CHRISTMAS EVE 2005
December 24, 2005
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
Luke 2:1-14
“The Music of Christmas”
“When he awoke, the song was there.
Its melody beckoned and begged him to sing it.
It hung upon the wind and settled in the meadows where he walked.
He knew its lovely words and could have sung it all, but feared to sing a song whose harmony was far too perfect for human ear to understand.
And still at midnight it stirred him to awareness, and with its haunting melody it drew him with a curious mystery to stand before an open window.
In rhapsody it played among the stars.
It rippled through Andromeda and deepened Vega’s hues.
It swirled in heavy strains from galaxy to galaxy and gave him back his very fingerprint.
‘Sing the Song!’ the heavens seemed to cry. ‘We never could have been without the melody that you alone can sing.’
[from The Singer by Calvin Miller, p.6 ]
The Gospel of Luke is the most musical of the gospels. It begins as if it were an ancient history book, but at the first announcement of Jesus’ birth, Mary breaks out in song, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (1:46-47). The church calls Mary’s song, the Magnificat. When Zechariah the priest is told that his wife Elizabeth will bear the one we know as John the Baptist, he too breaks out in song, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people…” (1:68). At the birth of Jesus, a chorus of the heavenly host responds in song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom God is pleased” (2:14).
At Christmas time, we sing carols because we recognize that music is our best response to the mystery of God made visible in a baby. Praise set to melody and musical harmony best expresses the joy of our hearts.
“Before the song all music came like muted, empty octaves begging a composer’s pen. The notes cried silently for paper staves and kept their sound in theory only.
In the beginning was the song of love.
Alone in empty nothingness and space
It sang itself through vaulted halls above
Reached gently out to touch the Father’s face.
And all the tracklessness where the worlds would be
Cried ‘Father’ through the aching void. Sound tore
The distant chasm, and eternity
Called back – ‘I love you Son – sing Troubadour.’
His melody fell upward into joy
And climbed its way in spangled rhapsody.
Earthmaker’s infant stars adored his boy,
And blazed his name through every galaxy.
‘Love,’ sang the Spirit Son and mountains came.
More melody, and life began to grow.
He sang of light, and darkness fled in shame
Before a universe in embryo.”
[ibid., pp. 37-38]
Calvin Miller’s story, The Singer, begins before creation and continues with creation. Miller’s story is set out like poetry because poetry makes melody out of words. The Magnificat of Mary was set to music by the church. Zechariah’s song was only words until the church provided the melody and named it the Benedictus. The angel’s praise at the birth of Jesus became the Gloria in Excelsis. Beautiful words such as these deserve musical accompaniment; they deserve to be sung.
Miller comments, “In hell there is no music – an agonizing night that never ends as songless as a shattered violin” (p. 69).
Over a hundred years ago, Episcopal priest and later Bishop Philips Brooks broke out in song, and the world has been singing with him ever since. “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie…” [Hymn #79]. A century earlier, Charles Wesley composed, “Hark! The herald angels sing glory to the new-born king!” and the world has been singing with him ever since. In the days of Wesley, another hymnist caused the world to sing, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem…” [#83]. On this, the most splendid of nights, we sing, because we don’t know a better way to extol the wonders of this child born in Bethlehem.
When Jesus was born, did He hear the music? It was everywhere, how could He not? If you will listen intently enough, you too can hear it. Even when we aren’t singing, someone is. All of creation sings in praise at the angel’s message: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:14).
Philips Brooks understands this birth. This child born to Mary is the Savior of the world, and so Brooks writes for us to sing, “O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.” Yes, this is the glorious message of Christmas! Unto us is born the Savior. He is the One whom God sent to deliver us from our sins. It is our sins that separate us from our God who is without sin. Jesus is the sinless one who alone can deliver us because He alone is good enough. As Philips Brooks understands, Jesus in the crib already points to Christ on the cross.
Charles Wesley understands this birth. Wesley writes for us to sing, “Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth” [Hymn # 87]. Jesus is the chosen one, the Christ, sent by God to carry out among us the work that only God could do. God comes as Jesus to be our Messiah; He was “born to give us second birth,” a spiritual birth that draws us back to God. Jesus did not remain in the safety and security of heaven remote from us. He entered our world and took on our human nature. Jesus became one of us so that He could best show us the way back to our heavenly Father.
A third hymnist bids us, “O come, all ye faithful.” John Francis Wade invites us to come to Bethlehem to behold the “King of angels.” The refrain of Wade’s great hymn and carol is familiar to us: “O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.”
Jesus is declared Lord by the angelic messenger. Lord is a title of respect, something that would be said to a superior, like “sir.” It means master, teacher, leader, or, when it is applied to Jesus, it means God. The Hebrew Scriptures use the word Lord as a substitute for Yahweh, God’s name. Lord has already been used over a dozen times to this point in the Gospel of Luke to refer to God. The church applied this title to Jesus, and the earliest Christian creed was simply “Jesus is Lord.” The human Jesus is also the divine Lord. This is what all the singing is about.
Whether Jesus comes to us as a baby or a full-grown man, there is always both a challenge and an invitation for us. The challenge and invitation at Christmas are both given in the declaration of the angel: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Along with Mary and Joseph, angels and shepherds are the first to experience this good news of great joy. The shepherds are first caught in fear at the announcement of Jesus’ birth, but shortly afterwards they hurry over to Bethlehem to see what the angel was talking about.
We had a great time this Advent with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia that was the basis for the Narnia motion picture. In the first story of the chronicles, The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis tells us about the creation of Narnia and all the worlds of the universe. Lewis writes,
“In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing…. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once… It’s lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly a tune.
“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars… it was the First Voice, the deep one, which had made them appear and made them sing…
“The voice on earth was now louder and more triumphant; but the voices in the sky, after singing loudly with it for a time, began to get fainter…
“The eastern sky changed from white to pink and from pink to gold. The Voice rose, till all the air was shaking with it. And just as it swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound it had yet produced, the sun arose…
“The earth was of many colours: they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else.
“It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright it stood facing the rising sun. Its mouth was wide open in song…” [pp. 98-102]
The Lion is, of course, Aslan, the Christ figure of Lewis’ great extended allegory. Just as in Calvin Miller’s Singer, it is God the Son whose music calls the universe into being. When God’s Son is born into our world, the only proper response is music. But notice, that God’s work is not just sound. It is also visual.
In Jesus, the divine life has visibly entered our world, and through Him we are given divine light. As the Gospel of John instructs us about Jesus, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:4-5). In this baby, the majesty, dignity, grace and mercy of God shine out to the entire world. Jesus is the Savior, the Christ, the Lord.
The question is will we receive Jesus as our Savior, our Christ, our Lord? What is most important for us is that this Christ child who has been born into our world be birthed in us. He is the Savior, the Christ, the Lord. By our asking, He will come to us and be born in us, and He will be our Savior and Christ. By our wills cooperating with His Spirit in us, He can become our Lord. May this Christmas be for you not just another holiday, but a truly holy moment. It will be if this Christmas you encounter the living God who came into our world as an infant.
Our theme for our final Sunday of Advent was “Encounter the Power.” We do so when we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. You can have a personal encounter with the Savior, Christ and Lord of the Universe by simply praying and asking Him to enter your life. That is the most important prayer you will ever pray in your life.
If you’ve never prayed this way, do it tonight. Invite Jesus the Christ to be birthed in your heart. Accept Jesus the Savior as the only One who could pay the price for your sins. Resolve that you will live the rest of your days with Jesus as your Lord – your master, teacher and leader.
This is what Christmas is truly about.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
