December 21, 2017
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
Take a moment, close your eyes and think, "Christmas Eve." What comes to mind? As I was growing up, our Christmas Eves were shared with my mother's best friend and her family, attending a worship service at their church, followed by dinner at either our house or theirs. Perhaps, like me, one of your best memories is the magical glow of Christmas Eve worship, ending with singing "Silent Night," lights turned out, and the sanctuary aglow with candles raised high as we sang, "Son of God, loves pure light!" Such a great memory, and that candlelight tradition will happen once again at MLEPC at both our 5 pm family and 9 pm traditional worship services on Christmas Eve.
As I was preparing to preach this Christmas Eve Sunday morning at our 10:00 am unified worship service on the hymn, Silent Night, I kept coming back to that word "silent" and wondering how silent that night really was. There had to be noise from those sheep in the fields with shepherds caring for them, from the angelic host that appeared in the night sky and burst into song, and from the sheer number of people who would have been in that little town of Bethlehem for the census, the town where Jesus was born. As we are told Jesus is born in a manger, there would have been animal noises all around when the cry of a newborn broke into the world to show the young family that there was life.
Reflecting on what Father Joseph Mohr might have meant as he wrote this beautiful hymn that is so special to our Christmas Eve worship, I believe we have to look beyond the words to the reason Jesus came into the world. A line from another beloved Christmas hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem, comes to mind: "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given". On the night of Jesus' birth, the world didn't know what a gift this child was, that God so loved the world that He sent into it His one and only Son. The birth of the Christ child was silent compared to the death He would suffer on the cross, an event that spoke to the world and continues to speak into our lives today.
Several years ago, I came across a way to sing John 3:16 to the tune of Silent Night. It's printed below; try it! Remember, whenever you sing this beloved carol, that on "That Silent Night" when Jesus was born, we too were given life: eternal life in Jesus. A wondrous gift indeed!
To the tune of Silent Night:
John 3:16, John 3:16,
For God so loved the world that He,
Gave His only begotten Son,
That whosoever believeth in Him,
Should not perish but have, everlasting life!
Merry Christmas! Love, in Christ,
Linda Pokrajac
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