Let us pray! Lord
Jesus Christ, we have celebrated Your Holy birth. For St. John was inspired to proclaim, “and
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.
In Your birth, the plan of salvation was put into action and we now
receive this morning, not only Your precious Body and Blood but now share in
eternal life brought to us in a lowly manger for all of us saints gathered here
at Emmanuel this Christmas morning.
AMEN.
Can you name the song where the following lyrics come
from?
Yea, Lord, we
greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
Ascribed
as the most popular Christmas hymn due to it being translated into over 125
languages, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” still to this day inspires us.
On Christmas
Day 1914, a peace settled over most of the fronts of Europe as men, who not
days before were sworn enemies joined together to share the Christmas
message. The following is a fictional
story based upon eyewitness accounts, by Aaron Shepard entitled, “A Christmas
Truce” of a letter written from a soldier on the Eastern Front to his sister,
but gives new meaning to the hymns we sing and take for granted.
Just yesterday morning—Christmas
Eve Day—we had our first good freeze. Cold as we were, we welcomed it, because
at least the mud froze solid. Everything was tinged white with frost, while a
bright sun shone over all. Perfect Christmas weather.
During the day, there was little
shelling or rifle fire from either side. And as darkness fell on our Christmas Eve,
the shooting stopped entirely. Our first complete silence in months! We hoped
it might promise a peaceful holiday, but we didn’t count on it. We’d been told
the Germans might attack and try to catch us off guard.
I went to the dugout to rest, and
lying on my cot, I must have drifted asleep. All at once my friend John was
shaking me awake, saying, “Come and see! See what the Germans are doing!” I
grabbed my rifle, stumbled out into the trench, and stuck my head cautiously
above the sandbags.
I never hope to see a stranger
and more lovely sight. Clusters of tiny lights were shining all along the
German line, left and right as far as the eye could see.
“What is it?” I asked in
bewilderment, and John answered, “Christmas trees!”
And so it was. The Germans had
placed Christmas trees in front of their trenches, lit by candle or lantern
like beacons of good will.
And then we heard their voices
raised in song.
Stille nacht, heilige nacht . . .
.
This carol may not yet be
familiar to us in Britain, but John knew it and translated: “Silent night, holy
night.” I’ve never heard one lovelier—or more meaningful, in that quiet, clear
night, its dark softened by a first-quarter moon.
When the song finished, the men
in our trenches applauded. Yes, British soldiers applauding Germans! Then one
of our own men started singing, and we all joined in.
The first Noel, the angel did say
. . . .
In truth, we sounded not nearly
as good as the Germans, with their fine harmonies. But they responded with
enthusiastic applause of their own and then began another.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum . . .
.
Then we replied.
O come all ye faithful . . . .
But this time they joined in,
singing the same words in Latin.
Adeste fideles . . . .
British and German harmonizing
across No Man’s Land!
Our reality we live
with and celebrate today like the troops did on the Cold Eastern Front in 1914 is
that the Word has become Flesh and dwelt among us! We have beheld His Glory and this morning as
we celebrate in song we also partake of His precious Body and Blood broken and
shed for us and for all of mankind. May
we be fed, enriched and energized by God’s gift in the manger and from the
altar where we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ for all of us saints
gathered here at Emmanuel on this Christmas morning. AMEN!
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