Silent Night

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The story behind Silent Night is the story of a miracle. December 24, 1818: In the little village of Oberndorf, Austria, Father Joseph Mohr is getting the church ready for Christmas Eve services that night, when he discovers that mice have chewed through the bellows of the organ and destroyed it. In horror, he frantically runs back to his house and grabs a poem he’d written about the birth of Christ. He takes it to Franz Gruber, the local school master, who is also the church organist, and he says, “Franz, Franz, the church organ’s been destroyed! Quick – take this poem and write a tune that can be played on guitar!”

And that night, since they couldn’t do real music on the organ, Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber performed Silent Night on guitar. And lo and behold, it was a miracle! This last-minute rush job – this poor, makeshift replacement for real music – actually turned out pretty good. (Sort of like in school when you wrote a paper the night before it was due and you still got a B-).

Now, isn’t that a great story? The only problem is, we’re not really sure that’s how it happened.

Here’s what we do know: We know that Joseph Mohr, who was actually the assistant priest, took the poem to Franz Gruber on Christmas Eve day, 1818. He had actually written the poem two years earlier, in 1816.

And we know that Father Mohr asked Gruber to compose a tune that could be played on guitar. But the fact is we don’t really know why. We have no record of the organ being destroyed. It may be that Austrian folk music was becoming a thing, like in the Sound of Music. It may be that Father Mohr just liked the guitar.

We also know that that very same knight, Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber performed their new song at the Christmas Eve service. Father Mohr played the guitar and sang tenor, and Franz Gruber sang bass.

And finally we know this: Tonight, all around the world, in over 100 different languages, people are lighting candles and singing this song. And as this simple song leads people to focus on Jesus, it ushers in peace on earth, if only for a few moments.

So the real miracle behind Silent Night is not the last-minute rush job, but the power of simplicity. The words were written by an assistant priest from a small village. The music was composed by a local school teacher. And at the world premiere, on Christmas Eve 1818, there was no grand orchestra to play, and no famous celebrity to sing – there was just the priest, and the school teacher, and a guitar.

Now, fast-forward 96 years to Christmas Eve 1914. World War I is raging across Europe. It’s trench warfare – the soldiers would dig trenches on the battlefield and shoot at each other from the trenches. The ground between the trenches was called No Man’s Land – you didn’t go there unless you wanted to get shot.

Well, on Christmas Eve, the German soldiers were hunkered down in their trenches, were tired of war and they were longing for home, and they wanted at least a little bit of Christmas cheer, so they put up little tiny Christmas trees and they lit candles.

And they began to sing: Stille Nacht, Heilige Nach; Alles schlaft, Einsam Wacht. And the British soldiers on the other side of the front heard the singing. And they recognized the tune. And they joined in in English: Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, All is bright.

And the next thing you know, somebody climbed out of the trench into No Man’s Land. And then somebody else. And then somebody else.

And German and British soldiers met in the middle of the battlefield. And they shook hands. And they embraced. And they exchanged gifts – whatever they had – candy, cigarettes, alcohol – they took buttons off their uniforms and shared them with each other as souvenirs.

And then – they worked together to bury the dead: Joint services – British and German – praying together for the souls of friend and foe alike.

And then the sun came up and it was Christmas day – and they played soccer. Nobody wanted to sit out of the game, so they had like 50 men on each team. You could imagine it was a low-scoring game. The Germans won by a score of 2 to 1. (And the Brits have been trying to catch up ever since!)

The Christmas Eve truce of 1914 lasted several days until the higher ups at military headquarters found out about it and sent stern orders to the troops: “Knock off the foolishness and get back to killin’ each other!”

But here’s the thing: Even if it didn’t last, because of human sin, at least for a few days, Jesus came into that world and brought about Peace on Earth.

“Silent Night” brings about peace by calling us to focus on Jesus:

Silent Night, Holy Night

Son of God, Love’s pure light

Radiant beams from thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

We’re going to sing this tonight—and we’re going to experience peace. But there’s just one thing that bothers me. And I hope this doesn’t ruin the song for you. But friends, when Jesus was born, IT WAS NOT A SILENT NIGHT!

Think about it: How many of you have been present at the birth of a baby? Was it a quiet affair? Mom is screaming, the nurses are saying, “Push, push,” Dad is shouting encouragement and support – either that or he’s fainting in the corner.

Then the doctor comes in and the baby is born, and the baby cries and mom cries, and dad gets out the camera…

Now imagine that happening outdoors – in an animal stall: No doctors. No nurses. No fetal monitor. No epidural