Advent Carol for December 20

Advent Carol for December 20

Written by Lise Caldwell

 

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 the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

My heart’s longing is for God and sinners to be reconciled. “Sinners” is a tricky word, because so often it is intended to mean (or interpreted as meaning) “all those (fill in your blank of choice) people.” Scripture makes it clear that we are all sinners. Apart from Christ, no one is better off than anyone else. We all desperately need the reconciliation that Christ’s “incarnate Deity” offers. I long for us–all of us–to rise joyfully this Christmas season, and proclaim, “with the angelic host” the good news of Christ’s birth. I long for people to see it as good news.

I suspect that it is mostly Christians who have are reading these Advent posts. But if for some reason you have clicked on this today and you are not a Christian, please know this: Christians really do believe some wacky things. We believe that God came down, “pleased as man with men to dwell.” We believe in the Virgin birth, the incarnation, the miracles, the resurrection. We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word and most of us approach it with great humility, recognizing that while our ability to interpret it might sometimes be flawed, it is God’s primary means of communicating who he is and what he desires of us, and it is without flaw.

Many of us have watched while these beliefs have gone from being encouraged or at least indulged by the culture around us to being mocked, misunderstood, and mistreated because of them. For some of this, Christians themselves are responsible. When we have referred to “sinners” as people other than ourselves, we have often spread hurt and hatred instead of the healing message of the Gospel.

But it isn’t easy to respond with joy to the coming of Christ. Because to do so means to admit inadequacy. To admit failure. To admit sin. We will reject the Savior as long as we deny that we need saving.

We do need saving. Desperately. Everyone one of us. And the “newborn King” is the only one who can do it.