Christmas Bells

LUKE 2:1-20 

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world  should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while  Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be  registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to  the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house  and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was  engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came  for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and  wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no  place in the guest room.[a]

The Shepherds and the Angels 

8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping  watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,  and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the  angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of  great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a  Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will  find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly  there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and  saying, 

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[d] 

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to  one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and  found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw  this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who  heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured  all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned,  glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been  told them. 

HOMILY

In a short while we will sing the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on  Christmas Day.” We had a foretaste of that hymn last Sunday when Evelyn led us on a  joyful musical journey through a medley of Christmas carols, including this one. Today,  however, we will sing all five verses—each of them carrying the weight of a remarkable  story. 

Last Christmas, Jackie and I watched a film that tells the story behind this carol and the grief out of which it was born. In 1861, the wife of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,  Fanny, was standing too close to an open fireplace when her dress caught fire.  

Longfellow, in another room and deep in sleep, did not at first hear her cries. When he  awoke, he rushed to her side and tried desperately to extinguish the flames with his own  body. But it was too late. Fanny died a few days later, and Longfellow was plunged into  profound grief. 

Two years later, tragedy struck again. His son Charles, a Union soldier in the Civil War,  was severely wounded. Already brokenhearted, Longfellow now found himself  overwhelmed by despair. It seemed that his writing days were finished. 

But on Christmas Eve in 1863, the intensity of his grief demanded expression.  Longfellow picked up his pen and began to write what would become the beloved carol  “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The words did not come easily. By Christmas morning, however, the poem was complete: 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day 

Their old familiar carols play; 

And wild and sweet the words repeat 

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men. 

In that first verse, we hear faith struggling to break through the darkness of loss. But by the third verse, grief once again grips his heart: 

And in despair I bowed my head; 

“There is no peace on earth,” I said; 

“For hate is strong and mocks the song 

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.” 

Yet Longfellow does not remain there. In the next verse, faith rises again: 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 

“God is not dead, nor does He sleep; 

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, 

With peace on earth, goodwill to men.” 

I sense that as Longfellow labored through that night, he arrived at peace—not easily, not  instantly, but honestly. Peace did not come at the end of a quick prayer. It came through  struggle. The parlor floor, cluttered with crumpled pages, bore witness to the fierce battle  between despair and hope. 

As Bowdy reminded us in Sunday School a few weeks ago, peace rarely comes easily. 

Even when it does come, it often follows a pattern of progress and retreat—five steps  forward, three steps back. Peace has its highs and lows. 

Peace eventually came for Longfellow. Ultimately, it came when he was reunited with  Fanny in death. But peace did not come to the nation. It did not come to the world. It did  not come then—and it has not come since. 

Peace will come when Jesus returns. But in the meantime, who among us can know the  inner peace that sustained Longfellow? 

We find the answer in the words of the angels in Luke 2:14—words Longfellow himself  echoes in his poem. Our pew Bibles translate the angels’ song this way: 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he  favors.” 

At first, those words sound ambiguous. Who are the ones God favors? Can we know if  we are among them? 

Yes—we can. The answer is found in the shepherds. 

God favored the shepherds. How do we know? Because God sent angels to them. And  how did they respond? They heard the message. They believed the message. They acted  on the message. They went to Bethlehem. They worshiped the Christ child. And then  they spread the message everywhere. 

The shepherds remove all ambiguity. God favors you and me. We know He does because  God has sent messengers to us as well—not heavenly angels perhaps, but earthly ones;  ordinary people bearing an extraordinary message. The very fact that we have heard the  message is evidence that we are among those whom God favors. 

The question is this: how will we respond?

Jesus himself gives us the answer. In John’s Gospel he says, 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world  gives.” 

The world cannot give us peace—but Christ can. As Paul writes in Romans, 

“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord  Jesus Christ.” 

When we have peace with God, we can experience the peace of God. And when we have  that peace, we are called to share it. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that God has given us “the  ministry of reconciliation.” 

We cannot bring peace to the world—but we can bear witness to the peace Christ has  given us. 

Longfellow found that peace. Through the many vicissitudes of my own life, I have  found it too. Not perfectly. Not permanently. But faithfully, again and again. 

We pray each week, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Perhaps we should also pray,  “Give us this day our daily peace.” 

The bells of Christmas are still ringing as they did on that Christmas morning for  Longfellow after a long sleepless night. 

They do not ring because the world is peaceful. No a hundred times no. There are  multiple wars raging on just about every continent. Conflicts in government. Even  conflicts within churches and synagogues.  

But for those who Christ favors, for those who have heard the good news that Christ has  come, the bells are still ringing again and again. What is the message of the bells? It is the  same message the shepherds heard 2000 years ago. 

Christ, the Prince of Peace, has come and the invitation still echoes from the angels  above and the angels, here, below.  

Believe, Receive, Worship the King, and spread the news everywhere. “The Christmas bells are ringing for everyone who will listen. And to God be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.