One song I am especially loving this year is "The Shepherd (You Were Not There In Bethlehem)." The song tells the story of a shepherd in the country outside Bethlehem who somehow slept through the choirs of angels announcing the birth of the Christ child, and so missed the opportunity to visit the Baby in Bethlehem that night. When his friends come back and tell him of their glorious experience with the newborn Messiah, he is at first hesitant to believe them. "Why would a God from heaven come to the world this way?" he wonders. "Why in a lowly manger would the Messiah lay?" However, the shepherd is touched by the "magic" and "spirit" of his friends' story and eventually believes them, even though he wasn't there in Bethlehem that night.
The part that always touches me, however, is the end of the song. I'll just put the lyrics in because I love them so much.
"I knew that as the world moves on through time,
There would be more stories just like mine.
About the souls who’ve chosen to believe
In something that they never got to see.
And do you think you’ll join us,
Though you’ve not seen a thing?
You were not there in Bethlehem
Or heard the angels sing.
But if you feel the spirit in the air,
Then just like me you’ll know
That He was here!
He was here!
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords was here!
And He will come again, 'cause He was here!"
Aren't we all like that shepherd? None of us was there in Bethlehem that night. We did not see the Babe in the manger. But if we let the Spirit into our hearts, we can know just like the shepherd that Christ WAS here on earth. And he WILL come again.
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2 comments:
I love that anyone can KNOW that Christ was here and will come again. Faith, sometimes it's the hardest thing to obtain, but it blesses your life in so many ways!
I love that song, and the forgotten carols. One of the things I like about them is that they invite us to reflect. "Let him in" (the Inkeeper's Song) helps us think about how we let Christ in our life, make room no matter how busy our life is. The Shepard's Song helps us think about how the Spirit testifies that Christ came and will come again. And those are just a couple examples.
Another one that I like is Handel's Dream. When it talks about the angels auditioning for the choir that announced Christ's birth, I like to think "where was I?" Did I sing with the hosts of heaven? Did I visit the shepards and announce the good tidings? It is kind of a wistful thought, but one that makes me smile and feel the spirit. I know that each of us did rejoice when He was born. Every eye in heaven looked down on Bethlehem that night and praised God and His Son. We knew the hope that He brought us, that we would make mistakes when our time on earth came, but He brought salvation to all. We rejoiced at His birth, we ached and wish to comfort Him in Gethsemane, we mourned His suffering and death, and rejoiced again at His ressurrection. I will rejoice when He comes again!
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