 |
| wherethepunis.com |
In the CD notes, conductor John Eliot Gardiner calls BWV 178 an “astonishing cantata” that is demanding to perform. With the theme of Christ’s warnings against hypocrisy (from the scripture lesson, Matthew 7:15-23), some of the cantata brings to mind a storm, difficult to perform and chastening to listen to (although, to my ears, also lively and uplifting). The opening section is mostly a “continuous stream of semiquavers trafficking to and fro from instrument to instrument and voice to voice.” The scheming of evil people, including those who call themselves Christian, contrasts with the perseverence of the faithful and especially the reliability of God’s protection.
If God the Lord is not on our side
when our enemies rage against us,
and if He does not support our cause
up there in Heaven on high,
if He is not Israel’s protector,
thwarting the enemy’s cunning,
then all is lost for us.
As always, we need to persevere and trust in the Lord. Our reason tells us one thing, but we need to tell our reason to "be quiet" (that word "Schweig" is repeated several times in the next to last number) and have faith that God will vindicate us.
The themes of BWV 136 are similar, though the overall tone is less tempestuous. The faithful of God seek to be good fruit but they just thrive within “thrones of sin” and “thistles of iniquity”. But hypocrites and all their schemes and outcomes will face the judgment.
Though we be stained by the sins
that Adam’s fall has brought on us,
if we have found refuge in Jesus’ wounds,
that merciful stream of blood,
we shall be purified anew...
Thy blood, that noble sap,
has such force and strength
that even the merest drop can purify
all the world, yea, even set it free
from the devil’s jaws.
In BWV 45, too, the faithful know what is God---thus the title from Micah---and the hypocrites and false prophets will get their reward. Bach musically contrasts the destiny of the faithful with those who cause trouble.
Whosoever acknowledges God
from the very depths of his heart,
God will acknowledge also.
For he shall burn forever
who merely with his mouth
calls Him Lord.
In our time (and surely in any time) the idea that "God is on our side" can be a scary slogan justifying all kinds of terrible things. But if we affirm that God sides with us against all the things that could hypothetically separate us from God (Romans 8:37-39), then the saying is comforting. Though forces of evil are strong (often hiding in misguided zeal to please God), God is stronger still.
These cantatas have hypocrisy as a theme. I hesitate to judge people as "hypocrites," and I especially hesitate to wish upon anyone hell fire! Many of us are inconsistent, exasperatingly so, because we're still growing. Yet we all know people who are consistently unreliable, acting differently depending on why they're with, and acting destructively when they do. Being lied about and/or misrepresented behind your back is particularly painful. (Famously, the Greek word hypocrisis means "play-acting".) I'd rather hope for such people what we informally call "karma," something that will figurative knock them in the head and help them become better people.
But instead of karma, perhaps we should be talking about the healing blood of Jesus, another theme in this week's cantatas. It seems a theologically old-fashioned concept, biblical but different from contemporary efforts to conceptualize a non-violent Atonement. Still, instead of wishing karma upon our enemies, we could wish for a dynamic work of God to wake them up and (as my mom would've said) straighten them out. Think of people who oppose you and wish you ill, and if you can, claim for them Christ's healing power. The triune Lord loves even the most awful and two-faced among us.
(As the CD notes indicate, all English translations are by Richard Stokes.)
No comments:
Post a Comment