“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1: 21

American minister, Edmund Hamilton Sears, wrote a poem called “The Angel’s Song- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. Since 1849, when the poem was written, it has been put to music and slightly adapted. The imagery captured is quite beautiful. One can tell that this poem was written in the wake of wars by a man healing from a frightful illness and coping with acute despair. Consider these words penned by an overtired man and envision the hopeful tone that he yet conveys.

“It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold; “Peace on the earth, good will to men, From Heav’n’s all-gracious King. The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurled, And still their heav’nly music floats O’er all the weary world; Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hov’ring wing, And ever o’er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring; Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow, Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing. Oh, rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hast’ning on, By prophet bards fore-told, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold: When peace shall o-ver all the earth Its an-cient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.”

The world being a loud, busy, and stressful place is nothing new. In 1849 there was strife, sickness, depression, fear, loss, and fatigue. Today it’s the same story. When Jesus’ birth was announced to the shepherds the world was much the same.

For those desperate for His peace and presence, the call of their spirits has remained the same: “hush the noise”, “stop the strife”, “hear the angels sing”. One might see extraordinary beauty in this poem because no matter the distracted state, the strife that simmers, or the heavy load that threatens to crush mankind, the angels sing their song of peace for those who search for meaning, those who have hope, those who long for peace.

Edmund H. Sears voiced his discontentment regarding his fellow man’s state, a near chastisement, but his hope was unwavering. He knew that man was broken, living in a sin-tarnished world. What he also knew and clung to was the fact that there lives a loving gracious God who had long ago sent the answer to our problems- both sin and every other aliment-Jesus Christ, our Messiah.

Sears’ last line “and the whole world give back the song which angels sing” speaks of the time when no things will distract, no sounds will muffle, and no man can avoid joining in the chorus, “Jesus is Lord.”

To those who search for meaning, those who have hope, those who long for peace, Jesus is the answer. He left the streets of gold in exchange for dirty hay and stable walls. He left the presence of perfect heaven for this dark and broken world. He left the fellowship of God to live amongst man. He left perfection for pain, sorrow, and loss. He did this because of true and pure love. He is the embodiment of love. He is hope. He is power. He is peace.

One cannot celebrate Jesus’ birth without also grasping the weight of His death and the joy of His resurrection. Though we live in a land where pain and sorrow are heavy burdens, what a gift it is to walk this place called earth and have the hope of eternity with God, because our Savior chose to also walk this earth and make a way to the Father of all things.

“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Matthew 26:53-54

“Jesus said, ‘ My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’” John 18:36