The Third Week of Advent - 2025

 One of the things I love most about Christmas is the music. I could listen to Christmas music all year round. The secular songs are fun, “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, “The Christmas Song”, “The Christmas Waltz”. But the sacred music, that is a whole other level. Have you ever wondered at the marvel of hearing “Silent Night” following “Let it Snow” or “Jingle Bells” in store music or on the radio? In a world where we see less and less of the sacred, during Christmas the sacred is all around us.

And what amazing music to be playing out and around us. Sacred Christmas music presents some of the most straight forward lyrics teaching theology. I wonder if people realize what they are hearing? It’s total bombardment of the heart of Christianity. And it’s playing all around us. People complain about Christmas trees in airports and red cups at Starbucks being too biased toward Christian Christmas, needing more balanced focus, including Kwanza and Hanukah. But somehow the music continues on. Once a year God’s message of our need and His solution, blare out for all to hear. Let’s look at some phrases.

From “O Little Town Of Bethlehem

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight…for Christ is born of Mary…How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in…O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.”

From “Joy to the World

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

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

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

From “Silent Night”

Silent night, Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord at thy birth;
Jesus Lord at thy birth.

From “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

“Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

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 us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

These lyrics resound with the true message of Christmas. God came to live with us, born of a young woman in a Bethlehem stable, as per an ancient prophecy. But, though miraculous, the birth wasn’t an end in itself. He came to take our place. God has demanded justice for sin – our brokenness. We are impotent in addressing that justice. We have tried to be better people, but “better” isn’t good enough, can never restore our relationship with God.  The Jewish tradition of animal sacrifice symbolized death as a requirement for that justice. But an animal sacrifice wasn’t sufficient either. The death required is our own. So God came Himself. 

The virgin birth was necessary since the passing of our sin nature from generation to generation comes from the male (Adam).  Conception without the sperm was necessary to have a human with no inherited sin nature, and with God, the Creator, that was no problem. Now we have God in flesh, Jesus the Christ, the long promised Messiah and Savior to the Jewish people. But they were expecting a King, not a baby, especially one born of such humble means. God never does what we expect. We are too limited in our imaginations. Jesus grew into manhood with one central purpose, to take on Himself the sins of the world. He would become the perfect Lamb of God. He came to die on that cross, then rise again, having scored the victory over sin and death.

What a staggering contrast from the beauty of Christmas – death on a cross. What an overshadowing event, the resurrection. Jesus came to die in our place. The acceptance of His sacrifice for us is seen in the resurrection. The work was finished; we have been redeemed! We celebrate Jesus’ birth because it ushers in, through that baby’s eventual death and resurrection, the gift of freedom from sin and its consequences.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Welcome to our World”, by Chris Rice. After hearing this song, I can’t separate Christmas from Easter. Rice begins with the manger, but goes quickly to the central message. Look at the baby in the manger and hear Rice’s words. “Fragile fingers sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn. Tiny heart whose blood would save us. Unto us is born.”

May we keep the full picture of the coming of Christ in mind throughout these crazy Christmas days. May our hearts find peace and hope, love and joy because we truly know the babe in the manger, God with us; God who came to die in our place that we could have restored relationship with Him. He “wrapped our injured flesh around Him” to “rob our sin and make us holy.” There is no better response than “Come into my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for You.”

 

“Welcome to Our World”

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile fingers sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Chris Rice from album “Deep Enough To Dream” Copyright: 1995 Clumsy Fly Music