No, my favorite thing about Christmas is the Christmas music. I like many of the sentimental, ambience- and tradition-minded songs, including "White Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." But the songs that I love most are the old Christmas hymns that are full of Gospel truths and constantly being re-interpreted by various artists and played everywhere at Christmastime.
Even though my secular, consumption-minded culture has usurped much of the holiday, you can catch glimmers of its original meaning in those Christmas songs played on the radio. They may just be a holiday tradition for some people, but if you pay attention, really pay attention, to the lyrics, it's like you're hearing the best, most poetic sermons set to music, played everywhere. You can be driving in your car or walking around the store, getting groceries or toilet paper or gifts, and in the background your hear Biblical truths about Jesus and His Kingdom:
- The miracle of the Incarnation ("Veiled in flesh the Godhead see" "See within a manger laid Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth!" )
- The identity of Jesus (King and God and Sacrifice, symbolized in the Wise Men's three gifts) ("Born a King on Bethlehem's plain; gold I bring to crown Him again" "Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a Deity nigh" "Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom. / Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.")
- Jesus took the punishment our sins earn us ("with His blood mankind hath bought.")
- Jesus gives us a relationship with God ("God and sinners reconciled!")
- Jesus restores us back to God's original design ("No more let sin and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground. / He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found...")
- Jesus frees us from the sin and struggles within us ("Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day / To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray.")
- Jesus teaches us how we are to love others ("His gospel is peace. / Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother / and in His name, all oppression shall cease.")
- Jesus prays for us ("...for sinners here the Silent Word is pleading.")
- Jesus is the Way to the Kingdom of God, both now and in the future ("He has opened heaven's door and man is blessed forevermore")
These songs are replete with truth and hope, which is something I always need; even when I don't realize that I am drained, hearing the Good News is the best refreshment for a weary soul and the best reminder of what's really important in life. And if you get tired of a particular musical interpretation, there are always new versions coming out, once again making these truths sound as enjoyable and remarkable as they actually are.
And it's everywhere at Christmastime. Listen for it.
