Rev. David Holwick ZN The Carols of Christmas, #1
First Baptist Church "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 14, 2008
Isaiah 7:10-14
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I. Pastor's can't win with Christmas carols.
A. It is hard to satisfy everyone.
1) While researching this sermon on the internet, I came across
the story of a Christmas Eve service.
An old man hovered in the back at the end of the service and
finally came up to the pastor.
The pastor knew the man was disgruntled about something and
asked him what it was.
"Away in a Manger," he said.
"But we sang that tonight, like we always do, the pastor
replied.
"Yes, but we always sing it third, and this year you didn't
sing it till fifth!" [1]
2) I know how the pastor felt.
Just last week Debby McMullin rebuked me.
"You sang only one Christmas carol!"
"But Christmas is weeks away," I explained.
"I don't care - I want ALL Christmas carols, ALL December."
3) So in the spirit of Numbers 11:19-20, I will be doing a
sermon series on Christmas carols.
a) Four whole sermons.
b) Each one on a different carol.
B. Their message is more important than their melody.
1) I doubt that most people react that way.
a) The melodies bring up memories of Christmases past.
1> Originally, people sang them for pleasure, not
church.
2> It is only in the last 150 years they have been
a fixture in Christmas worship.
b) Some of the words are pretty archaic, too.
c) But the best ones are loaded with theology.
2) A true Christmas carol focuses on what God has done.
a) It is not about sleigh bells and white snow.
b) They point to God's promises, fulfilled in Jesus.
c) A wonderful example is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
II. One of our oldest carols.
A. Some trace it to the 1200s.
1) The tune may be derived from Gregorian chants used ln the
time of Charlemagne, around A.D. 800.
2) The words are based on the seven Great Latin Antiphons.
a) Antiphons were medieval prayers that were chanted by
opposing choirs.
1> They sort of dueled each other.
b) They were translated in 1851 by Rev. John M. Neale.
1> Most hymnals reduce the number because no one wants
to sing seven stanzas, not even carol fanatics.
B. The seven most important antiphons were used in Advent.
1) Each stanza was sung on a day in the week before Christmas.
a) The last stanza would be on Christmas Eve.
2) The first letter of each antiphon (in Latin) spells out
SARC ORE - "Tomorrow, I come."
a) The next day, of course, was Christmas.
III. Each stanza focuses on one of the titles of Jesus.
A. Emmanuel. (or, Immanuel)
1) The great prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 says the virgin shall
name her child Immanuel.
2) It had a two-fold fulfillment.
a) Isaiah's own wife would have a child, and before he was
weaned, Israel's two main enemies would be defeated.
b) A greater fulfillment would be the coming of Jesus, who
would defeat sin and Satan.
3) The book of Matthew points to Isaiah, and explains that
Immanuel means "God with us."
B. Dayspring.
1) This is the same thing as the Morning Star (or Evening Star),
which is what the ancients called Venus.
a) Even today, when Venus shines brightly on the horizon,
UFO calls to the police spike up.
b) Old Testament prophets associated the Messiah with the
coming of dawn. (Malachi 4:2)
1> Even we speak of politicians bringing a new dawn.
A> Ronald Reagan commercial: "It's morning in
America."
2> Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, prophesied
that the Messiah would be a rising sun that comes
from heaven. (Also, Revelation...) Luke 1:78
C. Wisdom.
1) The first eight chapters of Proverbs personify wisdom.
a) wisdom is presented as a woman who brings true life.
2) Early Christians identified Jesus with her.
D. Desire of nations.
1) The prophet Haggai gave us this title for the Messiah. 2:7
2) The Messiah is not just the king of Israel, but will bring
peace and righteousness to all people in the world.
IV. In the words of the carol. what Jesus will do.
A. Jesus offers defeated people a hope of deliverance.
1) The greatest catastrophe to fall on Israel was its exile.
a) Tens of thousands were killed.
b) The land was devastated and depopulated.
c) The cream of the country was dragged to distant lands.
1> We can hardly imagine their sense of loss.
Maybe some can.
It was December 1944.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer found himself celebrating his last Christmas
on the earth.
He was only 39 years old.
He had been a German pastor.
Now, the Nazis called him a traitor to the German nation.
It was Christmas time.
He was pensive, with pen in hand, pondering what to write in his
little diary.
And the thought came to him, how being in a prison cell was a lot
like the first advent of Jesus Christ.
He wrote in it:
"We putter around inside our stone walls and iron bars, and we
long to be free.
But the doors is locked, and it can only be opened from the
outside."
The psychology of confinement...
Psychologists have set up experiments where people are put in a
desperate situation with limited time and limited escape.
They almost always panic, screaming and clawing at each other,
frantically fighting to escape.
The researchers can also create a condition were there is unlimited
time but no escape.
The experimental subjects generally turn to stoic resignation, to
hopeless depression, even to death.
#35583
2) How do you survive hopelessness? You get some hope.
a) Nothing is more exhilarating than being sprung from a
prison, no matter what your prison is.
b) Jesus does that, by making himself a ransom for us.
B. Jesus brings light into dark places.
1) The carol poetically says "disperse the gloomy clouds of
night, and death's dark shadows put to flight."
2) Christians don't need to fear death.
3) Jesus gives us hope.
C. Jesus gives us wisdom to make the right choices in life.
D. Jesus will bring genuine unity to our torn world.
V. What will you do with Emmanuel?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] I could not relocate the website where I found this.
#35583 "It Can Only Be Unlocked From The Outside," Rev. David Coe, Kerux
Sermon #11052, "Emmanuel".
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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