Christmas Carols and the Gospels

I posted the little study below several years back and wanted to share it again with a new preface.

In the original post, I referenced inflatable bears, elves, and so forth being added to the nativity scenes in neighbors' yards. I usually start this carol discussion with my students by asking what non-biblical characters they've seen added to such scenes in our town. 

Flamingos joining the animals? 

Frosty adding his voice to the angelic choir? 

Yoda bowing in the direction of the manger? 

(These have all been sighted!)

This year, it occurred to me that such light-hearted additions to the creche actually serve as a witness to a profound truth: We live in the time between the most intimate manger scene of Bethlehem and the universal worship of Revelation. Just as a number of our carols begin with the holy family, expand to include shepherds then magi, finally putting us in the scene, the Kin-dom of God expands inexorably through the worship of our own time on its way to that final future peace of full communion between God and all Creation.

 

During this Christmas season, it has occurred to me that it would be a good devotional exercise to survey the commonly sung Christmas carols in terms of their Gospel content. That is, to take note of which carol is based on which Gospel narrative of the nativity. I’m sure may others have already done this, but I’ve enjoyed doing it for myself.

 

Sometimes we carry around a mental version of the nativity that is essentially St. Francis’s beautiful manger scene with everyone in attendance (Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, animals, shepherds, wise men, and angels). The cast of characters grows in the yards of neighbors as inflatable polar bears, elves, and dinosaurs join the scene. But that’s a different story.

 

The gospel writers, however, chose specific details to make their points about Jesus. (Don’t we all?) Their separate versions seem to have been written to stand alone and don’t particularly need to be combined.   

 

In addition to the fact that my little survey might enhance someone’s biblical literacy (mine, at the very least) I also think it is a valuable exercise for raising awareness of what is actually in these carols. Details of the familiar go by almost completely without notice and it’s possible that many of us had a joyful moment with “Joy to the World” or experienced a serene mood as we sang “Silent Night” without registering the richness of these texts yet again this year.

 

If you are intrigued by the whole concept, maybe you should undertake such a survey yourself before reading on. Or at least do a quick check of the carols you have in your head with your memory of the Gospels.

As I did my survey, I realized that the categories I thought I would use are not as clear-cut as I expected. That’s pretty much how these sorts of things usually go. For clarity’s sake, though, I’ve still basically sorted the carols as being based on Matthew, Luke, or a combination of the two.

 

That said, some carols seem to have an overlay of language that might be drawn from John 1. I didn’t try to keep track of that. 

 

Another potential subcategory would be the carol that is clearly about one Gospel but has some general reference from the other that colors it but doesn’t rise to the level that would make the carol a full-blown combination of the two.  For example, “Brightest and Best” and “As with Gladness Men of Old” both reference the manger (Luke) but they are primarily about the wise men (Matthew).  “O Come Little Children” and “Silent Night” both mention a star (Matthew) but are otherwise firmly rooted in Luke.

 

Yet another type is the carol that briefly references something from a Gospel but ultimately amounts to a theological discussion using that reference as a starting point. “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” and “Good Christian Men Rejoice” follow this pattern.

 

Here’s a brief summary of some features that differentiate the Gospel nativity narratives:

 

Matthew

Angel talks to Joseph

Isaiah reference to Immanuel

Guiding star

Wise men visit where the Christ-child lives

Flight into Egypt

 

Luke

Angel talks to Mary

Angel chorus proclaims the birth

Shepherds visit the baby Jesus who is in the manger

 

John

Word becomes flesh

 

And now for my sorting:

 

Matthew

As with Gladness Men of Old

Brightest and Best

We Three Kings of Orient Are

 

Luke

Angels We Have Heard on High

Away in a Manger

Child in the Manger

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Good Christian Men Rejoice

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

How Great Our Joy

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

It Came upon the Midnight Clear

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Oh Come, Little Children

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Silent Night

 

Combination of Matthew and Luke

Angels, from the Realms of Glory

Gentle Mary Laid Her Child

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

Sing We Now of Christmas

The First Nowell

There’s a Song in the Air

What Child Is This

 

Other

Joy to the World – Psalm 98

 

P.S. Those who worship in liturgical churches are probably pretty aware of all this as your services tend to follow one Gospel or the other in a given year.  Those of us who organize and play Christmas concerts might find an impetus for some new creative work in those liturgical traditions and present events based on one Gospel's version or the other.

Department of Music

During the fall semester, I wrote the following for our College of Arts and Media magazine, Précis. It gives a sense of the convictions that have shaped our department over the decades.

 

 

 

I recently had the very meaningful fun of reflecting with Ed Bryant on our own experiences in music education and on how those experiences relate to what makes Southeastern’s Department of music distinctive.  As a faculty member for 21 years, and as our current chair, Mr. Bryant has a seasoned perspective on our department’s past, present, and future.

 

As soon as I asked what makes music instruction at Southeastern unique, Mr. Bryant said, “the faith aspect.” As he framed it, “We see what we do in the light of God’s creation.” We model moving beyond culturally assigned labels of secular and sacred to recognize that, whether or not an artist chooses to give glory to God, the very act of creating bears witness to a presence in our lives that is both constructive and caring. As he put it, “When we create, we are being like our Father.”

 

Following from this premise, we have not been afraid to engage different styles of music. A great many departments focus on the supposedly learnèd traditions of classical music while neglecting the musical practices through which today’s students are most likely to build their careers. And in some Christian settings, there is a narrow emphasis on music designed explicitly  for church use which leaves students at a loss regarding the larger conversations of genius and achievement in the professional realm. Decades ago, the vision was set for our department to serve not only the worship needs of Christian communities but also to prepare students to pursue musical work with excellence wherever a Christian witness is needed.

 

Toward that end, we provide degrees in music business, education, and performance in addition to church music. And this makes for an exciting dynamic keeping with Southeastern’s general trajectory of holding to small-university values while making large-university opportunities available. So it is that, in a department which has been able to maintain roughly a 12 to 1 student-professor ratio, students regularly participate in courses and ensembles as diverse as Marching Band Techniques, Hip Hop and American Culture, Worship Lab, String Quartet, Jazz Band, and Concert Choir.

 

Pursuing such an inclusive educational vision requires a stance of perpetual innovation as well as access to resources, and it is very much to Southeastern’s credit that, over the years, provisions have been made for the creation of such possibilities. High-quality learning spaces have been built, scholarships have continued to grow, and crucial investments have been made in technologies that will be key to the careers of the future. In the post-pandemic world, more music will be made on-line than ever before, and in the present day, a radical rethinking is required to continue our department’s wide-ranging offerings. This fall, we welcomed several new faculty members who bring “a world of experience,” as Mr. Bryant describes it, to bear on these realities. 

 

As we wrapped up our talk, we agreed that one of our most fulfilling joys is to see what alumni take from their time with us to create fresh witnesses in the world whether that is Dr. Seth Pendergast mentoring music educators at Colorado State, Carlos Santiago performing on the Netflix show Sing On!, Aldyn Broach and Erika Winter teaching music in the schools of Duval County, Evan Eliason doing production at the Vanguard Room, or Tatiana-Myriam Nicoleau leading worship for a congregation of Facebook followers . . .