CHRISTMAS MUSIC

I have always enjoyed the Christmas season. I love the sights, sounds, smells, movies, food, giving, family get-togethers, the good cheer in the air…and I really like the music.

 

Christmas and music go together. Think about it. There is no other time of the year that has music all its own like Christmas. I mean what other time of year will you let total strangers gather on your porch to sing? No other holiday has music like Christmas.  

 

When I was a child we had a stereo about 10-feet long. At night around Christmas time, especially on Christmas Eve,my sisters would put several Christmas albums on to play before we all went to bed. I remember falling asleep listening to Christmas music sung by people like, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis. My favorite though was Burl Ives -- “Have A Holly Jolly Christmas.” I thought Burl Ives was the real Santa Claus. He just didn’t want anyone to know it.

 

Music was a big part of the first Christmas too, which has become the catchword for the birth of Christ. Everybody was singing, especially in the book of Luke.

 

Mary finds out that she’s going to give birth to the Christ Child, and she starts singing. (Luke 1:46-56.) Later, Zechariah is there at the birth of John who will foretell the coming of the Christ Child, and he starts singing. (Luke 1:67-79.) Later, the shepherds are out in the field and the angels announce the birth of the Christ, and they start singing. (Luke 2:14.) The shepherds go to see the baby and they come back and start singing. (Luke 2:20.) In many ways the birth of Christ was the greatest musical of all time. Broadway can’t touch it.

 

It is noteworthy that Jesus was born in Bethlehem—the “City of David”—maybe the greatest songwriter who ever lived. Bethlehem was “music city” in Jesus’ day, not Nashville.

 

Music has tremendous power. We go to a sporting event and they start it with the National Anthem. It has nothing to do with the game, but the song is still important to us, because it expresses our loyalty, our allegiance, our unity, and our respect for those who fought and died for our freedoms. That song tells the story of who we are as a nation.

 

Music does more than just entertain. Music engages. Musicencourages. Music challenges. Music enlists. Music invites us to imagine a better world, and it encourages us to make a better world happen, together.

 

When you study about many of the great revolutions of the past that stood up against injustice and oppression, you’ll find music driving the message. Music has been a huge part of every civil rights movement. “We Shall Overcome.” In his book, “Exiles,” Michael Frost says, “During Apartheid certain music was banned, because the government said that, “It threatens to create an atmosphere in the populous that would be dangerous.” Do you know what songs were banned? Christmas carols!

 

Christ’s birth started the greatest revolution of all time. The prevailing idea today that “I’m okay, and you’re okay, regardless of what God we serve…” is just wrong if the Christmas story and the songs we sing at Christmas are true.

 

Have you ever listened to the lyrics of some of our favorite Christmas songs? They contain some of the most radical revolutionary lyrics ever written. Some of the most radical are songs like: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” “Joy ToThe World.” “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” All three of these songs are politically incorrect and teach a radical message? These songs (and many other Christmas songs like them) are saying to all people, and all religions, and all worldviews that there is only one King. His name is Jesus.And you should bow down and recognize Him as the one and only Savior if you desire eternal salvation. In some countries, singing Christmas songs could get you arrested, or killed.

 

Music matters. If it didn’t then we wouldn’t find so much of it in the Bible. Anybody can participate in Bethlehem’s song. In fact, God is building a chorus right now and it is made up of every nation, every tribe, and every tongue. It’s called, the church. And some day we will all sing as one around the throne of God in heaven, forever.

In a few days we’re going to put the Christmas tree and all the Christmas decorations back into storage—but what are we going to do with the music? Are we going to keep that in our hearts all year long? We will—only if we keep Jesus there! -Steve