I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
A New and Glorious Morn
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness -
on them light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
From "O Holy Night" by John Sullivan Dwight
One evening, in the middle of October, as I walked through the local shopping mall, I was surprised to hear Elton John's peppy invitation to "step into Christmas." Afterward, I heard about "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" and "Jack Frost nipping at your nose." Next, I heard Colbie Caillat declare that "it's Christmas time in the city." I found it strange to hear these songs, while looking up and seeing visages of murderous clowns on advertisements for a local haunted attraction. It occurred to me that, in a couple of weeks, children would walk past a sleigh and a giant Christmas tree in search of candy. "Soon it will be Halloween," I sang in my mind.
It's been said by many people that "Christmas comes earlier each year." It certainly seems that people start playing Christmas music earlier and earlier. By now, some of us have been hearing Christmas songs for more than two months.
The songs we hear during the weeks leading up to Christmas are actually quite diverse. Some are less about Christmas and more about winter weather. Some are about Christmas celebrations and spending time with family. Some appeal to a sense of nostalgia for Christmases past. Some treat Christmas like yet another Valentine's Day. Some Christmas songs actually tell of the birth of the One for whom the holy day is named.
The songs I've started to appreciate in recent years are those that not only retell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but also explore the profound implications of Christ's birth. One song I've come to love over the last few years is "O Holy Night." This song began as a French poem written by Placide Cappeau in 1843 titled "Minuit, chrétiens." The poem was set to music by Adolphe Adam in the same year. The popular English version of the carol was written by minister John Sullivan Dwight twelve years later.1
In the first verse of Dwight's version, we hear,
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth
If you've tuned into the news lately, then you know that we live in a world full of suffering. In our sinfulness, we inflict pain upon each other and upon ourselves. St. Paul wrote in one of his letters that it is as if all of creation groans for redemption.2 The Gospel tells us that God loved this messed-up world so much that God sent God's Son not to condemn us but to give us all eternal and abundant life.3 We are worth too much to God for God to give up on us. Dwight describes the birth of our Savior as "a new and glorious morn."
In the second verse, we hear,
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend
In the Gospel, we read that Jesus was born in a stable, of all places, and that His crib was a feeding trough, of all things, because nobody had the hospitality to open his or her home to Jesus' earthly parents.4 The Son of God, of all people, had a less than auspicious birth. An early Christian hymn tells us that, when the Son of God took on flesh and blood to dwell among us and walk beside us, He divested Himself of the power and glory that comes with divinity.5 The Son of God is not distant from either the beauty or the hardship of being human. One early Christian theologian described Jesus as a heavenly High Priest who is fully capable of empathizing with us.6
In the third verse, we hear,
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Jesus taught us that the most important things we can do is to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.7 He modeled self-giving love for us and said that people will know we belong to Him if we follow His example.8 Following His lead, we love other people as our own brothers and sisters, and we fight against all forms of oppression, injustice, and exploitation. Christians hold on to the hope that someday Christ will return to set all things right. At that time, in Dwight's words, "all oppression shall cease." No longer will people mistreat each other, and no longer will there be any mourning, crying, death, or pain.9
Most retailers and radio stations will have ceased to play Christmas music by the day after Christmas Day. Christians on the other hand get to enjoy Christmas music for eleven additional days, since Christmas is actually a twelve-day celebration that starts with December 25. As you listen to Christmas music this season, may you remember what happened in a stable in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, and may you contemplate what it means for all of us.
Notes:
- Wikipedia: "O Holy Night"
- Romans 8:22-23
- John 3:16-17; John 10:10b
- Luke 2:6-7
- Philippians 2:5-8
- Hebrews 4:15
- Mark 12:28-31
- John 13:34-35
- Revelation 21:3-4
Print
PDF
No comments:
Post a Comment