Christmas music conjures up mixed emotions. For some, the sooner it starts playing, the better. For others, please don’t even bother. And then many of us fall somewhere in the middle. Personally, I enjoy and appreciate most Christmas music. I can listen to Harry Connick, Jr., Elvis, Mannheim Steamroller, Amy Grant, a good jazz ensemble, or the Brooklyn Tabernacle. I’m pretty universal. I’m okay with listening once we get past Thanksgiving, but I do prefer to have other music sprinkled in between. And I definitely don’t want to hear any Christmas music starting December 26th. So when Pastor Kris announced that the preaching series for Christmas would be carols of the season I remained cautiously optimistic.
The first week we learned about Hark, The Herald Angels Sing. References to the birth story from Matthew and Luke, along with verses from John about “I AM”, were mingled in with Old Testament mentions in Micah. He made it fun and educational by stating that it would have been a marketing nightmare (a multitude of performers for a few night shift workers).
The second week we learned about Joy to the World. The word joy is used 300+ times in the Bible. Verse one tells us that there’s joy when the King is received (the focus is on King Jesus). Verse two says there’s joy when the Savior reigns. Verse three shows us joy when the sinner repents. And verse four displays joy when the truth rules with grace. I’ll never sing, “Repeat the sounding joy” the same ever again.
And yesterday we looked at O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We can find evidence of these words being used as far back as the 8th or 9th century by Benedictine monks. Wow! There were originally seven verses (one for each day). This carol clearly speaks to both the first advent and the second. While Old Testament verses often speak of the anticipation of the birth of Jesus, we now find ourselves celebrating his birth while also longing for His return. We looked at four of the verses that give us the messianic names of Jesus: Emmanuel (longing for deliverance), Day-Spring (longing for light), Rod of Jesse (longing for hope), and King of Nations (longing for peace). Isn’t it incredible to think that the King of Nations came as a weak, small, frail, 7 lb package? But then in Revelation 19:15-16 we see Him as the Conquering King. The important question is this: Do you know Him? Because if you do, you should REJOICE! REJOICE!
Those three weeks intrigued me enough to do a little searching on my own. The first song that came to my mind (because it was on the radio) was O Holy Night. It’s a pretty fantastic history.
In 1847 (in a French town) there was a man by the name of Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure. Apparently he was known for his poetry writing, but not necessarily for his attendance at church. A local priest asked him to write a poem for Christmas mass, which he did. He subsequently sought out Adolphe Charles Adams to set the poem to music. Ironically (or not), Adams was a Jewish man (so he likely didn’t celebrate Christmas). The song became somewhat popular in France. However, history indicates that Placide Cappeau left the church to follow a socialist group, people figured out that Adams was a Jew, and the Catholic church leaders determined that the song was unfit for services. It was so well-liked, that French citizens continued to sing it outside the church. Some years later, John Sullivan Dwight (an abolitionist) was struck by the third verse: “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”. Dwight proceeded to publish his English version of “O Holy Night” (which was especially popular during the Civil War). There are additional stories that speak to a temporary cease-fire in the Franco-Prussian War while soldiers came out of the trenches to sing on Christmas Eve 1871. This story prompted the Catholic church to reintroduce the song in Christmas services. Finally, on Christmas Eve in 1906, Reginald Fessenden did the unthinkable. He spoke into a microphone and for the first time in history, man’s voice came across airwaves; he read the Christmas story from the Bible. After finishing his reading, he played his violin; the first song ever heard over radio waves was O Holy Night.
I think it’s safe to say that I have a new appreciation for Christmas music. I don’t remember who said this (so credit to whoever they are), but it stuck with me: Sincere worship always looks like longing. It may sound super lame (and even a little embarrassing), but I’m not sure that I considered Christmas music to be worship. But when I stop to meditate on and consider all of the words to these songs, clearly my posture should be worship. The rest of my week will be spent in altered reflection of many things. Maybe you’ll join me.
Luke 2:14 ~ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.