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I'm a fan of most Christmas songs, but the ten here are among my favorites because they mostly stick to the story yet offer intriguing ancient or new perspectives. There is nostalgia in my preferences, but I know that old songs stay alive because people have updated the lyrics and tunes. I hope these presentations originally used with the Surge kids' class have incremented your appreciation and joy in Christ Jesus our Savior.       "Joy to the World" is among the most loved of Christmas carols, but it quite lacks these proper Christmas markers and others like "baby", "sheep", "manger", and "star". The third verse claims that with the Lord's coming there will be no more sins, sorrows, and thorns. Is that the case? Jesus' words and work in Judea changed the world, but we still have sins, sorrows, and thorns. The fourth verse claims that, "He rules the world with truth and grace". We don't see this yet. To riff another Christmas song, "And in despair I bowed my head; There is no peace on earth, I said; For hate is strong, And mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good will to men." Such shortages have led some to consider "Joy to the World" to be only a little about Christmas. It's more about celebrating Christ's next coming. Try that perspective as we now review the lyrics. It's also about his coming every day into the lives of all who will receive their King. It is a multi-dimensional song. "Joy to the World" is a song for all seasons.         The vibrant background images here are by our contemporary, artist John August Swanson.  We love "Silent Night" because a silent night is hard to find now. Yet Bethlehem at Christ's birth was crazy loud compared to other spots of that time. What was the noise in Bethlehem?
Mr. Bean shows how hard it is to have a Silent Night. Any night in any little town two thousand years ago is bound to be peaceful compared to our noise of planes, trains, automobiles, alarms, heating and cooling machinery, and unceasing electronic encouragement. Stop. Reflect. "Rest beside the weary road." We need a silent night.   
Many of us had our first public performance with this carol.
Away In a Manger
"Shepherds were in the fields nearby watching over their flocks by night." But no creatures are featured at the Bethlehem location of Jesus' birth. If a shepherd shouldered a sheep to carry to Bethlehem, he likely intended to offer a sleepy sacrifice to the newborn King. Baaah! But lack of Biblical Bethlehem beasts has not stopped artists from including them. What's a manger without moos, or a cradle without camels? I sampled the oldest art to see which animals are most frequent. Get out your pencil and keep score in the following slide show.
(Above, there may be rocks, marshmallows, or animals in the background.)
Again, check out the distant background.
Some have taken issue that although, "The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes", nevertheless "little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." A non-crying baby? Is that a miracle or a mistake?
Be of good cheer. The song does not say Jesus never ever cried. The Bible notes that Jesus got hungry, that Jesus got thirsty, and that Jesus wept. Yet Jesus demonstrated extraordinary calm in a storm-tossed boat and before dangerous people. Psalm 50 has the LORD speaking: Every animal of the forest is already mine. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine. I know every bird on the mountains, and every living thing in the fields is mine. As a farmboy, I heard cattle get excited and bellow. A cow that is lost, hungry, alarmed, or in love isn't afraid to say so. A lowing cow says, more than most reports I know, that, "All is calm, all is bright." Plausibly, there were cattle or oxen near their manger. Plausibly, baby Jesus found their words quite charming moo'd music. Every kid should have a cow. 
    400 years ago, you might greet an agitated friend with, "God rest ye merry!" Meaning: "Don't worry, be happy," or more expansively, "May God give you not just calm, but may the Almighty grant you happy and pleasant relief from your fears." Assignment: Try greeting someone, "God rest ye merry!" Diction: Two out of three Americans do not distinguish Mary, marry, and merry in speaking. Try it. "Mary, pledged to marry Joseph, could rest merry." That pedantic non-comformist show-off will use the same respective vowel sounds as in, "ask", "met", and "air".  Mary's Trust In God, From Luke Chapter 1 “Mary was shocked by the angel's message. She wondered what his words meant. The angel said to her, ‘Don't be afraid, Mary! God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was. He will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!’ ‘I am the Lord's servant,’ said Mary. ‘May it happen to me as you have said.’” Verse 2  Verse 3    Verse 4  Verse 5  Verse 6   Luke chapter 2 “When the shepherds had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Verse 7   
"So the shepherds went quickly
and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a feeding trough." 
The slides and videos in this series come from recent exploration of "The Upper Room Rockers" concerning classic Christmas carols. We touch on the often surprising origins of these songs, their use of what's in the Bible, and their guesses beyond what's in the Bible. Today's entry is: "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing".
Question: What is a "herald"?
Hints: 
In 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" changed all the words to "loo".
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. - Paul, in his letter to the Philippians 
What do you call these lines coming out of the sun?
Here is another name for them. 
  “The first Noel” In English, we say “Merry Christmas!” In the French language, one would say: “Joyeux Noël!” We don’t know who wrote the words or music for "The First Noel". This carol is certainly over 200 years old and probably much older. The first Noel the angel did say, Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay. In fields where they, lay keeping their sheep, On a cold winter's night that was so deep. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel: Born is the King of Israel! What can you rhyme with "sheep"?
 They look-ed up and saw a star, Shining in the east beyond them far, And to the earth it gave great light, And so it continued both day and night. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel: Born is the King of Israel!  Then entered in those Wise men three, Fell reverently upon their knee, And offered there in His presence, Their gold and myrrh and frankincense. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel: Born is the kind of Israel!  The final verse contains no guesses! Then let us all with one accord, Sing praises to our heavenly Lord, Who hath made heaven and earth of naught, And with his blood mankind has bought! Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel: Born is the King of Israel!  In this advent time the Surge kids' program has been exploring how Christmas carols remind us about Christ. The best of these carols connect temporary tinsel with timeless truths. Each of my next few postings will demonstrate this claim using some of the slides and video clips presented and discussed by our "upper room rockers". Come visit us!  All Christmas carols sprinkle more or less glitter on the Bible story. Many add farm animals such as those shown above. If you check the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke, you'll find sheep mentioned—but in the fields, not in Bethlehem. A donkey, cattle, camels, and doves are guesses about creatures present at the manger. Were they there? A Christmas pageant features these creatures. However, the Bible just doesn't say if they were at the manger. Maybe they were there. Maybe not. No less creatively, our friends in Australia note their visitors to the Lord of All Creation. Why not?   Joseph as Jedi? Glitter. Sparkle. Guesses. Here is our first classic carol. Can you spot any guesses?   The small darkened town inspired Phillips Brooks to write a poem about the quietness of Christ's birth: O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.  For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond'ring love. O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth! And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.  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. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!  Phillips Brookes wrote the words to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. Three years later just before Christmas, he asked Lewis Redner, an organist at his church, to come up with music for these words. But Lewis had trouble. In his own words....  “As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the tune to it.…. On the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. But I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear.” “I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas of 1868.” |
Our Writers:At The Surge we love doing things together... that includes writing a blog! Here are a few of our main contributing authors: Greg JohnsonJesus++ Anna Mari GreenEnjoys being busy and trying lots of new things. But she loves Jesus, her family, good food, photography, and travel Dwaine DarrahOur fearless leader, and Lead Pastor at The Surge. His experience in counter terrorism with the CIA prepared him for ministry and he likes dogs and babies even more than E does. EE (short for Eric Reiss) is the XO / Wingman at The Surge and likes dogs, music, Mexican food, his wife Karen and his daughter Evangeline... not necessarily in that order. Archives
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