The Bells of Peace

When is it permissible to listen to Christmas music?  Ronna is ready to listen to Christmas music by November 1.  In fact, I think it is a miracle that she does wait until November 1.  However, every year, I say to Ronna, "Give Thanksgiving a chance!"  I don't care to listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving at the earliest.  But when the time comes to listen to Christmas music, there are two carols I could hear again and again and of which I never get tired!

There is something pure and holy about O Holy Night.  I am fully aware that logically and biblically, we should not listen to O Holy Night until Christmas Day.  But the theological truth and depth of the song is such that it cannot be withheld.  Of all the nights throughout all of time, I don't know that there has been a night any more holy than the night when Christ was born.  When we stop to think about it, this is the night worth celebrating the whole year!

And when I "hear the bells on Christmas Day," the Spirit of God wells up inside me with joy and cannot be contained!  It has only been in the last several years that this Christmas carol has come onto my worship radar.  (This may be a surprise to some as the carol itself has a long history and has affected many lives throughout the course of its use.)  But it is not only the words of the carol but also the story of the poem behind the carol that are worth noting during the season of peace; the season of Advent.

According to tradition, American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the poem Christmas Bells a few months before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, thus sounding an end to the American Civil War.  Today we sing five stanzas of the carol when, in fact, Longfellow's poem consisted of seven stanzas.  The two stanzas that have been omitted give reference to the fight of American brothers.  Like many of us, Longfellow was desperate to make sense of the senseless war and other tragedies (including tragic events that plagued the Longfellow family).  He was asking deep and existential questions about the meaning of life and the question of theodicy. (For those unfamiliar with the term "theodicy," it asks the age-old question "How does God, the God of love and goodness described in the Bible, fit into the picture of pain and suffering?"  Those of you who know me personally and my story, know this is something that I wrestle with on a consistent basis.  Maybe this is a reason why the carol and poem resound so deep within my spirit.)

Needless to say that in Longfellow's day peace seemed to be in short supply.  As brother fought against brother, the chiming of bells to announce the inauguration of peace seemed to fall on deaf ears.  Yet, in the midst of the pain and lack of peace, Longfellow is able to capture the essence of the Gospel of God brought to flesh through Christ.  As he "rolls along" his "unbroken song", Longfellow joins the angelic chorus singing:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests (Luke 2:14).

But Longfellow's cry for peace reaches a climax in the sixth verse of the poem.  It is here where I must applaud Longfellow.  He does what few of us would ever do.  At least, what few of us would ever do in public.  His bravery and audacity is one of the many reasons I love this Christmas poem & carol.  Upon taking a look around to see the destruction, hate, violence, death, and sin that run rampant, Longfellow pours out, in honesty, the presence of his doubt in God.

When was the last time you were this honest?  This is more than lip-service honesty.  This is more than telling-the-truth honesty.  This is depth-of-the-soul honesty.  This kind of honesty comes only from a heart broken before God.  This is the kind of honesty we see in the life & faith of Thomas mentioned in the gospels.  Thomas is experiencing doubt that comes from deep within him.  Often we throw rocks at Thomas for "not believing" when the truth of the matter is any of us would respond the same way he did (see John 20:24-29) given the situation. 

Now it is time for me to "practice what I preach."  I have experienced this level of doubt.  Many of you know my story because you were there (and are still there).  Many of you have found yourselves in similar places in life. We find ourselves crawling before God, or who we think is God, and screaming, "ARE YOU THERE?  ARE YOU REAL?"  When we look around and all we see and experience is death, pain, suffering, heartache, disappointment (I think you get the picture), we too bow our heads in despair and say, "There is no peace on earth."  (As a side-note, I would love to hear from you about times in your life when you have felt this way.)

Certainly this must have been the sentiment amongst the earliest followers of Jesus on the day we now call Good Friday.  Everyone scatters in fear and shock and rightly so.  The thoughts must have included ideas such as, "This has not turned out the way we planned" or "Boy, we were wrong about this guy!"  Some may have even gone to the point of saying, "God, we thought you knew what you were doing.  But, apparently not!"

This is the point when I find it acceptable to say that I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day is appropriate to sing at Easter as well.  Already in this blog, though some would call it little more than a rambling, we have drawn the connection between the biblical narratives of the birth and death of Christ while using the familar carol as the weaving inbetween.  By the time we get to the last stanza of the carol, we see the message of Easter.  This is the message spoken by the angels at the empty tomb.

Then peeled the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail; The right prevail
With peace on earth goodwill to men!
(See Matthew 28:5-7; Mark 16:6-7; Luke 24:1-8)

As with the birth of the Christ, the resurrection is announced by the angelic host yet it is done in a subtle and almost downplayed manner.  There is no bursting forth and cracking open of the sky.  There is not a new star shining in the sky.  What we see to announce that the King of all Kings is alive is an angel statng "He is risen just as He said He would."  Now death, hell, the grave, and the power of sin have all be eternally defeated. 

So, where do we go from here? I am sure many will say, "Andrew, this is not connecting with today.  Eternal defeat of these forces is one thing but I am in turmoil here on earth."  The Hebrew word for peace (shalom) carries a connotation of completeness or wholeness.  The peace of God is complete and whole and comes to live and reign and rule and guide in a complete and whole way in our lives.  This is the peace of Advent.  This is the peace that has come into our world.

Go and ring the bells....
-ASR