December 24 – Christmas

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”  (Luke 2: 14, New Living Translation)

             
            I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
            Their old familiar carols play,
            And wild and sweet the words repeat
            Of peace on earth, good will to men.           

             It’s not that I am anywhere close to being a Grinch or a Scrooge, but I will confess that I am having difficulty getting into the full Christmas spirit. But yikes, it’s Christmas Eve. If not now, when? Even the repetitive nature of popular Christmas music has not released the Christmas jollies in me. I am not so much dreaming of a white Christmas as I am hoping for clear road conditions for driving. My jingle bells have lost their jangle. My bad leg, although much better, won’t let me rock around the Christmas tree. I am sorry that Elvis is having a blue Christmas, but he needs to deal with it. There is no particular reason for how I am feeling. Nothing is really wrong.  We will be with family. Perhaps it’s all the bad news I hear, read and see.

            And in despair I bowed my head:
            “There is no peace on earth,” I said,
            “For hate is strong and mocks the song
            Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

            But wait, do you hear what I hear? “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 

                It’s a song which our weary world needs to listen to, that you and I need to pay close attention. The King James version is especially appealing: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Yes, it needs to be more inclusive, but I enjoy the emphasis on both peace and good will as being essential qualities behind the Christmas story and indeed is also embedded deeply in the whole story of Jesus Christ from start to finish. Every year, we need to listen and appreciate the strength of that message. Peace and goodwill. There’s not enough of either in our world right now.                 

            Peace and good will in Russia and Ukraine.
            Peace and goodwill in Gaza and Israel.
            Peace and good will in the Sudan.
            Peace and goodwill in refugee camps.
            Peace and goodwill between faiths, cultures, ethnicities, tribes and clans.
            Peace and goodwill with our neighbour to the south.
            Peace and goodwill in homeless shelters and foodbanks.
            Peace and goodwill when we put a stop to mass killings, violence, hatred, and the like.
            Peace and goodwill in our homes and relationships.

            Peace and goodwill - are we listening or have we tuned out God’s priceless words because we hear it every year?

                We might envy those shepherds who listened to those heavenly voices afresh for the very first time. Some have speculated that they may have been Palestinians doing a dirty job that others wouldn’t touch.  They are out in the middle of no-man’s land, protecting the sheep which someone else probably owned. Yet God sings for them just as much as he sings for us all. The angels carry God’s Word to lowly shepherds and yet they hear a message that is meant and is fit for the whole world – peace and goodwill. We are reminded that there is no remote place on earth in which God cannot carry his song.

                In Jesus Christ, God sings for us. peace and goodwill. May it be so!

                Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
                “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
                The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
                With peace on earth, good will to men.”

                Till, ringing singing, on its way,
                The world revolved from night to day,
                A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
                Of peace on earth, good will to men! (Longfellow)

                May you all have a very blessed Christmas.

 Dale