2019-12-17
Brooke Strong
Scripture Isaiah 35:1-10
Joy in the Midst of Despair
Honoring Bob Faroo
I’m willing to bet there’s not one person here today who doesn’t struggle with something, who doesn’t have some sense of wilderness in their life. Maybe you and a sibling had a fight this morning. Maybe some harsh words have been exchanged recently about “your family always . . .,” or “you don’t seem to realize . . ..” Maybe loneliness leaves you feeling dry and lifeless. Not to mention the more cosmic threats to our serenity: malignant illnesses, global warming, political fireworks, searing income inequality, endemic racism. The list is virtually endless. Struggle? You bet we do. It’s an inevitable part of life.
The striking thing is that God knows this—knows all about the many and various wildernesses that threaten our equanimity and stability. And, at the very same time, the prophet Isaiah, in one of the innumerable passages of lyric hopefulness that fill that book, reminds us that, with God at the heart of life, there is no aridity that cannot be quenched, no health struggle that cannot find a wholeness, no threatening wilderness that cannot be tamed. With God, no door is ever entirely closed, for the Holy One has all the keys.
We are exquisitely aware this morning of the radiant gifts that come into our various wildernesses from on high. We see and hear that blessing in the beauty and power of the cantata of Bach’s that will grace us in just a moment. Bach likely wrote some 500 cantatas, only 200 or so of which survive to this day. And several of them stand out as gems. Cantata No. 63, “Christians, engrave this day,” is one of those gems. The first chorus is typical of this richness: “Christians, etch this day in metal and marble! Come and hurry with me to the manger and show with happy lips your thanks and your duty; for the ray, that breaks forth there, reveals itself to you as the light of grace.” And a later recitative speaks again to the grace that Isaiah says comes to transform the wilderness: “So now, today, the anxious sorrow, with which Israel was frightened and burdened, is changed into pure blessing and grace” [word order slightly amended]. Sorrow changed into blessing and grace.
This Christmas cantata of Bach’s affirms, beautifully and richly, what God does in the birth of Jesus. Into darkness comes light. Into pain comes healing. Into quarreling and war comes peace. The theological and spiritual center of this cantata is Bach’s riveting testimony to the transformative power of holy grace.
We celebrate grace in another palpable and special way this morning, as well. This whole morning is a gift underwritten by the family of Bob Faroo. Bob, as many of you will remember, was a long-time member of Federated’s choir. He sang with us for some forty years. And not only did he contribute musically, but his sheer presence was a gift. There was a lightness and grace about him. As did so many others, I always felt embraced and appreciated by Bob. His smile and warmth and gentleness and sense of humor, as well as the twinkle in his eye, were great and palpable gifts. They’ve left a lasting mark on the fabric of Federated.
Part of that gift was Bob’s deep and unending love of music. Blessed with perfect pitch, he started the violin at a young age, and took it with him when he went into the Navy and the Marines. He participated in many local orchestras and community and high school theater productions. He was, indeed, the fiddler behind the fiddler on the roof.
It wasn’t just the violin that captivated him, either. Bob also loved conducting. A friend remembers him conducting at the dinner table with peas on his fork. Not uncommonly, Bob would have a baton with him at the dinner table. As his family wryly and affectionately says about him, “As a conductor, Bob was largely unknown outside his living room, where he led some of the world’s finest orchestras from his dad chair.”
As many people do, Bob expressed his faith through music. And this morning, we have the glorious opportunity to express our faith through music, as well. This marvelous orchestra and Federated choir and group of soloists will treat us to the radiant words and music of Bach. Together they will testify to the promise of Isaiah: “everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (35:10). May we be lifted on high this morning, as we are transported by the holy grace of the impending birth of Jesus.