The songs of Christmas often carry so much meaning. Well, I
suppose there's not a lot of meaning in "frosty the snowman" or
in "O Tannenbaum" but those that we've sung this morning and
more like them are flooded with meaning and with good teaching
and solid theology. They help us not only to give voice to our
faith and help us to worship but they also serve to teach us
about our God and his word. "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne" is a
beautiful hymn which begins with Christ in eternity past, Lord
of the universe who stepped down into humility in order to
redeem us. We sing the song "Silent Night" and mouth the words,
"Jesus Lord at thy birth!" And we don't always stop to recognize
the oddity of the phrase. But the reality of the child in the
manger is that he is the Lord. And then for instance in "Hark!
The Herald Angels Sing" we proclaim "God and sinners
reconciled!" and we rejoice over the strains of "Born that men
no more may die." Remembering that those phrases point not
merely to his Lordship but to the sacr