One Covid-Era Blessing
One of the spiritual side-effects of Covid-19 is that instead of singing with our voices we are forced to listen to the words of songs and hymns that are played to us.
This temporary blessing encourages us to pay closer attention to the words.
And there are few groups of hymns that contain more majestic and glorious words than our traditional Christmas hymns.
In the blogs leading up to Christmas let's explore and meditate on some of these wonderful carols.
Let's begin with Once in Royal David's City, penned by Cecil Alexander who also wrote "All things Bright and Beautiful" and "There is a Green Hill far Away."
Here's the whole hymn but we'll focus on the first verse today.
1 Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.
2 He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall:
with the poor, and mean, and lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.
3 And thro' all his wondrous childhood
he would honor and obey,
love and watch the lowly maiden
in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
mild, obedient, good as he.
4 And our eyes at last shall see him,
thro' his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heav'n above:
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.
5 Not in that poor lowly stable,
with the oxen standing by,
we shall see him, but in heaven,
set at God's right hand on high;
when like stars his children crowned
all in white shall wait around.
Cecil Frances Alexander
The City, the Cattle shed, the Mother and the Child
Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.
The Royal City
"Once in Royal David's City." There was a reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Nazareth where he would grow up. Bethlehem was where king David came from. King David was not only Israel's greatest human king, he was the one who most pointed forward to the Divine Messiah King to come. God promised to David a never ending throne, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." (2 Samuel 7:13) This did not mean that David's line would sit on an earthly throne forever. The promsie to David meant that one day Someone would come into the world and become God's never ending King.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem to remind us of God's promise to send an everlasting King. And so, if Jesus is our King, there is nothing we need fear.
The Stable
"Stood a lowly cattle shed." The lowly cattle shed and the lowly manger remind us that God's ways are not our ways. How quickly we follow the world. How quickly we think that numbers matter and money matters and fame matters and education matters.
Jesus is born in a humble manger to teach us not only his great humility, but to teach us God's ways.
God is pleased to use poor fishermen, tax-collectors, church persecutors and all sorts of other ordinary folks to build his kingdom. He's not looking for brains nor brawn, but humility and servanthood, so that he can gain all the rightful glory.
Every time we hear of the manger we need to correct our thinking: God chooses ordinary people to fulfill his great purposes.
The Mother
"Where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed. Mary was that mother mild." When I pick up a new Christian book and turn over to read the blurb, I find this. The person who wrote the book boasts all about their (earthly) accomplishments and the person who commends the book does the same. The ordinary Christian thinks, "the author and I have nothing in common, and why should I read a book commended by someone who I have nothing in common with?" It's one reason Fisherman's Press has been launched - books written and commended by ordinary people. Ordinary believers like Mary, who out of the blue was called to do something extraordinary for God.
If you are an ordinary Mary or a Joe Blogs Joseph do not fear. God is pleased to take ordinary people and use them mightily in his kingdom.
The Little Child
"Jesus Christ, her little child..." To human eyes, just an ordinary human child. No visitor saw a halo, no neighbour would have sensed divinity. But born in the stable that holy night was the Son of God. The One who cast stars into space. The One through whom all things were made. The One who as I type these little words rules over the vast cosmos on behalf of the church and to his Father's glory and pleasure.
And, because he was a real human being, he passed though all the ordinary experiences that we do. He understands us and is our merciful, empathising High Priest in heaven. He will not reject us or turn us away.
SING ALONG HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our Father in heaven,
We thank you for the beautiful and Scriptural words of so many of our carols. We thank you that we can be reminded of your ways and your saving love for us in this strangest of Decembers.
We thank you that the Lord Jesus, though King of kings, came down to earth to carry our sorrows and endure our trials and then to bear away our sins.
We worship him and thank you Father, for him.
Amen.
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