Hey! Unto You a Child is Born!

Today, as I was taking a shower, Drew and Ellie Holcomb's cover of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" came on and naturally, being a Christmas song, I sang along. As I was singing along, a line in the song that I've sung a million times in my life really hit me in a way it never has before. It's the line "peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled." And it hit me what it was saying. God, the creator of everything that has ever been or ever will be and everything we have seen and haven't...and sinners, me, who is selfish, lustful, arrogant, lazy...every other negative thing you can probably come up with...reconciled. The song rang especially true today, especially after I made a fool of myself yet again.

But then I started thinking of Christmas songs in general. And I mean...Christmas songs that are actually Christmas songs. The ones that proclaim the coming of Christ. While there are a lot of good ones that don't have anything to do Christ, those don't really make me stop and think. And after thinking about it, it makes me kinda sad that we don't sing these songs year round. They proclaim truths that we constantly need to be reminded of.

I mean, think about it. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is one of them. "Joy to the World!" talks about earth receiving her king and hearts preparing him room. And one of the sucky parts about growing up Southern Baptist is that we either don't sing hymns anymore or skip out the third stanza of hymns, and just now am I seeing the third stanza of "Joy to the World." It goes like this:

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as, the curse is found

Whoa! That is phenomenal...the truth proclaimed here is just amazing. I mean, I really can't even put my thoughts into words right now. Think about this wicked, evil, screwed up world we live in. Shoot, think about yourself, and the crap in your own life. And here, with the coming of the Savior, the blessings flow as far as the curse of sin is found. Which is everywhere.

More than that, though..."O Come O Come Emmanuel." That one's pretty heavy. It proclaims a lot of the different names of Jesus, starting off with "Emmanuel" - God with us. Which kinda goes back to the theme of "Hark the Herald" - God dwelt among sinners. God...dwelt...among...sinners.

Think about "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - one of my all time favorites. It tells tells the story of the coming of Christ, and then encourages believers with "tidings of comfort and joy." Because that is the ultimate comfort - realizing that:

For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray

There's no other comfort in this entire world. That blows my mind.

And this - the poem that "O Holy Night" is based on...

Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour,
When God-man descended to us
To erase the stain of original sin
And to end the wrath of His Father.
The entire world thrills with hope
On this night that gives it a Savior.

People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.
Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer,
Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!

The ardent light of our Faith,
Guides us all to the cradle of the infant,
As in ancient times a brilliant star
Guiding the Oriental kings.
The King of Kings was born in a humble manger;
O mighty ones of today, proud of your grandeur,

It is to your pride that God preaches.
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:
The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.
He sees a brother where there was only a slave,
Love unites those that iron had chained.
Who will tell Him of our gratitude,
For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.

People stand up! Sing of your deliverance,
Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer,
Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer!

Man. I didn't even know that before I started doing a little research to write this. I mean...I'm speechless.

And there are more. Think about "Away in a Manger" or "Silent Night." Obviously there's Handel's "Messiah" and the "For Unto us a Child is Born" movement. The list goes on.

So I guess I am writing this just to encourage anyone who may be reading this to really think about the words to the songs you sing this Christmas. Realize that these are praise songs - songs that proclaim the birth of our Savior. It really blew my mind to sit down and think about it today. Listen to them, think about them, reflect on them...but don't just sing them because they're "seasonal" or whatever.

Finally, I can't ever experience this time of year without thinking of the glorious time I got to spend as Ralph Herdman in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and how much fun that was. I think my favorite part of the whole thing is when Gladys runs in, as the angel, and yells "HEY! UNTO YOU A CHILD IS BORN!"

Because ultimately, that's the message of Christmas. A series of events that would forever change everything. And it all started with that proclamation.

Merry Christmas!
-chanchan