AS WE MOVE iNTO THE ADVENT SEASON EACH YEAR, it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that most of us have during this month. As we talk about during Advent Conspiracy, in this season of cultural consumption, it takes a conscious effort to focus less on the stuff and more on Jesus and our loved ones. The time we choose to spend with those we love has far longer lasting dividends than the latest toy set or tie or box of fruitcake ever could. With that in mind, we want to offer this collection of Advent devotionals, based on lessons we can learn from some very well known (and some less known) Christmas songs. We hope these devotionals will bring focus to your preparation for Christmas and offer a way to spend time focusing on God with those you love. 1. The Little Drummer Boy Jon Mueller // Operations The Little Drummer Boy has always been one of my favorite Christmas carols. My extended family has a tradition of gathering on Christmas Day to read a devotional and sing Christmas carols. Inevitably we sing The Little Drummer Boy; it’s one of our favorites. The carol begins with the boy joining the Magi, or Wise Men, as they honor the newborn King. The boy realizes he has no gift fit for the King and in the end, he offers himself, playing the drum. One of the reasons I like the carol is that I too have nothing I can give the King in exchange for His grace. What I can try to do, though, is give Him myself and be obedient to Him. Q: As you prepare for the King, are you playing your “drum” your best for Him? 2. Jingle Bells Fredric Gluck // IT Sorry folks. Nothing about Christ in Jingle Bells. Not even a remote hint of Christmas in this one. Nope. It’s all about having fun on a sleigh ride in the middle of winter on a snowy night with a date. The fact that we think a song originally written for Thanksgiving has anything to do with Christmas probably says a lot about how we look everywhere we can to fill those empty personal holes that pop open this time of year. We’re not celebrating Sleigh-mas, Jingle-mas, Snow-mas or Bell-mas. We’re celebrating Christmas for HIS sake. Let’s never forget that and work to fill our hearts with Christ in this season. Q: This Christmas, what are we really celebrating and filling our “holes” with? 3. Silent Night Laura Bruess // Operations Our lives hustle and bustle; whether it’s work, school, appointments, to-do lists or even our smart phones, there are many things that make the rhythm of our lives more prone to activity and noise than to rest and silence. The song Silent Night, on the other hand, sets a quiet and calm scene in which the sole activity is focusing on the newborn Savior. There are no distractions, no expectations that those present get back to their to-do lists. There is just a complete presence with Christ. And while the song doesn’t tell us definitively, I think it’s a safe guess to say that the people present didn’t regret this time and weren’t disappointed about the things on their to-do lists they didn’t get to. Though our lives need attention and there are many good things we can spend our time on, everything ultimately pales in comparison to spending time focusing on God. There is simply no substitute for taking time to pause, step away from the distractions and take in the radiance of God and the gift of His redeeming grace. Q: How can we adjust the rhythms of our lives to allow for more intentional time focusing on God? 4. WhAt Child is This? Jimmy Bero // Student Ministries In the first four books of the New Testament, the authors share 183 encounters where people ask Jesus a question, to which Jesus offers a nice, direct answer only four times. The other 179 conversations involve stories, parables, metaphors or roundabout responses that challenge the question-asker to search their heart for what they really believe. It’s not that Jesus didn’t know the answers (obviously He did). Jesus seems to be putting a value on our questions, and our search for answers, rather than the answer itself. And that search starts with Jesus. The song What Child is This? is a reminder to us to continually ask this same question as we develop a deeper, stronger, more profound view of who Jesus is, and how he calls us to live in relationship with him. Q: How are we growing in our knowledge of Jesus during this season? 5. Deck the HAlls Amanda Waller // Operations There is nothing I love more than decking the halls for Christmas. The garland, the candles, the sparkle and of course, the tree! For me, the season can easily become more about what Christmas looks like on the outside, instead of how Christ is using the Advent season to change me on the inside. This is a constant struggle I face - not just at Christmas. I get so fixated on the outward appearance, the things I am doing, that I neglect taking time to reflect on how Christ is working in my life. I’ve learned that I often perform behavior modification (outside), instead of what Christ really desires for me, heart transformation (inside).This is especially true when I am experiencing a hard time in my relationship with God. God desperately wants us to know Him in a deeply rooted relationship more than he wants us to keep up a “good Christian” appearance. Without heart change, there is no life change. In all reality, God doesn’t care about how my actions look from the outside, the “boughs of holly”. He cares about my heart being in a daily communal and committed relationship with Him. “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Q: In what ways are you performing behavior modification instead of allowing God to perform heart transformation in you this Advent season? 6. ChristmAs Unicorn by SufjAn Stevens* Paul Berkbigler // Worship Arts It’s surprising that Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas Unicorn exists in the first place. It’s a rare carol that pits the heart of the Christmas story against the modern festival that Christmas has become. “Oh, I’m a Christian holiday, I’m a symbol of original sin. I’ve a pagan tree, and a magical wreath, and bow-tie on my chin.” The song pairs the image of a unicorn with the celebration of Christmas, borrowing something impossibly rare to revisit the deep mystery of the Christ child, in a manger, surrounded by a huddle of humanity. The carol highlights how mutated our cultural version Christmas is, peeling away traditions to see the hybrid central to Christmas: God & man, made one, in Christ. Christmas Unicorn crescendos by observing the mark Christ left on humankind. Such a sublime way to close and open another year. “For you’re a Christmas Unicorn, I have seen you on the beat. You may dress in the human uniform, child... But I know you’re just like me.” Q: What steps can you take this season to remember the unique mark that Christ has left on your life? *See lyrics in the appendix at the end of the devotional 7. Angels We HAve HeArd On High Travis Agnew // Worship Arts The title of this song hits me with the power of “hearing”. What do we hear amidst the frenzied noise of our days? We are constantly surrounded by sounds and voices, but what have we really heard? What is it that we want to hear and what will we choose to celebrate? This song gives us a little glimpse into the wild worship of the almighty God of heaven breaking into earth. Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”(NLT) Oh, that we would position ourselves to hear from God daily and that our faith and desire for God would spill over with shouts of celebration so that many others would hear the good news. We have the amazing opportunity to join in heaven’s unending song: “Gloria, in excelsis Deo” - glory to God in the highest.”(Luke 2:13-14) Q: Have you heard from God recently? What has He been speaking to you? 8. We Three Kings Larissa Anderson // Communications Have you ever travelled somewhere to do or see something special: a football game at Lambeau Field, a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Mona Lisa at the Louvre? Most of us have things in our lives that we go to great lengths to experience…sometimes it’s hard work to get there, but in the end, it’s worth it. The story told in We Three Kings is a biblical version of something like that. The kings travelled from afar seeking only to lay gifts at the feet of a baby who would be their Savior. During this season, when we often have a more acute focus on the event of Jesus’ birth, it’s a great time to remember how lucky we are to have such easy access to our Savior. We don’t need to travel thousands of miles to be in His presence. This simple reminder from Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find” should be our guide.