Sermon Tone Analysis

A Holy Night In War

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was the commissioner of wines in a small French town.

Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Placide when his parish priest asked the commissioner to pen a poem for Christmas mass.

Nevertheless, the poet was honored to share his talents with the church.

In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Placide Cappeau considered the priest's request.

Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him.

By the time he arrived in Paris, "Cantique de Noel" had been completed.

Moved by his own work, Cappeau decided that his "Cantique de Noel" was not just a poem, but a song in need of a master musician's hand.

Not musically inclined himself, the poet turned to one of his friends, Adolphe Charles Adams, for help.

The son of a well-known classical musician, Adolphe had studied in the Paris conservatoire.

His talent and fame brought requests to write works for orchestras and ballets all over the world.

Yet the lyrics that his friend Cappeau gave him must have challenged the composer in fashion, unlike anything he received from London, Berlin, or St. Petersburg.

As a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adolphe, the words of "Cantique de Noel" represented a day he didn't celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God.

Nevertheless, Adams quickly went to work, attempting to marry an original score to Cappeau's beautiful words.

Adams' finished work pleased both poet and priest.

The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Cantique de Noel is what we know as O Holy Night.

The song quickly gained moment and eventually was sung all across Europe, even in America.

It became a staple during Christmas and remains so even today.

The song has had an extraordinary impact all over the world.

There is a legend that it even brought a few moments of peace during the Franco-German War of 1871.

Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, in the midst of fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France, during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his muddy trench.

Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man.

Boldly standing with no weapon in his hand or at his side, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and sang in French,

“O holy night!

The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

After completing all three verses, a German infantryman climbed from his hiding place and answered with, " From heaven above to earth I come To bear good news to every home; Glad tidings of great joy I bring, Whereof I now will say and sing:" the beginning of Martin Luther's robust "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come."

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas day.

There is something about this Holy Night, the night the Savior of the world was born, that moves the soul to feels its worth.

It moved a poet to write lyrics of the event that moved people to sing them.

It moved a Jewish musician to write music that has been adored for 176 years.

It moved two enemies to stop their fighting and pursue peace for at least twenty-four hours.

What was it about the birth of Jesus that provoked these men to stop their fighting?

The birth of Christ, the holy night that moved their soul, provoked them to put their weapons down for a time.

What do we see in the birth narrative of Jesus that provokes us to end the fighting?

I believe Luke 2:8-14, provides three provocations that move you to lay your weapons down.

The Fear of the Glory God Provokes Your Heart to Stop Fighting (Luke 2:8-9)

In verse eight, Luke begins with the setting.

It is ordinary.

It’s late in the evening, maybe even early morning.

The sheep are in the field grazing.

There is a rainy season in Jerusalem from the end of October the month of March.

There is a break in this season from the end of December to February.

During this time, there is enough foliage for sheep to graze.

So, it makes sense that they are out there.

The shepherds are guarding their sheep against natural predators and thieves.

They are a salty bunch of men.

They are dirty, poor, and known for being scoundrels.

They are more than likely stationed at different points on the field.

Overall it is an ordinary night.

The sky is clear.

The stars are present.

The moon is giving enough light to see the shadows move around in the gray backdrop.

Everything is well until heaven crashes into humanity like a head-on collision with all the shock and awe of a car accident.

Verse nine brings us to the crash.

“Then an angel appeared…and they were terrified.”

Luke has given us three accounts already of an angel appearing(Luke 1:11; 19; 26).

In all three accounts, the angel appears, and fear is the first response.

Anytime heaven collides with earth fear is appropriate.

Heaven is light.

The world is dark.

Heaven is holy.

Earth is sinful.

The angel is a resident of heaven.

The Shepherds belonged to the world.

Also consider this, on the one hand, Jesus is born as a baby in a stable and put laid in a feeding trough, while in a field miles away, the skies split and angels declare God has come to bring peace on earth.

This child is the king of heaven who is worshiped by angels and heavenly beings and should be greeted by kings and nobles, and yet when he arrives on earth he is only greeted by shepherds and later magi from the east.

Instead of being worshiped by the king, Herod seeks to kill the Son of God.

The birth of Christ comes at you with all of these out of this world contrasts, both glory and yet humility, judgment and yet joy, fear and yet peace that your heart is overwhelmed, beside itself, and fear is the result.

The whole thing forces you to prostrate yourself with your head between your knees.

It’s not just the overwhelming contrasts of heaven colliding with earth that causes fear.

God’s presence is a fearful thing to be in the midst of.

Consider a couple of things the shepherds were dealing with in this event.

First, Gabriel said he stood in the presence of God (Luke 1:19).

No human being can do this and live.

In Exodus 33:20, God tells Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see my face and live.”

Habakkuk 1:13 says of Yahweh, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…” The angel was pure, holy, acceptable to the Lord.

He obeyed the Lord with precision and joy.

He was right enough, or pure enough, to stand in the presence of God.

He was part of the light that conquers darkness.

to see Gabriel had to be fascinating.

Second, it was not just the angel that the shepherds feared.

Verse nine says, “and the glory of the Lord shone around them.”

This is the manifestation of God’s presence among his people.

God has often presented himself in fire and smoke.

Consider the Exodus story.

God appears to Moses as fire in a bush that did not burn.

When God delivered Israel out of Egypt, he was a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

While in the wilderness, the Lord consumed an entire mountain with smoke.

When he met with his people at the tent of meeting, he consumed the tent with a cloud of smoke.

The shepherds saw the angel accompanied with blazing heat and light and smoke that consumed them.

They feared for their lives.

Maybe Isaiah 6:1-5 came to mind as they gazed at heaven:

“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

2 Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;