The First Christmas
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4345
A long time ago and a long way away,
the sun settled into a holy night unlike any before or since. Out of
darkness came the glorious light of a new star; in the meekness of a
manger was born greatness that would change the world; and in the quiet
of a shepherd’s field came angelic praises of peace on earth and good
will toward men.1 It was the very first Christmas night.
Today, some two thousand years later,
the sublime simplicity of that first Christmas still stirs our hearts.
No tinsel or manufactured light could ever outshine that brilliant night
sky. No palace or mansion could compare with the majesty of that
manger. And state-of-the-art sound systems will never match the heavenly
music heard in that shepherd’s field. And yet it’s possible for us to
feel today some of what was felt on that holy night.
Because the King of Kings humbly and
willingly came into the world, the glory of His birth is still within
our reach. We don’t need to travel to the Holy Land to feel the miracle
of the first Christmas. We can see it when we look into the eyes of
children and find faith born of purity and goodness. We can experience
it when we seek more sincerely for the light of kindness and friendship,
when we share tidings of peace and good will with those around us, and
when we try a bit more earnestly to give gifts of the heart and of time.
In other words, we remember that
first Christmas by the love that was born then. Hearts were knit
together in sweet expectation. Wise men knelt before a lowly baby.
Shepherds were strangers no more. And Mary and Joseph welcomed a newborn
King who would teach the world the most transcendent truth of all: love
one another.2
1 See Luke 2:14.
2 See John 13:34–35.
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