A Sanctified Art is a ministry that was born out of a desire to find fresh expressions of our faith through artistic displays. If you take a look at the world around you, it is clear God is infinitely creative. There are no boundaries to the imagination with which God exercised when creating us and the world. In the same way, there are no boundaries to God’s deep love for us and desire that we might live out this beautiful creativity in our own lives and relationship with God. The heart of worship draws on our imagination as we raise our hands and envision God’s presence with us. The heart of worship draws on our senses as we surrender them to be filled up by God. This advent, we tap deeper into our creative expressions of worship as we follow along with the Advent theme that A Sanctified Art ministry has developed for worship leaders to use.

This year’s Advent theme is “How Does A Weary World Rejoice?” I find this to be rather appropriate for what the world is currently facing. It certainly feels weary sometimes. However, if you know your history, the world felt weary when Jesus was born as well. The birth of Christ has shown us, and empowered us, to feel joy in the midst of the weariness. There is a familiar Christmas Hymn called, “O Holy Night,” which as the authors of A Sanctified Art have noted, “has an interesting history.” It was originally written by a French poet named Placide Cappeau who was an atheist, and the music was supplied by a Jewish composer. This song became a popular hymn for the Christian Abolitionist movement specifically because of verse 3. The lyrics go:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is Peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother
And in His name, all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us Praise His Holy name
Christ is the Lord; O praise His name forever!
His power and glory evermore proclaim
His power and glory evermore proclaim

Those who found themselves in slavery, those who still find themselves in oppression, know all about weariness and rage. Those who can’t conceive but want to and those who hold the innocent while they breathe their last breath can’t just turn the weariness off. A blind eye is not a privilege that all of us have. Christmas calls us to keep both eyes open and bear the weight of the weariness of the world, all the while living in resistance to it because of the hope and joy that is found in Jesus Christ. This is an act we don’t do alone but do together. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen!

From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman