Gladsome cheer

This Christmas message was written some weeks ago. Since then, we have been confronted by the horrific news of a mass shooting of families gathered for a festival of their Jewish faith in Sydney. Please pray for the families who grieve, for those who are suffering and for those who serve them. In this season of ‘Peace on Earth’, please also pray that the preaching of the gospel message of the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus for our salvation bring light into dark places, that we would live as people of hope, welcoming one another just as Christ Jesus has welcomed us (Romans 15).

Dr Martin Luther gave some wonderful instructions about what to do with the Christmas story when he wrote his hymn, ‘From heaven above to earth I come’. The 13 verses of the Lutheran Hymnal and Supplement number 23 begin with words of greeting from the Bethlehem angel. The hymn then turns to prayer, as we speak to the ‘noble guest’ who is born in the manger as the Saviour of the world!

At that turning point, Luther writes in verse six:

Now let us all with gladsome cheer
Follow the shepherds, and draw near
To see this wondrous gift of God,
Who hath his own dear Son bestowed.

This ‘gladsome cheer’ is an English translation of Luther’s use of a German word from which we have the English word ‘frolicking’. This is the kind of belly-laughing cheering that you often hear at a football game when our team kicks a goal.

We are invited to experience this gladsome cheer as we return year after year to the Nativity story. In the centre of the Nativity, we see how God has revealed his heart in the manger. Because of this Nativity, we know God is ‘for us’! Therefore, we can draw near to God, to confess our sins and trust in his mercy. He is the Lord who has said elsewhere, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’

What do we say to this Lord of the manger?

Again, Luther gives us marvellous Christmas words to pray in verse 11 of his hymn:

Ah dearest Jesus, holy Child,
make Thee a bed soft undefiled,
within my heart that it may be,
a quiet chamber kept for Thee.

Christ comes at Christmas to bring joy and peace to the world. How do we move on from Christmas when everyone seems to drop it like a hot potato? We move WITH Christmas into the new year, praying: ‘Lord, come into me. Bring joy into my world. Guide my feet into the way of peace that I may serve as your hands of blessing in the world.’

And this is our Christmas gladsome cheer!

A holy and blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones.

Pastor Paul Smith
Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand

LHS 23

PART I

1 ‘From heaven above to earth I come
To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
Whereof I now will say and sing:

2 ‘To you this night is born a child
of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all the earth.

3 ‘This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Saviour be,
From all your sins to set you free.

4 ‘He brings those blessings, long ago
Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom bright and fair
You may with us His glory share.

5 ‘These are the tokens ye shall mark:
The swaddling clothes and manger dark;
There shall ye find the young child laid,
By whom the heavens and earth were made.’

6 Now let us all with gladsome cheer
Follow the shepherds, and draw near
To see this wondrous gift of God,
Who hath his own dear Son bestowed.

7 Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes;
Who is it in yon manger lies?
Who is this child, so young and fair?
The blessed Christ-child lieth there.

PART II

8 Welcome to earth, Thou noble guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
Thou com’st to share my misery;
What thanks shall I return to Thee?

9 Ah, Lord, who hast created all,
How weak art Thou, how poor and small,
That Thou dost choose Thine infant bed
Where ass and ox but lately fed.

10 Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
Yet were it far too poor to be
A cradle, Son of God, for Thee.

11 Ah, dearest Jesus, holy child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

12 My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep;
I, too, must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest, ancient cradle-song:

13 Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad new year to all the earth.

Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1855, alt.
St. 3: Arthur Tozer Russell, 1848