If you’re like me, you are familiar with the words of the first and maybe second verse of many Christmas carols, but perhaps not-so-much with some of the later verses. One such example for me is the carol “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”
The song is based on a poem written by Edmund Sears in 1849. The first verse is similar to many carols and at least for me is the most familiar: “It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men from heaven’s all-gracious King.” The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.”
The second verse starts to depart from the normal a bit with phrases like “cloven skies” and “babel sounds.”
However, the third verse was the one that struck me as I read through the words a few weeks ago: “Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not the love-song which they bring; O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing.”
Though the words were written about 170 years ago, they still ring true today and maybe even more so now than just a few weeks ago. The world still suffers from sin and strife. Every protest seems to top the previous, degenerating into mobs intent on destruction in places we might have thought safe such as police stations and now even the US Capitol Building. Even a worldwide health crisis that one might think might bring people together has seemed to add to the divisiveness. You probably do not need to think too hard to find someone you might like to sing that last line about hushing the noise to.
In the midst of all the chaos, where is the peace on earth the angels were singing about? The answer is still Jesus. For those who are willing to put their faith in Him and let Him be Lord of their life (a part that is too often missed), an inner peace can still be found.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The final verse of the carol looks forward to the “time foretold, when the new Heaven and Earth shall own the Prince of Peace their King, and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.” Let us do the same, while doing what we can to make the earth a little more peaceful while we wait.
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