December 30 - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

One of the things that happens when we hear Christmas hymns sung over and over again is that we get caught up in the nostalgic sentiment that the music evokes for us. The tune itself often brings back warm sentimental memories of Christmas seasons that we celebrated in the past. There's nothing wrong with a little sentimentality now and then, but often times our minds get lost in the music and we miss out on the opportunity to meditate on the message that is contained in the lyrics. 

For instance, when we hear the popular Christmas hymn "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," very few of us readily recognize the profound message of peace contained within the lyrics. The thing that the song proclaims "came upon a midnight clear" is the hymn of peace that the angels sang to the shepherds, "Peace on earth and goodwill toward all people." In addition to getting caught up in the sentimentality evoked by the tune, another reason we may have missed the deep message of peace in this hymn is that most Christian hymnals omit the powerful anti-war lyrics in third verse:

Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long;

Beneath the angel-strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And man, at war with man, hears not

The love-song which they bring;

O hush the noise, ye men of strife,

And hear the angels sing.

Why would Christian hymnals omit this verse? It is likely because Christians in America have a very difficult time talking about peace. We have become overly comfortable with many forms of violence--especially forms of violence that claim to "protect us against all enemies foreign and domestic" or "protect and serve." When the angels announced "Peace on earth," they were not talking about a peace that is maintained by violence, or a peace that only protects only the white, the wealthy, the privileged, the powerful, or a peace that only protects Americans. The peace that the angels sang about was the peace of Christ--a peace that passes all understanding--a peace that "turns the other cheek", a peace that "loves enemies", a peace that "forgives", a peace that "does not return evil for evil", a peace that "does not retaliate", and a peace that "ends the hostility between peoples". 

As followers of Jesus the message of the angels comes to us each year just like it came to the shepherds and that means there is work for us to do. The peace that Jesus came to bring to the earth has begun, but it has not yet been completed, and so as the body of Christ here and now we have been conscripted into the work of making the world a more peaceful place. Jesus said, "blessed are the peacemakers" and if we long for God's favor we should seek to become true peacemakers in all aspects of our lives. 

As you mediate today on the peace that Christ brought to the world I leave you with these words from a powerful Christian leader to reflect on:

The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman (1926)

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Celebrating Grace #132)

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth,

To touch their harps of gold:

"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,

From heaven's all-gracious King."

The world in solemn stillness lay,

To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,

With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats

O'er all the weary world;

Above its sad and lowly plains,

They bend on hovering wing,

And ever o'er its Babel sounds

The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long;

Beneath the angel-strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And man, at war with man, hears not

The love-song which they bring;

O hush the noise, ye men of strife,

And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life's crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! for glad and golden hours

come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!

For lo!, the days are hastening on,

By prophet bards foretold,

When with the ever-circling years

Comes round the age of gold

When peace shall over all the earth

Its ancient splendors fling,

And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.

Rev. Benjamin Boswell