Christmas in Carols: O Holy Night!

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah). And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find a Baby wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.”” (Luke 2:10-12, AMP)

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17, AMP)

When the radio crackled out its first broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1906, listeners tuned in to the voice of Reginald Fessenden reading Luke 2– the birth of Christ– before he picked up his violin and played “O Holy Night.” Yes, that’s right. The first song played on the radio, after years of exclusively morse code, was a hymn depicting the birth of Jesus.

The song was written in French  as a poem originally by Placide Cappeau in 1843 and set to music by Adolphe Charles Adams for a Christmas Eve mass in 1847. Although the church accepted and loved the hymn at first, it was eventually banned after leadership found out that Adolphe was Jewish and Placide walked away from his faith. Eventually, about a decade later, the hymn would fall into the hands of an American minister, John Sullivan Dwight, who would change some of the lyrics to be the ones we know today.

What I find to be interesting in both the lyrics and creation of this Christmas hymn is that it truly depicts the world that Jesus came to save. The first verse zooms in on the setting of Christ’s birth– “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ‘til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.” But the final verse focuses on the Gospel, and what that teaches us.

“Truly, He taught us to love one another / His law is love and His gospel is peace / Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother / and in His name all oppression shall cease.” (O Holy Night, verse 3)

I understand, these lyrics aren’t exact to the original and that creative liberties were taken after its original composition. However, the irony still stands that the original author, although He became an atheist, understood one of the greater points of the Gospel that seemed to escape the church leadership that later banned the hymn. That point being that it is for ALL people. After all, the angels told of a great news for ALL people. John would write in his account of the Gospel that God so loved the WORLD. 

Jesus came not to exclude any one group of people. He didn’t come to favor the religious and shun the poor, the uneducated, or the gentile. And yet, the church turned its back on a hymn they originally embraced for what? Because it was written by a man that lost His faith? Because it was put to music by a Jew? Because the church worried how that might look on them?

Friends, we have to be diligent in remembering that we are not always the righteous little Christians we want to believe we are. We ALL fall short. We ALL need Jesus. The moment we forget this is the moment we lose our purity of heart to rightly see the Savior. Our responsibility to share the Gospel isn’t so we’re permitted to pull the rug out from under others and then shame them for struggling with their flesh. Just because we know God doesn’t mean that we can then deem who is and is not worthy of grace. 

First, we should remember that every one of us needed that baby that laid in a manger that night in Bethlehem. There is no one that is exempt from that. Every single one of us need the blood He shed on the cross to cleanse us from our sin. There is no other way to reconcile with the Lord. Each of us are a part of the creation that waited for the coming Christ and felt a thrill of hope at His arrival. 

The next thing we should remember is that God’s love is not reserved for one select group of people. His love is for the whole world, and so when He sent his Son, Jesus, He sent Him for the world. Not just the Jews, not just the Catholics, not for black or white, not for rich or poor; Jesus came in the flesh for all people and all nations. Truly, not one of us has a right to shut someone out from the love of God because we don’t think they’re worthy. Only God Himself has the right and ability to do that. 

For us, His children saved by His grace, all that there is to do is worship Him and tell others about the Gospel. Because truly, in His love, He taught us to love one another. No longer are we slaves to sin. In His name, Jesus, the sin that kept us at arms length with the Father is conquered. 

The only right response when we understand these realities made available to us through the Son is to fall to our needs and worship. Jesus came to us as a child to save us, not condemn us. He came to bring us back to Him and give us hope, not to shame us. 

“Sweet hymns of joy, in grateful chorus raise we / Let all within us praise His holy name / Christ is the Lord, O praise His name forever / His power and glory evermore proclaim…” (O Holy Night, verse 3)

The night Christ was born, was silent and unnoticed by the world. He entered peacefully and without pomp or circumstance. Almost everyone missed it but a few shepherds and wise men. And yet, that night was triumphant and full of praise. Angels burst forth and filled the night sky singing praises unto the newborn King. Nature itself, although inanimate and without speech, welcomed the long-awaited Savior. 

Yes, it was a silent night for anyone not paying attention, but it was a holy, divine, and glorious night for those that waited for God to finally be with us. Finally, after generations of promises and prophecies, God came to be with us in the flesh. Not just you and not just me, but for ALL. Everyone– sinner and saint and anyone in between. Jesus, Emmanuel, so worthy of every praise we have to give forever and evermore.