I Hate Christmas Songs

I do not like Christmas music. I rarely sing it, I rarely listen to it, in fact the only Christmas CD I personally claim as owned and the only one I listen to is the Chris Rice one that is all instrumental. I love that CD. I do not like Christmas music. However I may have to rethink this stance. One thing before I explain.

It hit me the other night that Christmas music seems to belong in church more than other things. I know, Jesus' birth helps that but its funny because you can hear Christmas music all over and yet when it is sung in church it doesn't seem grossly out of place. In my opinion, 4th of July music does. Anyway, enough about that.

I was sitting in church on Christmas Eve, not an uncommon experience in my life. It was a good time to go drop off the man child and then sit with my lovely wife and experience a worship service dedicated to this magical birth. None of this was really out of the ordinary but something hit me that hadn't before.

We were singing one of my favorite Christmas songs--something I'm not a huge fan of--O Come Let Us Adore Him--really the words strike me as at times awkward, at times expectant and at times challenging. But it was the second verse, one that I think I've sung with a different thought in mind until that night.

For You Alone Are Worthy.

Now, I know what they are saying. I just think in my own mind I've sung them thinking as best I could amidst distractions of what was under the tree and how ridiculous what people can get away with wearing simply in the spirit of Christmas--red pants? Anyway, in the midst of that I've said to him that he alone is worthy. I've thought of that as a continuation I guess of the fact that we are there adoring him and then from that I've thought of it as a statement that only he is worthy of our adoration--a theologically correct statement (well, God is I know but you know what I mean). However, I suddenly was hit with the bigger picture of his birth. He alone is worthy of adoration, yes. But he alone is worthy of dying. To be all that he was, to fulfill all the prophecies he did/is, to live perfectly as he did left him alone worthy of dying for my sins.

I guess at times I'm guilty of rushing from Christmas to Easter. I'm really bad about knowing the end of the story and thus not wanting to sit around stalling and pretending I don't know how it all ends up. Let's be honest, he dies. It's horrible. It's necessary.

And so we sang, for you alone are worthy. You alone. Not me, not any of us,only you are worthy of my worship but also of my death. Dying in my place so I can have life. And then the clincher.

We'll Give You All The Glory.

Mmmmhh. Yeah, that part. The part about how even though he's the only one worthy I like to swoop in afterwards blushing and saying all glory to God while at the same moment deep in my heart saying "Go on, tell me more about myself and how incredible I am. And humble. How incredibly humble I am. Yes. Well, enough about me, let's talk about me."

So what makes him worthy makes me worthy as well and yet the glory is all his. Our pastor (seems wierd to say, I've always thought of myself as my own pastor--okay, more arrogance looks like) he was telling me, a part of that body of believers with him --he was reminding me of the necessity of sacrifice, of connection with God, with the blood of his son. I was being reminded of all that had happened in the past year, wondering what God had in store for us in the future year( What will I be saying about 2006?) and it came to me in my seat that that last line ought to be tatooed on my mind. I'll. Give. You. All. The. Glory. Giving it all to him. I mean it is his isn't it?

And it was in those moments that I realized the closest thing to a new years resolution that I'm going to have. To not just give him all the glory verbally but deep in my heart, the part about myself I've been most annoyed with. He alone is worthy after all.