Pastor Jim Bachmann, Senior Pastor
It’s Christmas time! Here it is again, and what a great time it is! I love the parties, services, lights, trees, decorations, presents, and even (a little bit of) the shopping. And I am still dreaming of a white Christmas one of these years before I run out of years.
I love singing the Christmas hymns too. This Sunday we will sing “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” “Joy to the World!,” and a very old one, dating back to the 5th century, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” You may be unfamiliar with it, but the words are spectacular:
O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts His praises sing;
Powers, dominions bow before Him, and extol our God and King;
Let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert ring,
Evermore and evermore!
And again:
Christ, to thee, with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to thee,
Hymn, and chant, and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!
Of course, there would be no Christmas, no worship, and no hymns without the incarnation. Jesus left His heavenly palace for a stable floor. He left His heavenly company to become one of us, suffer with us, bear our sin, and purchase our salvation.
In Robert Massie’s biography of Peter the Great, he describes the Battle of Narva, in 1700, between the Swedish and Russian armies. Leading the Swedes was the 18–year–old King Charles XII. Though warned about the brutal weather, he pressed on. The roads were thick with mud and the army was drenched by the rain. When evening came the rain turned to snow and the ground froze. Then Massie writes, “The king slept with his men under the open sky receiving the rain and the snow on his face.” Charles took the position
of his men. He had no royal tent with a light and warm fire. He slept under the same rain and snow, and in the same mud, as his people!
And so too our humble King Jesus, who took on our flesh and pitched His tent among us to wage war against the hosts of evil. Come ready to sing and celebrate this Sunday! “Let no tongue on earth be silent!”
