As I shared in yesterday's sermon, I am a little OCD when it comes to the holidays.
By that I mean that I get annoyed when stores stock their shelves with Christmas stuff in early November. I also quickly switch radio stations when I hear Christmas carols before Thanksgiving.
But now that we have enjoyed our turkey, stuffing, and the other elements of our large meals with families, we can look ahead to decorative trees, colorful lights, snowmen, gifts, and more large meals with our families. And of course I can now allow my OCD-self to enjoy Christmas music. I do have to consciously 'flip the switch' in my mind in a way, but I also have to consciously guard against letting the trees, lights, gifts, and family get-togethers from getting in the way of the true meaning of this holiday.
Thankfully the best Christmas music makes this exercise a little easier. The best Christmas music is worshipful and Christ-focused. A new single out on Chris Tomlin's Christmas Album is both of those things. It features new-ish artist Lauren Daigle absolutely nailing the uplifting vocals on this re-invented version of 'Noel'.
If that can't get you in the proper Christmas mood, there's something wrong with you.
I was well on my way to post a fairly pedestrian video of a fairly pedestrian song that expresses the admirable quality of biblical thanksgiving. There's nothing wrong with the song and it can be utilized in a very worshipful way in the right context.
Then I came upon another song on youtube that emphasizes a similar heart with a little more musical and lyrical variety. It still is not the most exciting song in the world and it does go on for 7 minutes...but the main reason it caught my eye and made me decide to include it this week was the advertisement before the actual video.
I'm not sure if the ad will be permanently be the same, but when I looked it up, it was a movie trailer for an upcoming comedy. A very crass comedy - to the extent that the trailer had several swear words and off-color jokes.
The contrast between the two couldn't have been more stark. A serene yet sincere song expressing gratitude to God vs. a worldly and vulgar movie.
My wife will tell you, I often let this kind of thing slide, consuming it without much conviction. Maybe my conscience was stirred because we are entering the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Hopefully it is because the Spirit is working on my heart and mind to not be so tolerant of what God deems as sinful. Maybe that's not where you are at. But maybe this can provoke us to consider these things a little bit more during this holiday season.
In our sermon series, we've entered the section of 1 John that deals with the theme of "God is life". We have eternal life - abundant-meaningful life - through our relationship with Jesus. I gave some thought to Music Monday given this argument. A few songs that have found their way to CCM radio popped into my head. But none of them really resonate with me. I mean, God is life. That's awesome. Theologically that truth is EVERYTHING.
It is the core of our faith and the transformative consequence of the Gospel. It deserves a real song to announce it. It needs the kind of song I would have listened to in order to pump myself before a basketball game.
There's really only one choice:
Considering this song was released and became popular around 9/11 adds emphasis to it's greater message of joy and appreciation of life.
