I have to admit that as a child at Christmas, I’d mischievously sing ‘While shepherds washed their socks at night, all seated on the ground’ – with greater gusto in school assemblies than in church!
At least when we sang ‘Lord of the dance, said he…’ in assemblies, I genuinely thought (and sang) that the lyrics were ‘Lord of the dance settee’ – imagining small crowds of people dancing on settees (or sofas, if you prefer) with their hands in the air praising God…
Do the words mean anything?
You don’t usually hear the words ‘blasphemy’ and ‘Christmas’ in the same sentence. But I think there’s much to be said for the notion that the millions across the globe who sing carols proclaiming Christ’s birth over the Christmas period are blaspheming His name. Granted, the music is beautiful, the carols uplifting, families unite, and cold December days are warmed by the expectation of time off work, Christmas presents, mulled wine, board games and fabulous food.
Having enjoyed countless nativity plays and school carol services over the years, and stopping to listen to the carol singers in shopping centres, I’ve often wondered whether the words actually mean anything to those taking part. If they are little more than great music and seasonal cheer, are they taking God’s name ‘in vain’?
But, dear reader, what about the hearts of our own children who are just as excited: sticking their Christmas present lists on the fridge door and demanding the Christmas tree to be put up tomorrow (but please, not a small one like last year) and asking where their stockings are and prompting me to buy a cheese board for Boxing Day – and reminding me about the school carol service this evening when I’ve not even started cooking dinner.
What do they understand?
We love to see (and hear, if we listen hard enough) our children singing hymns and carols in church – but do they really understand what they sing? Or, as countless children have done for decades, do they mishear the words and sing their own version in the absence of comprehension?
The blessing of modern hymns and songs is that they’re easier to sing meaningfully, even for the simplest of people. Yet we have a rich tradition of magnificent Christmas carols from yesteryear. The music may be resplendent but do our children understand what the words and phrases mean? (We also need to ask the same of non-Christians who come to our carol services, or those new to faith within our churches.)
I think we do a disservice to our children if we fail to explain the challenging parts. We don’t expect an eight-year-old to sit and read an unabridged Shakespeare play and understand it. Even the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8, an educated man, struggled to understand the prophet Isaiah’s words written more than 700 years earlier. To Philip, he answered: ‘How can I [understand], unless someone guides me?’
Enable them to engage
What and where, for example, is ‘Royal David’s city’? In Joy to the World, how do ‘heaven and nature sing’ and what does ‘Let all their songs employ’ mean? The opening words of the magnificent Hark! The herald angels… may be mystifying to some. If our children can understand it thus: Look! Listen! The angels in heaven are singing!’ they can join in more meaningfully.
An entire article is needed to explain the words O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – theologically rich but written in the early 1800s. How wonderful that we’re still singing it in the 21st century – but do our children and many in our congregations understand it without explanation?
Christian believers sing hymns and carols in genuine, meaningful praise to God for the gift of Jesus’s birth. The challenge for parents is to ensure that our children understand what they’re asked to sing – the words may even be instrumental in their own spiritual awakening.
