Sunday after Christmas
Christmas Carols
(Various Bible verses (see text) including
Genesis 3:15, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14. Matthew 1 to 2, Luke 1:26-80, Galatians 4:4)
Music is an important vehicle of our worship and this is particularly true at Christmas, which gives us a great evangelistic opportunity by the frequent singing of Carols in public places; I therefore felt that it would be right this week to take a slightly different approach in our Reflection together. In this Christmas season I’d like to focus on the treasury of Scripture that we allude to when we sing our Carols, for example in Luke 1 we see the origins of many Advent and Christmas Carols. Many of us will also be familiar with the Magnificat (Song of Mary) In Luke 1:46-55, and the Benediictus (Song of Simeon) in Luke 2:29-32.
I apologise for this Reflection being longer than usual, but please feel free to ignore the Footnotes if you wish; I am hoping that the holiday season may give you more leisure to reflect.
There is one Carol in particular that contains a wealth of Scripture, namely Charles Wesley’s Carol, Hark, the Herald Angels sing[1]. Another which contains straight Biblical narrative is While shepherds watched. If you have time on your hands over this holiday period you may like to focus on the ways in which Bible verses appear in many other hymns and songs (and not just at Christmas) and see what other examples you can find. This is true across sacred music from all ages, from early Medieval through Renaissance, Victorian, 20th Century (including pop, jazz and Gospel styles), up to and including much of that written in the 21st Century. We can go back much further; God gave us the gift of music and there are plenty of Scriptural examples of how His people have praised and worshipped Him in music right from the earliest times; for example there are 150 in the Book of Psalms. If we go back to Exodus we find the Song of Moses in Exodus 15:1-18, and the Song of Miriam in Exodus 15:21; also the Song of Deborah and Barak in Judges 5:1-9.
A favourite from my choir days is the 18th Century Carol Jn dulci jubilo, (“in sweet joy”). Originally written in a mix of German and Latin, the version we traditionally sing today is in English and Latin; this mix of languages is known as macaronic verse[2][3]
The function of music in worship is to enhance the worship and not to detract from it and I would offer a note of caution here: there is also a lot of very bad music around from all periods, but one criterion to me is pre-eminent; if the congregation are supposed to sing it, then it must be singable! This is not always the case I’m afraid.
Enjoy your research.
Lord we thank you for giving is the vehicle of music as an aide-mémoire to remind us of your Eternal Word. Thank you for the blessing of being able to make a joyful sound in praise of you, not just at Christmas but all the year round. Amen.
Peter Sebborn
Christian.Footsoldier@gmail.com
[1] If you would like to see a detailed analysis of the Scriptural content of this Carol you can find it here.
[2] Macaronic Latin is a jumbled jargon made up of English words given Latin endings or of Latin words mixed with English. In the 18th century this style was often used in a derogatory sense – a dandy was often known as a macaroni due to his flamboyant taste in foreign fashion; a London group formed the Macaroni Club.