A Childhood Memory Carol
When I was a lad growing up in Karachi, Pakistan, I heard this carol every Christmas. How it was allowed in a Muslim country, I will never know, but the Karachi American School put on a pageant which stretched across an enormous park and included wise men on camels and a star slid across the sky along an invisible metal wire.
This carol has been more popular in the USA but in recent years it has migrated across the pond and is becoming well known here. The tune is hauntingly beautiful and the words are wonderful too.
Let's take a look at the first half of verse 1.
O holy night! the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope--the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
2 Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the Wise Men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need– to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
3 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.
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 pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
The Time had Come
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
The first verse of this carol reminds us that the birth of the Lord Jesus marked a turning point in the history of the world. I know of historians who refuse to use the politcally correct BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) and continue to use BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini), the year of the Lord. The facts of the matter are that the world dates human historical time by the birth of Jesus, BC before he came, AD afterwards.
Up until the birth of Jesus the Gentile world (most of the world) lived in "sin and error pining." Even the Israelites were in the dark, for though they had far more light than the rest of the world they made little use of it and sometimes lived more godless lives that the pagan world. (It's one reason we find the prophets of the Old Testament so hard to read - sinning against the light is far more culpable than sinning without any knowledge of the truth).
So our authors (Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam) are right when they say that the world lay in darkness. One faithful believer like Abraham here, a small remnant there, but by and large most of Old Testament Israel walked in darkness. It is a most solemn lesson.
And into this dark world Jesus, the light of the world came, as Paul puts it "when the time had fully come" (Galatians 4:4)
The Soul Felt its Worth?
We cannot know exactly what our authors meant when they wrote "and the soul felt its worth." It could be that some of the meaning was lost when the carol was translate from French into English.
But we know the spiritual truth they were directing us to. Our souls are empty until they are fed with the bread of life. Our hearts are thirsty until they are quenched by the Spirit of Christ. Our consciences are defiled until washed by the blood of Jesus. All our future dreams are uncertain without the hope of life beyond the grave.
Our souls long for God and they long for eternity. They were made for more than anything this world can offer us. "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" is not just the sigh of Bono, it's the cry of every human heart. But when our hearts have been fed by the true Manna from heaven then, at last, our souls feel their worth, we come home, we realise what life is for and what life is about.
May we be courageous enough to tell others of this good news during December. This year, unlike any other recent year, they can listen to the Gospel in the comfort of their own homes without anyone else knowing. May they hear about the Lord Jesus and respond to him in living faith.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
Sing along with "O Holy Night" HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our gracious Father in heaven,
We thank you for this day and for every gift that we receive from your bountiful hand. We thank you that even in the sadness of this strange era, you are still with us, and we can count many blessings.
Thank you that the Holy Spirit lives within our hearts as our comforter and the one who makes the presence of Jesus real.
We thank you that our souls have found what they were looking for in Him the bread of life.
Help us this year to share the Good News with those who are still in darkness.
We ask these things in Jesus' Name
Amen
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