The Carols of the King - Pt 9

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV).

The next carol for our little trip through Christmas preparation is relatively new, written in 1962. It is “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Noel Regney wrote it during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a powerful plea for peace by a man who had experienced the horrors of war. The song’s message of peace is as desperately needed today as it was then. That October, as Noel Regney walked through the streets of New York, a sense of despair was in the air. No one smiled. Christmas, which was supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill, was approaching. Noel Regney had been asked by a record producer to write a holiday song. “I had thought I’d never write a Christmas song,” he recalled. “Christmas had become so commercial. But this was the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the studio, the producer was listening to the radio to see if we had been obliterated. “En route to my home, I saw two mothers with their babies in strollers. The little angels were looking at each other and smiling. All of a sudden, my mood was extraordinary.” A glimpse of these babies filled Noel Regney’s heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs. Thus, the song begins, “Said the night wind to the little lamb…” It is performed by Celtic Woman here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zPaKwA7838. Over 2000 years ago, the Savior of the world was born. This great good news of the birth of the Savior, Immanuel, was spread from one person to another. Before very long the entire world would hear this same good news. And, that is our calling as followers of Christ. God reveals Himself to all of us in different ways, depending on our personalities and gifts. For some, He shows us visible things about Himself, like a star in the sky. Others may grow closer to Him best through reading scriptures, some through singing praises to Him. The question is what are we doing with what God gives us? We have to realize that God will use us to bring people to Him through what He has revealed to us individually. In this song, God chose a shepherd boy’s voice to tell others about what he had heard and, as a result, an entire nation heard about Jesus’ birth. What about today? If we want people to know about a Savior that has been born, we have to take the time to share with others what He is revealing to us. Lives are changed when we tell the people in our lives what God has shown and done for us.