You know Country and Hip Hop and New Age and Disco. New Wave and Celtic and Bebop, Flamenco.
But do you recall? The most "Island" music of all?
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae" was the b-side no one knows. And if you ever heard it, you would even say "no prose?" All of the other Beatles had a Christmas song with words. Paul chose to just play guitar, his a voice that no one heard. Then one Tuesday early morn, on the net they say. "Reggae Christmas on the blog?" "Let's keep reading, we're agog!" Then all the readers loved it though not sure about the rhyme. You're sure of simply having a wonderful Christmastime!"
Each of the Beatles had a Christmas single. Some had more success than others. (more on George and John's to come...in The Notes of Christmas Yet to Come!!!) Ringo actually had the only Christmas full-length record. (Go back to last week's blog) Paul's Christmas single, "Wonderful Christmastime". (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Wonderful Christmastime" (Paul McCartney)) actually did pretty well on the charts and becomes an earworm every year at about this time.
Very little is known about the B-side to McCartney's November 16, 1979, Christmas single. This flip-side, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae", joins the multitude of renditions of the seasonal favorite about the proboscis challenged reindeer, originally recorded by Gene Autry. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry)) Like its A-side, Paul McCartney plays all of the instruments. Unlike it's A-side, it gets very little airplay and has never been covered by anyone. That is what makes "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae" so unique. It joins that cadre of Christmas songs that wind up as filler or trivia questions during the season, but yet has a charm that is actually rather endearing. It is unique also in that its Reggae style, is not usually the jingle bell jingle associated with Christmas.
Rudolph's biggest liability became Santa's biggest asset so the story goes. After years of being labeled as peculiar, by the end of the song, Rudolph was being hailed as special. After years of scorn and shame by those around him, Rudolph rose above all the "noise" ridicule and allowed nothing to dissuade him from the task set before him. He did what he was called on to do, despite his past.
In some ways, the story of Rudolph can serve as an example to us. The believers the apostle Peter challenged in his first letter to the churches certainly seemed to be reminded of their "special" status.
Tuesday's Musical Notes began a few months ago going through the Bible and reviewing some of the great stories that are included within its covers. We started at Genesis and have made our way so far through the book of Exodus. Please take a few minutes and peruse the offerings of the last few months as we have followed the story of Jesus through the Bible. You can find these "early Bible" blogs on the left-hand side of your screen...thanks for checking them out!
This week, we flash forward in our story of the Israelites to the letters of the New Testament. (Let's face it, the Leviticus and Numbers portions of the story of the journey to the Promised Land really don't fit well with the birth narrative of Jesus, so we'll fluctuate the next couple of weeks and get back to it in January...)
Much can be said of the encouragement we can receive from the story of a reindeer with a red nose. But there is a much more important story to tell during this season. It is the story of One who is calling US to be the peculiar ones. His name is Emmanuel, God With Us,...Jesus. Peter tells us that we are going to be like Jesus in that as we call on His name, the people of the world will reject us. As we rid ourselves of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander we begin to transform our lives into lives that can be used to tell the Gospel and make disciples. (Note we are to go and tell, not judge and yell)
What is the Gospel? It is the good news that Jesus is God and came to dwell with us in the physical manifestation of a baby who was born to a virgin. He was raised as a carpenter's son, and lived a perfect life. His purpose was to be the once and for all sacrifice for the wrong things we do in this life. To fulfill this purpose, He was wrongly accused of blasphemy by the "religious" leaders of His time and was humiliated, tortured, and crucified in the most horrendous form of capital punishment ever devised. He took our place on that cross and bore the sin of every person who has ever lived. He was taken and placed in a borrowed tomb, where 3 days later He physically came back to life and was seen by many of His followers. He ascended to heaven in the sight of His disciples to fulfill His other purposes, to prepare a place for those who believe and serve as a mediator on our behalf before God. In His place, God in form of Holy Spirit came to earth and began drawing people to Himself. This is the Gospel.
But, we do have a choice to make. Will we accept this Good News and allow Holy Spirit to being transforming our lives? Will we observe this Christmas differently as a "special and peculiar" one whom God has called? The choice is up to us...
We all have a past. That past forms who we are in the present and it informs what we will do in the future as we are called to salvation and then called to works that will show that salvation and spread the Good News.
God has chosen each one of us for specific roles in telling others about Jesus. We then assist Holy Spirit in helping them, and ourselves in the process, grow as His disciples. That's right! The God who created everything has chosen you to be His emissary to the world. He has called you special and has given you everything you need to succeed in the jobs in which He has called you. Despite what may be in your past. Our biggest liability can be used by God to reach others who struggle in the same area. Our most oppressive enemy will stumble on the living rock of Jesus as we place our lives in His hands. Our biggest failure can be a tool for us to use as God transforms us out of the darkness into His marvelous light. A red nose greatly pales in comparison to marvelous light!
'Tis the season for believing and that's just what Holy Spirit is calling us to do as we are chosen by God to be his special people.
Or as the song might go...
Then one very special morn, Jesus came to say, "Just believe in what I tell, I'll prepare you very well." Then all believers went out, telling everyone who'd hear, "Jesus has come to save you, there is nothing you need fear! There is nothing you...need....fear!!!"
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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