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‘Silent Night’. It is one of the most beloved Christmas carols ever written, translated into over 300 languages. It also captures a theme many long for during the hustle and bustle of the busy season of Christmas… Peace. Written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 while he overlooked the sleepy town of Mariapfarr, it would later be put to music and performed for the first time in 1818. It has been sung by countless voices over the past two hundred years. Most notably on Christmas Eve 1914 when German, French and British troops along the Western Front had a Christmas truce. Amongst the conflict and chaos of war, all was calm and peace was found. But is that the peace that we celebrate at Christmas time? Or is there a deeper peace that Jesus’ advent brings?
Over the next few weeks (in ‘Advent’, the period in the church calendar of ‘waiting’, as we prepare to remember the Incarnation), we will be looking at four Christmas carols. We are doing this for two reasons: first, to get in the bait of running all we do through the word of God; and, second, reminding ourselves of what we are remembering as we wait. Our first carol – ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ – deals with our ‘hopes and dreams’. It has its roots deep in the words of the prophet Micah, who had many hopes and dreams holed up in Jerusalem, with the wolf of Assyria surrounding the city. It has its answer in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as God promised. And it has a warning, as the wise men turn up and the locals reveal that they know the truth of God’s answer to their ‘hopes and dreams’, but they just cannot be bothered.
As we finish Genesis, there are so many threads and ideas that are wrapped up – and so many hopes and trusts that are laid out. Here are a few of my observations… First, the book starts with blessing and promise – and it closes with blessing and promise. Second, the whole of the account relies on the God who promises, and the promises of God. Third, the book ends with the promise of God only being able to be fulfilled by the God who promises – will Joseph get back to the land? Will God come to take his people to be with him? Fourth, the ending of the book is corporate – there is so much about what we do today that is individual. Fifth, the truth that God works for the good of his desires for his people runs as a thread throughout God’s word – and it is both a description of his character and nature, and our inability. Sixth, the good news of Jesus is the culmination of all of these.
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