The sweet music of Christmas tells the story of God’s love come to earth better than any spoken words can do. Tonight our beloved Christmas carols deliver to us the good news of the birth of Christ, our heavenly king. And not just tonight. Last Saturday afternoon a group of us went out and took these and other carols on the road to bring the good news to some of our elderly friends. And for weeks we have been listening to this music from a variety of sources – in and outside the church.
It amuses me when Christians get annoyed and even angry or offended when they detect any indication that the secular world is ignoring this observance of Christ’s birth and its true meaning and then demand that our public schools and retail merchants recognize Christmas and not just the holiday or season. “It’s a war on Christmas!” Many claim. Really? Have you been listening to the music?
The world cannot resist the music of Christmas even those with a very explicit mention of Christ and what really happened on that first Christmas. Every musical artist of every genre includes Christ-centered carols on their Christmas recordings. Yes, school choirs still sing them. The mall music track still includes them. Radio stations still play them. Those who want the message of Christmas to reach others should rejoice because this is perhaps the one time of year that the message of God’s love in Jesus is broadcast more universally and maybe even more effectively than any evangelistic effort from the church could accomplish.
The reason is that the wonder and mystery of Christ’s birth transcends the hostility and opposition of the world. God’s love in Christ survived the antagonistic environment he chose to enter. His persistent message of grace delivered in his Son Jesus changed that world forever. Not because it was forced on people but because they were captivated by it.
Rather than demand acceptance by the world, perhaps we should simply sing and live the message revealed to us this night. So we can be filled with the wonder and mystery ourselves – so that we might transcend the hostilities around us and deliver something good – something uncommon and strange – something that changes things around us.
One unlikely messenger of the Christmas good news once became a Christmas evangelist simply by singing. He was not trained in theology or music. No one told him to do what he did. And I don’t know if we should say he was courageous or just plain stupid. But he was captivated.
It was 1914 on the Western front where Germans and allies were fighting on the front lines. Those who were serving their countries had been told that they would be home by Christmas. The politicians were hoping for a speedy end to the war but negotiations had failed. The pope had called on a truce for Christmas but no one was listening. It was four months into the fighting and WWI had become a bloody mess. It was Christmas Eve and those who met on the battlefield of that war saw no end in sight.
The conditions in the frozen trenches were miserable. The cold winter rains had chilled them to the bone, and there was no relief from the endless mud and constant sniper fire. Food was scarce. Rats and the lice had taken over. Disease and infection killed as many men as enemy bullets did.
On that holy night in 1914, stripped of absolutely anything that would have reminded them of Christmas at home, enemy soldiers on both sides hunkered down for the night separated by only a few yards. One man – this unlikely evangelist — had the courage to stand up, get out of the trenches, walk into no man’s land where dead bodies lay all around and he began to sing . . . Silent Night.
Others began to sing with him. Some in German, some in French and some in English. Others stepped out of their trenches and took the risk. After a while they exchanged stories and photographs. They gave gifts of tobacco and chocolate. They played soccer. They buried their dead. And this continued for days. In fact, so much “good will” occurred across the lines that generals on both sides finally issued orders forbidding what was going on, after all, they claimed, “it discouraged initiative and destroyed morale in the ranks.”
But that song created something transcendent and real. Men who were enemies before and who continued fighting afterwards, were friends for a moment. Those who lived in the misery and horror of war were for a little while transported to a place of peace. The conflicts that divided them at once seemed inconsequential. The shooting and killing so devastating the day before had stopped.
That Christmas Eve in 1914, in the midst of all that struggle and warfare,
against the back ground din of a world bent on destroying itself,
there appeared an uncommon and unexpected gift,
the gift of tenderness, the gift of peace on earth breaking forth into the dark chaos
the gift of a sacred song. a gift that delivered Christ.
One Christmas carol and one man who had the courage to sing it, accomplished what politicians and even the pope had been unable to do.
We who have been hardened by the difficulty of our lives,
bruised and scarred by shattered dreams and broken hopes.
who are torn apart by hostilities and tension in our relationships and
saddened by the dark places in our own lives,
we need this gift of tenderness, mercy, love and peace.
We need to know that all is calm even when the night isn’t silent. We need this gift of a baby born among us named Immanuel. We need the song that transcends our battlefields here on earth.
And God sent us a song. He sent a song in human flesh. He sent Jesus who is God’s music to the world. Jesus came to stand with us in the middle of a war we keep trying to fight on our own. He breaks through the airwaves with the strange and glorious sound of love and peace that transcends all human understanding. It is God himself who is singing here tonight – who ventured into our hostile world to exchange gifts – his life for our brokenness – a gift delivered to us wrapped in strips of cloth.
We are singing Silent Night in a few minutes. As you hold your candle and sing this carol, consider where in your life the uncommon and unexpected message of Christ could make a difference.
A conflict in need of heavenly peace.
A situation that could use redeeming grace
A dark place where love’s pure light can shine.
And then even if no one else around you joins in, even if nothing around you says “Christmas” and even when you go back to the trenches, be sure of this:
Nothing can dim the hope we have in Christ.
Nothing can steal from us the peace that only he can give.
And nothing can silence the song.
