This year I’ve been pondering his 2007 offering. Steve had been preaching a series on the hymns of Charles Wesley. On the Sunday before Christmas he examined the theology woven throughout Wesley’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
Then he closed with this:
The Baby in the Hay
A Christmas Poem On the Occasion of Charles Wesley’s 300th Birthday
December 23, 2007
We “Hark the herald angels sing”
To mark the virgin birth
They went between the go-between
And those at war on earth
They did their work with gentle joy
In terror-striking light
To bring the news of regal birth
And calm the shepherd’s fright
What makes this birth unique, you ask,
It happens every day.
Why all the regal drama for
A baby in the hay?
But this uncommon child was born
According to a plan
This sovereign, holy, silent night
When God became a man.
The baby had a job to do
He came to mediate
Between a God of free, full love
And man filled up with hate
There was no peace between the two
Their sin defied his rule.
He owed them nothing but his wrath.
They played the perfect fool.
But fools and rebels this God loves
It makes no earthly sense.
That he, the one who’d been defied,
Could look through this offense.
Yet how to overlook such sin,
And still be holy God?
He cannot leave this crime ignored,
Or spare his awful rod.
No, someone has to pay for this,
There is no other way.
So love and justice meet right here,
The baby in the hay.
He represented God to us,
The verdict clearly spoken.
Every law he handed down,
A statute clearly broken.
He represented us to God,
Turned in a guilty plea.
Made no attempt to hide our guilt,
And died upon a tree.
And we observe a great exchange
What we deserve, he got.
The punishment for grievous sin,
In keeping with the plot.
For God ordained before this night,
Before he made the earth,
Before he fashioned sun and moon,
That there would be this birth.
But that’s not all the holy work,
This baby would transact.
We even got what he deserved,
It stands as legal fact.
The merit of this perfect child,
That credits our account,
Exceeds what we could ever hope,
An infinite amount.
But this good news could never be,
If Godhead “veiled in flesh”,
Had not been born in Bethlehem,
In fragile skin so fresh.
God wrapped this gift in baby skin
And gave it to the world.
So we could cruelly rip it off
Amidst the insults hurled.
He was not forced by puny men,
To die this awful death.
He offered up his life to God,
For us, his final breath.
Just as he chose to freely come,
To open up the way,
Now “Hail th’Incarnate Deity”
The Baby in the hay.
And take this “herald angels” song,
And tell as you’ve been told,
That “God and sinners reconciled”,
Is not for days of old.
It is for now and for this time,
And for this very day.
Peace can come because of One,
The Baby in the hay.
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6
(Shared with permission.)
You can listen to (or download) any of Steve’s sermons here, or subscribe to the First Bible Church podcast on iTunes. I got a sneak preview of this year’s poem—amazing, as always.
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