Christmas is a time of year filled with reflections, songs, antiphons, chants, hymns, poems and many other various and sundry forms of verse and rhyme. Why has Christmas inspired Christians from ever century of history to write? There's many reasons to be sure, but chief among them is the simple truth that Christmas is a time for worship. The Christmas story teaches us this important truth.

Following the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the angels lead us in the most (maybe the only) fitting response to the birth of Christ: singing! We read in Luke 2:13-14, "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.'" 

Since that wondrous night 2,000 years ago, Christians have sought to follow the angels lead by writing words and composing music that captures something of the wonder of the birth of Christ. These words and tunes are stored within the collective memory of the church throughout the centuries, and they are revisited each year during Advent to lead us once again to worship. 

Below is a beautiful text from the 4th century written by Ambrose of Milan. It was recovered for Protestant worship by Martin Luther in the 15th century; he translated it from the original Latin to German and used it during the season of Advent. It was translated a few years ago by Calvin Seerveld into English. 

 

Let your lasting Kingdom come.