Listen up! Everyone knows this week’s song. It is sung robustly by small children and men with strong voices and when the congregation begins they give their best to the final note. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. It has a page in every denomination’s hymnbook that reveres Christmas carols. In the way of so many activities, I have sung it with gusto and auto pilot at the same time. Then our choir this year sang an arrangement by Dan Forrest, and I suddenly had to pay attention to the flight plan.
First off, the familiar title appears. Then for three full pages no hint in the music gives a clue to the song you are awaiting. Instead, you are sitting on the hillside with last week’s shepherds. On page 4, the call resounds: Hark! That word means stop what you are doing, straighten up and pay attention. This whole announcement is for YOU! Don’t miss it! The tone of voice is that used by a mother standing in front of her child and saying, “Look me in the eye!”
The music in 4/4 time moves quickly, so you may gloss over the import of the deliverers. Only one is chosen to give the obligatory, “Don’t be afraid!” This speaker delivers all the salient points of the message: what, where, who. We have no idea how many angels are in heaven, but instead of one, a host of angels flows past overhead, undulating in a forward moving stream over your blinking eyes. They are a multitude with a fixed purpose. They are Heralds, messengers sent by the king with a pronouncement. In case you slid over the words in verse 1, your part is repeated at the end of verse 2 and 3. Sing it out! Glory to the new-born King!
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14 KJV (Because that’s what I first learned)
Let Me Tell Ya 