The Triumph of the Skies 12-27-09
This has been an odd Christmastime for me. The Christmas music started later this year, as well as starting with an odd assortment as compared to other years; the popular songs didn’t get played until the week before Christmas. The temperatures were colder, as well as a considerable amount of snow appearing (a white Christmas is great – until you have to drive in it). It also seemed that people were far more stressed out this year than last, with retailers worried about how the country’s economic woes will affect their rather thin profits and the drivers on the road demonstrating their less charitable side. I know this is all anecdotal, but this is what has been going on for me.So, in the midst of all of this, I have been retreating into the Christmas spirit. No, not into the fat guy in a red suit, but into the hymns and story to which the season is dedicated: the birth of Christ. One of the best known, and most illustrative of the true Christmas spirit is Charles Wesley’s “Hark! The herald angels sing”; its first verse is:
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
In opening this way, the song is proclaiming the true meaning of Christmas: celebrating the birth of Jesus, the true king and reconciler of God and man. I have, in the past, written about this identification of the “peace on earth” with “God and sinners reconciled”, but this year what stands out to me the most is the “join the triumph of the skies” line. With this I am reminded of the Bible stories concerning Christ’s birth.I am reminded of the Magi, who saw a star in the sky and followed it to where Jesus lay:
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:7-12 NIV)
I am reminded of the Shepherds, who heard of the birth from an angel and went to see for themselves:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 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.” (Luke 2:8-15 NIV)
But then I think a little more and I realize what this line really means:
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11 NIV)
For this year it has become painfully clear that America is reaping what it has sown. Americans are obsessed with material gain, so we are eviscerating our economic security for our immediate convenience and comfort. Americans are afraid of getting cheated, so we are fighting over toys and putting others at risk on the roads simply out of fear of losing. But Christmas is about the triumph of Jesus over this world, and over death itself, and the fact that his triumph is our triumph if we believe in him and trust in his word. And that is something our nation should definitely rise in joyful celebration of.
-Charles Peterson