Singing Through the Season
People write
poetry about things that create wonder and awe. Their imaginations are sparked
and beautiful words are placed in rhyming relationship with one another. In
metrical cadence, they perform the task of drawing the reader to share in contemplation
and meditation. They seek to capture the experience, to share it, and to let
the event happen to the reader through words that are written, read (aloud or
silently), or even sung.
The
Christmas season is a time of wonder which has inspired poetry; both sacred and
secular. The sentiment and hope of the season leads us to ponder holy mysteries
that confront us and lead us to comfort and joy, silence and trumpeting, as
well as meditation and celebration. Such emotions, deliberations, and outbursts
of worship are recorded in the hymns of the season, which preach God’s Word to
us in poetry that has been set to music and handed down from generation to
generation to us.
The
devotions I will be posting in the following days draw on the poetry of God’s
people. Somewhere in time, the authors of these hymns considered the
anticipation of Jesus’ birth, the call to repentance, the need for a Savior,
and the coming of that Savior and poured their thoughts and feelings out in
lyrical poems. These are gifts which give us words to worship our newborn king,
as well as prepare our hearts to come before our God. It is my prayer that the
Spirit of God will use this poetry anew to prepare us to encounter the God who
comes to us in human flesh, who was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Come
and adore the newborn king who is Immanuel, who came to rescue us from sin and
death, and to comfort us and give us hope.
The culture races toward Christmas. It hurries into the
season rushing to lights, gift giving, celebrating, sweets, and Santa. And, why
not? There is a feeling in this season of goodwill, joy, and general gladness.
Who wouldn’t want more of that? Christmas lightens the spirit and fills people
with joy.
Of
course, not everyone experiences the Christmas season that way. There are those
who are haunted by the darkness and cold of the world – sometimes because
they’ve had real darkness and bitter cold experiences. They know their loved
one won’t be home for Christmas. They expect a “Blue Christmas,” and not the
“White Christmas” so many dream about.
The
truth is that life is a mix of these things. There is joy and sorrow. There is
light and dark. They meet this time of year. That is part of the beauty of the
season. The mystery of the season is that God enters that mix. He walks in it.
Speaks into it. Dwells among us. Jesus is the, “light that shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1:5)
The
world celebrates all of this as Christmas. In the church, however, we have two
seasons. We begin with Advent – a time to ponder and prepare for Christ’s
coming. Advent is a time to consider who we are in relationship to God – to see
our sin, to confess, repent, and to hold on to the hope that God sends a
savior. In addition, when the world is done with Christmas on December 25, we
are just getting started with twelve days of Christmas in which we celebrate
Jesus’ birth. Those twelve days end with Epiphany, when we remember the Wise
Men visiting and worshiping Jesus.
There is
darkness and light in this season. There is cold and warmth. The hymns that
form the devotions that begin tomorrow are the cries of faith from people who
lived in the reality of season. The can help us to receive the coming savior
and celebrate the newborn king.
Father in heaven, as
we prepare to celebrate the birth of You Son, our Savior, Jesus we pray that
your will bless this season that is filled with darkness and light. Move our
hearts through the poetry of the our brothers and sisters in Christ who
celebrated this season long ago and let their songs help us to experience the
hopes and fears of all the years that meet in Jesus during this special season.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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