Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Christmas Carol Series #1
(adapted from Michael Luke & Bob Russell)
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 2:8-20
INTRODUCTION:
The TEXT from Luke chapter 2 is a very familiar passage. Even people who never crack open the Bible had a chance to hear it in the Charley Brown Christmas Special where Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas by reading those verses.
The Christmas Carols we sang today are also very familiar to most people. Most of us sing Carols at least once a year --- usually in December for some reason… In fact, a lot of the Christmas Carols become so familiar that we sing them without really hearing what we’re singing. So for the next few weeks, I’m going to focus on the theology of a few familiar Christmas Carols. Today, we’ll look at HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING.
The tune for this classic song was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840. The words were written by Charles Wesley. Charles and his brother John Wesley were pioneers in the Methodist Church. In his life time Charles Wesley wrote over 6,500 hymns. This text, --- along with “Jesus, Lover of my Soul” --- are considered to be the finest hymn lyrics Wesley wrote.
And, in fact, HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING has sometimes been named the most popular hymn in the English language.
This hymn is based on the scripture from Luke chapter 2 where the Angels appeared to the shepherds. The first verse focuses on this unique BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT.
1. The 1st Stanza Focuses On THE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--“Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful all Ye Nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies.
With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.”
Consider with me, the two participants that are featured in the first stanza: The angels and the shepherds.
• ANGELS
It is fitting that this most important birth was proclaimed by Supernatural Beings. I’ve seen a lot of depictions of the Angelic Host, but I doubt any of them are quite accurate. Only the Shepherds could have painted an accurate portrait … but they were Shepherds, not Artists.
The Bible has a lot to say about Angels. In fact, Angels are mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. --- The way the Bible portrays Angels is very different from popular conceptions of feminine creatures with sweet faces, shining halos, and fragile wings.
Here is a Biblical Portrait of Angels:
o They are Spirit beings, created before mankind. They are a little higher than human beings with powers beyond human powers. They can appear and disappear in a moment.
o These beings serve and worship God voluntarily. We know this because one of the most beautiful and powerful angels --- Lucifer --- rebelled against God and led a Host of Angels who became what we call Demons.
o Angels can appear to human beings in many different forms.
Isaiah described them as having six wings and flying.
On some occasions, they appeared as Beings of overwhelming light. In fact, they almost always inspired awe and fear so that their first words had to be “Fear not…”
They sometimes appeared like ordinary men. In fact, the book of Hebrews describes Angels who look so much like normal human beings that people have entertained them without recognizing their supernatural identity.
Angels are most often sent as God’s Messengers, and the News they give is usually Good. In this case it was better than good. It was the best news that has ever been proclaimed. We don’t know how many Angels were in the choir that night. But the Bible says the Angels number, “Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands.” Revelation 5:11 And Luke said this was a great company of the Heavenly Hosts.
To the Shepherds, it must have been an astounding sight. But the Angels may have felt like this BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT was vastly understated. After all, this was the most significant event in all of human history. Like the 1st Stanza says, this Child had come to bring Peace on earth, and mercy mild. At last, it would be possible for God and sinners to be reconciled. It is no wonder that Wesley exclaimed: Joyful all Ye Nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.
The Angels must have wondered why this Great News was not proclaimed to all Nations of the World. Why didn’t God accompany the announcement with world-wide spectacles like thunder and lightening, meteor showers --- maybe a lunar eclipse and a few erupting volcanoes … anything to make the whole world take notice!
Instead God the Father sent an enormous Heavenly Choir to announce the BIRTH of HIS SON to a few motley shepherds in an obscure little field. No one does things that way! It would be like the British Royalty sending messengers to proclaim the birth of Prince Charles’ first-born son to a bunch of longshoremen loading crates on the docks … or inviting a few random cab drivers of London to come and see the royal baby.
• SHEPHERDS
So, who were these Shepherds to deserve such an honor? Well, they were your average, everyday, blue-collar working folks. And they did NOTHING to deserve the honor. In fact, that was the whole point.
Jesus came to save ordinary, average, everyday people. We can identify with those Shepherds because they were just like you and me. None of us deserve the Peace on Earth that Jesus offers. We are sinners who do not deserve to be reconciled to God. But it is to US --- regular old average “Joe’s” --- that this Good News is proclaimed.
This Christmas Carol does much more than tell about the Birth of Jesus. Like so many of Charles Wesley’s Hymns, this text is really a condensed course in Bible Doctrine in poetic form.
The first stanza announces the Birth of Jesus. The second verse tells about WHO JESUS WAS.
2. The 2nd Stanza Emphasizes WHO JESUS WAS
--“Christ by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the virgin’s womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail, the incarnate deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.”
Charles Wesley managed to pack four important truths about Jesus’
Identity into this one short verse. If we stop to look at each phrase, it is like a mini-course in Christology.
• His DEITY --“Christ by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord! John 1:1 says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• His VIRGIN BIRTH -- Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the virgin’s womb. Isaiah 7:14 prophesied: Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
• His INCARNATION --Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail, the incarnate deity. In John 1:14 we read: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• His HUMANITY --Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Hebrews 4:15 tells us: We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are --- yet was without sin.
Charles Wesley really packed a whollop into the few lines we just sang; showing us all that Jesus was both fully God and fully man.
Listen to what an English Hymnist named Eric Routley wrote concerning Wesley’s hymns, “These hymns were composed in order that men and women might sing their way, not only into experience, but also into knowledge; --- that the cultured might have their culture baptized, and the ignorant might be led into truth by the gentle hand of melody and rhyme.”
The final stanza gives a theology of what Jesus came to do for us. This is called Soterology, the study of Salvation.
3. The 3rd Stanza Teaches WHAT JESUS OFFERS
--“Hail the heaven born prince of peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild he lays his Glory by, born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.”
• Jesus brings LIGHT and LIFE: Light and life to all He brings… John 1:4 says of Jesus: In Him was life, and that life was the light of men… Some people believe that those who follow Jesus will be repressed, bored, and miserable. Nothing could be further from the truth. True life is found only in Him. And Jesus sheds light on the most vital issues of life. His Word truly is a light that guides us into a fulfilling life.
• Jesus brings HEALING: Risen with healing in His wings. I Peter 2:24 explains: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
• Jesus brings VICTORY OVER DEATH: Mild he lays his Glory by, born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.
I Corinthians 15:54-57: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? … Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Susan and I experienced the difference this VICTORY over death makes to a family this week as we gathered with her family at the gravesite of her brother, Jamey. Death is tragic. But the family did not grieve with despair and hopelessness. There was joy in the knowledge that Jesus Christ has conquered death, and that a better life awaits all of us who believe in Him.
When Jesus entered the world, everything changed. LIFE and LIGHT came to a dark world. DEATH was swallowed up in victory.
A man named Ralph Stockman put it this way: “The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.”
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, I want to look at two old-fashioned words that we find in this Christmas Carol. We shouldn’t be surprised to find some archaic language in this old Hymn. After all, Charles Wesley lived in the 1800’s. The words he used did not seem strange to singers back then. But even though we don’t use these words in every-day language any more, their meaning is relevant to our lives.
Look at the first word in this song. It jumps out at you: “Hark!” This word means PAY ATTENTION, or LISTEN! “Hark!” Is a word you shout in order to grab everyone’s attention. The song could start with the words: HEY, YOU! But that wouldn’t be quite as poetic. Jesus often said, “Let him who has ears to hear listen.” It does no good for God to speak if we will not listen.
The message of salvation has been proclaimed: Jesus has come. Salvation is yours if you want it. And the first thing we need to do is described by that one word: “Hark!” Are you listening to the voice of the Spirit today?
The second archaic word is “Hail!” Now, we’re not singing about hail storms… And this isn’t a Texan’s way of talking about that place where the Devil lives…
The word “Hail!” means to acclaim, salute, acknowledge. The Carol says: --“Hail the heaven born prince of peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!”
To Hail is to give the Worship that is due to the One who brings us Light, Life, Healing, and Eternal Salvation.
Today, will you Hearken to His words and Hail him as YOUR King and Savior?
Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the new-born king!
