Go, Tell It on the Mountain
Read: Isaiah 40:9-11 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation. (Isa. 52:7) “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” was first printed in a collection of spirituals published in 1907 by John Wesley Work, a professor at […]
We Three Kings
Read: Matthew 2:1-12 And they fell down and worshiped him. (v. 11) The first line of this familiar carol makes three claims about the magi, and of the three only one is certainly true: they were from the Orient. This doesn’t mean they came from China or Japan; the Latin word oriens is literally “the place […]
Let All Mortal Flesh
Read: Isaiah 6:1-6 Let all God’s angels worship him. (Heb. 1:6) With this Christmas hymn we are brought into the worship of the ancient church. “Let All Mortal Flesh” was originally written in Greek and is found in the Liturgy of St. James, which may go all the way back to the early church in […]
What Child Is This?
Read: Mark 4:35-41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (v. 41) One of the most beautiful old English tunes is “Greensleeves,” which dates at least to the Middle Ages and was mentioned by Shakespeare. In the 19th […]
Away in a Manger
Read: Romans 8:18-25, 28-30 Predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. (v. 29) No one really knows who wrote this carol, which began appearing in American hymnals in the late 1800s. It’s sometimes attributed to Martin Luther, perhaps because Luther loved Christmas and he loved children, and he wrote a lot of good […]
Angels We Have Heard on High
Read: Luke 2:1-14 Glory to God in the highest . . . ! (v. 14) Not surprisingly, angels figure prominently in a lot of Christmas carols. “Angels We Have Heard on High” is another one. This traditional French carol and tune has us once more reliving in song the familiar story of Luke 2, this time from the […]
The First Noel
Read: Luke 1:68-79 To give light to those who sit in darkness. (v. 79) The French word for Christmas is noel; a noel is also a Christmas carol. The first one, as we well know, was sung “to certain poor shepherds, in fields as they lay.” Its text was the “Gloria in Excelsis”; “Glory to God […]
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
Read: Luke 1:5-25; Psalm 103:20-22 I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent . . . to bring you this good news. (Luke 1:19) Angels don’t mess around. The angel Gabriel was sent to Zechariah to announce the impending birth of his son, John the Baptist, who was to become the […]
Once in Royal David’s City
Read: Revelation 5 And . . . among the elders I saw a Lamb. (v. 6) On Christmas Eve 1918, a service was held in the chapel of King’s College in the University of Cambridge. The bloodbath of World War I had ended barely a month before, and many a Cambridge man lay buried in Flanders fields. It […]