Undistracting Excellence: one full responsive vibrant chord
Tune me, O Lord, into one harmony with Thee, one full responsive vibrant chord. Unto Thy praise, all love and melody, tune me, O Lord. ~ Christina Rossetti, 19th Century British Poet ~
For decades, Christina Rossetti’s prayer has resonated with generations of Christ-followers who desire to experience a deeper and more significant union with their Savior. Oddly enough, these same words have, for me, become a beautiful portrayal of what the Sacred Winds Ensemble represents.
The organization’s mission statement explains that it “exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by providing opportunities that edify people in Biblical knowledge and understanding”; however, there is no way for the reader of those nineteen words to fully comprehend how that mission statement expresses itself in reality. To fully understand this mission, one must fully experience a Sacred Winds event—and, indeed, what fullness of experience there is.
However, a Sacred Winds event seems to evade categorization. It is not a “performance.” It is not a “program.” It is not a “concert.” What, then, is it? Actually, for those who have ears to hear, to participate in a Sacred Winds event is to participate in nothing less than glorious and unashamed worship of the lordship of Jesus Christ. This worship—this fleshing out of the group’s mission statement—is undoubtedly the indelible connection I’ve seen between Christina Rossetti’s prayer and this anointed ensemble. Scott Bersaglia, the organization’s founder and director, exhibits in his teaching, his conducting and, indeed, his entire persona the understanding that Rosetti assumes in her prayer: to be tuned into one harmony with the Father requires one to be tuned into one harmony with the Son; accordingly, the ensemble’s programming reflects a thoughtful and nuanced selection of challenging musical pieces that glorify the sovereignty, sacrifice, and salvation that are found in Christ Jesus. A quick survey of several of the program titles from the past six years illustrates this ever-present theme: The Body of Christ (2005); That They May Know Him (2008); The Great Shepherd (2009); and The Five Solas (2010).
This summer, as the ensemble seeks to continue to fulfill its mission to “proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by providing opportunities that edify people in Biblical knowledge and understanding,” the group will offer a program with an intense focus on the first chapter of the Gospel of John, verses one through eighteen. These eighteen verses (along with the entirety of John’s gospel) have one purpose, which is best stated in John 20:31: “[T]hese are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (ESV). Dr. Bersaglia’s selection of works to demonstrate the magnanimity of this purpose and these eighteen verses represents his personal desire to step out of the way—in, as Dr. John Piper would say, “undistracting excellence”—and allow people to see Christ’s glory, “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14—ESV):
And the Word Became Flesh
From Him: The Word of His Power—John 1:1-13
John Mackey: Aurora Awakes
Through Him: The Glory of the Cross—John 1:14-15
William Schuman: When Jesus Wept
David Maslanka: Moderately Slow, from Symphony No. 7
E. Margaret Clarkson: We Come, O Christ, To Thee
Traditional: Just A Closer Walk With Thee
To Him: The Conquering King—John 1:16-18
J.S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582
A simple glance at this program and its challenging, God-glorifying selections will underscore the ensemble’s (and its director’s) ultimate desire: to truly worship—and to exhort others to truly worship—the One from whom we have received grace upon grace. And, once a true Christ-follower has participated in this unique worship experience, he cannot help but walk away changed, tuned a bit more finely into “one full responsive vibrant chord” with his Lord—Soli Deo Gloria.
by Vickie C. Ball, Contributing Writer
