December 25: Calypso Carol

Christmas Day
December 25: Calypso Carol (English/Caribbean) - Links & Lyrics Below

Is there a happier way to sing about the Greatest Story Ever Told than in Calypso? This song, with a rhythm that may inspire dancing, is a straight-up fun (much different from a Fum) retelling of the Christmas events, with Jesus, Mary, angels and shepherds. The usual suspects.

The added feature to this carol is in the fourth stanza, where the composer, Englishman Michael Perry, flexes his theological muscles to give us these glorious lyrics: 

    Mine are riches, from your poverty,
    from your innocence, eternity;
    mine, forgiveness by your death for me,
    child of sorrow for my joy.

Here, he makes creative use of "The Great Exchange" -- the Christian idea based on 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Jesus took on himself the punishment of our sin, and in exchange, God reckoned to our account the perfect righteousness of his Son. In this carol, we see other exchanges, with humankind as the beneficiaries.

For us, this is good news of great joy received. For God, this is what He's been trying to communicate all along. The joy of Christmas isn't something you add to your life, like some new collectible you find under the tree each year. It's what fills your heart when you open your eyes to see the Lord of love again, and again.

Merry Christmas!

Pastor James Gomez
Prince of Peace Lutheran - Sturgeon Bay 


Link to Spotify Playlist

Link to YouTube Playlist

See him lying on a bed of straw:
a draughty stable with an open door;
Mary cradling the babe she bore
the prince of glory is his name.

   O now carry me to Bethlehem
   to see the Lord of love again:
   just as poor as was the stable then,
   the prince of glory when he came.

Star of silver, sweep across the skies,
show where Jesus in the manger lies;
shepherds, swiftly from your stupor rise
to see the saviour of the world!
   O now carry me...

Angels, sing again the song you sang,
bring God's glory to the heart of man;
Sing that Bethl'em's little baby can
be salvation to the soul.
   O now carry me...

Mine are riches, from your poverty,
from your innocence, eternity;
mine, forgiveness by your death for me,
child of sorrow for my joy.
   O now carry me...

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