It's the Christmas season! One of the unique aspects of this holiday season (and pleasant if you are a fan of Christmas) is that starting sometime toward the beginning of November all the way to the end of December almost every aspect of our culture is influenced or at least colored by Christmas. Trees get hung with bulbs and ornaments, houses get fun "icicle" lights, stores decorate with reds and greens, ugly sweaters come out, nativity scenes get setup, work places host parties, and children start practicing for festive productions at church and school.
But what sets the Christmas time apart the most is that all through the season we hear sounds of carols everywhere from radio stations to department stores and restaurants. Sure - those carols get mixed up with songs about Santa Clause, snowmen, reindeer, cozy fireplaces, and finding love in the winter, but the reality is that even in the most "secular" and even anti-God circles around the Western world we also hear songs celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. It always surprises me around to walk into a store or sit down at a restaurant around Christmas and have the music over the loudspeakers direct my thoughts to Scripture!
And as J.I. Packer explains in his book, Knowing God, the incarnation of God is an "unfathomable mystery... [that] makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains." Because if the baby born to Mary really was the immortal Son of God, then him living a perfect life would make sense, and (as Packer continues) it would be no problem at all that his death:
"should have significance for a doomed race. Once we grant that Jesus was divine, it becomes unreasonable to find difficulty in any of this; it is all a piece and hangs together completely."
It is good to sing Christmas carols for this reason. They are so much more than holiday songs or jingles: they are echoes of hope for all mankind. They point us back to the wonderful good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came long ago to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10) - which includes you and me! Carols are like gifts containing the gospel that end up under almost every tree because they are wrapped up in common-looking paper and tied with colorful bows.
For many centuries believers around the world have been singing carols, reminding us that the gospel we know isn't just for our modern era but transcends time and culture. What we call "Christmas music" actually started (at least) as ancient folk songs that made their way into medieval Europe. Then they were translated out of Latin into other languages, making their lyrics accessible to everyone. Later during the Victorian era of the 19th century, people celebrated Christmas publicly by singing carols door-to-door. Now still today when we sing carols we are continuing these powerful traditions by proclaiming a timeless message of hope, love, joy, and peace found in Jesus in a way that unites all of us.
For example, when we sing "O Come O Come Emmanuel," we are singing 12th century lyrics that were translated into English in the 18th century by J. M. Neale. If you look closely at the verses, you will see the plight and desperation of the Old Testament believers that is responded to by the promise given to them in the chorus. In the first verse we sing:
"O come, O come, Immanuel
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear"
And in the third verse we sing:
"O come, O come, great Lord of might
who to your tribes on [Mount] Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe"
Then the chorus or refrain of the song points us to the promise of the prophesied Messiah:
"Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel"
Similarly, in the poem, “What Child is This,” (set to the tune of another song called “Greensleeves”), the author W. Chatterton Dix asks a question in the verses that he answers in the chorus. In the first verse he poetically asks (starting with a despondent minor chord):
“What Child is this, who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?”
Then the chorus answers (starting with a joyous major chord):
“This, this is Christ, the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary!”
Another example is the song "Silent Night," written by the Catholic priest named Joseph Mohr in 1818 and later translated into English by an Episcopal priest named J. Freeman Young. This songs narrows our focus in on the nativity by contrasting the dark, quiet night of Jesus's birth with the bright, thunderous announcement by the angels to the shepherds. We sing in the first verse:
"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace"
But then (as if Heaven has just opened up) we sing in the second verse:
"Silent night, holy night
Darkness flies, all is light
Shepherds hear the angels sing
"Alleluia! hail the King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born"
Then verse three and four drive home the point of the diety of Jesus with phrases like "Son of God, love's pure light," "Radiant beams from Thy holy face," "Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth," "With the angels let us sing alleluia to our King," and "Christ the Savior is born."
Again - how amazing is that that these songs which clearly declare the foundational Christian doctrine of the incarnate birth can be heard everywhere during the Christmas season! They remind us that there was a day that an angel said to a group of shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-14, ESV). And for Christians who are really paying attention, this music gives us a wonderful opportunity to shine the light of our faith even more as the "good news of great joy" (Luke 2:10) is being declared wherever we go.
But we also need to hear an important warning: because the carols that we sing every year are so familiar and the festivities so distracting, we cannot allow Christmas to become a time of tradition at the expense of our worship. Christians need to remember that this is not a time to set our worship aside, as if singing carols gives us a break from praise until we put away our tree.
On the contrary, may the seasonal melodies, whether sung by us, our children, church choirs, or celebrities on YouTube enrich our worship, not take away from it. May our heart "prepare him room." May we join the many generations before us in celebrating the birth of our Savior with renewed joy and gratitude. And may we join the angels who once declared,“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14, ESV).
Photo Credit: @Getty Images/ Frank Herholdt
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