Away in a Manger

“When this great army of angels had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Come-on! Let’s go to Bethlehem!  Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ 

“They ran to the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby, lying in the manger.”  Luke 2: 15 and 16

The shepherds ran to find baby Jesus.  Did you catch that?  They didn’t just saunter over or even just hurry; they ran.  This Christmas season we too can run with the shepherds in making time, worshipping Jesus in a deeper sense than ever before.  We need to see Him- to really connect.  That takes time. 

It takes time to immerse ourselves in God’s Word and  really think about it instead of reading it while we’re actually thinking mostly about what to buy that special person on our shopping list.  But there is a payoff for us too as we run to Jesus.  Just as the shepherds got to see Him personally as they rushed to his manger side, Jesus manifests Himself to us as we draw near to Him.

We can help our children and grandchildren see beyond the glitter of the Christmas season and teach them the true meaning of Christmas- Christ’s birth.  We can sing “Away in a Manger” with them. This carol is all about our love for the Lord Jesus and our trust in His faithful care.

PS:  Another way you can make Jesus more real to your children this Christmas season is to read my new book “A Christmas Present for Goliath” with them.  This book gives them a brand new perspective on the wise men’s visit to see the Messiah.  Visit my web page http://www.ruthwillms.com/goliath.html to learn all about it.
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky,
And stay by my bedside till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
Close by me for ever and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

Although some claim that Martin Luther composed this childlike carol it is actually anonymous.  It was first printed in the US in 1885 as part of the collection “Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses”.  The song touched James R. Murray’s heart causing him to print it here with the title “Luther’s Cradle Song”. This could be why the carol is mistakenly attributed to Luther.

Others want to credit Murray with the composition while still, others think the lyrics come from Robert Burns’ “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton”. Some say it may have been written by a member of a German Lutheran colony from Pennsylvania.  The tune, “Cradle Song” was composed by William James Kirkpatrick.

In the early 1900’s a Methodist minister, John T. McFarland added the third verse because it was desired for a church children’s day program.

Many hymn books exclude this carol because of its unscriptural words regarding the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but no crying he makes.  I think that this imagery makes the Bible story clear to children.

In the same way dramas performed through out our churches make Jesus’ birth more real to us each Christmas.  This all began in 1224 thanks to an innovative spiritual leader. That’s the Christmas that St. Francis of Assisi faced a dilemma.  He believed that the message of Christ’s birth had become so intellectual that it was aloof and dogmatic.  He wanted to simplify the message so it would touch the common people’s hearts.  It was then that he decided to dramatize the Christmas story.

He set up a nativity scene with the stable scene right in his church.  When his congregation arrived on Christmas Eve they were so excited.  Finally they could understand. The scene of Jesus’ birth was real to them. And yes, for the first time there was even a manger introduced in the Christmas service. This goes hand in hand with “Away in a Manger”, the carol children sing on Christmas Eve in their church programs, while dressed in the characters of that first Christmas. And always there is that manger, right in the center of the scene.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

“Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven- praising God:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,” they sang, “and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.”  Luke 2:13 and 14 [The Living Bible]

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is rich in Scriptural allusions and teachings.  It has many references to the Messianic prophecies pointing to the birth of the Messiah.  This wonderful carol also includes theological themes of what Christ did for us. It touches on Jesus’ incarnation; Jesus, who is God, also became man; His atonement for our sins; His resurrection; the fall of man; and sanctification, cleansing us from sin. It is many sermons in one to bless us each Advent day of this Christmas season.

We can bask in God’s blessing to us in that not only did God give us peace on earth but peace with God.  Jesus came to reconcile us to God.

1. Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the new born King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.

2. Christ by highest heaven 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 with men as man to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel!
Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.

 

3. Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Life and light 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.

4. Come Desire of nations come,
Fix in us Thy humble home:
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

5. Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Charles Wesley, known as the godfather of English hymns and later inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame, wrote the lyrics to “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing” in 1739.  Charles was the younger brother of John Wesley who began the Methodist movement.
The carol was first published as
‘Hark, how all the welkin rings/Glory to the King of Kings’.
 But in 1753 George Whitefield who was Calvinistically inclined, revised the first two lines to
“Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the new born King”
This carol tells the full Gospel story so well but what the carol sported in words it lacked in melody. Wesley made it known that he wanted only somber music to accompany his lyrics so the song was exceedingly slow and boring.

A hundred years later, in 1840, Felix Mendelssohn, the gifted composer wrote his beautiful cantata “Festival Song” to help celebrate the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg.
Years after Wesley and Mendelssohn were already gone to glory, William Cummings joined the glorious Mendelssohn music with Wesley’s profound words. We can thank Cummings for the beautiful combination we sing today.  The well loved carol is even heard in the popular James Stewart movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”

O Little Town of Bethlehem

“O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!”       Micah 5:2 [The Living Bible]

God chose Bethlehem to be the birthplace of Jesus, His Son.  This verse says Bethlehem was only a small village, yet God honored her with such significance.  We are blessed that God honored us also in giving Jesus not only to the famous and powerful people on earth but to all; to us, no matter what our station in life is.

Micah prophesied the event of Jesus’ birth hundreds of years before it happened.  He prophesied even the place of Jesus’ birth.  This tells me that only God could have told him because only God is omniscient and in control of everything, including His salvation reaching out to man.  This is the God we worship together this Christmas season.  He alone is worthy of all our adoration.

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the king,
And peace to men on earth.

For Christ is born of Mary;
And, gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven,

No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in:
be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell:
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.

In 1865 Phillips Brooks visited the Holy Land.  Brooks was a well known minister in Philadelphia.  Even the children admired him. They didn’t find him intimidating although he stood at 6 feet and 6 inches.  It was recorded that he could preach at 200 words a minute.  He must have kept his congregation on their toes.  When he died one of the young girls in his church paid him a high compliment when she said,” “O how happy the angels will be.”

During his visit to the Holy Land he rode the dangerous stretch from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to serve in the midnight service in the Church of the Nativity.  Two years after he walked the streets of Bethlehem the memories still stirred his soul and he wanted to make the story of Jesus’ birth more real to his congregation.  That is when he wrote the words to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, one of my very favorite carols.

His church organist, Lewis Redner, wrote the melody for him and their Sunday school children’s choir sang it on Christmas Eve.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” was loved in the USA.  Later, in 1906, the carol was introduced to England. Vaughan Williams rearranged it to the traditional tune Forest Green, which he had learned from the peasants in Surrey in 1903.

O Come All Ye Faithful

“When this great army of angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Come on!  Let’s go to Bethlehem!  Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
They ran to the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby, lying in the manger.” Luke 2:15 and 16 [The Living Bible]
I can just feel the shepherd’s excitement, can’t you?  Imagine having not one but a host of angels visiting you straight from heaven announcing such phenomenal news; Christ the Savior is born.  The shepherds were hand picked by God to receive this wonderful news first but who wouldn’t run to Bethlehem to worship the Christ child?

The shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep by night.  The last 400 years had been like a spiritual night, a spiritual dryness for the Jews.  They had not heard directly from God since Malachi was written.  But like the shepherds were watching over their sheep during their nighttime, the Jews were watching for God’s promise of the coming King, the Messiah, too.  

We too can come with the shepherds this Christmas Advent season and adore Him. We don’t even have to travel anywhere because He comes to us in our hearts.

 

1. Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the king of angels.
O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

2. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
Sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above:
Glory to God, glory in the highest.
O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

 3. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus to Thee be glory giv’n;
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.

We can thank John Francis Wade [1711-86] for this beautiful carol.  Wade was English but fled England with other Catholics during the Jacobite rebellion because of persecution.   In Douai, France he barely made a living, copying and selling sheet music and teaching music to children of the exiles.

 Wade wrote this carol in Latin, “Adeste Fideles, Laeti trimphante”.
He worked with Britain’s John Reading who wrote the melody for him. After the persecution the English refugees returned to England bringing the carol with them.

 Fortunately for us, a century later, an Anglican preacher, Rev. Frederick Oakeley came upon the song. He felt that if his congregation had good literary texts to sing, it would sing well. He liked the Latin carol and translated it into English for us.  His congregation, like our churches today, loved it. It has stood the test of time and now as then, it has also become part of our church worship at Christmas time.

Silent Night, Holy Night

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” — Luke 2:8
“Silent Night, Holy Night” is one of the most popular Christmas carols.  And no wonder since it inspires us to worship Jesus along with the shepherds on that holy night ages ago when God became man and was laid in a manger. Just as the shepherds kept watch over their sheep at night, God the Father was keeping watch over God, His Son Jesus, sleeping in heavenly peace. 

This is a message we all want to hear especially now with our world in a state of turmoil and uncertainty. God is also keeping watch over us, His children.  His glories from heaven afar still stream into our hearts this Christmas season as we walk in God’s pure light.  We breathe a sigh of relief remembering that our Savior was born and our hearts and voices break out in the words of this carol that is pure worship.
Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born.
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love’s pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
The carol found a foothold in Joseph Mohr’s mind when he penned the words in the form of a poem in 1816. He put it aside waiting for the time that would be right for a song to be born from it. It took two years for Mohr to find that perfect melody and it would be in answer to a dilemma; a broken organ.

A travelling group of actors performing the Christmas story came to perform in the little church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, a  village in the Austrian Alps. Since the organ was broken the assistant pastor, Josef Mohr, invited them to present their drama in a private home.  The presentation touched Mohr’s heart so strongly that he couldn’t get it out of his mind.

Meditating on the Christmas play he took the long way home that night by mistake.  The longer path led up a hill from which he looked down on the village. Mohr gazed down at the peaceful village covered in snow. The scene made him think of that poem he had penned two years ago.  The poem was about shepherds on a peaceful hillside, watching their sheep at night. Their quiet reverie was shattered as suddenly a host of heaven’s angels came upon them proclaiming the birth of Christ.

He knew the poem would make a perfect new song for their Christmas Eve service tomorrow night. But he didn’t have any music for it.  He hurried to his friend, the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber.  In a few hours Gruber wrote the music which could be played on a guitar. And so it happened that on Christmas Eve, the Oberndorf congregation was the first church to hear the now beloved, captivating carol Silent Night, Holy Night as these two men sang it to the accompaniment of Gruber’s guitar.

Children’s Christmas Gifts

The perfect children’s Christmas gift,  A Christmas gift for Goliath, is available now at http://www.ruthwillms.com/goliath.html. After writing it I have accumulated alot of camel trivia. Tradition tells us that a camel carried the precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Baby Jesus.
 Take the camel challenge.  Find out all you want to know about camels. 

 

Camel Trivia
Please circle the right answer.

1. Bible experts think that more than three wise men on camels travelled to visit Jesus?
a] True       b] False           

2. Tradition says the Magi used dromedary camels.  If so, the camels had how many humps?
a] one             b] two           c] three

3. People usually have five toes on each foot.  How many digits does a camel have on each foot?
a] 5                b] 4              c] 2

4. How many stomachs does a camel have?
a] two           b] three            c] four

5. A camel stores water in its hump.
a]  true          b] false

6. Baby male camels are called:
a] foals          b] bull calves          c] colts

7. Camels are unpredictable animals. They are basically:
a] bad-tempered and obstinate   b] good tempered and intelligent

8.  How is a camel equipped to keep the blowing sand out of its eyes?
a] it  has a double row of eyelashes   b] it has two lids  c] it has thick bushy eyebrows

9. The  normal life span of a camel is:
a] 20 years      b] 30 years     c] 40 years

10. What part of a camel acts like an air conditioner?
a] its chest      b] its mouth      c] its nose

 

 
Answers to Camel Trivia

1.  False.  The Bible does not say anything about the Magi riding camels.  Some Bible experts even say they must have used many horses.

2. One hump.  The dromedary camel has one hump. The Bactrian camel has two humps.

3. Two.In camels the 3rd and 4th foot bones are fused to form the cannon bone.  They have 2 foot digits that are not encased in hooves, but are toes with large nails.

4. A camel has 3 stomachs. It used to be rumored that the camel has a special stomach for holding water. This idea, however, is not true, but in the first and second stomach of the camel, there are cavities which can hold a certain amount of water which is not mixed with food, since most of the food immediately moves on to the third stomach.

 

5. False. Myth tells us that the camel stores water in its hump. The truth is the hump, or humps in the case of the Bactrian camel, are a fatty deposit that provide energy when food is scarce.
When a camels energy reserves become low from lack of food, the hump shrinks and becomes soft and will actually flop over to one side. The resilient nature of the animal can be seen in the rapid return of the hump to its normal firm upright self after just a few days of good grazing.

6. Baby male camels are called bull calves.

7. Camels have the reputation of being bad-tempered and obstinate creatures who spit and kick.  In reality, they tend to be good-tempered, patient and intelligent.  The moaning and bawling sound they make when they’re loaded up and have to rise to their feet is like the grunting and heavy breathing of a weight-lifter in action, not a sign of displeasure at having to do some work.

8. Camels’ eyes are protected by a double row of long curly eyelashes, that  help keep out sand and dust.  They do have thick bushy eyebrows but their purpose is only to shield their eyes from the desert sun.

9. The life span of a camel is 40 years but a working camel retires from active duty at 25.

10. A camel’s nose.  When a camel twitches its nose, it is cooling the incoming air and condensing moisture from its outgoing breath.

How did you do?  Any disagreements with my answers?  Please comment.

This Christmas season we too can worship Baby Jesus as the Magi did.  If we let Him, Jesus will change our hearts forever too.

Christian Moms Are Cutting Back on Children’s Gifts

“Then the shepherds went back again to their fields and flocks, praising God for the visit of the angels, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had told them.”  Luke 2:20 [The Living Bible]

This Christmas, Christian moms are saying to me they will have to cut back on their children’s gifts.  Some Christian moms are even saying they won’t do Christmas this year.  Just because you can’t buy expensive gifts and attend all the events that usually go with Christmas doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Christmas.

There is a positive side to the Christmas crunch this year. I hear people saying they won’t be able to do the things they usually do: go for a skiing holiday; take the family on a cruise; buy all those expensive gifts; not be able to attend that gala affair.

But there is one area we won’t have to curtail.  Infact, there is one area we will probably be able to expand.  Because we are cutting back on some activities that are out of reach this Christmas we will have more time for the most important activity of all; worshipping the Christ child.

The shepherds were busily at work watching their sheep, doing their ordinary tasks, when the angels appeared to them.  They brought Christmas cheer to everyone they met.  They had worshipped the Christ child and went back to work telling everyone what they had seen.

What a simple but meaningful way to spend Christmas!  Worship isn’t just praying and adoring God.  Worship is also something you do physically.  Worship is serving Christmas dinner at the homeless shelter. Worship is packing up all those gently used toys your kids have outgrown and delivering them to the “Inn from the Cold” depot. Worship is inviting a less fortunate family to have Christmas dinner with you. Worship is singing carols as your family decorates the tree. Worship is Christmas caroling at the senior’s centre or down your street. Worship is – use your imagination.

So this Christmas when you’re relaxing at home around the fireplace, smiling at your needy friend across the room, rejoice as the shepherds did and remember what Christmas is really all about.

My new book, A Christmas Present for Goliath is now available.  You can buy it at my website www.ruthwillms.com and start a new Christmas tradition, reading it with your children as you gather around the Christmas tree.

My Best Christmas Present Ever!

“And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  Matthew 2:11 [NKJV]

Christmas is only a few weeks away so I’m getting wish lists from my children and grandchildren.  I always know what my husband wants; hard cold cash or a gift certificate from his favorite train store.  He has a model train hobby and needs endless cash to sustain it. But this year I might divert and surprise him with something romantic and sentimental.

I’m going way back in my memories today to a certain Christmas in my childhood.  I was in grade three and a mere eight years old.  I don’t remember what present lay under the tree for me or what I opened Christmas morning but I know I got what I was hoping for; that was the Christmas I got my mom back.

My mother had been very, very sick.  I was sure she was going to die.  I heard whispers in church at prayer meeting. I saw the ladies’ pitying looks as they tried to smile at me. Men got up in church and prayed long prayers asking God to spare my mom and make her well. 

I didn’t know why my mom was in the hospital. At first I thought she was having another baby but my older sisters assured me it wasn’t so.  At home my older siblings and Dad talked quietly not wanting to worry us younger children.

So I prayed.  I too asked God to heal my mom and bring her home for Christmas.  My family was large; I had thirteen brothers and sisters.  A year or two ago another large family in our church had lost their mom. She died.  Their father remarried so the children now had a new mom.  I did not want a new mom.  I loved my mom. I made all kind of promises to God – good Christian things I would do if only He would bring my mom back home to me from the hospital. 

And God did bring my mom home for Christmas but only for a couple of days and then she had to go back for surgery. But that was enough for me. As I embraced her I was comforted and was able to let her go again. I believed that because she had been gone once and came back she would come back next time also.  I was right.  She became even sicker than before but she had her surgery.  God healed her and many weeks later she came home. God hear my prayer.

When I think of the wise men laying their treasure of gold and perfumes at Jesus feet that first Christmas season I join with them in adoration.  But that Christmas when I was eight all the wealthy material treasures that the richest kings could have laid at Jesus feet could not have compared to the treasure He gave me, my mother.

I gladly went on to other Christmases when I received the gifts that thrill the hearts of children.  Although they don’t compare with the Wii games and gifts of technology kids get today they made me happy and filled me with Christmas joy.

And yet I too want to lay a treasure at Jesus feet.  This year I thought of a unique way to do just that.  I wrote a children’s Christmas book in honor of Jesus birthday. It’s called A Christmas Present for Goliath and it tells the story of the young female camel that carried the gifts of gold and perfumes to Jesus in Bethlehem.  You can find it here on my website at http://www.ruthwillms.com/ .

And it gets better.  I’m having my own private birthday party for Jesus and you are invited. It’s at Crossroads Community Church in Calgary, at 912 – 19 Street, Calgary on November 8 at 1 p.m. Come see what the fuss is all about.  Hope to see you there.