Sermon Evensong, 'Hail, gladdening light' - 30 March 2025
In the name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Are you faithful to your call? Can you keep going when the going gets tough? Who is the light in your life? These are questions that jumped out at me from our readings, the introit and hymns, and I wish to I wish to explore them whilst drawing on the phenomenal commitment of tenor lay clerk, Bryn Hughes. as he retires from his duties today.
If you have not had the privilege of meeting Bryn, when not wearing choir robes, he’s the chap who can be regularly seen wearing a variety of colourful scarves and carrying a thermos flask!
Our first reading from is from Isaiah. Chapter 40 marks a change in several ways, the most significant being that it deals with the period of exile in Babylon. The Israelites are looking towards the future, with hope of return to Jerusalem. God is described as holy, our creator and sovereign, so therefore he can restore his people to Judah, so they must trust in him.
Chapters 1-39 focuses on the theme of judgement, but in 40-55, there is the thematic shift towards salvation, and there are exhortations to praise God for what he will do for them, giving his exiled children hope and faith for the future.
There is energy and excitement in these passages.
Verse 28: ‘Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.’ We may faint and grow weary, but God does not. This is hugely comforting.
And verse 31: ‘but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.’ If we show commitment to the Lord, we shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint. He’s got us. He holds us. We sang about it in our first hymn, ‘we who follow shall not fall.’
This passage is like a strategy chat at half time when the team hasn’t been playing very well. Isaiah, the coach, gathers them together and tells them they can do it. Keep the faith! It’s a bit like a bad rehearsal before a service or concert.
One of the things about being a group with a common goal is the mutual encouragement. In chapter 41 we are told, ‘Each one helps the other, saying to one another, ‘Take courage!’ The artisan encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, ‘It is good’; and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.’ Are you an encourager? Bryn is a natural, he’s a glass half full kind of person. And because he and Sarah are very generous with their hospitality, Bryn is unlikely to let your glass go much below half full.
Bryn is Welsh for ‘hill or mound’, and I think that it suits him. People look up to him as an exemplar of integrity, wisdom and the best kind of person, and this makes you want to be a better person. This is why he was on Cathedral Council, and one of the people responsible for working on the new Cathedrals’ Measure.
With choral scholars changing each year, it is the lay clerks who are the constant in the back row of the Cathedral Choir, and Bryn has been vital in setting the tone. He is supportive but can admonish an errant scholar kindly or without them even realising it. Indeed, several times he talked me down from my high horse of indignation!
Like the people in Isaiah, Bryn knows the pain of being exiled from the place of worship he loves. Bryn’s work took him to Dorset for a few years, and he missed singing in the choir during that time. It helps keep him grounded and feeds his spiritual life. Later, he was a weekly commuter to Milton Keynes but always appeared here on Sundays. Bryn has had an impressive career in the MOD (Ministry of Defence), DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency) and DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory); he still does consultation work and has balanced all of this with his fabulous family and choir. Bryn may have been tired, he may have felt weary, but he always got on with the task in hand. Isaiah would be proud of you!
Our final hymn is ‘The Day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended’. This day may be ending, and Bryn’s full-time commitment to the Cathedral choir may be ending, but it is not the end. Though it is sad. Bryn and I are weepers, unashamedly so; Sarah made us matching hankies for this evening! Change is inevitable, it can be difficult, especially if you have been in a routine for a long time. When the going gets tough, who do we turn to? Do we rely on ourselves and other people or do we turn to God?
This passage from Isaiah invites us to consider who we rely on to keep us going during difficult times. Do we rely on the strength of God? We can grow weary, but God does not. We will have times of physical and spiritual exhaustion, but God’s promises remain. God will strengthen Bryn as he adjusts to a new routine, and God will strengthen those that remain. He will lift us up on wings like eagles.
Moving on to the passage from the Second letter to Timothy. We are told in this reading that faith is not passive, it takes work, you have to persevere.
When I looked at the readings for this sermon, verses 6&7 set me off on my first bout of weeping, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Unlike Paul, Bryn isn’t in prison awaiting death, but he has definitely shown extraordinary commitment to the Cathedral and is a person of deep faith, which is obvious in how he leads our prayers of intercessions at the eucharist. How many miles has he commuted for choir? How many anthems, or canticles or mass settings has he sung? And hymns, how many hymns? How many performances of Handel’s Messiah? We worked out recently that he has been on choir tours to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia. That’s a great collection. He hasn’t walked as far as St Paul did, but it’s still impressive.
After today, Bryn no longer has to drive from Privett twice a Sunday. He can spend time in his garden wearing a crown of righteousness with his sheep – yes, Bryn and Sarah created their own version of The Good Life! I interviewed Bryn about sheep for a sermon a few years ago, and he is using his sheep carrier to transport the chamber organ up to Privett for a service in May! Bryn’s marathon may have finished, but he will still come to cheer others on during theirs. Indeed, he is coming on the choir tour to Antwerp in May.
Bryn and Sarah are dear, dear friends, along with their sons James and Ben. I call him my favourite professor and my second favourite doctor, second naturally, to Dr David Price! As our introit, we heard one of his favourite pieces of choral music, Hail Gladdening Light, set to music by Charles Wood. It is magnificent. Originally in Greek, the title is Phos Hilarion, and it is from the 2nd or 3rd Century – isn’t it amazing to think that they have been used in worship for that long? And I pray that Christians will still be singing it in centuries to come.
There are two reasons why I think this piece is so spectacular – first, that the word painting by Charles Wood is stunning; secondly, because it is double choir, you hear the words as a conversation between both sides of the choir. And what a conversation they have had!
The text explores the Christian belief of the holy trinity, celebrates the power and the transforming presence of God in our lives. It brings joy, it brings gladness, it brings light. It is particularly poignant to hear an anthem about light after the breathtakingly beautiful Luxmuralis ‘Space’ exhibition this past week. This has given me a fresh perspective on the anthem.
Jesus tells us in John’s gospel that he is the light of the world, and the anthem’s words remind us that God shines continually in our lives, when we can’t see him because life shines so brightly, but also when cloud, depression, and darkness seemingly block our view. God is still there. We are told at the start of John’s gospel, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’
What are we going to do about it? We need to be gladdeners! We are told in the psalm that we have been girded with gladness. What a fabulous image! Who in your life needs some gladdening light? Maybe you need a top up? Has the Lent course helped? Maybe try the monthly Taize? Who do you know who would benefit from having that relationship with the Holiest of holies, Jesu Christ, our Lord?
I want to end with a mention of William Holman Hunt’s famous painting ‘The Light of the World’. Jesus is just about to knock on a door in an overgrown wood. The beauty of this painting isn’t just the clever artistic skills, but the fact that Jesus is about to knock and there is no handle on the outside of the door. The Light of the world is always there, but we have to be the ones to open the door to Christ, to new opportunities and take a leap of faith; that applies to Bryn in the same way it applies to the rest of us. Amen.
PRAYERS
Let us pray.
In our New Testament reading, we hear of Paul following his call. We give thanks that we are blessed with different gifts of the spirit. With the anthem A Hymn to St Cecilia, the patron saint of singers and music, we pray this evening for the musicians, past and present, and their vital role in leading our worship of God in this place. We pray for our Cathedral choir as they bid farewell to Bryn as he retires from his role as a tenor lay clerk. We give thanks for the way he has influenced the lives of colleagues and young people over the years and ask for God’s blessing for him and the choir as they travel on different paths.
The Musician's Prayer
Oh Lord, please bless this music that it might glorify your name.
May the talent that you have bestowed upon me be used only to serve you.
Let this music be a witness to your majesty and love, and remind us that you are always watching, and listening, from your throne above.
May your presence and beauty be found in every note and may the words that are sung reach the hearts of your people so they will draw closer to you. May your Spirit guide us through every bar so that we might be the instruments of your peace and proclaim your glory with glad voices. Amen.
We pray for the ministry of this place, that we offer a warm welcome and generous hospitality to those who visit. We give thanks for the support, friendship and hospitality that Bryn and Sarah have given the choir over the years, and the cost of his commitment borne by his family. We pray that as we journey through Lent, we prepare a room in our hearts to welcome the holiest of holies, Jesu Christ.
Lord, by the oaks of Mamre you shared Abraham's food;
on the green grass you fed crowds who flocked to hear your Son,
and in the upper room you made sharing bread and wine
to be the memorial of your transforming love.
Bless us in the hospitality we show to friends and strangers.
May the unknown guests be to us angels and Christ himself.
Keep us ever thankful for your overflowing generosity
that our lives may proclaim your praise
and bless all who would share our table. Amen.
Thinking of our reading from Isaiah, we pray for those who are not able to trust in God to help with their weariness, and after the anthem, for those who are unable to accept Jesus as their gladdening light. We hold up to God any people and places in need, including those in Thailand and Myanmar after the recent earthquake; praying for peace in Ukraine, the Holy Land, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We pray for those displaced by natural disasters and conflict and ask for God’s blessing on those who care for them.
We pray for those who are sick in body, mind or spirit; for the lonely, the anxious, the fearful; and we give thanks for the ministry of Bryn’s wife, Sarah, in her many years in nursing at the Rowan’s Hospice.
A prayer of John Donne
Bring us, O Lord God,
at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven,
to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity:
in the habitations of thy majesty and glory, world without end.
Amen.
We pray for the Church around the world; for those communities we have shared fellowship during choir tours.
In the Anglican Communion, for the Province de L’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo; in the Porvoo Communion, for the Diocese of Armagh in the Church of Ireland, the Diocese of Funen in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, and the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Church of England.
In the Diocese, we pray for Bishop Jonathan, Archdeacon Kathryn, and the Bishop’s Waltham Deanery officers;
in the parish we pray for those on Woodville Drive incl Blount Rd & Slingsby Close,
and as the Cathedral of the Sea,
we pray for our seas and oceans:
for all helping to conserve our marine environment
and those whose livelihood depends on the sea;
for all who are at sea this night,
and those who serve to keep others safe.
Creator and Father of all,
we pray for those who go down to the sea in ships
and serve upon the waters of the world.
Bless them and all who minister to their needs,
that they may put their trust in you
and find in you a strong anchor for their hopes
and so be filled with your peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Thanking God for the days he gives us,
we join all our prayers said aloud and in the silence of our hearts
using the words of the grace:
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore.
Amen.