Not So Silent Night

Gò0dNews from the Pastor’s Desk

Not So Silent Night

by Jeff Pitts

By now, across your radio airwaves or streaming services has come hundreds of renditions of the classic Christmas carol “Silent Night.” Everyone from Bing Crosby to Taylor Swift has recorded this holiday hymn. As the story unfolds of a peaceful Jesus in the manager, for one set of characters in the biblical narrative, that first Christmas night was less than silent.

While the infant Jesus was still and sleeping in heavenly peace, for those unnumbered shepherds keeping watch at night in the field, the silence was broken by a symphony of angels. In fact, they quaked at the sight of such a glorious moment in time. 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14 proclaiming the arrival of Jesus. I have never heard an army of angels united in song; my imagination leads me to believe that it was not so silent. I have often wondered if carried along the Bethlehem night sky, echoing off the silence of the stars, was a song sung loud enough for a new mom, a new dad, and their newborn to hear. I have wondered if the infant Jesus was still and silent that first night not simply from the comfort of his mother’s arms, but from the lullaby of a familiar song that was sung in a field nearby. That first Christmas all was calm, all was bright, but just maybe like the shepherds, we need something to break the silence. In the noise of life, in the hustle and bustle of a busy Christmas season, sometimes hearing from God becomes a challenge. Even when life is not silent, we have felt that the Lord has been. We have been living in a season of silent nights. Like those shepherds whose night was interrupted by a choir of heavenly hosts, we need a God to break the silence of our lives. We need once again for God to speak that all is calm and all is bright and that truly Christ our Savior is alive.

As we celebrate love’s pure light coming to earth with a dawning of redeeming grace, let your prayer be that God would divinely interrupt your season and break the silent season you have been in. May the Christ of Christmas become the light of your season in not so silent ways.

For these first century herdsmen, the silence of the night was broken with a great army of angels

About The Author Jeff Pitts, with his wife Rachael, pastor The Collectives Church in Cleveland. He can be found enjoying local coffee shops and tacos.