Christmas time means Christmas carols, so you can expect to find yourself involuntarily exposed to Christmas carols performed with varying qualities over the next few weeks as you do your weekly shop, or attend some end-of-year work functions. Embrace it, I say!
Christmas carols that make reference to the Christian faith are some of the most evocative and superbly written hymns in the church’s rich history. One of the best, and one worth trying to find lyrics for, is ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’. In this brilliantly crafted piece, we have more detail about who Jesus is, and why he came to be born in Bethlehem than you will find in many theological books. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see” says one of the lines, explaining how God went to extraordinarily drastic measures to reveal himself to us. “Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die” says another, highlighting how Jesus put aside his power and submitted to the will of his Father, becoming a human being born in the shabbiest conditions, just so we might have eternal life. The powerful words reveal an amazing truth, and the music helps to lift us into this incredible spiritual reality.
There are many more deeply poetic passages from the dozens of other brilliant carols. I’d encourage you to attend the Concordia Carol Service in a few weeks’ time (Monday 9 December, 7pm in the Chapel), and put on a playlist at home to keep the Christmas cheer going. You will discover that when Christians sing ‘Glory to God in the Highest’ we ‘join the triumph of the skies’ with a choir of angels and all the citizens of heaven. In fact, the more you unpack every carol, the more you will appreciate just how great a fuss has been made over the birth of a baby – something that on the surface seems so very ordinary – to the point that this birth now divides history into time ‘before’ and time ‘after’.
God likes hiding his glory in seemingly ordinary packages and I have enjoyed discovering God at work among us here at Concordia this year. Christmas reminds us that God is desperate to reveal himself to all of us and that he requires no special lodgings – a stable, a manger, or our hearts will suit him just fine.
Enjoy the run-up to Christmas and the celebrations of this festive time.
Dale Gosden
College Pastor