Hark the herald?

Tis the season to sing carols, fa la la la lah, la la la lah.

You can’t miss it. Churches across our region are hosting Christian carol services, inside and outside. North Sheffield and north Derbyshire is renowned for our local carols which have been sung in pubs in places like Grenoside or Grindleford for generations. A friend of mine had a wonderful time at a ‘big sing’ last weekend, and reported that one couple had travelled from Pennsylvania, USA to be there!

 I wonder, have you stopped to hear the message of these carols?

Lots of adverts this year mention “the magic of Christmas” accompanied by glittering images of food and happy families. Surely there is more substance to Christmas that that? Magic, after all, isn’t real. It is an illusion.

 The much-loved carol ‘Hark the herald’ ask us to listen to the messengers proclaiming the impact of Jesus’ birth. “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise…” What a radical message. Peace, mercy, reconciliation, and joy. I don’t hear our international politicians promising anything of the sort. The best they can achieve is a messy compromise. Try telling a Ukrainian that mercy and reconciliation are in our midst. They’ll tell you “isn’t real, it’s an illusion.”

 Humanity has proved herself unable to achieve peace of heart or security when left to our own devices. So, let’s scrape below the tinsel and be honest. All that glitters is not gold. Even our alcohol-fuelled Christmas parties can’t cover up that “illusion” for long.

I am not being cynical, just not delusional either. The message of Christ, which Britain celebrates for about 2 months every year, is radical: we can’t, but God can. We make a mess, we argue and fight, we hoard while others go hungry, we binge on entertainment media but we refuse to entertain investing in our souls (the most ‘real’ part of us).

 We are desperately in need of a saviour. The Christian message is that Jesus came into our midst, “He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all” (Once in Royal). Jesus embody what humanity really needs, the possibility of peace “God and sinners reconciled.”

 Let us listen more carefully to the carols this Christmas. ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark, the herald angels sing “Glory to the new born king!”’