Pastoral Ponderings— Do you Hear…
“Said the night wind to the little lamb—‘Do you hear what I hear?’” For a long time, this was one of my favorite Christmas songs—but not so these days. It’s still a lovely tune with a lot of wonderful renditions, but have you noticed the lyrics? They’re an imaginative re-telling of the Story—and there’s nothing wrong with that—but this retelling goes way off base. The Grinch does another imaginative re-telling, and though a children’s cartoon, it has much more substance than this one!
This song presents a merely feel-good Gospel, but there’s SO much more to Jesus’ Gospel than just a warm nostalgia to ward off winter’s cold, so much more than merely “tidings of comfort and joy,” as another song puts it. I had a New Testament professor in seminary who said he would only teach a Gospel course so often (rather than from Romans or one of the other NT letters), because when you really encounter Jesus, it can be dangerous, scary, and dramatically life-changing, whether we’re looking for that or not!
“Do you hear what I hear?” we could all ask—but the night wind’s whisper tells not just about a child sleeping in the night. Sure, this is where the story begins—but Jesus’ story also takes us through the transforming teaching, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus—calling us not to the toy store, but to the altar. When we truly hear Jesus’ call, we recognize that, as Jesus’ hands and feet in the world, we’ve got a lot of big jobs ahead of us! It’s so much easier, though, just to buy more Christmas gifts, send a few off to Toys for Tots to help us feel better about ourselves, then turn the Christmas music back on.
Another question that distracts us and leads us in the wrong direction, is “What do you want to GET for Christmas?” Shouldn’t we instead, in following Jesus’ example, be asking something more like “What do you want to GIVE for Christmas?” Perhaps we should ask again, “Do you hear what I hear?” and be as eager as that little lamb or shepherd boy to keep on telling the REAL story of Christmas.
Keep being a blessing this season of great blessings- Pastor Jim