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.

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.

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.