with a great light."
The Martyrdom of Bartholomew (400 CE) has Gabriel “gleaming like the sun”;
and the Questions of Bartholomew (400 CE), Mary describes Gabriel’s face as “incomprehensible.”

3. Troubled

But she was greatly troubled at the saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.

Mary seems to have no difficulty with Gabriel’s presence, but his words worry her. “The Lord is with thee” is a phrase that would have been familiar to Mary (and Luke’s readers) from the Torah. “Thou that art highly favoured” is what is causing her concern. Mary ponders what has she done (or not done) that would cause God to favour her.

4. Greatness

And the angel said unto her,
Fear not,
Mary:
for thou hast found favour with God.
And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Most High:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Gabriel recognizes that Mary is troubled, and consoles her. Gabriel’s second discourse contains three elements: a reiteration of Mary’s favoured status; Mary is to conceive a child; and what the child will accomplish in his earthly existence. Once again, Luke uses familiar Jewish phrases to describe who this baby will be.

5. How

And Mary said unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

The most important concept of this passage comes from what Mary does not say. She has no difficulty with idea of having a child. Her question concerns the howabouts of the conception. In many ways, Mary’s question and Gabriel’s forthcoming answer are the essential core of Luke’s annunciation, and central to the season of Advent and the Nativity.

6. Cloud

And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee:
wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy,
the Son of God.
And behold,
Elisabeth thy kinswoman,
she also hath conceived a son in her old age:
and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.
For no word from God shall be void of power.

Luke uses imagery that is reminiscent of the creation passages of Genesis (1:2; 2:6).

And the earth was waste and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

but there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground.

In the aforementioned apocryphal Questions of Bartholomew, Mary describes the event
I looked up into heaven and there came a cloud of dew and sprinkled me from the head to the feet

7. “be it unto me”

And Mary said,
Behold,
the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.

Mary’s acceptance of what to occur makes her the first Christian. On a larger scale, her agreeing to God’s will reminds us that God can and does act within our lives; and recognizing His presence is not the pursuit of Christians solely, but rather for all mankind.

Within the next week, I will be posting another piece, "Nativity".