This week's featured song is one I hesitated to pick at first.
Why? Well, while I knew it as a beautiful song, I didn't think it focused on the real Christmas story. Then I listened more carefully only to discover that the birth of Immanuel is in reality at the center of the song.
I grew up listening to a lot of Michael W. Smith's catalog. And this is when he's at his best. Arranging a gorgeous musical score and deftly adding in background vocals of choirs to add flourishes that make your hairs stand up on end.
I used to work with a classically trained musician/worship leader who once told me that Smith's scores hold up against anyone as far as their musical beauty and genius. This is one of those songs that makes me believe him. A great Christmas anthem extolling the warmth of the holiday but ultimately calling us to worship.
I like it so much, I'm adding a bonus video of a live performance:
Third Day is a band I grew up with as a teenager. I loved them, then just liked them, then got tired of them as contemporary Christian radio played them ad nauseum. I really like this version of "What Child is This?" though. Mac Powell's powerful voice is tempered just enough to gently confront us with the convicting message of the song.
I have come to love this song because it doesn't keep Jesus in the manger. It speaks to the supernatural reality of this birth and the awe-inspiring plan of God that would unfold with this child. The complete version of the song points us to Calvary and the reason why Jesus became flesh in the first place.
Hail, Hail the Word made flesh the Babe, the Son of Mary.
"Joy to the World" is one of the most popular Christmas songs of all-time. I don't have any metrics or surveys to back that statement up, but I feel pretty same in making that point. Some in my particular camp of conservative evangelicalism have objected to it's theology, it's implicit theology. They disagreed with the theological point of view of the author and claimed that it's lyrics were not a true reflection of God's (dispensational) plan. I've always found those arguments wanting and I've become more and more perturbed that those leaders and scholars were nit-picking a beautiful song that extent. I'm all for good theology, but why make a mountain out of a mole-hill and why over-analyze poetry? They weren't the only ones or the first ones to do so as it turns out. Anyway, I've fell in love with this song again, specifically to this particular modern version by Chris Tomlin:
It's all about JOY. The JOY that Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection, and rule bring. JOY!
