Chapel Matters

Coming up on Sunday November 27th we have our Carol Service. Carols and Christmas songs are such a big part of our Christmas celebrations, but why is this? It is partly because the Christmas Story in Luke’s Gospel is full of people bursting into song because of the joy they feel when they hear the good news about the baby Jesus. For example, Mary does this when she visits with her relative Elizabeth during her pregnancy, as does Simeon when he sees the week-old baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph in the Temple.

Perhaps the most well-known song is that of the angels when they tell the shepherds that a Saviour has been born; a whole host of angels start singing, “Glory to God in the highest! And peace on earth!” There are lots of carols based on this part of the story: Angels We Have Heard On High, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful etc.

I sometimes wonder if the shepherds joined in with the angels?! I imagine it might be like a bunch of burly farmers singing with gusto, whether or not in tune! But having angels and shepherds sing together is a really good image of the good news of the Christmas story. In those days shepherds were seen as dirty, dishonest, and lazy. Yet the heavenly host, in all their glory, with their angelic voices (of course), go to the lonely, cold hills where these shepherds were watching their flocks and tell them that a baby has been born who brings a message of peace and God’s love directly to them. Jesus is the Saviour of the World – of the least and the lonely, of the outcast and the rejected – of us all. This is the message of Christmas, a message that should bring us joy, and a message worth singing about!