This Sunday in worship we will continue a tradition begun in 1918 at Kings College in Cambridge, England – – a Service of Lessons and Carols. Our Sanctuary Choir has been preparing music since October and we will be joined by a 20-piece orchestra made up of gifted musicians from throughout the Winston-Salem community to present the joyful story of this season. How appropriate for the third Sunday of Advent – the Sunday of Joy!
This service is built on nine scripture lessons that lead us to the good news of Christmas. I write that it “leads us“ to this good news, because it does not begin in Bethlehem. The first lesson begins rightly in the garden of Eden, where it all began! For were it not for the fall of humankind, there would have been no need for a Christmas story, no need for God to take on flesh and become one with us.
This is why the church would produce a hymn that begins with the Latin words “O felix culpa” (O happy fault or happy sin). But how could one characterize a fault or sin as a happy or good thing? Because it is only in response to our missing the mark that the full extent of God‘s love would be revealed to the world in Jesus Christ. The Apostle John wrote “And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.“ We will tell that joyful story again this Sunday! O felix culpa!
– David Williamson