Rev. David Holwick The Carols of Christmas, #3
First Baptist Church "Silent Night"
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 24, 2008
Luke 2:4-12
THAT SILENT NIGHT
I. WHAT DID YOU DO THIS AFTERNOON?
In 1818, high in the Austrian Alps, a small village church's
pipe organ had given up the ghost.
Some suspected mice had eaten through the bellows.
At any rate, the priest Joseph Mohr wrote out a few stanzas
and his organist Franz Gruber wrote a simple tune that could
be played on a guitar.
That very evening, at the midnight service, "Silent Night" was
heard for the first time.
Except they heard it as "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht."
It was an instant hit with the congregation.
In the spring, when the organ repair guy showed up, Gruber gave
him a copy of the song.
He passed it on to others and it quickly spread, though
with no names attached.
Some famous composers like Haydn's brother were given credit
for it.
It was not until the 1850s that the proper authors were
identified.
#16883
II. A SIMPLE AND MOVING SONG.
A. A silent night.
1) Nighttime is different.
a) Out late with my telescope, hearing critters in the dark.
b) Shepherds were out late too.
2) A night we sleep.
a) In a nice touch, the song has the baby Jesus sleeping.
b) It exudes a calmness and quietness.
B. A holy night.
1) The sacredness of the moment is emphasized.
a) He is not just an infant, but a holy infant.
b) Glories stream down from heaven above.
c) Light radiates from Jesus' face.
1> It is more than light - it is the sign of God's
presence in him.
2) Jesus is not just a baby, but a Savior and Lord.
a) He brings a time of redemption.
III. THE BIRTH OF JESUS STILL HAS THAT CALMING EFFECT.
Country music star Travis Tritt spent many years playing
out-of-the-way beer joints before he made it big in the
music industry.
He reports that many of the bars were dangerous places, with
drunk fans starting fights over the smallest matters.
But Tritt found a unique way to keep the peace in such situations.
He says his all-time lifesaver was "Silent Night."
Just when bar fights started getting out of hand, when bikers were
reaching for their pool cues and rednecks were heading for the
gun rack, he would start playing "Silent Night."
It could be the middle of July -- it didn't matter.
He says sometimes they'd even start crying, standing there
watching Travis sweat and play Christmas carols.
#20323
IV. GOD'S PEACE DOESN'T PRODUCE COMPLACENCY BUT STRENGTH.
It hasn't been a very good year for John McCain.
He poured his heart into the presidential election, and lost.
But, all things considered, it has not been his worst year
by far.
In 1971, John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
On Christmas Eve that year, the POWs held a worship service.
They began with the Lord's Prayer and then sang Christmas
carols.
McCain, who had been appointed a chaplain for the group, read
a portion of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke
between each hymn.
The men were nervous at first.
A year earlier the guards had burst in on their secret worship
service.
The three Americans who had been leading it were dragged out to
solitary confinement for 11 months in 3x5-foot cells.
Still, the prisoners wanted to sing this night, and so they
began: "O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. . ."
They sang barely above a whisper, their eyes glancing anxiously
at the barred windows.
Huddled below a naked light bulb, they appeared to be a rather
sorry congregation.
Several shook from fevers.
Some were permanently stooped as a result of torture.
Others leaned on makeshift crutches.
But they kept singing.
"O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels. . ."
The prisoners grew bolder.
Their voices lifted a little higher until they filled the cell
with "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing."
When they started "Silent Night," tears rolled down their
unshaven faces.
As they sang with feeling the final refrain, "Sleep in heavenly
peace, sleep in heavenly peace," they realized that a
transformation had taken place.
McCain said, "We had forgotten our wounds, our hunger, our pain.
We raised prayers of thanks for the Christ Child, for our
families and homes....
There was an absolutely exquisite feeling that our burdens had
been lifted."
#28955
This may not be a great Christmas for you.
There may have been a death in the family.
Your life savings is probably greatly diminished.
Perhaps your job is hanging by a thread.
Everything in your world may seem like it is fading away.
But one thing is still true.
A baby has been born.
Not an ordinary baby, but a divine one.
Even at his birth, he was a Savior, the Son of God.
Those who put their faith in him can experience that heavenly
peace, even when things aren't that peaceful.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#16883 "Silent Night! Holy Night! (plus History)," by Joseph Mohr
(1792-1848), translated By J. F. Young (1820-1885).
Praise! Singspiration Music, Zondervan, p. Pr 184. Original
source: Reader’s Digest Canada website, December 19, 2001.
Garth Hutchinson Illustration Collection.
#20323 "Silent Night Was A Lifesaver," Dynamic Preaching, from the book
“TWANG! THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF COUNTRY MUSIC QUOTATIONS,”
compiled by Raymond Obstfeld and Sheila Burgener (New York:
Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1997), p. 47.
#28955 "Defiant Christmas Carols," by Mark Finley, Wit And Wisdom at
http://www.witandwisdom.org by Richard G. Wimer, January 12, 2005.
Originally from “Signs of the Times,” copyright (c) May 2003,
Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com.
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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