December 21
One Little Christmas Tree
Luke 1:68*69
“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us …
There is no getting away from it, music is the “Christmas spirit”. People, now that it is Christmas time when they start to hear the music. Yes the decorations in the stores and around the city do contribute but the music is the thing. Even the song “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” changes the mood of the place even if the things in the song haven’t started to happen yet.
For the Christian therefore, what we listen to and singalong with is really important I believe. Today I listened to a lot of Christmas music, by force I should add. A few songs grabbed my attention, one of them was Stevie Wonder’s One Little Christmas Tree. Here’s a portion.
One little angel who was riding a star
Cried as she looked down at the tree
Oh please, Mr. Father Tree, wherever you are
May I give him the star you gave to me
Then in the heavens came a voice from afar
A voice that was heard throughout the world
Go down little angel girl, and give him your star
Tonight he’ll light the world, ’cause
One little Christmas tree can light up the world
So those who are lost may find their way
One little Christmas tree can light up the world
So all men may see on Christmas Day
This was followed by another Stevie Wonder piece called “The Day That Love Began” a weird story about a mythical shepherd who had a dream and promised his lamb to a star. The shepherd stopped to pray, and the lamb ran away.
Then the smiling face of Mary
Beckoned the shepherd to her side
Today, you gave Him the best gift of all
The moment that you cried
Oh, once upon a Christmas Eve
A shepherd who believed
That peace could come to any man
Found the place his heart was dreaming of
And he kept his promise to a star above
The day that love began
I didn’t hear the “Cherry Tree Carol” today, which I suspect is José Feliciano’s second-best known Christmas song after Feliz Navidad.
The Cherry Tree Carol actually appears on the websites and in song books of many churches. How this is possible is beyond me but it proves how untruth can take hold when there are no guardians of truth. Here is José
Up spoke the baby Jesus
Within His mother’s womb
Bend ye down the tallest branch
That my mother might have some
Bend ye down the tallest branch
That my mother might have some
Then bent the tallest branch
Till it touched Mary’s hand
Mary cried oh look now Joseph
I have cherries by command
Mary cried oh look now Joseph
I have cherries by command
Stevie Wonder and José Feliciano are two of my favourite artists, they are both blind and I often wonder (no pun intended) where they got this stuff from. But these are two of the people responsible for the Christmas Spirit.
Quoting Charles Colson (in a different context) “…art affects us at the deepest level of the soul. It can shape our thoughts, move our emotions, enlarge our imaginations. The music we listen to, the images we plant in our minds, the stories we tell- all have enormous power over the kind of people we are. They both express and shape our beliefs and values.
As we said yesterday, the Jesus birth narratives in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke also gave us songs and songs that should be a guide to our music about this event. I am not suggesting that it’s the only music that we should have but it must guide our understanding of the content that ought to be included. If we want to insist that Christmas is to help us focus on the birth of Jesus as He came to save us, then our music should reinforce that truth.
Yesterday we looked at Mary’s song, the Magnificat, taken from Luke 1:46-55. We can add to that The Benedictus (also called Song of Zechariah), given in Luke 1:68-79 from which our key verse is taken today. This prophecy, given by Zacharias after his tongue is loosened, has been sung in traditional churches for centuries.
There is Gloria in excelsis Deo (Latin for “Glory to God in the highest”) this the chorus of the angels who appeared to the shepherds, Luke 2:14, a choir of angels. The hymn, known also as the Greater Doxology, is often titled just Gloria in Excelsis in hymnals has also been sung in many churches for centuries.
And then there is the Nunc dimittis, also called the Song of Simeon is another song taken from the birth narratives of Jesus. The title is Latin for “Now you dismiss” and, like the others, is taken from the first words of the “song”. In Luke 2:25-35 we find the story of Simeon, an old devout Jewish man who had received a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he sees the God’s promised Saviour, Jesus. So when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord they ran into Simeon.
Simeon takes the baby from them and give and, with the baby in his arms, speaks to God and his prayer and praise give us the words of the Nunc dimittis. Luke 2:29-32.
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Think on these things:
- How big a part does music play in how you spend this season?
- Have you curated a play list for yourself for this season?
- How are you deciding which songs to keep and which to drop?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be able to share the truth of Jesus through music that we could listen to and share with others.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex