I Heard the Bells
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This is the second week of advent,
Remembering the time of anticipation before the first coming of Jesus, as we await his second coming.
Each week of Advent has a theme.
This year i am looking at some of the well known Christmas songs that deal with some of those themes
last week we looked with hopeful anticipation at Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, and glanced at several of the roles and titles that Jesus filled.
This week we look at Peace,
And for that I have Chosen the Hymn, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
This hymn was penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
And American Poet who lived during the Civil War,
The Man who penned the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
that famous one if by land two if by sea - that came from Longfellow.
And he wrote this song in the middle of the bloodiest conflict on American Soil.
During a war in which he lost his son.
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace of earth, good will to men.
This song starts as a typical christmas hymn,
With recognizable features such as Bells ringing, or the phrase Peace of Earth
Which of course comes from the Book of Luke
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
That is about as Christmasy as things can get.
And the second verse keeps it going with this almost universal aspect to it
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
The belfries of all Christendom,
Our church doesn’t have a belfry, but that wont keep us from celebrating.
In fact i think this is one of the most amazing things about Christmas, as a Celebration within the Church as a whole, is that it is celebrated around the world.
Over 4 million churches around the world will gather together to celebrate the Birth of Jesus this month.
I think that is amazing. It is so easy to think that we are alone in the world, but we are not we have millions of Brothers and sisters in Christ singing and praying together.
We call it Christendom - the Kingdom of Christ. the Kingdom that is not of this world.
We see hints of this in Isaiah 9:2-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
A child is born, as a wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
These titles clearly cannot describe a human, but if you notice, they also Descibe the other parts of the Trinity,
Everlasting father,
Wonderful Counselor - Jesus calls the Holy Spirit this.
Prince of Peace - a prince is the son of a King. Jesus
And Jesus brings peace to his people. And then sits on the throne of David,
and we the Church are his subjects, his kingdom.
and most of his teachings centered on the kingdom of God,
But At the 3rd verse the song takes a dark turn
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.”
Longfellow wrote these lyrics in the midst of the civil war. It would have been hard to find peace during that time.
We live in a time where most of us live in peace, but across the world there are horrible atrocities
we don’t have perfect peace on earth, and it is so easy to think that peace on earth is unattainable.
Longfellow was hardly the first poet to realize this issue.
Even King David saw the state of the World and asked questions of God
Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
The psalm consists of the boastings and mockings of the wicked as they take advantage of the poor and the afflicted, along the way they mock God as unseeing and unhearing.
But the psalm continues
Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
See David understood something, that even though this world is messed up, God promised he will set all thing right, and he will set all things right.
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.”
The Song goes from despair to hope with a reminder
God is not dead nor does he sleep.
There are two statements here, we will start with the second
God does not sleep we can see this in psalms
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
God is always watching over us
Or in Isaiah where it goes a step further.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
He gives us strength as well.
But how about the Statement that God is not dead?
Well that specifically speaks to the entire Point of Jesus’s first coming,
He came to die for us.
But he didn’t stay Dead!
And Since he defeated death, even though we die we will live again
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
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!
One of the reasons we celebrate the Birth of Christ in late December, is because it is shortly after the winter solstice the longest nights of the year, as the days start getting longer again. this represents how His birth was the dawn of a new age, where the light of God would shine brighter and brighter.
Lets look back at the passage in Isaiah 9:2-6
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Church we are entering into the darkest days of the year.
And we are entering into a time of great spiritual darkness.
But we need not fear. because A light has dawned.
That is what we celebrate this time of year.
That even in this dark and painful world, we have recieved peace.
