Hark!
In the age of cell phones, it can sometimes be hard to give people our undivided attention. Here’s a church office scenario you may be able to relate to:
Pastor 1: We need to get the Advent Newsletter out in time for people to have it by November 29th. So, what date do you think makes sense to have it in the mail?
Pastor 2: [*Distracted from looking at phone while Pastor 1 was talking] I’m sorry, what?
Pastor 1: I need you to focus on this… [repeats himself]
Attentiveness is a dying art. But lacking focus isn’t only a modern problem. On and off for millennia, God’s people have gotten distracted from God’s will and God’s way. But God is patient and kind. So God developed a solution to the people’s attention problem: send a messenger ahead of time to prepare the people to hear God’s word.
“Hark!” It’s a word we hear a lot this time of year, but probably not one you find yourself using on a daily basis. The word “Hark!” is an old English term meaning “to pay close attention,” and it’s often said as a command. Put in modern terms, it translates something like: “Hey, listen up, y’all… I’m ‘bout to say something important!” Often preceding a direct message from God, this call to attention prepares hearts and minds to receive divine news. Throughout scripture, this command for God’s people to focus their attention takes different forms.
In the Old Testament, God uses prophets like Elijah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Isaiah to deliver messages to God’s people. These announcements often begin with the charge, “Hear, O Israel” (e.g. Deuteronomy 6:4-5). In the New Testament, the angels are the ones who deliver the good news of Jesus’ birth to Zechariah and Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, and “Hark” is the angels’ pronouncement of choice (Luke 2:10-14).
These divine messengers—prophets and angels—play an important role in sharing the good news of God’s love with God’s people through the ages. To use another Christmas term you don’t hear every day, these prophets and angels are “heralds.” So what’s a herald? A herald is an official messenger… someone who precedes or foreshadows an important event. In other words, heralds hark. It’s what they do. They announce and proclaim news. Again, put in modern terms, heralds are like the opening act of a concert whose job it is to hype the crowd and focus their attention prior to the main event. It’s what follows the herald’s call to focus (“Hear, O Israel” // “Hark”) that changes people’s lives forever.
Like the sun heralds the dawn, the angels herald the good news of Jesus’ birth, announcing to a world in darkness that Light has come! But the angels aren’t the only ones who get to share such good news; you and I are heralds too! Our part in the Christmas story is to herald the coming joy… to watch and wait, and then announce the good news of the Messiah’s birth! Pay close attention to how God is moving this season. Then go herald the good news!
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere!
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!
