According to Dennis Bratcher at The Voice we can begin singing Christmas carols on the Third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy.
It is important, in terms of the purpose of Christian Holy Days as teaching tools of the Faith, that Advent and Christmas be different, with different emphases, especially on the first two Sundays of Advent. These need to emphasize expectation and longing, a preparation for celebration much as Lent is a preparation for Easter. Without that, the season becomes one long celebration without any context for that celebration and with little contact with the reality of life that gave birth to the season in the first place.Of course there is a progression to the services of Advent. By the third Sunday, which is usually the Sunday of Proclamation with the Magi or the Shepherds, or the Sunday of Joy, we can begin celebrating, not because it is all finished but because the promise is moving to reality, because we have heard from God and have the promise in concrete terms. It is in that movement from distant longing and crying out on the first Sunday, to hope and immediate expectation on the Second, to Joy and proclamation on the Third Sunday, that prepares us for praise and celebration on the Fourth Sunday as the year moves into the Christmas Season. If done well, that liturgical movement takes people along in the journey of their lives, as they enact their own experiences in worship. It gives people a structure in which to take the vagueness of their own distant longings as they identify with Israel’s longings, and brings them to an expressed hope and faith that God is, indeed, "with us." It is this journey that gives people a context for celebration.
We will be singing "Joy to the World" this Sunday, which was not originally intended as a Christmas carol, but rather a song about the return of Christ, based on Psalm 98, although it definitely works as a Christmas song (we'll be slapping some sleigh bells on it). It actually works better as an Advent song, if you think about it, with its great theme of the Second Coming of Christ.
Unfortunately, like many Christmas carols, we have sentimentalized this tremendously rich song, which is packed with deep kingdom and eschatological proclamations. Have you ever gone beyond the sentimentality of "Joy to the World" to reflect upon its theology? If you have, one of the first things you noticed is the (seeming) grammatical bourde in the first line: "the Lord is come." Many change the word "is" to "has," so that it makes more sense as a Christmas song. Wikipedia notes:
In the first line of the first verse, we might expect to hear "The Lord has come", but "The Lord is come" is correct. In old English, verbs of movement such as "to go" and "to come" were used with the auxiliary verb "to be" and not the present day auxiliary verb "to have".
Personally, I like to sing "is come," thinking of it in "Already/Not Yet" terms, sort of like the combining of two phrases: "the Lord has come" and "the Lord is coming." Who knows, maybe Isaac Watts had the same thing in mind when he wrote it, i.e., intending for "Joy to the World" to be an Advent song, combining "has come" and "is coming" into one phrase, "is come." Probably not, but I wouldn't put it past him; he was one of the greatest hymn writers in the church's history.
We'll also be holding a good old fashioned hymn-sing Sunday night, with lots of Christmas carols and children singing and a jolly time of relieving the Advent tension pressure valve for a night.
One more thing about Christmas carols during Advent: I heard yesterday that the University of Notre Dame has banned a certain Protestant student group from holding their meetings in the basilica because they were singing Christmas carols during Advent.
Awesome.
7 comments
Comment by Anonymous on December 10, 2010 at 8:41 PM
Do you have a link to the story about Notre Dame not allowing Christmas carols during Advent?
Comment by Ryan Flanigan on December 11, 2010 at 7:15 AM
No, and I doubt it would be published anywhere. Our college pastor told me. A student told him. So I heard it third-hand.
Can anyone confirm?
Comment by Anonymous on December 15, 2010 at 7:38 PM
Just wondering here--are you just encouraging waiting to sing Christmas songs until this "designated" time or do you think it's wrong to sing them prior to this time? The tone seems a bit condescending to those who choose to sing songs of Christ's birth before it's deemed "time."
Comment by Ryan on December 15, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Comment by Ryan on December 15, 2010 at 9:24 PM
I do not deny that I often condescend, but not so in this post. I was just giving one man's perspective (Dennis Bratcher) on the use of carols in worship, especially considering the historic church year and the way Christians have worshiped for centuries. I like to challenge Contemporary Church people to evaluate the worship elements we do and the way we do things without giving much thought to why we do them, and to consider new (ancient) ways of doing things.
It's not a matter of right and wrong, but rather a matter of what makes logical sense. Bratcher is saying that it doesn't make much sense to sing "joy to the world, the Lord has come" before the "designated" time to celebrate his birth - the Christmas Season (Dec. 25 - Jan. 5). What I like about what he says (as opposed to staunch traditionalists) is that we can start singing carols on the Third Sunday of Advent instead of waiting until Christmas Day, "because the promise is moving to reality."
Comment by Anonymous on December 15, 2010 at 10:05 PM
I guess the title post of "You Can Begin Singing Christmas Carols..." suggests that you are giving permission. Why not celebrate His birth all month, all year? I celebrate advent and agree with the tendency of many to overindulge and not remember Christ's birth. But what better way is there to enter into this season than with songs about Christ--whether anticipating His arrival or about His birth? What is illogical about singing songs of His birth at any time of the year? Can you really overindulge in singing praise about Christ's birth?
I don't disagree with your challenge to evaluate why we do what we do. But I sing Christmas songs because they are full and rich songs full of hope and I don't feel that they should only be sung for a certain window of time. To me that's squelching the joy, the true joy, of the season. That's just my two cents.
Comment by GrangerBaxters on December 20, 2010 at 8:00 AM
What I like about the waiting and the intentional approach to the waiting is that I have listened for the 1st time...and I'm OLD to all the Christmas songs old, traditional and new and have heard the story of Christ. I like that we decided to wait. It may appear as this is dictating the way you should do it, but I know that isn't the intent, because I also was a grumpy gus...I want to listen to carols starting in November (I put my decorations up the week BEFORE Thanksgiving) but I followed the lead from our worship leader and by doing so, I hear the story of Christ and this Advent season has been REAL to me...really waiting and joyfully so, for the reminder of the coming of Christ, the humility of pouring himself into human helplessness and giving it all up so that he could grow up, suffer an awful death, defeat that death...just so that I can know him and walk with him this side of heaven.
I tend to always write in pictures, that's how I think. I hope those of you who read this try to picture what I'm saying and maybe with this picture, you can just try to enjoy the story of our amazing savior and the enormity of his sacrifice to become a helpless babe in a manger...for me...for you! Merry Christmas and Welcome Lord Jesus!
Thanks for joining us and sharing your thoughts.