My Christmas Favorites You Should Not Miss

Having grown up in The Salvation Army and played a baritone horn (3rd part Bb in the Christmas Tune Book) at the Christmas kettles, I love Christmas music.

A short bit of commentary on some of the well-known Christmas carols. I won’t dwell on them because I could get too “scoldy.” i.e.

• Why don’t you sing all four verses of Joy to the World? And speaking of Joy to the World, don’t you realize that the first line is actually “Joy to the EARTH, in the second verse? 
• And why don’t most of us know or sing the most theological verse of O Come All Ye Faithful? It’s straight out of the Nicene Creed! “God from God, Light from Light.”
• Sing it like you mean it! Unless it is one of the carols with the ridiculous lines that are totally unBiblical and don’t make sense, like “A child, a child, shivers in the cold! Let us bring him silver and gold!”
• But do realize that most of the Christmas carols we love are wonderful presentations of the Gospel, and sing prayerfully, that their meaning will reach the hearts and spirits of those needing the love of Jesus. 

Next, I want to recommend some of the less familiar but wonderful older Christmas carols. (By the way, don’t call secular Christmas songs “carols.” They aren’t. And some say that the distinction between a carol and a song is that carols do not have a separate chorus and songs do.)

• Once in Royal David’s City – this is a beautiful version by Sandra McCracken and friends. It declares:

And our eyes at last shall see Him
Through His own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

• Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming – a brass arrangement like this amplifies the beautiful melody and harmonies of this 16th century German carol: Isaiah ’twas foretold it, The Rose I have in mind, With Mary we behold it, The virgin mother kind;
• See Amid the Winter Snow – this one performed by the legendary Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics. The power of paradox like this: Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies; He who, throned in height sublime, Sits among the cherubim.
• Christians Awake! Salute The Happy Morn – I had to pick a Salvation Army recording of this Anglican hymn. The tradition for many Salvation Army corps (churches) was for the band to serenade the neighborhood with this song early on Christmas morning. The song describes the entire Nativity story, and concludes with this amazing promise:

Then may we hope, the angelic hosts among,
to sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song:
he that was born upon this joyful day
around us all his glory shall display;
saved by his love, incessant we shall sing
eternal praise to heaven’s almighty King.

Finally, some contemporary songs that hold the true power and joy of Christmas:

• First the wonderful “Labor of Love,” by Andrew Peterson. This song is part of his Behold the Lamb of God and is sung hauntingly by Jill Phillips. I particularly appreciate the way that Joseph is honored in a song that depicts Mary the Mother of Jesus, and once again, the power of paradox:

Noble Joseph by her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
On the streets of David’s town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

• An unusual and unexpected new Christmas carol came out from Sovereign Grace a couple of years ago, written by Lisa Clow and Bob Kauflin, “O Come, All You Unfaithful.” Such an amazing invitation to normal, broken human beings that don’t have it all together:

O come bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come taste of His perfect love
O come guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done

• There are so, so many others, but I will conclude with a Christmas song that I share with my friends and social media every Christmas because I want to share its power with everyone. It is “I Celebrate the Day” by Relient K’s Matt Thiessen. I see it as a modern day “Amazing Grace.” With the poignant questions to Jesus:

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

• And ending in joy and gratitude for the provision of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world:

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life.