Had a Prophet said One Year Ago...
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, good will to men,
from heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
to hear the angels sing.
Had a prophet stood in the middle of your city last December and cried out, "Harken to me, next year a disease will stampede through the world, disrupting everything from economics to air travel and next Christmas the Government will tell you who you can and cannot have over for Christmas dinner," that man would surely been jeered, stoned or worse.
And yet, out of the blue, a global disease has come upon us, over 1.6 million have been killed by it worldwide, and now a new strain threatens the UK.
Things happen out of the blue. Covid-19 has taught us that. And let's face it, in a fallen world, so often sudden events are bad news.
So many families heard this weekend that hoped-for gatherings will not be possible this Friday. And others, that plans would have to be pruned way back.
Sudden Good News
Not so for those ordinary shepherds out in the Judean fields, 2000 years ago. Their news was good news.
Quite literally out of the blue, an angel accompanied by glorious light appeared to them. At first they were terrified, yes, but by the end they were "glorifying and praising God."
Today's author, tries to capture the scene:
It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
Yes, some poetic license has been thrown into the mix! Did they really play golden harps? Well, the four living creatures of Revelation 5 play harps. And harps appear other times in that book of heavenly scenes. So perhaps they did.
We get the point: this is a glorious and heavenly scene.
The main angel is surrounded by a choir of angels "a great company of the heavenly host" and after giving glory to God they say much what our carol repeats:
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heaven's all-gracious King.
Ruining Christmas to Make it!
The first reaction of the Shepherds was not joy but sheer terror, not a positive emotion, but a negative one. Only after explanation and experience was their terror turned to joy.
And someone once pointed out to me that this is what must happen to anyone who becomes a follower of Jesus at Christmas time.
Their Christmas must first be 'ruined' with a comprehension of their sin. Once they realise they have sinned, they are in the right frame of mind and heart to hear talk about a Saviour.
If there is no conviction of sin, well then there is no need for a Saviour. But once the bad news that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" sinks in by the Spirit's enlightening power, then the message of a Saviour is the best news ever, and then sorrow for sin can translate into the joy of forgiveness.
We who know the Lord can rejoice that our Saviour has come, but we should pray that God would ruin many a Christmas with the conviction of sin, so that men and women can seek a Saviour and find one, with joy, in heaven's all-gracious King.
You can listen to one version of the carol HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our all-gracious Father,
We thank you today for every good gift. While we may lack some of the good things we have enjoyed in other years, we give you thank for the blessings we do have. Teach us to be thankful in every circumstance.
We pray for our lost world. We ask that the powerful Word of God would show many that they are sinners and that your Spirit would draw them from conviction of sin to the knowledge and joy of salvation.
We ask these things in Jesus' Name,
Amen.
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