There are many things we will not be able to do this holiday season. There will be places we won’t be able to go and people we will not be able to see, and many traditions will have to be set aside or changed, but there is one thing that will remain, well maybe two. Certainly Jesus remains, and He is the reason for the season, but what also remains is the music. While Christmas concerts will either be cancelled or go online, the music of the season will be sung and heard and it will still have the power to fill our hearts, our lives, and our world with joy.
With that in mind, we developed an Advent devotional based on some of the most loved Christmas carols we sing, and it is not too late to sign up to get it sent to your email every day during advent. Each Sunday we are also going to hear or sing a carol and not only learn from it’s message but also the story behind it. It is our hope that these carols will not only bring us some comfort, but also fill us with the hope, peace, and joy that we so desperately need. Today we are going to focus on the amazing story and message of O Holy Night.
It was in the mid 1800’s when a parish priest in France asked a well-known poet to write a poem based on the Nativity story found in Luke 2. The poet, Placide Cappeau De Roquemaure, was not a follower of Jesus, in fact, he was the commissioner of wines for his region, and was known to be a bit of a rebel. While his life might not have reflected the life of Jesus, he was an amazing poet, and he agreed to work on the poem. When Placide was done, he thought the poem was so good that it needed to be put to music so he gave the poem to a composer to work on a song. Now the composer was Jewish so he also did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but he wrote the music, and when the priest and the people in his parish heard O Holy Night, it was an instant classic. They loved it and it became wildly successful.
If we were to stop here, the history of O Holy Night would be inspiring because it tells us that Jesus came not for a few but for everyone. While there is no information that either the poet or the composer ever became a follower of Jesus, they were inspired by the story of Christ’s birth to create a song that has touched countless lives for more than 200 years. God can work in and through all things - which we need to remember right now. God can work in and through pandemics, limitations, frustrations and fears. God is still at work! But the poet and composer of O Holy Night also reminds us that the gift of Jesus is truly for everyone. God so loved the world that he sent his only son on that Holy Night.
Now let’s jump ahead to 1906 and O Holy Night enters into the record books because it was on Christmas Eve that year that Reginald Fessenden hooked up a microphone to his AM radio and for the first time words and music were broadcast over the air. Up until that point, all that was sent over radio waves were pulses and codes, that people would decipher, but that night, as people were getting those messages, they heard a voice and this is what Reginald read:
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
After he finished reading the story, Reginald picked up his violin and played O Holy Night. It was the first music to be played over the air waves. It was the first song ever to be played on the radio. With all these firsts, maybe it’s a good song for us to focus on this first Sunday of Advent. Each Sunday we will focus on just a line or two from a carol and the phrase from O Holy Night that is timely and powerful for us to consider is this.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Did two words jump out when you heard that? Two words that perfectly describe our lives right now? WEARY WORLD. We are living in a world that is weary. Our lives are weary. We are weary of coronavirus and the limitations, fear, and sickness that it brings. We are weary of not being able to be with family and friends and even go into work. We are weary of politics and the divide we see in our nation. We are weary of economic uncertainty and financial concerns. We are weary of feeling isolated and alone. We are weary of feeling uncomfortable and wondering when any sense of normal will return. It is a weary world. It’s as if O Holy Night was written about 2020, but it wasn’t. It was written about a weary world 2020 years ago.
When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, they were weary. They were physically exhausted from the long trip that they didn’t want to make. Mary was ready to give birth and yet there was no place for them to stay. There was no room with family, no space with any friends, and not even a public inn, so they camped out in a stable or maybe even a cave. It was not comfortable, it was not normal, it was probably not even clean, but it was all this weary couple were offered. They were weary, but the city and world they lived in was also weary.
The nation of Israel was weary because they had been living for generations without hearing from God. There had been no prophets giving any words of hope for generations, and the longer they waited for the promised Messiah, the harder it was for them to believe he would come. The people of Israel were also weary of being oppressed by the Roman government and a census usually meant taxes were going to go up, so all of Israel returning to their hometowns was not necessarily good news. It was a dark and weary world when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem.
This kind of weariness was nothing new to Israel. 600 years earlier, in 586 BC, the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed and the people of Israel were led away into exile. Weary of fighting and losing, the people sat in darkness and despair, and they longed for the light of God. From the book of Lamentations we hear:
My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:20-26
In the midst of a weary and defeated world, Israel placed their hope in a new and glorious morn because God’s love and faithfulness was new every morning, so daily God could make a difference. In the midst of a weary and chaotic Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph placed their hope in a new and glorious morn because the child they carried was the Messiah and he would usher in the Kingdom of God. And today, in the midst of our weary world, Advent needs to be a season of hope that tells us that a new and glorious day is not only coming, but that this new day is possible today if we are living with Christ.
God’s love, power, and compassion are new every morning, so each day can be a new and glorious day with Jesus, and with each new day comes everything we need. When we are facing uncertainty and anxiety about the future, if we have Christ in our lives then we will have all we need. Please make sure you understand that I am not saying God will give us everything we want. We don’t always get what we want, but God will supply our needs. That is what we heard in Lamentations 3:26 - The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.
For Israel, this phrase would have reminded them how God had portioned out food for them every day they spent in the wilderness. As the people travelled from Egypt to the Promised Land, God provided them with daily bread called manna, and while the people got sick of it, God supplied what they needed. They grew to trust that every day God would portion out to them what they needed. Jesus tells us to do the same thing when he tells us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. God will supply all our needs and knowing this can bring us that thrill of hope we need. While we are weary - we are not forsaken. God knows what we need and God is working to provide for us today.
A new day with Christ also brings us hope to keep going. Lamentations 3:25 says, The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. One of the reasons we often feel so weary is because we are placing our hope and trust in the wrong things. If we are hoping that our government will heal our division, or that science will heal our bodies, or that the economy will heal our fear and anxiety, we will always end up weary. Those things cannot sustain us, they cannot lead us into a glorious new day, but Christ can. If we trust that God is with us, and that God is good to us, then we will find the faith and strength to keep going.
Hebrews 10:23 says, Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. When we are weary, we need to hold onto the hope we have in Christ. When we are weary and ready to give up thinking we have nothing left, we need to remember that God’s promises and faithfulness are new every morning. While suffering may come in the night - joy comes in the morning. If you are feeling like all hope is lost, don’t give up in the darkness, hold on until that new day comes. A new and glorious morn is coming!
A new day with Christ also brings us the help we are seeking. Lamentations says, it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. The season of Advent reminds us that into the darkness of the world 2000 years ago, the light of God arrived in Jesus, and the power of the light, the power of God’s love seen in Jesus, helped many people. One moment with Jesus often made all the difference.
One moment with Jesus raised Lazarus from 4 days in the tomb. One touch from Jesus healed a woman who had been suffering for 12 years. One word from Jesus healed a man who had been lame from birth. One day, one moment, one word, one touch from Jesus can change our weary lives. Open your heart and life in this Advent season and allow God to touch you. Hear his words of grace and allow them to forgive or restore you. Know that His love is present and that there is nothing that can separate you from the power of that love. Let the love of God give you all the help you need today.
It’s a weary world. We feel like the darkness of covid might never end, or the division of our nation will never be healed, or the despair we feel each day might never turn to joy, but one day with Jesus can change it all. Each day brings us a new opportunity to come closer to Jesus and when we do, the light of his love begins to help us experience that thrill of hope.
Into this dark and weary world the light of Christ still shines and it reminds us that yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Next Steps
O Holy Night
Read the words of O Holy Night. How does this song reflect the story of Jesus' birth in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 & 2?
“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”
● In what ways are you feeling weary?
● How is this weariness similar to what Mary and Joseph experienced on that first holy night?
Read Lamentations 3:20-26. This passage describes what a new and glorious morn with Jesus is all about.
● When have you seen Christ give you exactly what you need? What do you need today that God can provide?
● What weariness makes you want to give up? What steps can you take to let go of the fear and hold on to the hope we have in Christ?
● How can Christ alone give you the help you need?
“Fall on your knees, O hear the angels voices.”
● In what ways can you humble yourself and worship God in this Advent season?
● In what new ways can you hear God’s word and the message of the angels?
“Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace.”
● How can you reach out in love this Advent season?
● Who needs to hear about the love of Jesus and how can you share it with them?
● Love in a way that will bring peace this season.
This year’s Christmas Offering will go to our partners in mission, Sowing Seeds in Belize. You can give online all this month at bellefontefaith.com.
