Hark! the loud celestial hymn,
Angel choirs above are raising:
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising,
Fill the heavens with sweet accord,
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord!
This is a time of year when the air just seems to buzz with music and “Christmas magic.” Out on the streets and in the stores, people seem just a bit nicer with a smile ready to come out. Most stores now ring our Christmas melodies and are lit with lights and silver and gold decorations.
We as Christians can feel it, the anticipated presence of Jesus is almost palpable. Our hearts are filled with joy, our souls radiantly adorned with His festive joy.
Two millennia ago, the Angel choirs sang in the skies over Bethlehem. They filled all the earth with their joyful hymn. The shepherds sitting on the surrounding hills felt the song as much as they heard the melody. The angels were exalting in what God was doing. This moment was much anticipated. Maybe the angels waited since Adam’s fall when they looked at the Father to see His reaction and saw a knowing wink. The Father knew of this moment, His Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, was laying in a trough filled lovingly with hay.
Mary and Joseph gazing adoringly at their little boy, filled with the wonder of the birth of their son and the awe of Who was laying before them. They could feel the angel’s hymn buzzing around them as the light of the star cast its light upon the manger.
The shepherds descended from the hills to see what Gabriel had told them of. These common men, the first in all the world to be invited to see the wonder of Immanuel. The magi following behind the shepherds, having traveled from far lands to see this King and honor Him.
And, each of us, we can feel the song resonating somewhere within our souls. The vibrations rising like the sound of a tuning fork in the darkness. The light urging our souls to burst forth. On this Holy Night, Jesus invited us to take His Holy Name. Christians.
He was still years from the start of His teach ministry and further yet from Calvary and the shadow the cross that hung over this crib. But, He calls us from that very moment to become adopted sons and daughters of the Most High God.
“You are in our midst, O Lord; Your Name we bear”. Jeremiah 14:9
This Advent as we approach this great celebration, let us remember the God of the universe came to lay in a cold, dirty manger so we could claim our adoption into His family and be lifted from the manger’s mess to the immaculate glory of Heaven.