December 24 Advent Devotion Written by Matt Gabbard

Trisha Huffman | December 24, 2015

“To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

—Luke 2:11-12

At the close of the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), the economy of the tiny town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, and the surrounding areas was depressed. The salt trade, on which this region depended for its vitality, had been declining as a result of the conflict, and the small town had been split in two after borders were re-drawn. The origin of the carol “Silent Night” has its roots in this setting. The story goes that the song’s lyricist, Josef Mohr (the assistant pastor of the small chapel there), was walking home after seeing a Christmas play in 1818. He stopped briefly at an overlook above the town, and marveled at the serene, picturesque village on that snowy night. He was said to be reminded of a poem he had written a few years earlier about the angels’ visit to the shepherds, and was inspired to set the words to music. He believed it would be a wonderful carol for his congregation to sing for Christmas. The next day, the story goes, Mohr visited Franz Xaver Gruber, the church’s organist, to ask him to compose some music for his poem. The problem was that the church’s organ was inoperable and they didn’t have enough money to repair it. Whether it was the work of hungry mice or rusty bellows, what matters is that Gruber was forced to make do with only his guitar to write the music, and that is how the carol was first performed, with only a few voices and a guitar on that Christmas Eve, 1818. It spread in popularity, and the rest is history.

Another historic event had its roots in similar depression and inventiveness. On that first “Silent Night” there was no room in the inn, and Joseph and Mary had to make do with what was available. They didn’t have a nice warm bed to relax in prior to their baby boy’s arrival. They didn't have a private room to separate them from onlookers. They used what they had, and a manger became his bed. A stable became a shelter, and on this night, the Prince of Peace came into this world in a simple, low-key way, a way that foreshadowed the radical way he lived his life. It’s how we should live our lives. And this radical life changed history.