Silent Night

Anyone procrastinate their gift shopping until the last minute? I have some bad news if you are still expecting to go shopping after this service unless you plan on going to a gas station for gift cards.

Tonight is not a story of procrastination, but one of a good thing coming in the last minute.

Sometimes we make good plans, but something comes up and we have to improvise with little time to spare. I have had a few times in my life when somehow, someway the last minute effort came with amazing results.

That is what happened in order for the most recorded Christmas song in history to be written. The first singing of Silent Night happened just hours after Pastor Joseph Mohr and composer Franz Gruber put the words to music.

Before we get to the making of the song, there is first a story behind the words of the song that started as a poem.

The early 1800’s in Austria and in Europe as a whole were devastating. The Napoleonic wars ended in 1815. A decade plus of wars throughout Europe have left families torn apart and many injured.

That same year in 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted causing ash to fill the atmosphere. As a result of the ash, global temperatures fell dramatically in 1816. They fell so much that 1816 became known as the year without a summer. In Austria in 1816, snow fell much of the summer. Needless to say, the crops that summer did not fare well at all and by Christmas time, many were starving.

During the daytime in Austria, many protested the high food prices amidst the shortage. Violence frequently broke out and people in general were in a tough place. As most pastors, Mohr just wanted his people to understand the great love of the Father in heaven, a love so great that He would send Jesus to us. With all the turmoil surrounding this pastor, the quiet of the night inspired him to write the words to Silent Night.

Joseph Mohr read the words of his poem to the congregation in Mariapfarr in December of 1816 in hope of inspiring them to have hope - to realize the great love of the Father to send Jesus the Savior to us.

Fast forward to 1818. It’s Christmas Eve and Pastor Mohr is now in the town of Obendorf. He realizes that the plans for the service had to change. The original plan was to have a roving band of actors perform and sing for the local congregation using the the church organ. The organ was not usable due to a flood that year that ruined the organ just before Christmas.

Pastor Mohr recalled a poem he had written two years prior as an encouragement for his congregation. On Christmas Eve, 1818, in an effort to come up with a last minute plan, Mohr took the words to his poem and walked 2 miles to see a school teacher and the church choir director Franz Gruber in the hopes that his friend could write music for the poem in time to sing at the Christmas Eve service.

In just a few hours with a little guitar Franz Gruber wrote the melody to the song we know today as Silent night. Just hours after completing the arrangement, Gruber and Mohr sang the song for the first time at the Christmas Eve service.

I think it is fitting to be singing a song this year that was birthed in a last minute changes of plans because of flooding in a small Austrian town.

It’s amazing to me how God can use the tough and difficult in our lives to create and bring about something so beautiful. Maybe you’ve had a particularly difficult year. Maybe you’ve made some plans and they’ve had to change last minute. The song Silent Night is a testament to how God can use these circumstances in our lives to birth something very beautiful and long lasting.

Let’s read the story out of Luke 2 that speaks of the night that Jesus was born.

Luke 2:1–20 NIV

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

On what was likely expected to be a very normal and boring night for the shepherds, God changed their plans and revealed himself to them. It ends with them returning to the fields back to their normal lives, yet their lives had been changed by the good news of Jesus’ birth.

Tonight might be a break from the normal as we sing Silent Night, but when we return to the normal and perhaps the challenging life circumstances, let’s remember that God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus for us. To bring us joy, peace and hope in the world we live in today.