{"id":8384,"date":"2004-12-24T18:37:33","date_gmt":"2004-12-24T23:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8384"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:28:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:28:47","slug":"4017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2004\/12\/24\/4017\/","title":{"rendered":"Silent Night: Let’s Not Make It Too ‘Silent’"},"content":{"rendered":"

W. HARTFORD, CT (December 24, 2004)\u00a0 – Editor’s note: In preparation for the\u00a0 Christmas observance, Covenant Communications is sharing seven\u00a0 devotionals that originally appeared in local church newsletters and are\u00a0 being published here by permission. The following comes from pastor\u00a0 Thomas VanDerMeid of Covenant Congregational Church.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Thomas VanDerMeid<\/p>\n
“Silent Night” is my favorite Christmas Carol.<\/p>\n
It portrays in a beautiful way the quiet and humble birth of our Lord.\u00a0 He came into this world largely without fanfare. There was no glitz and\u00a0 no glamour. No media attention. No crowds swarming to see this amazing\u00a0 event. Jesus’ birth occurs without any of the events that we associate with great moments in history.<\/p>\n
It was a silent night with God in human form, sleeping in a borrowed\u00a0 manger, in a lowly barn, in a little town called Bethlehem. Few people\u00a0 knew that one of the greatest miracles of all time had just occurred.<\/p>\n
But then it was as though heaven could contain its joy no longer. An\u00a0 angel appears to shepherds and announces the birth of their savior and\u00a0 tells them where to find the baby. And then the heavens open and a\u00a0 multitude of angels appear (hundreds? thousands?) and begin to praise\u00a0 God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” Were they singing it? How\u00a0 many times did they repeat their praise? How beautiful and glorious was\u00a0 their singing?<\/p>\n
The shepherds hurry to Bethlehem to see for themselves. And when they\u00a0 find Mary and Joseph what do they do? They tell everyone they can what\u00a0 they have seen and heard. The silent night was silent no longer. Angels\u00a0 singing. Shepherds witnessing. The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I imagine\u00a0 the stable was never again quite so quiet. People must have come to see\u00a0 this baby announced by angels.<\/p>\n
When the shepherds finally leave to return to their flocks they did not\u00a0 go quietly. We are told they returned praising and glorifying God for\u00a0 all that they had seen and heard.<\/p>\n
God often works in quiet and even silent ways. But it’s ironic and even\u00a0 tragic that, at Christmas, the gospel is an almost silent witness to\u00a0 what God has done. The sounds of this world urging us to spend and to\u00a0 buy and to party often drown out the voice of God.<\/p>\n
And our voices are often silent when it comes to matters of faith. We\u00a0 are afraid to be a witness for the gospel. We are reluctant to talk to\u00a0 others about God. We don’t want to be seen as someone who is trying to\u00a0 convert people to our faith. But we can never convert anyone – only God\u00a0 can do that. Our calling is simply to be a witness to what God has done\u00a0 and is doing in this world.<\/p>\n
Some approach this task as a great burden. But when you witness\u00a0 something wonderful it is never a burden to tell others about it –\u00a0 telling others is the most natural thing in the world. When your child\u00a0 was born it wasn’t a burden to call friends and family with the news – it was something you couldn’t wait to do and in telling others it\u00a0 added to your joy. When we see God doing something wonderful or\u00a0 miraculous, we will want more than anything else to tell everyone we\u00a0 know about it.<\/p>\n
A witness just tells what they have seen and heard. So to be a witness\u00a0 at home, school, work or out in the world means nothing more than to\u00a0 speak about what you have heard and seen God doing.<\/p>\n
So if you are having a hard time getting excited about telling others\u00a0 about Jesus, maybe you need to do something to see for yourself what God\u00a0 has done (like the shepherds did). Spend more time listening for what\u00a0 God is doing and watching for the quiet but miraculous ways that God\u00a0 enters this world to save it and bless it. And when you see and hear for\u00a0 yourself what God is doing, the most natural thing in the world will be\u00a0 to tell someone about it.<\/p>\n
May your Christmas be more than silent this year.<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

W. HARTFORD, CT (December 24, 2004)\u00a0 – Editor’s note: In preparation for the\u00a0 Christmas observance, Covenant Communications is sharing seven\u00a0 devotionals that originally appeared in local church newsletters and are\u00a0 being published here by permission. The following comes from pastor\u00a0 Thomas VanDerMeid of Covenant Congregational Church. By Thomas VanDerMeid Report This Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSilent Night: Let's Not Make It Too 'Silent' - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2004\/12\/24\/4017\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silent Night: Let's Not Make It Too 'Silent' - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"W. 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