THE HOLIEST OF NIGHTS

THE HOLIEST OF NIGHTS

As I sit here at my computer, it is Christmas Eve.  It is raining and cold and some say we will get a bit of snow, and just maybe we will get a rare “White Christmas.”

The tree is lovely with its packages underneath waiting for Christmas morning.  I love to just look at the tree all lit up in the dark and think how awesome this season really is.  I want to just put aside all the outside trappings of this holiday and sit in peace and remember my Lord and Savior and His Divine love to come to earth as that precious baby.  Even at His birth even as the song says, “Jesus Lord at Thy birth, Jesus Lord at Thy birth.”

Tonight, on Christmas Eve at our church will have a Candlelight Service.  We come together to sing the wonderful carols and recall the events of that night so long ago.  The lights are turned out and each person lights a candle of the person sitting next to them, and soon the sanctuary is aglow with the soft light of our candles and it is always an awesome moment, a quiet moment.  Our lit candles symbolize to me that the “Light of the World” has come and we all share in unity that Light. 

I have always considered Christmas Eve as a holy time, a time of a quiet peace.  There is a sense of awe and holiness in the air.  It is hard to explain, but maybe many of you also sense those feelings as you gather with your families or attend a church service, or even some of you may sense that in a Midnight Mass.  It is indeed a Holy Night!  Think of that night so long ago, as we recall the words to this precious carol.

O HOLY NIGHT

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

CHORUS:

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

Oh night divine, Oh night when Christ was born.

O Night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

CHORUS

Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim

(French Carol, 1847)

Most of our Christmas carols are timeless, written hundreds of years ago.  And as we sing them each year, do we think of what the words mean, or what the writer was trying to say?  They all have a timeless message of the coming of our Lord and Savior and the promise of a new life with Him, a new world coming of peace.  Down through the ages each generation had its problems, its wars and its struggles.  And each generation hoped that they would be the ones who would witness His coming and His world of peace.

As I looked up the history of “O Holy Night” it spoke of Jesus coming into a weary world.  In the day Jesus came they were looking for their Messiah and ruled by the Romans and they indeed were weary of the oppression of their day.  And Jesus came on that night with a promise of salvation to all who would receive Him and someday a new day would dawn when Jesus would rule forever as King of kings and Lord of lords.  He would bring hope to mankind, eternal life with Him.  But He would have to face the cross, shed His blood for our sins, and then rise from the dead on that third day, His glorious resurrection would come.  O what a holy night!  Our holy God wrapped in flesh, and He calls us to fall our knees in worship!  Let our hearts hear the angel voices proclaiming His birth.

And He is a God of love and He taught to love each other.  And this song was sung during the Civil War to remind that generation that the slaves were brothers and Jesus had called for the chains of bondage to be broken.  And we today, are called to come together in unity and to love those who are in bondage to sin and oppression.  There are many, many out there today who are bound up in chains of sin and don’t know the Savior who can set them free.  And deliverance comes in the Wonderful Name of Jesus!   He breaks every fetter, as the old chorus says.

So on this holy night, remember that Christ is the Lord!  It is not about Santa Claus and Reindeer, but it is all about Him!  And He calls us to praise His holy name forever, and to proclaim His mighty power to set men free and the promise of a new day coming.  We look around our world and we long for that day, when we see Him face to face at last.

So I call you out there to fall on your knees in solemn worship this night, this Christmas Eve, wherever you are.  Sense the awe, the presence of the Holy Spirit, sense the peace and the joy.  If you attend a service of candlelight, close your eyes and let Him bath you in His presence.  And if you don’t know this Wonderful Savior, that a wonderful time to ask Him to come into your heart and be your Lord forever.  Ask Him in the light of the candles or even the light of your Christmas tree, what a glorious moment that would be.  I have witnessed the joy of Christ coming into a heart, and it is truly a holy moment.

So stop, worship Him and sense the awe of this holy night, in Jesus’ Name, and have a Blessed Christmas!

Pastor Sharon