Every December, something strange happens in our churches.
We sing songs that we haven’t sung in a year and we confidently sing words we’ve been singing since childhood.
But here is what happens sometimes… I know it does when we’re kids and sometimes it happens when we’re older.
We get half way through the song, we’re thinking, “Wait—what does that even mean?”
We sing about newborn kings, weary worlds rejoicing, ransom souls, heavenly hosts, and stars that somehow know things. Next week, we’re going to talk about a little lamb that could talk.
And we sing these words loudly and with conviction. Sometimes not on pitch… but always with confidence.
You see… Christmas songs are more than tradition. They’re more than nostalgia. A lot of them are basically sermons set to music.
Long before some people ever open a Bible, people are hearing theology set to music.
These songs talk about some deep truths about who Jesus is, why He came, and what His coming means for us right now.
So… In this series—“What Did I Just Sing? – Christmas Edition” we’ve been taking a closer look at some of the most familiar Christmas songs, and uncover the powerful biblical truths hidden in plain sight.
My hope is that by the time this series is over, you won’t just sing these songs louder you’ll sing them with deeper understanding, stronger faith, and a renewed sense of wonder at the miracle of Christmas.
Basically… my hope is that the next time you open your mouth to sing, you won’t be guessing at what you’re singing… You’ll know exactly what you just sang… and why it matters.
Can we be honest for just a second? How many of you like the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”? Raise your hands.
I do not! Now… there is one version however that I find very entertaining. It’s when John Denver was on the Muppet Show back in the 70’s. Anybody remember this?
Each Muppet got it’s own day and they went through the whole thing and Miss Piggy was “Five Golden Rings”. And she would sing it in her dramatic Miss Piggy way…
Fozzy Bear kept forgetting his part on the 7 Swans a swimmin’. Finally, Miss Piggy draws out a really long “5 Golden Rings” and then they would do the “buh dunt dunt dunt” after her part.
By the end of the song, the whole song gang is doing the buh dunt dunt dunt”. Anyway, best version of this song I’ve ever heard. (Well, 2nd best… now that our worship team has done it)
Anyway, that is our song for the week in our Christmas Series, “What Did I Just Sing?” We kicked it off a couple of weeks ago by looking at the song, “Mary, Did You Know?”
We learned that Maryd “did know” some things… especially what the prophets foretold. There were also some things that she didn’t know… like Jesus walking on water, healing the blind, and raising the dead.
And I think there were some things that she knew but was absolutely blown away when they happened, like His death, burial, and resurrection.
Then last week, Kendall did a great job with the song O Holy Night and just how theologically rich that old song is. It is truly my favorite Christmas carol.
Today, we look at the 12 Days of Christmas and think, “what in the world is that all about?”
Now most of us know this song as a fun, over-the-top, gift list that someone has given his true love for Christmas.
I mean what does every girl want for Christmas? Birds… right? A partridge, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 calling birds, 6 geese… and they’re a layin’ so there’s gonna be more… 7 swans.
It looks to me like the true love… might have an opportunity to start her own aviary.
As I look at this list of gifts… to the human… it appears as if the 5 golden rings might be the only thing on the list that the true love might actually want.
Now… if the two turtle doves were Dove Chocolates… then maybe… but let’s look at this seemingly odd song
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree
And this continues to go on for 11 more days and each day, as you know… the recipient of the gifts gets the number of gifts that is equivalent to the day.
2nd day – 2 turtle doves, 3rd day – 3 french hens, 4th day – 4 calling birds. You ever ask yourself, what in the world is going on here?
Well, according to some research "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was first published as a rhyme without music in England around 1780 in a children's book called Mirth Without Mischief.
Most believe that this originated from an older French folk song and intended as a memory game. The popular melody we know today, however, wasn't added until 1909 by English composer Frederic Austin.
But a popular Christian reading sees the song as a kind of “code,” where each gift points to a core truth of the faith, helping believers remember what God has given in Christ.
Whether or not that was the original intent, each day helps us to remember a way to walk through the gospel and invite people to receive God’s gifts that He has given.
So here is the first thing that I think we can pull from this song. Again, I don’t know if this song was written to portray biblical truths, but it is certainly a way that we can remember some important things concerning our faith.
1. God is the giver of the gifts.
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree
Many believe that the true love in this song, who is giving all these gifts, is God. And that the very first phrase that we just read is a representation of John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God is the most pure and truest love that we can know, and He gave us His Son, Jesus… or in this case, “a partridge” to die on the cross or “a pear tree”.
So as we sing this song or hear this song, we think, God… who is love… gave me His Son to die on the cross for my sins.
One thing I like to do with younger kids who are thinking about making a decision for Christ and being baptized is to take John 3:16 and write their names in the blanks.
I used to do this all the time as a youth minister and today… I’m going to put on my old youth minister cap on and have you do this.
I get to pretend that I am a youth minister today and you get to pretend like you are young. Write your name in the blanks in your bulletin.
For God so loved _______ that he gave his one and only Son, that if ________ believes in him _______ shall not perish but have eternal life.
I think this helps to personalize this incredible gift that God has given us. Or we could visualize it like this.
Imagine this nicely wrapped gift that has a gift tag on it that says to you from God. This is kind of what it’s like.
And then the writer of this song goes on with day after day after day of these extravagant gifts. And they were extravagant years ago.
And it wouldn’t be cheap today either… We’re probably not going to on Amazon and order any of these gifts… but if you did try to buy these things today it would cost…. $218,542.98
Again, but it’s a reminder of James 1:17 that says…
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
Now… before we get into the rest of these gifts, we need to understand that at the heart of this song I think… and at the heart of the gospel is that we have a God who took the first step in establishing a relationship with us.
It’s God who first reaches out to us. It’s God who gives over and over and over to us. And the reason He does this is so we will want to have a relationship with Him.
He gave us His very best when He gave us His Son to die for our sins.
When you love someone, you want to give something that you know that your loved one wants… and a lot of times… that want is also something that is needed.
What we needed the most was a Savior… and God sent us Jesus and He just hopes that we will want that gift and accept it. God did not hold back anything for us.
There’s an old saying from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that goes something like this.
“Salvation is free, but it wasn’t cheap.”
It makes me think of the husband who went shopping right before Christmas to get something for his wife for Christmas. He goes to the perfume counter of the department store and walks up to the lady working there and says…
I want to get my wife some perfume so she pulls out a 4 ounce bottle of some really nice stuff that was $125 and he said, “that’s a little more than I was wanting to spend.”
So the lady comes back with a 2 ounce bottle and said, “this one is $75. To which he replied, “That’s still a bit much for my budget.”
By this time the lady at the counter is getting annoyed and she returned with a really small bottle that was a little less than an ounce and said, “this is $45”.
“You know,” he said, “What I mean is that I’d like to see something really cheap.” So the clerk handed him a mirror.
There is nothing cheap about what God has done for us. And it’s more than just a 12 day period like the song. It’s even more than the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Celebrating Christmas was never meant to be just this one emotional spike at the end of our calendar year. In the life of the believer… it should be a year-round celebration.
What God has done for us is not only for this lifetime… it’s for all of eternity.
2. The gifts are intended to shape our faith.
So we already dealt with the partridge in a pear tree being Jesus on the Cross. So according to most people in the know, here is what the rest of the gifts represent.
The 2 doves represent the Old Testament and the New Testament…. Each telling of one story of salvation. In it, we see Jesus is promised, then He came, and He’s coming again.
The 3 French hens represent faith, hope, and love.
Trust who God is and what He has done. Be confident in God’s promises. And learn to treat others the way God would.
The 4 calling birds represent the four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were “calling out” the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are not vague ideas; they are witnessed, written, and proclaimed so people can believe.
The 5 golden rings represent the first five books of the Bile (the Pentateuch)
God’s story of creation, the fall, the covenant, and the promise sets the stage for Christ and shows a God who keeps His word. This is the golden ring of the covenant.
The 6 geese a laying represent the 6 days of creation.
The 7 swans a swimming represent 7 gifts of the Spirit.
The 8 maids a milking represent the 8 beatitudes.
The 9 ladies dancing represent the 9 fruits of the Spirit.
The 10 lords a leaping represent the 10 commandments.
The 11 pipers piping represent the 11 faithful apostles.
The 12 drummers drumming represent 12 points of the Apostles Creed
So… when we start to look at the song in this way… whether it was the intent or not… it doesn’t really matter… when we look at it through this code…
it moves from this silly list of gifts that no one today would ever buy… to this reminder of what God has done for us and just how much He loves us.
For just a moment, let’s go back to this gift from God idea.
If you saw this gift under your tree, would you be excited about it? Would you open it? Would you accept it?
You see here’s the deal. The gift of salvation comes from God, and then He continues to give to us regularly.
He has given us His Holy Spirit and given us spiritual gifts that shape our faith and who we are.
God gives us spiritual gifts not just to do ministry… but to deepen our faith.
Every time we use what He’s placed in us, our trust in Him grows… our dependence increases, and our faith becomes stronger and more alive.
It’s one thing to believe God can use people… it’s another thing to watch Him use you.
When we step out and exercise the gifts God has given us, our faith grows because we see God working through ordinary lives. Faith matures when belief turns into obedience.
And… God didn’t give spiritual gifts just for personal fulfillment; He gave them to build up the body of Christ. As we serve others with our gifts, our faith is strengthened by seeing how God uses us to meet real needs and bring real encouragement.
So… when you are using your spiritual gift it’s kind of like Christmas. There is this gift exchange going on if you will. Actually, when I think about it… it’s like… re-gifting.
God has given you a gift and you use that gift to pour into others. But here is the reality…
3. The gift has to be accepted to do you any good.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: You can have the gift under the tree… and still miss out on what’s inside.
Whether it’s the gift of salvation that you haven’t accepted yet… or whether it’s using the Spiritual gifts that you know God has placed inside of you… if has to be used to do any good.
You can know all about the song and still not know the Savior.
You can know the lyrics, know the symbols, know the theology… and never actually receive what God is offering.
You can have the gift of teaching or preaching or service or encouragement or hospitality… but if it just sits there… what good is it?
Because a gift, no matter how valuable it is, does nothing for you until it’s accepted.
Think about it… if there’s a beautifully wrapped gift sitting under your tree with your name on it, from someone who loves you, but you never open it…
It doesn’t warm you. It doesn’t change you. It doesn’t bless you.
It just sits there.
And spiritually speaking, that’s where some people live.
Jesus has been given. Grace has been offered. Forgiveness has been purchased. Eternal life has been made available.
But the gift is still unopened.
The Bible says in Romans 6:23,
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice the language…it’s a gift.
It’s not a wage… that you had to earn. You couldn’t do that anyway.
It’s not a reward because of how awesome you are. Compared to God our righteousness is filthy rags.
It’s not something you earn by being good enough or religious enough.
But like any gift, it must be received.
That’s why John 1:12 says,
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Some people admire the wrapping. Some people study the tag.
Some people even tell others, “That’s a really nice gift God gave.”
But God isn’t asking us to admire it.
He’s inviting us to receive it.
And for believers in the room, this point still matters.
Because accepting the gift isn’t just a one-time Christmas-morning moment… it’s a way of life.
Every day we choose whether we will live out of what God has given us:
Will I trust His Word? Will I live by faith, hope, and love? Will I walk in the Spirit? Will I obey His commands? Will I share what I’ve received?
The song keeps repeating the gifts day after day after day—and maybe that’s the reminder we need. God keeps giving… and we’re called to keep receiving.
So here’s the question I want to leave you with today:
Is the gift just near you…or has it been received by you?
Because the greatest tragedy of Christmas isn’t rejecting the gift.
It’s leaving it sit there unopened.
And the greatest joy of Christmas is realizing that the gift with your name on it— from God— was never meant to sit under the tree. It was meant to change your life.
