O Come, All Ye Faithful

"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:9-11)

This week, we're going to look at the centuries-old Christmas classic, O Come, All Ye Faithful. Tradition dates this hymn back to 1743, possibly at the writing hands of John Francis Wade, although that's not 100% certain. The original lyrics were penned in Latin and over the late 1700s through the 1800s, a couple of different people translated the hymn to the English language, among some 40 other languages. This hymn places us all with the shepherds and all who made the journey to Bethlehem to behold the newborn King. 

The first stanza is the most well-known. It serves as, quite possibly, the greatest Call To Worship ever set to music. While we often reference the Psalms for that element of our liturgy, Luke chapter 2, the inspiration for these words, is really what the Psalms point to. 

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, 

O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. 

Come and behold him, born the King of angels; 

Refrain:

O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, 

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

 

In the refrain, the author beckons us to come and adore Christ the Lord. Webster's Dictionary gives a couple of applicable definitions to the word adore. Firstly, "to worship or honor as deity or as divine" and secondly, "to regard with loving admiration and devotion." We often apply the second definition to our love for our spouses, but it is equally applicable to our love for Christ. 

 

The second stanza is largely left out of all modern versions of the hymn. Sadly, it is hard to sing. But it's incredibly powerful. It's a paraphrase of the Nicene Creed. This little-known, overlooked, and often excluded verse ties us and this hymn back to the year 325 A.D. 

 

“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.” 

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal, 

lo, he shuns not the Virgin's womb; 

Son of the Father, begotten not created; 

(Refrain)

 

As we continue to move through the hymn, we come to the third stanza. Sing! We've been called to worship, instructed how to worship, shown who we're worshipping, and now we're reminded of what the Angels did on that glorious night. They sang! They sang praise like they'd never sung praise before! Oh, to have been there that night!

 

I've written about this before, but hosts of angels singing is not a quiet event. The scriptures tell us there were millions of angels singing. In verse 9, Luke writes, "They were filled with great fear." The shepherds had never experienced anything like this before. The night sky they were so familiar with suddenly rips wide open, and millions of singing angels with the Glory of the Lord all around them pierce the peaceful night sky! 

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; 

O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above! 

Glory to God, all glory in the highest; 

(Refrain)

 

Why the shepherds? Why did God choose to reveal himself to the shepherds sitting around telling campfire stories under the night sky? The shepherds were "a despised class by the time of Christ due to their transience and their work, which often rendered them ceremonially unclean. According to later sources, they were considered too unreliable to give testimony in the courts." (Luke 2:8 commentary by RC Sproul) Once again, God upends the social and societal norms and accepted practices to bring about his will. Don't miss this. God did not reveal his glory to the elite, well-educated, accredited, respected, well-known, or even the Pharisees themselves. He revealed Himself in the most grand and spectacular way to the forgotten, belittled, misrepresented, abused, cast-out shepherds who raised and kept the very animals the elite would use as sacrifices to atone for their sins. 

See how the shepherds, summoned to his cradle, 

leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze; 

we too will thither bend our joyful footsteps; 

(Refrain)

In these last two stanzas, we have the scene the shepherds encountered upon their arrival. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world!" 

Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger, 

we would embrace thee with love and awe. 

Who would not love thee, loving us so dearly? 

(Refrain) 

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning, 

Jesus, to thee be all glory given. 

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing: 

(Refrain)

 

As we make our final graze over the Thanksgiving leftovers, let us prepare our hearts to gaze upon the manger this season of Advent. To insert ourselves with the anticipation, awe, and wonder of the Son of God descending as a baby. A baby needing to be clothed and cared for as only a loving mother and father could provide. Born into meager circumstances, and yet announced by all heaven itself. 

One last thing. We as believers and followers of Christ know the story, how it began, how it goes, and how it ends. We live with the hope of Christ's return when there will no longer be any suffering, and all will be made right. But because of our knowledge, we can so easily miss the heart-restoring hope and grace of the love of God, through the celebration of the Birth of Christ. 

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!" (Isa 9:6)