Datchworth Evensong. 3 Aug 08
Second in series of summer theme on the Lesser Saints
John Mason Neal
Set Collect (traditional language for BCP worship)
Grant unto us, O God, that in all time of our testing we may know Thy presence and obey thy will; that, following the example of thy servant John Mason Neale, we may with integrity and courage accomplish what thou givest us to do, and endure what thou givest us to bear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Lectionary Readings: (From American Episcopal Church)
Ps 106:1-5
2 Chronicles 20:20-21
Matthew 13: 44-52


Introduction

I wonder if you recognise any of the following hymns...

A great and mighty wonder
All glory, laud and honour
Blessed city, heavenly Salem
Christ is made the sure foundation‘
Good King Wenceslas’
Jerusalem the golden
O come, O come, Emmanuel’
Of the Father's love begotten
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle
The day is past and over
The day of resurrection

What they all have in common is that they are all translations of ancient hymns from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. They are just a few of the many that JMN translated from the original Latin, Syrian, Russian and Greek texts. He was one of the most important hymn-writers of Victorian times: the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern contained over sixty of his hymns

I expect many of you may have missed this but if you look carefully at your hymns tonight you will notice that all of them has an inscription above the first line that shows the original author or source and “tr J.M.Neale”.

The original texts all pre-dated the Reformation and had not been used in the C of E since because they had been considered by the reformers to belong to heretical parts of the church.
Much of the previous RC hymns had been discarded. JMN had become interested in these old traditional hymns and wanted to recover them for use in the C of E.

Part of an article he wrote in "English Hymnology: Its History and Prospects," in the periodical The Christian Remembrancer, 1849.

Among the most pressing of the inconveniences consequent on the adoption of the vernacular language in the office-books of the Reformation, must be reckoned the immediate disuse of all the hymns of the Western Church. That treasury, into which the saints of every age and country had poured their contributions, delighting, each in his generation, to express their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, in language which would be the heritage of their Holy Mother until the end of time. Those noble hymns, which had solaced anchorets on their mountains, monks in their cells, priests in bearing up against the burden and heat of the day, missionaries in girding themselves for martyrdom--henceforth became as a sealed book and as a dead letter.
Brief biography

Before I had to investigate this man for this sermon I had no idea he was responsible for the recovery of such a wide range of ancient hymns with which we may now be familiar. Subsequently looking through the New English Hymnal and Hymns Ancient and Modern reveals a large number credited to being translated by him.

So let me tell you more about JMN and think about some lessons we may gain from his life. He was born in London in 1818, studied at Cambridge, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1842. He was offered a parish but was unable to take up his duties because of but chronic ill health, which was to continue throughout his life. In 1846 he was made warden of Sackville College. It was not an educational institution, it was a charitable residence for the poor. He remained there as Warden for the rest of his life. In 1854 he co-founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, an order of women in the Anglican Church dedicated to nursing the sick. He was following in the steps of others who wanted to return the Cof E to sense of its Catholic heritage, Reformed but Catholic.
Many Anglicans in his day, however, were very suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. Only nine years earlier, John H. Newman had encouraged certain Roman Catholic practices in the Anglican Church, and had ended up joining the Roman church himself. This encouraged the suspicion that anyone like JMN was an agent of the Vatican, assigned to destroy the Anglican Church by subverting it from within. On one occasion JMN was attacked and mauled at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honour or preferment in England, but received a doctorate bestowed by Trinity College, Hartford, in America.
However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St. Margaret survived and prospered. It spread to America and today carries out work in schools, prisons, shelters, hospitals. It offers feeding programs and the Church to be places of service. They also offer places of retreat and refreshment.

Two lessons from his life

1. His struggle against opposition

The opposition JMN faced in even trying to reintroduce ancient hymns into the church and other Catholic tradition may help us to see some of the current tensions and arguments in the Anglican Communion in a broader light. In one sense the issues have changed but we’ve been here before with a divided church, divided over doctrine and practice. At least some who hold onto a sense of Catholic heritage feel that the church has no right to break with Catholic tradition and ordain women as Priests continuation of a growth and change in tradition and in accord with what we have in our society. It is the word of the Holy Spirit in the present time.

In founding the Sisterhood of St Margaret JMN was joining others in bringing some of the monastic communities back into Anglican tradition, where they continue to enrich the church’s spiritual and prayerful traditions. Such communities have become parts of Anglican social and evangelistic work worldwide. As a member of the Third Order of the Society of St Francis, I guess I am also following in JMN’s footsteps, part of a Reformed Catholic society.
The Third Order has links with tradition from the past with St Francis of Assisi but looking at modern expressions of his evangelistic legacy in the present time.

In the aftermath of history we can see many of the positive results of restoring a sense of continuity with Catholic tradition, and rediscovering the prayer lives of the Catholic and Orthodox contemplatives. But at the time it was a cause of great argument. Now is causes arguments of a different kind. I imagine that in some years to come the current arguments about homosexuality and women bishops will be seen as just another past struggle. They will cease to be things that Christians argue about so much.


2. Treasures from the past

But JMN is most remembered today for his work of translating ancient hymns. Here was man finding treasure, to give back to the church. This is the primary link with the NT lesson we had read. There were no set readings in the C of E Common Worship lectionary and the Collect, psalm and readings I found for this service I found on an American website.

The theme of finding hidden treasure is central to the passage from Matthew. It originally applied to finding the treasure of God’s word in Christ, and finding the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven. It also includes an interesting statement by Jesus that I think is unique to Matthew’s gospel...

“The Teacher of the Law who has been instructed about the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old”

It was probably meant that the Jewish teachers who had knowledge of God’s laws and came to Christ had treasures from their past understanding plus the new understanding they had with Christ. They could use both past and present knowledge to serve God on the world.

It is fitting to think of JMN finding hidden treasures of the church from the past and recovering them for our use. They had after all been inspired by the saints of the past, contributing to the praise of God. It is also fitting that Neale as a priest could use both past traditions and new understandings of his time to serve God. He was like the Teacher of the Law who had both knowledge of the past and the present. He had discovered much ancient wisdom and theology in the hymns, besides being great to sing just for their poetry and praise.

If we consider for a few moments the four hymns I choose for tonight.
O Trinity of blessed light.

Originally written by Ambose of Milan, a great theologian of his time. It is an evening hymn that focuses on the Unity of God in Trinity and our eternal light, even as the natural light of the sun disappears for the night. With the departure of the physical light we are to consider the light that will not pass away.
Our second hymn: To the name of our salvation

Focuses on the holy and eternal name of Jesus, as our treasure, to be adored. Jesus is the name that is exalted when people preach about him and tell of what He has done for the world. He is greater than all other people and titles that can be given to anyone at any time.

The other two hymns to come later:
“Blessed city, heavenly Salem” and “Jerusalem the golden” both focus on different aspects of the New Jerusalem from the book of Revelation. That Christ is the foundation of that city and hope and Christ is the foundation of the church on earth. Christians by their unity with Christ on earth will see the fulfilment of all God’s salvation in the joy of heaven and that new world to come. The hymns are prayers that we may enjoy the fulfilment of that hope and that we should lift our vision beyond our present circumstances and lives to that eternal promise.
Like many of the hymns JMN translated they are great theology, great hopes and great prayers that had been inspirational in the past and can still guide out thoughts today if we let them.

Conclusion

JMN recovered for the church some great hymns and texts from the past and it should always remind us of the great heritage to be found in the traditions of other churches we may not know. Although we may have doctrinal and worship differences from others we can still appreciate their prayer and inspiration. It is part of the whole and wonderfully diverse Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that also includes the Orthodox and the various Protestant churches as well. All who have and do place Jesus Christ and His gospel at the centre of their lives. But at the heart of this looking at past treasures we are involved in something of a balancing act and conflicts still arise.

There are always two concerns that might become sources of opposition.

On one hand there is past theology and tradition and church order, developed in it’s time and place to meet the churches needs of the moment. It is Christian tradition that was and still is good to meet various needs and can be expressed in new and varied ways. But on the other hand without careful consideration past tradition can lead to just maintaining history and just doing what others have done, or what is familiar and safe. Tradition may not always meet the needs of our moment.

So if I can say this with gentle sympathy.

The church can sometimes be divided into “traditionalists” who feel we need to keep things the same and not change anything. Not change the way the church worships or orders its ministry. There can be opposition to people trying to make change and adapt the church for evangelism and worship in our own time, to touch people’s lives in new ways for the sake of Jesus Christ and his gospel.

So yes, we need to consider and enjoy the inspiration of the past saints of the church in every age and place. But we also need to keep our eyes and ears open today to what Christ asks of us in the here and now our team of churches, our communities and places of work. We need to bring out of our store things old and new so we can give Christ to the world in meaningful ways in the present. It is Christ’s name and honour that is important.

To put it another way, we sometimes need to sing the ancient songs of the saints with the upbeat sounds of our time.


A-men