Silent Night
Silent Night. Holy Night. All is Calm. All is bright.
What a beautiful song. But even more beautiful is the image that the song has put in my head. Last weekend, I had the wonderful privilege to sing a beautiful version of "Silent Night" to thousands of people. Over the course of the weekend, I really began to understand what the song meant.
The reality is though, that no one knows what a silent night is. Can you imagine the night right before Jesus was born? No city street lights to break your vision of the stars, no car horns honking with angry passengers behind them, no music, movies, or media to break the complete stillness of the moment when Jesus--JESUS was born. Sometimes I climb up on the roof to gaze at the stars, but there's always something that interrupts my thoughts with the Lord, or a light to mess up my pure vision of a completely dark, star-filled sky. But just imagine. Imagine how little light there must have been for Mary and Joseph to make their way to a stable. Imagine how quiet it must have been with all creation awaiting the birth of the King. It was such a silent night.
Every time a baby is born, my heart just does a little jump. It's such an exciting time for families, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and even strangers of this new precious life-form. God puts a heartbeat in the so so so tiny human beings. He ordains every step of a young child's life. Mary knew that she was holding in her womb life. But not any ordinary life, this was THE LIFE. The perfect, Holy, undefiled living and breathing and moving LIFE of the Jesus Christ. The man who was born under the Law not just to live, but to let us LIVE. Because we do not live unless we know Jesus, why He came, who He came for, and WHO He is. It was so Holy. The moment when all of creation STOPS. Simply stops. Wisemen bring gifts of the highest value to a lowly stable and they STOP in the face of Jesus. Shepherds bring their sacrificial lambs to see THE sacrificial lamb and STOP in a moment so pure and Holy as they for once lay their eyes on J e s u s. The first cry of a perfect human. I can only imagine how unworthy Mary felt. As she holds Jesus in her sinful arms, wondering why her. A simple, ordinary girl. But God uses ordinary people. He uses them to do extraordinary things, and thats why sinful mother Mary and perfect baby Jesus make such a beautiful picture. Such a Holy picture.
Chaos must have risen quickly as Joseph frantically knocked on every door in Bethlehem trying to find a place where he could lay his wife and dear Son. Mary must have started panicking when she found out she was going to give birth to Jesus on a pile of dirty hay. But God had and always has everything under control. Imagine His calm nature soothing the vivacious hearts of Mary and Joseph. In the midst of the beautiful chaos, God chose THEN to bring in His only Son. And it was calm. So peacefully calm that moment, when all creation stopped on that Holy, silent night.
All is bright? Hmmm. I don't exactly know what the writer of this song meant when he wrote this, other than that it rhymed with "night." But I know that God placed these specific words in this song so intentionally. I try and rack my memory for scenes in "the Christmas Story" that have anything to do with bright. The only thing that really sticks out is when the angels appeared to the silent, frightened shepherds giving them and us just a sample picture of the Glory of God in heaven. But maybe what the writer meant was the magnificence of JESUS. This baby, just born under the sinful human law, made perfect by our Father, brilliantly shone with the Glory of Jesus. God was reflected in the face and body of this child, and people saw and understood that this was no ordinary child. He brightly shined with God's magnificent G l o r y.
On the last performance of the weekend as I walked outside around the building to get ready for a different part, I looked up at the sky amongst the busy traffic, lights, and distractions, and Jesus whispered, "heavenly Peace." Heavenly Peace. As Jesus slept in Heavenly Peace, He also grew up in it. While we sang that line over and over again, the voices behind me sounded like angels. Like God was ushering me into His presence and all of a sudden I was so completely overwhelmed with this heavenly peace that surpasses anything. And when I walked outside, the Lord kept whispering it in my ears and heart. Jesus brought us heavenly peace. And He continues to do so. Don't get too caught up in the bustle and business of Christmas that you forget the Silent, Holy, Calm, Bright, Peaceful night when our Savior brought us heavenly Peace.
What a beautiful song. But even more beautiful is the image that the song has put in my head. Last weekend, I had the wonderful privilege to sing a beautiful version of "Silent Night" to thousands of people. Over the course of the weekend, I really began to understand what the song meant.
The reality is though, that no one knows what a silent night is. Can you imagine the night right before Jesus was born? No city street lights to break your vision of the stars, no car horns honking with angry passengers behind them, no music, movies, or media to break the complete stillness of the moment when Jesus--JESUS was born. Sometimes I climb up on the roof to gaze at the stars, but there's always something that interrupts my thoughts with the Lord, or a light to mess up my pure vision of a completely dark, star-filled sky. But just imagine. Imagine how little light there must have been for Mary and Joseph to make their way to a stable. Imagine how quiet it must have been with all creation awaiting the birth of the King. It was such a silent night.
Every time a baby is born, my heart just does a little jump. It's such an exciting time for families, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and even strangers of this new precious life-form. God puts a heartbeat in the so so so tiny human beings. He ordains every step of a young child's life. Mary knew that she was holding in her womb life. But not any ordinary life, this was THE LIFE. The perfect, Holy, undefiled living and breathing and moving LIFE of the Jesus Christ. The man who was born under the Law not just to live, but to let us LIVE. Because we do not live unless we know Jesus, why He came, who He came for, and WHO He is. It was so Holy. The moment when all of creation STOPS. Simply stops. Wisemen bring gifts of the highest value to a lowly stable and they STOP in the face of Jesus. Shepherds bring their sacrificial lambs to see THE sacrificial lamb and STOP in a moment so pure and Holy as they for once lay their eyes on J e s u s. The first cry of a perfect human. I can only imagine how unworthy Mary felt. As she holds Jesus in her sinful arms, wondering why her. A simple, ordinary girl. But God uses ordinary people. He uses them to do extraordinary things, and thats why sinful mother Mary and perfect baby Jesus make such a beautiful picture. Such a Holy picture.
Chaos must have risen quickly as Joseph frantically knocked on every door in Bethlehem trying to find a place where he could lay his wife and dear Son. Mary must have started panicking when she found out she was going to give birth to Jesus on a pile of dirty hay. But God had and always has everything under control. Imagine His calm nature soothing the vivacious hearts of Mary and Joseph. In the midst of the beautiful chaos, God chose THEN to bring in His only Son. And it was calm. So peacefully calm that moment, when all creation stopped on that Holy, silent night.
All is bright? Hmmm. I don't exactly know what the writer of this song meant when he wrote this, other than that it rhymed with "night." But I know that God placed these specific words in this song so intentionally. I try and rack my memory for scenes in "the Christmas Story" that have anything to do with bright. The only thing that really sticks out is when the angels appeared to the silent, frightened shepherds giving them and us just a sample picture of the Glory of God in heaven. But maybe what the writer meant was the magnificence of JESUS. This baby, just born under the sinful human law, made perfect by our Father, brilliantly shone with the Glory of Jesus. God was reflected in the face and body of this child, and people saw and understood that this was no ordinary child. He brightly shined with God's magnificent G l o r y.
On the last performance of the weekend as I walked outside around the building to get ready for a different part, I looked up at the sky amongst the busy traffic, lights, and distractions, and Jesus whispered, "heavenly Peace." Heavenly Peace. As Jesus slept in Heavenly Peace, He also grew up in it. While we sang that line over and over again, the voices behind me sounded like angels. Like God was ushering me into His presence and all of a sudden I was so completely overwhelmed with this heavenly peace that surpasses anything. And when I walked outside, the Lord kept whispering it in my ears and heart. Jesus brought us heavenly peace. And He continues to do so. Don't get too caught up in the bustle and business of Christmas that you forget the Silent, Holy, Calm, Bright, Peaceful night when our Savior brought us heavenly Peace.
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