God’s love made visible

A sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025 for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland — The Very Rev. Ken Gray

Every once in a while I stumble across some very beautiful language, sometimes poetry, sometimes prose. It’s good, if after one hearing I want to go back and hear it again, sometimes more than once. One example is W. H Auden’s Funeral Blues. I watched it performed recently in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. The film explores the meaning, significance, and the appeal of wedding ceremonies. I watched it when it first came out (1994), when here in western Canada couples were no longer turning to weddings, secular or sacred, to formalize their relationships. Amidst the four weddings depicted in the film, it is the funeral that steals the show, a sad occasion for sure, yet a quiet, poignant gathering which expresses the depth and challenges of committed love. The poem is titled Funeral Blues:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
— W. H Auden

Another breath-taking, life-arresting text for me is found in today’s lection from the Letter to the Colossians. (1:15-28) Of Christ, the author rhapsodizes:

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or powers
all things have been created through him and for him.

He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.

If you think this exuberant expression of praise sounds like a hymn you are likely correct. Many verses in the Letter to the Colossians are liturgical in tone. Authorship of the letter is hotly debated; it was written either by Paul, or in Paul’s name possibly by a student. As the authorial debate continues the beauty and profundity of the text remains. It functions as an over-arching response to a simple question: “Who is Jesus, the Christ?” To any who would segment Jesus off into a corner, remote from the circumstances of daily life, this text says no, no, no. Christ is at the very centre of all place, all time, all circumstance, all life.

Years ago, when we bought a Toyota Prius I asked the salesperson what the name Prius meant. Well, the Prius was (in Toyota’s mind) the first hybrid vehicle. Well Jesus, the Christ, is the first born from the dead, as the text proclaims; He is “before all things.” Like the strongest glue available, he holds all things together.

It’s a paean of praise, worthy of reflection and if it may be, memorization. It deserves creative expression, in this case, musically, and jazz in particular, in the imagination and hands of Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola. Both now deceased, they were committed Christians. With Duke Ellington, Brubeck composed a limited amount of sacred music; a Cantata and a Catholic Mass amongst other sacred works. His primary forum was his own inherited protestant tradition. Iola provided the lyrics and texts. Following service in the US infantry during the second world Brubeck confided that  “something should be done musically to strengthen man’s knowledge of God.” And this he did.

I first discovered a hymn based on today’s passage titled God’s Love Made Visible at a hymn society convention in Minnesota during my time here as rector. A characteristic of the piece is its unusual time signature. Instead of four beats in each bar, there are five; this gives the music an unusual swagger. Unusual time signatures are characteristic for Brubeck — Remember Take Five; Blue Rondo a la Turk; An unsquare dance. The text adjusts to the lively music so very well. For instance:

God’s love made visible! Incomprehensible!
Christ is invincible! His love shall reign!
From love so bountiful, blessings uncountable,
make death surmountable! His love shall reign!

Joyfully pray for peace and good will
all of our yearning he will fulfill
Live in a loving way praise him for every day
open your hearts and pray his love shall reign.

The version I now share with you includes the text as it appears. It is slower and more manageable for us that Brubeck’s own original version. See if you can match the pace and pulse. At the end of today’s service I will conclude with Brubeck’s own version. Enjoy. 

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