Dear God, the deeper I get into your presence and studying your word, the more I see the truth in this song. I’m supposed to be leading a devotion for the ministerial association today. It’s interesting that it is coinciding with me preaching this weekend. I think the message will largely be the same–just shorter. The message is that our limited vision makes us completely incapable of seeing what you see. We cannot see where all of this is going. We cannot see how it all works out.
And we are in good company. Noah couldn’t see it. Abraham. Jacob. Moses. Naomi. Ruth. Samuel. Saul. David. Skip to the New Testament. Peter. Paul. James. John. Paul had no idea that his incarceration would bring Christianity to the West. He just knew he wanted to go a different direction and you kept. Closing the door. He knew his incarceration was for you, but he had no idea why.
Now, I have a family member who is really struggling emotionally. Come to think of it, I have several. I have a few that are really facing some major hurdles. Some are scared. Some are fighting for something and they aren’t sure how to get it. Some are fighting and they would be hard-pressed to say why except that they are feeling sorry for themselves. I have a friend undergoing a second back surgery today because the first one only made things worse. I don’t know why she is having to go through this. I don’t know where all of this is going. But I know you can redeem. I know you can heal. I have a relative in the hospital right now. I don’t really know him and probably haven’t seen him in 40 years. But I should be praying for him more than I have because you could be using this in his life to bring him to peace in you.
Father, help me to turn loose of where all of this is going. Help me to stay in the moment with you. Help me to accept the circumstances around me and lead me in the ways in which I should respond to them. Help me to love well. Help me to bring your presence and peace into every situation.
I’ve learned to slam on the brake
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me
Give them no reason to stare
No slipping up if you slip away
So I got nothing to share
No, I got nothing to say
Step out, step out of the sun
If you keep getting burned
Step out, step out of the sun
Because you’ve learned, because you’ve learned
On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?
‘Cause I’m tap, tap, tapping on the glass
I’m waving through a window
I try to speak, but nobody can hear
So I wait around for an answer to appear
While I’m watch, watch, watching people pass
I’m waving through a window, oh
Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?
We start with stars in our eyes
We start believing that we belong
But every sun doesn’t rise
And no one tells you where you went wrong
Step out, step out of the sun
If you keep getting burned
Step out, step out of the sun
Because you’ve learned, because you’ve learned
On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?
‘Cause I’m tap, tap, tapping on the glass
Waving through a window
I try to speak, but nobody can hear
So I wait around for an answer to appear
While I’m watch, watch, watching people pass
Waving through a window, oh
Can anybody see, is anybody waving?
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
It’s like I never made a sound
Will I ever make a sound?
On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?
‘Cause I’m tap, tap, tapping on the glass
Waving through a window
I try to speak, but nobody can hear
So I wait around for an answer to appear
While I’m watch, watch, watching people pass
Waving through a window, oh
Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me? (oh)
Is anybody waving?
Waving, waving, whoa-oh, whoa-oh
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Benj Pasek / Justin Paul
Dear God, you know that this musical really hit me. Of course, it doesn’t have a spiritual angle to it, but in so many ways you are the answer to the questions people are asking and the loneliness they are facing. One thing I like about this musical is that it doesn’t just look at the story from the students’ views. And it doesn’t just look at it from the parents’ views. While everyone comes into the story touching just one part of the elephant, the audience has the unique perspective of getting to see, while maybe not the entire elephant, multiple parts.
This song is sung by the main character, Evan Hansen, but it coupled be sung by any of them. Conner, Conner’s sister, his parents, Evan’s mom (and even his dad), his friends, etc. Every person in that audience, no matter how popular they were in high school, could identify with this song. I know I could.
So let’s begin looking at it verse by verse, the chorus, and then the bridge.
I’ve learned to slam on the brake
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me
Give them no reason to stare
No slipping up if you slip away
So I got nothing to share
No, I got nothing to say
My first thought is the quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak and remove all doubt.” In this case, so many of us just don’t want to stand out in the crowd and be thought a fool. That’s why only a few will answer group questions. Just keep your head down and stay off the radar of others–especially bullies.
Also, the part about just not participating because of fear. I’ll confess that I’ve needed people in my lie to push me out of my comfort zone. From parents getting me to do things when I was little to my wife getting me to do things as an adult, I’d rather stay in the relative safety of my own little carefully constructed world. And I had to play that role for my children when they were younger and I need to play it for my wife now. I remember getting pressure from my dad to get a job. The application process alone was intimidating. But it had to be done and I needed that push. That skill served me well later in life when I needed to find a job. Then came my turn to pressure my children to get jobs. They didn’t like it and there was conflict, but they learned.
Last Wednesday, I was at my mentoring session with the sixth grader I mentor when I saw another mentor who is a friend. He mentioned that his mentee is an awkward boy who gets bullied a lot. They normally meet together on a different day, but when I saw them that day I remembered the boy from last year. I saw him each week. He’s a sweet boy, but he is certainly developmentally delayed in some way. I’m glad he has my friend, but I’ve thought about him all week. Seeing him and knowing what he went through took me back to those feelings with my son. . Oh, it hurts to remember. Is there anything I can do to help this boy? I’ve even though about getting my mentee to look out for him, but I’ve also wondered if my boy is one of the bullies. Give me wisdom when we meet next week to know if there is anything I can do to help this situation.
We start with stars in our eyes
We start believing that we belong
But every sun doesn’t rise
And no one tells you where you went wrong
One of the hardest things to do as a parent is send your kids to school that first time. Really, to send them anywhere. Even Sunday school. You’ve had them in a controlled environment that has hopefully been nurturing and loving. Then they go into the world thinking that the rest of the world will treat them the same way, but you know there is pain ahead. You just hope that they will learn to deal with that pain and that it will make them stronger. That would be one of the arguments against homeschooling–that children need to experience the positives and negatives of socialization. Of course, one argument for home school is that it will keep them from being exposed to too much too soon. Both arguments have their good points. Oh, how we just hope it turns out okay.
For my part, I’m still not sure what the final results of my children’s childhoods will be as they become adults. I feel like I am still watching them bake in the oven. I suppose they’ll never stop. I’m still baking too. But this verse starting with the description of Evan’s self confidence eroding into self-doubt through rejection is powerful imagery.
Step out, step out of the sun
If you keep getting burned
Step out, step out of the sun
Because you’ve learned, because you’ve learned
On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?
‘Cause I’m tap, tap, tapping on the glass
I’m waving through a window
I try to speak, but nobody can hear
So I wait around for an answer to appear
While I’m watch, watch, watching people pass
I’m waving through a window, oh
Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?
There’s an interesting juxtaposition between getting out of the sun and presumably going in and then being on the outside, always looking in. I supposed that a lot of us do get conditioned to just stop trying. We’ve been burned too many times. But when we stop, we are left with this sense of loneliness and longing.
One of the things that spoke to me in this musical is the barriers that all of the characters feel. The parents feel like they can’t get to their children (the first song, “Does Anybody Have a Map?“). The children, for their part, feel like they can’t get, really I suppose, to themselves. Evan cannot be comfortable with himself and who he is with others. He feels alone. He feels like who he is as a person is keeping him from others. It’s a barrier he doesn’t know how to overcome. I suppose at some point in these prayer journals I will need to get into the irony of social media connecting and isolating us at the same time, but that will be for another song. For now, I can just feel Evan’s loneliness.
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s [slight chuckle] nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you [slight chuckle] ever really crash, or even make a sound?
[emotion builds] When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
[emotion builds more] When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
It’s like I never made a sound
Will I ever make a sound?
I added some tone-of-voice descriptions to this section. It’s interesting that he kind of chuckles at a couple of points in the first two lines. If you haven’t seen the musical you won’t get the forest reference, but he’s recalling how he broke his arm by falling out of a tree in the forest. He describes at the beginning how he kept waiting for a ranger or someone to find him, but no one ever came so he had to go and find someone.
His life feels so insignificant, he is taking that metaphor (and the famous existential question about a branch falling in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound) and applying it to his entire life. Is anything that I do consequential?
At the end of the bridge, the last four lines overtly personalize it. Did I make a sound? I have no evidence that I have made a difference in anyone’s life. Will my life ever matter?
Of course, It’s a Wonderful Life teaches us how our lives ripple through history. And teenagers are famous for wondering about their meaning in life while simultaneously wanting everything done for them. We’ve all been there. As an adult now, I’ve learned through you that the meaning in my life is found in giving of myself. In fact, in November, I was listening to an interview Charlie Rose did with Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers gave this quote that I wrote down: “Have you ever know anybody who was really satisfied or happy who had never made a difference in somebody else’s life?” The answer to this question really does wash away a ton of emptiness.
Father, I am here to worship you and give your love to others. If I am not about doing those two things then my life will be empty. “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) That’s what Jesus said. It’s really that simple. Oh, Holy Spirit, help me to do these two things for the glory of the Father, the Son, and your glory as well.
Mom: Have you been writing those letters to yourself? “Dear Evan Hansen, this is going to be a good day and here’s why…”
Evan: I started one.
Mom: Those letters are important honey. They’re going to help you build your confidence
Evan: I guess
Mom: Can we try to have an optimistic outlook? Huh? Can we buck just enough to see the world won’t fall apart? Maybe this year we decide we’re not giving up before we’ve tried. This year, we’ll make a new start. I know you can go around today and ask the other kids to sign your cast. How about that?
Evan: Perfect (sarcasm implied)
Mom: I’m proud of you already.
Evan: Oh…Good…
Mom (by herself): Another stellar conversation for the scrapbook. Another stumble as I’m reaching for the right thing to say. I’m kind of coming up empty, can’t find my way to you…Does anybody have map, anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this? I don’t know if you can tell but this is me just pretending to know. So where’s the map? I need a clue ‘cuz the scary truth is I’m flying blind and I’m making this up as I go.
—-
Mom: It’s your senior year, Conner. You are not missing the first day.
Conner: I already said I’d go tomorrow.
Dad: He doesn’t listen. Look at him. He’s probably high.
Sister: He’s definitely high.
Mom: I don’t want you going to school high, Conner
Conner: Perfect, so then I won’t go. Thanks, Mom!
Mom: Another masterful attempt ends with disaster.
Dad: Interstate is already jammed.
Mom: Pour another cup of coffee and watch it all crash and burn.
Sister: Conner finished the milk
Mom: It’s a puzzle, it’s a maze. I try to steer through it a million ways, but each day’s another wrong turn.
Dad: I’d better head out.
Sister: If Conner’s not ready I’m leaving without him.
—
Both Moms: Does anybody have a map, anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this? I don’t know if you can tell, but this is me just pretending to know. So where’s the map? I need a clue ‘cuz the scary truth is I’m flying blind, I’m flying blind, I’m flying blind, and I’m making this up as I go…as I go
Dear God, I actually prayed to you about this song earlier, but it was all lost in a saving error, and I just couldn’t bare to lose it so I thought I just look at this song one more time. Maybe it will be better a second time–kind of like watching a movie a second time and catching things you missed the first time.
The first thing is that this song is obviously all about the two moms. Both living in different worlds, and both desperate to break through the walls all around them, especially with their boys.
The musical actually opens up before this song with Evan talking to his friend on the computer. His mom walks in the room and he slams the laptop lid shut. It exhibits instant distrust. The Evan doesn’t trust him mom to be part of that world, and his mom must wonder what Evan is hiding. As a parent, those walls can be so difficult. You move from a time of being part of your child’s world and being trusted to being excluded. And while the children are kind of ready for that break, in a way they aren’t. Oh, the teen years just seem like such a cruel process for both the children and the parents. As a dad who went through it with two children, I can say that I knew it would be hard, but I still underestimated. When I saw the musical, it was painful to watch a lot of this from the parents’ perspective.
In the Evan’s mom’s little speech about bucking up and having a positive attitude, you can almost feel how she wishes she could do this for him. It’s almost like she’s saying, “Honey, I’ve been in this hole before and I know the way out.”
Shift to Conner’s family. Instant battling, and I can’t help but notice that the dad already seems to have surrendered. While the mom is trying to pull the fat out of the fire the father’s words are:
He doesn’t listen. Look at him. He’s probably high.
Interstate is already jammed.
I’d better head out.
You can tell he’s already charged hell with his water pistol too many times and he’s done. This battle is his wife’s to fight if she still wants to.
The sister is done with Conner too.
He’s definitely high.
Conner finished the milk.
If Conner’s not ready I’m leaving without him.
One of the setups is that Conner doesn’t have any friends. I find this puzzling on the part of the writers. It seems like kids like Conner would always have plenty of like-minded people to see at school and get high with outside of school.
But back to the moms. After all, it is there song. The feel so alone. Even Conner’s mom is alone in her quest to help her son. They are looking for ways into their sons’ lives.
One thing I used to wonder when my children were that age was, “What does it look like to turn your children over to God?” They were still children. They were under my roof. I had a responsibility. Sure, now that they are grown I can turn them over to you and be in the background to support them, but while they were still in school I could never find that place of peace with them. I never found a good answer to my question, and I still don’t know.
Father, I pray for my adult children. I pray for my wife as we try to find our way in still being their parents now that they are adults. I pray for my sisters and brothers-in-law as they raise their children. I pray for my nieces and nephews. It’s so hard. Show my wife and me how to be there for all of them as well. Whatever I can do in any life around me, including the sixth-grade boy I am mentoring, please let me know what you would have me do. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. And for every time I have grieved you as you have tried to be my father, I am truly sorry.
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say
Jesus Christ is born today
Man and beast before Him bow
And He is in the manger now
Christ is born today
Christ is born today!
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Jesus Christ was born for this
He hath opened heaven’s door
And man is blessed forevermore
Christ was born for this
Christ was born for this!
Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Now ye need not fear the grave
Jesus Christ was born to save
Calls you one, and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall
Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save!
Dear God, why are we–why am I–so bad at getting this word out? Christ was born to save! The first verse of this son is just announcing who he is and how we should worship him. The second verse talks about the afterlife and our access to eternity with you through Jesus. And I suppose the third verse does this as well, but I left this song thinking about a sermon by Andy Stanley I listened to yesterday. I have such freedom and peace to tell people about. Why don’t I do it more.
I’ll be getting into this more when I start doing my series on Dear Evan Hansen next week, but there is so much loneliness out there. People feel so isolated. It’s tragic, really. And I’ve been becoming more and more aware of how many elderly are alone and even struggling to care for themselves. Okay, I’m off topic now, but I guess my point is, I don’t see a lot of Christians rejoicing. And I don’t see them selling rejoicing to the world. We tend to sell judgment. We tend to sell rules. We tend to sell guilt or even fear. Why don’t we sell rejoicing?
Father, help me to, first, live out your joy and freedom and, second, to share it with others. There are a lot of needs around me. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I can’t do it all, and I don’t think I should. But help me to know the role you have for me to make a difference in our community so that, through my life, your kingdom might come and your will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glory streams from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing, “Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born
Christ the Saviour is born”
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, loves pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Silent night, holy night
Wondrous Star, lend thy light
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King
Christ the Saviour is born
Christ the Saviour is born
Dear God, I’ve been saving this one for Christmas Eve. It’s the standard candlelight service hymn. When the lights go out and we pass the flame of the candle from one person to another, we all sing this standard. No matter the church service or denomination I’ve been to for a Christmas Eve service, I’m pretty sure this was the hymn for that moment. It’s quite beautiful. So gentle. So peaceful.
It starts with just the image. A mom holding her child. It’s calm at the moment. Yes, they are in a barn, but after the travel, the uncomfortable pregnant woman having to camp out, the frantic search for a place to give birth, and the pain of childbirth, this moment is quiet and peaceful. And the rest won’t last. There will be things to do, but this moment…this moment is peaceful.
Then the shepherds arrive. They were told to be there by angels and they tell Mary and Joseph their story. I’m sure that this was a great comfort to the new parents as they tried to make sense of everything that was happening. Did they feel like failures for having had to give birth to your son in a barn? Did they doubt what they had heard from the angels in that moment? Well, if they did, here come the shepherds telling stories of angels in the hills proclaiming Jesus’s birth and pointing them to the barn. God did know they were there! The angels knew they were there! What an affirmation!
And now the baby. I don’t know how radiant Jesus actually was, but it’s a nice thought to think that he had a glow about him. Surely there was something that gave the newborn Jesus a different countenance than the average baby. And here’s a reference to the dawn. The Sun (Son?) rising. Hope. It’s the new advent of redeeming grace. Even in birth, Jesus was deserving of our worship, as the shepherds displayed.
In this last verse we join the angels in their worship from the second verse. And so, Father, I sing this morning, “Alleluia! Christ the Saviour is born!”
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night divine, O night, O night divine.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!
Christ is the Lord, let all the people praise Him!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
Dear God, I have to start with a little surprise. I wanted to do this hymn, but I couldn’t find it in any of the three hymnals I have in my home, and they represent the Baptist, Catholic, and Presbyterian Churches. That was odd. So I had to go and get the lyrics from the Internet. I didn’t expect that.
With that said, this is a great hymn. I want to just take a look at the lines that strike me:
Verse 1: “Till he appeared, and the soul felt its worth (emphasis mine).” What is my soul’s worth? Well, it’s huge to you. My sin and shame can bog me down and hide the value of my soul. But repentance brings freedom and uncovers exactly what my soul is worth. What a beautiful choice of words! He appeared in my life, and my soul did, indeed, feel its worth.
Verse 1: “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” “Hope” is an amazing thing that Jesus offers. Hope for something beyond ourselves. Hope for something beyond what we see. Hope that there is something beyond our own wisdom. Hope that there is something beyond our insecurity and hate, our selfishness and pride. Because yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
First Chorus: “Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices.” This is how you get there. No pride. No posturing. You fall on your knees, humble yourself and worship with the angels.
Verse 2: “Truly He taught us to love one another.” That’s the life Jesus lived. By coming to earth as human, he taught us through example, and there is example after example of Jesus loving people unreasonably.
Verse 2: “In his name, all oppression shall cease.” Okay, I have to say that this hasn’t really happened. Plenty of Christians oppress others in Jesus’s name. I’ve probably done it too. No, this is a nice idea, but I don’t think it’s a vision realized.
Chorus 2: “Christ is the Lord, let all the people praise Him.” Yes and yes. Jesus, you are the Lord. You are part of my God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I will praise you.
Father, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Let it be a day when I will actually be very mindful of you and who you are. Let it be a day of worship.
What child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King
Whom Shepherds guard
And Angels sing
Haste, haste to bring him laud
The babe, the son of Mary
Why lies he in such mean estate
Where ox amd ass are feeding?
Good Christian fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring him laud
The babe, the son of Mary
So bring him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king, to own him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone him
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring him laud
The babe, the son of Mary
Dear God, the first two verses of this song are full of questions. Who is this? I know he’s special, but who is this? Angels are singing for him. Shepherds are guarding him. Why is he lying in such a “mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?”
Then the answer comes back. Oh, who is this? Well, let me tell you. This baby that the shepherds are guarding and about whom the angels are singing is Christ the King. You should quickly worship and honor him, this son of Mary.
So now the questioner seemingly becomes the commander in verse three. Bring him gifts (with a reference to the wise men). It doesn’t matter whether you are a peasant or a king, he is yours. He is your King. Accept the salvation he brings and enthroned him in your life.
I watched video yesterday of a politician who was asked flat out if he had ever asked you for forgiveness and he responded, “That’s a hard question.” Then he ultimately answered that he never had and had never found a reason to. I don’t think that man could ever sing these words–at least and mean them. But before I get too judgmental, can I? Do I really enthrone you?
I was thinking about my worship of you on my way into church this morning. There is no tragedy driving me to my knees right now. No great sin in my life (although there are plenty of little ones). My worship of you right now is not naturally driven through desperation’s. It is a conscious choice. But is it a choice I am making often enough? Do you smile when you think of me and our relationship?
Father, this Christ the King, of whom angels sing, is my God. He is you. He is part of you. Holy Spirit, you are this same Jesus and Father as well. Out of pure gratitude (like the 10th leper who returned to say thank you) I come to you and thank you for everything. I am truly grateful.
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Shepherds why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav’nly song?
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see
Him Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
See within in a manger laid
Whom the choirs of angels praise
Mary, Joseph lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!
Dear God, I know I just said this in another prayer, but it is fascinating that it is the shepherds that got the angel visit. The angel visited Zechariah, Mary, Joseph (multiple times), and the shepherds. I think that’s it. The shepherds. One angel shows up while the shepherds are “keeping watch over their flocks at night” (Luke 2:8b). Your glory reflected off of the angel and it scared them.
But what if the angel had gone somewhere else? What if he had shown up at the high priest’s home? The governor? The innkeeper for crying out loud? All of these people would probably have messed up the plan. The priest wouldn’t have trusted Mary and Joseph to raise the child. The governor probably would have killed him. And the innkeeper…well, I’m sure he would have messed things up too.
And then when the angel is done with his message, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,” in their best Latin, “Gloria, In Excelsis Deo!” We see movies that depict Santa and the elves every Christmas Eve getting ready for Christmas. The excitement and joy they are about to unleash on the world is palpable. It’s hard for me to imagine the reality of how the angels felt to watch Jesus come down and enter time and space as a human. He would live a simple life with a tragic and then glorious end, but, in the meantime, the world needed confirmation beyond just what Mary and Joseph knew. We needed to know that someone else had an angel visit. Someone with no skin in the game. The shepherds from that night, while their names are lost to history, are still a huge part of our story (and every church Christmas pageant) today.
Father, I am sure I will hear this song at a Christmas Eve service on Tuesday. It’s a staple. Frankly, it’s never been a favorite of mine, but it is a good reminder that these shepherds and this incident are a critical and strategic part of the plan. Thank you for thinking of everything.
Away in a manger
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down His sweet head
The stars in the sky
Look down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay
The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
‘Til morning is nigh
Be near me, Lord Jesus
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me, I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to Heaven
To live with Thee there
Dear God, I most associate this song with children bits not really a children’s song, but I think there’s something about it that is comforting to children. It’s almost like a lullaby.
I was thinking about this song yesterday and thinking once again about your alternatives for Jesus’s earthly experience. I say once again because this is something I’ve thought about before.
In terms of Jesus’s family you could have chosen a wealthy family. You could have chosen to make him David’s actual child. You could have made him the child of the high priest. You had a lot of choices. If you’d have asked me to lay out the plan I’d have probably picked the best high priest I could find. That would make sense, right? Instead, you chose a girl and a man who seemingly had nothing going for them. But you needed not only their humility and character to be Jesus’s parents. You also needed the flexibility and obedience. They had to be willing to escape to Egypt to avoid Herod. Also, Jesus in the home of an important person would not have grown up with an up close and personal look at the poor.
Then there’s how he was born. “Away in a Manger.” Why were the only witnesses shepherds? Why was he in a barn, sleeping on hay? Would it have been so bad to have been in an inn? Starting with the shepherds, I just love the fact that they are they ones the angels went to. They didn’t appear to the church leaders and say, “Unto you is born in the city of David…” They didn’t appear to Herod. They went to shepherds. And even though the Bible indicates that after they saw the baby they went all over town telling people, it doesn’t appear that the word really got out about Jesus. It says in Luke 2 that “all were amazed” when they heard the shepherds’ story, but I have to wonder if they weren’t respected enough to really be believed. But by appearing to these guys and having them show up, I’m sure it was a huge encouragement to Mary and Joseph. And you know my theory that Mary and Joseph had probably been camping near Bethlehem and might have even been known by the shepherds. I’m sure they knew that particular barn.
Father, all of this is to say, your ways are not my ways, and your wisdom is much grander than mine. I would have done this very differently and it would have been a mess. So as I look at my own life, the personal and professional decisions I have to make, and even how I evaluate the decisions of others, help me to lean not on my own understanding, but to lean into your wisdom and listen for your still, small voice.
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav’nly song?
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
See Him in a manger laid
Whom the choirs of angels praise
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Dear God, this has probably become the most ubiquitous Christmas hymn of our generation. If I were to survey all of the Christmas Eve services in our town, I would bet that over 90% of them would use this song. It is as much of a standard as “Silent Night” (which I’m saving for Christmas Eve).
So let’s see what we have here. First, I’ll just say that I love the idea of spending some time with the shepherds. In this song, the angels show up in the first verse and I presume we are singing from the shepherds’ perspective because they are the ones who heard the angels singing o’er the plains.
Next, a part of the story that is often overlooked is how the shepherds went throughout Bethlehem telling people what they had seen the night before. Did they start singing too? The writer of this hymn seems to think they did.
The third verse is apparently the shepherds inviting people to come to Bethlehem to see what they just heard the angels singing about. And they recognize the baby is to be worshipped because they call him Christ and of the bended-knee part. And I just made sure that in Luke 2:11 the angel does, indeed refer you Jesus as the Messiah.
As far as verse four goes, I’ve always liked the idea that the shepherds’ arrival and story would be a great affirmation to Mary and Joseph, who had to be scared and insecure about how this night had turned out. Personally, I can think of several times that you have given me an affirmation that I’ve needed
Father, as I close, I have an old friend from my Waco days who is in the hospital for intestinal blockage. Please be with him. Be with the doctors. Heal him. Clear the blockage and make him as comfortable as possible. Strengthen his wife and his children. Give them encouragement and affirmation in the midst of this trial. Help them to tangibly feel your presence.
Emails to God 