Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
All glory in the highest
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!
The exultant Christmas hymn, O Come All Ye Faithful, is a blockbuster combination of text and music. If this is not your favorite Christmas carol it might be in the collection of several you enjoy. I remember High School choir days at school and church, where we would do the circuit of places to sing, hotel lobbies, nursing homes and in our town square. At Trinity United Methodist Church, our organist, Jeannie Mills, back home in Charles City, Iowa would play a wonderful arrangement of this hymn from famed British composer David Willcocks. On verse 3, there is a fabulous soprano descant with soaring ethereal voices extending the very peak of the chancel. All these years later, I have the same reaction, goosebumps! On Christmas Eve our own resident organist, Dr. Brenda Portman, will premiere her new variation of the same hymn. I occasionally sneak in the sanctuary when Brenda rehearses – goosebumps!
There was no brass or pipe organs in the Bethlehem field in the Gospel of Luke, but what happened in that moment gave the sheepherders not only an awe-inspiring and somewhat frightful moment, but also more – much more. The experience spurned them on to “Go and see this thing that has been made known.” Therefore, it goes. Every generation experiences its moments of inspiration and follows the call to “Go and See”. As we gather today, I am thinking of some questions:
What is there to see?
What is yet to be explored?
What inspiration is to be?
Whom shall we bring with us?
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Todd