Carols – TGN

True Love’s 12 Gifts at Christmas

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 06:42:51 +0000

Do you remember the song, “The 12 days of Christmas“? You may recall the 12 sets of gifts from the narrator’s true love given during the Christmas period–taken traditionally to begin on 25th December and end on 6th January.

Since 1984, the PNC Bank, based in Pittsburgh has published a yearly estimate of what it would cost to deliver all the gift items by the 12th day. The gifts accumulate across the 12 days of Christmas, totalling 364 gifts altogether. According to the 2018 estimates, buying (or hiring) all 12 sets of gifts add up to a whopping £14,272.96. The cheapest, the partridge in a pear tree, is estimated at £24.50; and the dearest of all the gift sets, the Ten lords-a-leaping, is set at £5,000. If one were to procure all the gifts in the cumulative manner described in the song, the total figure is more than trebled, amounting to a sum of £43,070.80.

To give a true love’s gift, going by this folk song, would require one to have a seriously fat bank account. Well, thank God we don’t have to go to that length to prove our love at Christmas! The reality, however, remains that most people tend to spend more at this time of the year; mostly on Christmas presents. Growing up, Christmas was the one time when you could expect that special meal and a more than a generous ration of meat. Much unlike today, it was only at Christmas that you would expect to have a soft drink served with your food. Times were hard, nonetheless, parents would ensure to purchase or sew a “Christmas wear” for the occasion and exchange gifts with other members of the extended family. Families, therefore, generally tended to spend a bit more during this time. And still do.

Against this backdrop of the over-commercialisation of Christmas, it is easy to misconstrue true love’s gift as something to be measured in monetary value alone. The greatest gifts in life, however, can often not be purchased with money. The Bible will have us know that greatest gift anyone can give is to lay down his or her life for their friends.

Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13)

This is what happened at the first Christmas. God so loved the world, that He gave His best gift, His only Son, to come into the world and die in our place so that believing in Him, we might have eternal life.

You may have probably dispatched your Christmas gifts to friends and family by now, or purchased and wrapped them, ready to be sent on Christmas Eve or Boxing day. If you were asked to prepare a present for the baby Jesus, what would it be?

The most precious gift for me is captured in the words of Christiana Rosetti, in the poem she published in 1872 under the original title, “A Christmas Carol”. Years later when Gustav Holt provided the melody to go with it, it was published under the name “In the Bleak Midwinter”. In it, Christiana asks,

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am? —

If I were a Shepherd

I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man

I would do my part, —

Yet what I can I give Him, —

Give my heart.

Christmas reminds us that the real value of love’s most precious gift is not in money. In the previous verse, Rosetti marvels at the fact that at the first Christmas, a simple stable sufficed for the almighty God whom heaven cannot hold nor earth sustain. The maker and ruler of all things did not delight to be born in a palace or a mansion, or covet an affluent beginning, but resorted to lowly Bethlehem.

And the Saviour of the world does not require precious sacrifices or expensive gifts from us either. He is after our hearts.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.(Psalms 51:16-17).

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1Sam. 15:22).

Any material gift we will offer to Him will be redundant; He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the silver and gold are His.

Like the proverbial Father, He calls to each of us amidst the frenzy of the festivities, “My son, my daughter, give me your heart“.

… because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
(Romans 10:9-10).

The post True Love’s 12 Gifts at Christmas appeared first on TGN.

Ding Dong Merry Christmas

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Sun, 16 Dec 2018 10:22:36 +0000

The BBC on 3rd December, 2018 carried an interesting article on its website. The title read, “Should we stop listening to these Christmas songs?” In it, a Radio station in Cleveland, Ohio had pulled the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” from its playlist for the season due to its perceived sexual undertones. The article went on to mention other traditional Christmas songs whose lyrics some people find problematic.

So, is it time we reviewed the songs we played at Christmas? And on what basis? A disclaimer will be helpful at this point. This article will attempt to discuss what constitutes healthy Christmas carols; but it will do so from a purely Christian stand point. The basis for such a discussion will be solely God’s Word and the wisdom it provides for godly living this side of eternity. So, must we strike out some songs from our playlist this Christmas, and which ones?

The American radio station appealed to what has been termed the MeToo era for its decision to revise its Christmas playlist for the consumption of the general public. Should Christians be similarly selective in their choice of songs, and if so what should guide our choices?

What should constitute a Christmas carol?

Christmas is about a person. Regardless of the view you take on it, there can be no Christmas without Christ. When the BBC published its article, a listener on the BBC Radio Norfolk texted that Christmas without Christ is simply M a(nd) S. This listener meant his or her comment on a lighter note (M&S is a popular retail company in the UK); however, this is not far from the truth. When we write patriotic songs for our nations, we do so with the aim to engender the feelings of nationalism, often drawing on the sacrifices our forebearers have made to bring our nation to where it is. Similarly when it is time for the FIFA world cup, artists are called upon to compose songs that talk about the game and encourage sportsmanship. You probably get where this is going.

Songs that fit the bill as Christmas carols must centre on the person of Jesus Christ, whose birth is being commemorated at this time of the year. If we are to vet songs for their lyrical contents, then this must be based on their contents being glorifying to the Christ more than they being offensive to some sections of the public or not. Each person has a right to choose which songs to listen to. However, songs that are to be Christened Christmas songs must be centred on the birth and life of Jesus Christ. It is true that we commemorate the Lord’s birth at Christmas, however we must not dwell on His birth only. Many children were born in the year Christ was born, and many more before and after that. What makes Christ’s birth stand out is the fact that He was born to die to save the whole world. He is the only person in history whose birth and life altogether was foretold in more than 300 prophecies years before even one of them came to be. Each detail of His life, including where He was to born and how He would die was carefully purposed by God Himself to lead up to His death and the salvation of mankind. This is what makes His birth worth celebrating. And songs that are put forward as Christmas songs must defer to this core, non-negotiable historic truth about His person or else they don’t qualify to bear the name of Christmas carols.

Growing up, I read a story that gave me cause for pause. A couple who had waited years for a child were finally blessed with a baby boy. To celebrate they booked a restaurant and invited friends and family to dinner. Amid the celebrations, one of the invites guests asked to see the baby. The couple responded, “we thought that he would cry and distract the guests, so we left him at home with the nanny.” What a travesty to leave the celebrant out of His own birthday celebrations!

What must guide our choice of carols?

Any song that draws attention away from the Christ must not be given a place on our playlist. A typical example will include songs that make Santa out to be the god of Christmas. A traditional favourite is the song that says,

“You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He’s making a list and checking it twice
Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He sees you when you’re sleepin’
He knows when you’re a wake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town”

Santa is made out in this song and many Christmas narratives as one who sees everything all children do, even when they’re sleeping. Children are made to believe all the presents they get at Christmas come from Santa. Few days ago, I chanced on a letter my two daughters had secretly written to Santa asking for a doll for Christmas. I used the opportunity to let them know that Mummy and Daddy will be the best people to buy them presents for Christmas, and it is to them they must direct their requests and subsequently their thanks, not Santa. In the same vein, God is the one who has so loved the world that He gave His Son to come in human form and die for our sins. And it is He who deserves to be worshipped with our songs at Christmas.

Christmas carols are just like any other songs Christians sing in worship of our God, they are sacrifices of worship and praise. So, whether writing, singing or listening to them, we must do so with one object in mind, to glorify God! Paul in two of His epistles that are considered the most spiritual of all His works had this to say about Christian singing:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
(Colossians 3:16‭-‬17)

” … addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “
(Ephesians 5:19‭-‬20)

Two themes run in both passages. Christians are to, 1) do everything in the name of the Lord, and 2) give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To sum up, everything the Christian does must be aimed at bringing glory to God and the Christian must be able to give thanks to God for everything he or she does.

Wishing you a worshipful Christmas!

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