If you’re anything like me, you can’t help but notice themes. Themes of the grand things, and those of the utterly trivial—both are perceived and pondered, often without relent. Perhaps I’m one of a loony few. Nevertheless, Christmas is one of the most thematic times of the year. Think about it. Lights, food, music, movies, décor, the sweet smell of gingerbread and sugar cookies wafting from the oven, cartons of egg nog lining the refrigerated section of the grocery store (if not the stomachs of its dedicated drinkers), even a generally more pleasant and charitable public readily depict the season. In fact, one might argue that if the stage were set just right, Christmas could be replicated in June or July almost as believably as it occurs in December, minus the temperatures…and snow-covered streets, for you Midwesterners.
The point is, every year, without fail, a thread of lightheartedness runs through fabric of our society post-Thanksgiving through the New Year, and people are happier. But why (my daughter and I are alike—we have to ask!)? There’s got to be a reason why almost everyone, believer in Jesus as God or not, has an uplifted spirit during the holidays. My answer is this: people are happier because people are hopeful. The Christmas season brings hope, by its original nature and intent, but also by society's secular crafting. We’re hopeful for the gift(s) we’re craving, we’re hopeful for the reunion with loved ones the holidays can secure, we’re hopeful for things as trite as time off from work (be honest!), and, some of us more than others, are hopeful for the culinary delights that for whatever reason only emerge during this particular season!
This year, I’ve recognized another Christmas theme. It, too, has to do with hope—though its object is fundamentally dissimilar from the aforementioned. In critically listening to the music of the season, particularly those Christmas hymns of yesteryear, it’s apparent they were referencing the hope of rescue. And more narrowly, rescue from spiritual darkness. Christmas, then, according to many of these traditional tunes, is about the True Light that came into the world (and still comes, again and again, when we need Him now, by the way). It’s about the dawning of our rescue, the birth of our salvation, the coming of our King. This kind of hope can hit the heart in its deepest regions. The result when it does? Rejoicing. Part of our nature is to rejoice in hope (just ask Paul). But the rejoicing these carols convey is more than a passing mood or a simple cheerfulness over the trifling things that expire with current calendar year. It is, rather, a soulful praise which emerges from the depths, and with freely flowing tears, as you grasp the unconditional grace of His arrival, His Advent…for you, personally. And as the singularity of the hope His birth inspires comes into full view, you cannot find yourself anywhere but on your knees before the Him, right where the lowly shepherds and trio of nobles found themselves that night, 2,000 years ago.
Check it:
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
And again:
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn'
Fall on your knees, oh hear, the angels' voices
Oh, night divine, oh, night, when Christ was born
And again:
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary
And finally, though admittedly not a Christmas carol:
Here is our King
Here is our Love
Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him
He is the one
He is Jesus
Immanuel, the ‘with us’ God, came to our rescue.
Light broke into the world that first Christmas eve, with great force and fury, to dispel the darkness that leads to death.
Let us enthrone Him in our hearts, then, and haste to bring Him laud, that His light within us would shine unto eternal life.
A merry and hope-filled Christmas to you and yours,
Voice of another
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