It’s officially the time of year again where we all begin rifling through (or scrolling through if we want to be more realistic here) all of the Christmas records in our collections to search for our favorite renditions of the classic Christmas songs that we all know and love. I’m sure almost every one of us could name a few handfuls of “the staples” without a second thought. But, have you ever stopped and thought about why songs written specific to a particular few weeks out of the year have been cherished and held onto for hundreds of years? Have you ever wondered what the relevance is in singing a particular group of “staple” songs every year without second thought?
We see songs of celebration and praise scattered heavily throughout scripture. Moreover, we even see songs that celebrate a particular event and give praise to God for his divine provision. One prime example of this in scripture would be Exodus 15:20-21 where Miriam leads the women of Israel in song and dance in response to God’s triumph over Egyptian rule. After the last supper, it is written in Matthew 26:30 that Jesus and his disciples sang a traditional Passover hymn. So, the next question we can ask here is “when did songs that specifically concern the Christmas holiday come about?”
If we want to get technical here, we can go to Luke 2:14 in which the heavenly host sang a familiar hymn of praise unto God in response to the birth of the Messiah. But, outside of scripture, the earliest evidence of Christian Christmas songs has been dated back to fourth century Rome after the Western Christian Church adopted December 25th as the date on which the birth of Christ would be celebrated. These hymns were primarily made up of austere theological statements about the birth of the promised Messiah. In the ninth and tenth centuries, monasteries began using “prose” or “sequence” in their own Christmas songs. By the thirteenth century, groups of people in Europe known as “wassailers” began singing traditional Christmas songs from door to door in their native tongues. However, when Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power over England in 1647, the celebration of Christmas and the singing of these songs was greatly halted. It was not until the Protestant Reformation that Christmas carols were widely used in church services. Protestant churches, as opposed to many others at the time, embraced music and encouraged the use of it in worship services. Most of the traditional Christmas songs as we know them today were not written until the mid-eighteenth century.
We know these songs have a great history and that they have been recited by millions of believers throughout hundreds of years, and that is something worth respecting and honoring. But, we also know that tradition has its downfalls. When abused, religious tradition can cause complacency and a loss in vision. This is often times compared with Christ’s bout with the Pharisees over unnecessarily legalistic practices. We’ve unfortunately seen this play out in the church for a long time. One specific example would be the Catholic Church and their extremely high value of tradition. In fact, it could even be said that stances on tradition in the church have been a large cause for division amongst various Protestant denominations as well. Regardless of your personal stance on this issue, there is no doubt that traditions have their acceptable place in Christianity. In fact we see this demonstrated best by Christ’s participation in Judaic customs such as the Passover Seder which commemorates the Exodus. Traditions and their reasons for existence should be treasured as long as they don’t lead to complacency and replace the leading of the Holy Spirit in the church. After all, traditions became traditions for a reason and have played an integral part in the progression of Christianity as a whole.
So, let us remember and honor the birth of our Savior through these traditional songs that so beautifully explicate the theological phenomenon that was the coming to Earth of a loving God to die for His own creation. The Christmas season is a powerful time of year. It should be one that is full of joy, peace, and love. Unfortunately, these virtues are oftentimes overshadowed by materialism and greed. Above all, allow the Spirit to lead you in leading your congregations this Christmas season, no matter how traditional or modern you choose to be. Always remember the real reason for the season!
“Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.”
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