I love Christmas. I love the lights. I love the music. I love the way people seem to get a little bit happier (merrier?). I love the story that almighty God sent his divine son to become a man and walk among us—Emmanuel, God with us.
But something else that I love about Christmas is that it is the holiday that impacts unbelievers in a way that makes them confess Christ with their mouths. And they do it unintentionally. Yes, an intentional confession of Christ would be preferred.
But I enjoy watching those who show an anti-Christian bias the rest of the year (and even during this time of the year) saying such things as "Emmanuel" or "Noel" or "Christmas." I enjoy hearing them sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" or "Mary's Little Boy Child" or "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." It's fun to watch someone such as James Taylor struggle with the words of "Go Tell It On the Mountain," trying to remove the word "Christ" from the song, but not quite being able to do so (see the video below). I chuckle as Sarah McLachlan sings "a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one without any fear." Although I don't like the musical styling, I enjoy hearing Christina Aguilera singing "have yourself a merry little Christmas - make the yuletide gay, from now on your troubles will be miles away." Of course, those of us who know the truth of Christmas know that troubles are miles away because Jesus Christ, that baby in the manger that we're all singing about, will ultimately be victorious.
It makes me think about the concept of believers being the "salt of the earth." If we are the salt of the earth, our flavor should be tasted. But it seems, at least in America, that the impact of true Christianity is not tasted much at all anymore. Although the anti-Christ forces are trying very hard to remove Christ from this holiday, his presence is still felt—strongly. It's a great thing to see. And we need to be prepared to take advantage of society's openness to the story of Christ during this season. When we hear the word Emmanuel on the mouths of those who do not believe, we need to explain the uniqueness of our religion—that God came to live with us and to die for us so that we may live forever with him.
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Richard, once I went to a local Christmas performance of choirs, soloists, and perhaps musicians (it was over 20 years ago and my memory is fuzzy). But one thing I remember VERY clearly, so much so that it frightened me. The only glaring snafu with the lyrics came when a male vocalist was singing these words:
ReplyDelete"God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day;
To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray; etc."
He was only able to sing, "To save us all . . ." and then he garbled the words up and struggled to finish the line. He was able to complete the verse.
I always wonder if the enemy was allowed to mess his performance up like that because he really didn't believe.
Also, I wonder about the "crossover" songs, such as Neal Diamond's "Pretty Amazing Grace."
When he speaks of going in a "chapel," it's kind of obvious he's speaking about a deity not a human being (which he could have been speaking of), but the question is, which one?
Lynn, thanks for the link to that song. I don't know that it's particularly obvious even that he's singing to a deity at all. Of course, it sounds that way to those of us who think in that vein, especially since we recognize the many religious phrases he uses in that song. But he may very well actually be singing that song to Sweet Caroline. I actually like the sound of the song, although I'm not a Neil Diamond fan. But you're right about the amorphous nature of those lyrics.
ReplyDeleteWhen non-believers mess up lyrics or write lyrics that are not specific about "which God," it bothers me. But it bothers me even more when solid Christians enter their churches each Sunday and sing phrases such as "Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God." The original lyrics specified the God of creation and the God who expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, so that at least narrows it down to Jehovah or Allah, but we don't sing those verses at all. We just sing only the chorus, which leaves it wide open. It could even be a New Age Force, like in Star Wars.
I'm not fond of the Jesus-is-my-girlfriend type of songs that are so popular either. Here's "Ocean" by Lamont Hiebert:
Lately, I've been thinkin' 'bout you
Lately, I've been dreamin' of you
Lately, I can't get you out of my head
I'll sing until I sense a smile
Upon your great and lovely face
Until I know your glories
In this place, glories in this place
CHORUS
Something 'bout the ocean
Makes me rise up and praise
Something 'bout the heavens
Makes me stand in awe again
Something 'bout the sunrise
Reminds me of your faithfulness
Something 'bout the ocean
And I'm lost in love again
Yeah, I dislike those lyrics you just posted as well. Way too sappy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm cringing, because I wrote:
"Richard, once I went to a local Christmas performance of choirs, soloists, and perhaps musicians"
That last word should be "instrumentalists."
Sheesh!
No problem. That's not nearly as bad as what happened at choir practice tonight. Our director turned toward the tenors (that's my part) and went over our part. Then he said, "Now let's go over the men's part" and turned to the bass section. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteThe women were laughing so hard the choir director had to shush them.