There’s a tendency to look down on Christmas carols. For some. Its simply that traditional hymns are not generally sung around the year, so why suddenly dedicate entire church services to them now. For others, it’s the belief that they are too sentimental, saccharine and lack the theology or poetry of other hymns and songs.
Some will tolerate carols, particularly if restricted to a carol service, though I do remember a memorable (for the wrong reasons) year when we combined with another church for Christmas Day to be welcomed with that famous Christmas classic “Come, now is the time to worship.” It has now become a tradition in our family to greet each other with “happy Christmas” should that one be sung in church at any other time of year. Those at least tolerating carols are recognising that there is still something about them which connects with people from the wider community.
However, I want to suggest that there are other good reasons for singing carols. They can be more than tolerated, they can be enjoyed and not just because the music makes us feel seasonal. Rather, Christmas carols are brilliant at communicating great truths, indeed often better than some of the songs we don’t sing the rest of the year round.
Take for example the carol “Oh come all ye faithful”, the second verse introduces us to both the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Doctrine of Christology (what it means for Jesus to be fully God and fully man).
“God of God, Light of Light
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb
Very God
Begotten, not created
This is picked up again in the final stanza as the words of John 1:1-14 are picked up in the last two lines:
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Then there’s the way in which numerous carols point overtly and explicitly to the Gospel. For example consider “Cradled in a manger meanly”
Happy all who hear the message
Of His coming from above;
Happier still who hail His coming,
And with praises greet His love.
Blessèd Savior, Christ most holy,
In a manger Thou didst rest;
Canst Thou stoop again, yet lower,
And abide within my breast?
Or the better known O Little Town of Bethlehem
“O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels,
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
There is a wealth of rich Gospel doctrine in our carols. Rather than something to be tolerated for a few Sundays in December, it’s a pity that we don’t get to sing them all the year round!
Faithroots 