Christmas Eve 11 p.m.
December 24, 2019
Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20
I asked my stepdad if he would play the special music for
this service, and he not only said yes, he also asked me what I would like him
to play! Usually, with most musicians, they already have a piece or two in mind
before they agree to play and I have little if no say in the matter. Instead,
the world was wide open with possibilities for tonight! However, one of my
favorite Christmas carols is not in our hymnal and rarely gets sung at
Christmastime unless by a soloist and that is “O Holy Night.” So, I asked my
stepdad to play “O Holy Night,” and his response was, “I even have two versions
of it!” Thank you, Jim, for playing tonight.
This Advent and Christmas season we have been celebrating
the 300th anniversary of another favorite Christmas carol, “Joy to
the World.” Earlier in Advent, I challenged our congregation to engage in those
preparations and traditions that bring joy to them and to others, such as
playing your favorite Christmas music and singing along OUT LOUD. I tend to
practice what I preach and so I put in one of my favorite Christmas CD’s that
week. “O Holy Night” came on and the singer just rushed through this phrase
that caught my attention and my reaction was no, we need to spend more time there. There’s a line in the first verse
that says, “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” The artist rushed
right through “weary world” and held out “rejoices” for longer. “The weary
world re-joi-ces…” But the truth is we are the weary world and we need to hold
onto this truth that with “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” It was
interesting, I got a new Christmas CD this year, from a kickstarter that I
backed, so I wasn’t completely sure what to expect, and that artist also
covered “O Holy Night,” only she sang it much slower. The first CD came out 15
years ago, and I think we were less weary then and so we could rush through the
“weary world” part. Things were different 15 years ago, pre-recession, pre- a
lot of things. But now, I think this new artist nailed it: with “a thrill of
hope, the weary world rejoices.” We need to spend time there.
I don’t know about you, but I’m weary. And I think we,
collectively, are weary. Weary of competing, wearing of over-compensating,
weary of over-working, weary of perfectionism, weary of worrying, weary of
anxiety, weary of fear, weary of the divisions, weary of the difficulty of
communicating, weary of so many things. I’m sure you can add many more items to
the list. It’s not exhaustive. I’m wearing of trying to be exhaustive.
In Isaiah we read, “You, God, have increased our joy; we
rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest; as people rejoice when dividing
plunder.” That last bit about plunder sounds a bit like kids at Christmastime,
right? Or at the Easter egg. People rejoice when dividing their plunder. That’s
the level of joy God is offering us: a giddy, giggly, big smiles, laughing,
carefree kind of joy because of the abundance of what there is. Same idea with
joy at the harvest, and I think this presupposes a good year when the harvest
is abundant. How much joy there is in gathering the crops, storing them,
preparing them to sell or for feed, it’s an abundant, happy, giggly joy.
“The weary world rejoices.” Talk about a low to a high
all in one short sentence. I read a devotional the other day that talked about
part of why the world likes Christmastime and society gets into it, whether
they go to church or not, is because of the break it offers. We in the church
know the church calendar and seasons and rhythms with Epiphany, Lent, Easter,
Pentecost, Ordinary Time, and so on. Farmers know the rhythm of the land and
the weather seasons. Teachers and students know the school calendar. But for
other folks, life gets a bit more monotonous and Christmas completely changes
the pace of things. The weary world, those who are weary of the monotony, who
pay less attention to the changing of the seasons and the times, they need a
reason for joy. We need a reason for
joy. And that reason is the “child that has been born to us, a son given to us,
authority rests upon his shoulders and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
“A thrill of hope and the weary world rejoices.” That
thrill of hope isn’t Luke Skywalker, the “new hope” that began the Star Wars
saga. That thrill of hope is the appearance of Jesus, God made flesh,
incarnate, God come to live and be with us and never leave us. Another tidbit
for you, the original title of “O Holy Night” in its original French is
Midnight Christians. The literal English translation says, “Midnight,
Christians, is the solemn hour, When God as man descended unto us/ To erase the
stain of original sin/ And to end the wrath of His Father. The entire world
thrills with hope/ On this night that gives it a Savior.” I grew up with my mom
saying, “Nothing good happens after dark,” which is pretty good with kids and
teenagers, when you want them home and safe. However, dark, midnight, holy
night, is when Christ was born. “O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and
error pining, Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” “The
people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land
of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” For the weary, a thrill of hope,
and an offer for abundant joy. Thanks be to God.
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