[Christmas 2024]

On a dark night in a small village in the heart of the world, our world was fundamentally changed.  Nothing of what had been would ever be the same again.  The vast majority of humanity didn’t even take note of the moment when heaven touched earth and angelic song called shepherds from a field to witness the most significant event in the history of mankind.

It was still cold out there with the lambs, where the shepherds kept watch around a small fire tending the year-old lambs destined to die at the Temple a few weeks later.  Passover was one of the great feasts of the year, and many lambs had to be prepared to be approved by the priests to meet the high standard of “perfection.”

That night, an angel appeared and spoke the words that found their place in the very first Christmas carols, echoing through the centuries:

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth
to people He favors!” (Luke 2:14)

Too familiar?  Perhaps not anymore.  These days, the true Christmas songs are rarely played.  Everything centers on Santa Claus, Father Christmas, the Elf on the Shelf, and gifts linked to children’s behavior, with no message of grace or forgiveness to be found.  It is essential to sing the words of truth.

A baby’s cry from a stable announced God as a man among men – the Son of Man  – the title Jesus used for himself in the words of Daniel. (7:13; 8:17) 

Ordinary people were called to bear witness, while great thinkers from afar were drawn by signs in the heavens.  A despot heard, feared, and killed.

And here we are, thousands of years later, surrounded by all the symbols of Christmas.  Just like the people of the first century, we too know the words of the prophets, who, hundreds of years before that night, spoke and sang words of truth.  Was it Isaiah, the singing prophet, who truly wrote the first Christmas carol?

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,           Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,       Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Is our old world not just as much, if not more, a people wandering in darkness, who have seen a great light? We are those who dwell in a land of deep darkness, over whom a light shines.

I have written so many times in my Christmas messages about Jesus and Light.  He is the only person ever to speak words no one else in all of history ever spoke.  He said, “I am the Light of the world,” not to mention the powerful magnitude of His other statements about Himself.  Let us dwell on light and the source of light in the darkness.

There is much to be said about fire, and many have written about the great moment in prehistory when fire was discovered.  Fire is one of the four classical elements alongside air, water, and earth.  We know the sun is a ball of fire—God’s light that always burns.  Without the sun, the earth’s weather system and all the other elements are of no value.  The sun is the essential element sustaining everything.

From a human perspective fire is a small reflection of the sun—fire to keep the night warm and bright, to forge weapons, to destroy, to signal, to cook, and to make everything better or worse, depending on how it is used or abused.

Fire and light had always been symbols of God.  Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness. (Malachi 4:2)  The pillar of fire in the wilderness guided the people.  Light brings salvation.  Darkness brings confusion.  Light warms; darkness speaks of cold.

I can only imagine how the shepherds’ little fire “disappeared” in the light of the angel and the “sound wind” of the angel choir that night just outside Bethlehem.

Human fire gives way to the Holy Fire of God.  Throughout church history, the Holy Fire of God has been embodied in the person of Jesus.  That is the message of Christmas.  The baby born did not remain little.  All the innocence and helplessness of that baby grew into a man who would change the world on every level for all time.  However one might think of Jesus’ life—whether rejecting or accepting it—one is compelled to consider Him multiple times a year.

Today, as we gaze into a crib holding a baby on every Christmas card and in all the nativity scenes, we do so in the shadow of the Cross.  He died AND rose again, and that is why we can celebrate this Feast of Light.  We can pray that our hearts will be filled with the Holy Fire of God, and our words will be glowing coals of his prophets in the confusion of the lie-dominated discourse.

The Holy Fire of God is specifically associated with the triumphant Jesus, as described in Revelation 1.

I “gift” for you the words of a poem by the Welsh poet Grahame Davies as a Christmas prayer for 2024.  The poem is a beautiful summary of the Holy Fire from Eden until now—all of it is Jesus.  This is the core of our Feast. Jesus in everything from then until now and forever forward.  He who WAS and IS and IS TO COME!  

Christmas is Jesus—the whole Jesus—the fullness of the message of His entire being, encompassing His Death and Resurrection.

The poem was chosen by the British king to be performed at his coronation.  The composition was commissioned by him.  It was set to music by British composer Sarah Class and sung by South African soprano Pretty Yende.

The performance was a highlight.  The words of the poem move one to tears.  Pretty’s dress, designed by a French couturier renowned for dramatic and grand creations, was stunning.  I include the YouTube link so that the audiovisual masterpiece in Westminster Abbey can be witnessed and enjoyed.

Here are the lyrics as published by the composer, Sarah Class, on Instagram.

You sever us from Eden with a sword

And lead us through the desert by your light

You make your prophets’ word a burning coal

And tend the lonely temple light at night

You keep your silence in the desert blaze

And speak your secrets in the lightning storm

You hide the sun’s face like a candle flame

And send a star to keep a stable war,

And fill our hearts with sacred fire

The blessing of the rosebud and the briar

Come fill our hearts today with sacred fire

With sacred fire

With sacred fire

Your love can make the hearts within us burn

And let the firelight reveal our shame

You call the broken fellowship to feast

And teach us to forgive in tongues of flame

Your wisdom is the sunlight and the snow

Your beauty is the rosebud and the brier

Teach us to know the shadow and the light

And fill our hearts today with sacred fire

And fill our hearts with sacred fire

The blessing of the rosebud and the briar

Come fill our hearts today with sacred fire

With sacred fire

With sacred fire