Suspended high above the
street, attached to a tall light pole on both sides, was the familiar holiday
word, N-O-E-L. As you turned off Hi-way 30 and drove north onto main
street, you were welcomed by the old French version of Christmas greeting. It
was one of those seasonal predictabilities which, after the first couple of
trips through town, one simply forgot. Christmas had come to main street. Windows
were decorated with tape-on window frames and spray-on snow. Christmas in a
small town…the things of which Hallmark cards are made. "Noel! Noel! Born is the
King of Israel."
With only 26 letters with
which to work…common words can soon become trite. Words and phrases so much a
part of our tradition that they flow in and out of our conversation, jump off
the ends of our texting fingers, fall loosely from our lips and liven the
poetic structures of our carols…losing the richness of their meaning simply due
to their commonness. Trite seasonal expressions, until…
Until my bride pointed out a
reality of which I have been totally unaware. She sent me a text asking, "Did
you realize that SILENT and LISTEN both have the exact same letters?" Incredible!
I have used those two words…typed those two words…sung those two words…never
recognized that those two words are the same word simply arranged in different
ways.
S-I-L-E-N-T L-I-S-T-E-N
And that is exactly what the
first hearers of the incredible Good News did. They sat silent in order to listen! The dark night sky burst into
full noon-day brilliance as hundreds of angels took their place and each sang their
own part in history's first Christmas Carol. "Glory (another word that has
become trite by overuse) to God in the highest!"
The shepherds broke their
silence and stopped listening as they ran straight away to an audience with the
newborn King. Suddenly it was the new mother's turn to be s-i-l-e-n-t and to l-i-s-t-e-n
as the joy of the season flowed freely from the lips of the shepherd choir. As
they returned to their fields they could no longer be silent, but they could
find no one willing to listen.
Now, if you drove into our
small community from the north rather than from the south, the welcome looked
completely different. Rather than the French word for Christmas you were greeted
by some guy's name. L-E-O-N. LEON? Same word…different arrangement!
Be Silent. Take a moment…Listen!
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. The
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold." Psalm 46:10-11
"Noel! Noel! Born is the King of
Israel."
See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom
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