But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
STORY
The origin of this well-known Christmas carol O Come, All Ye Faithful remains a mystery. The earliest known manuscript of the hymn was discovered in1740, at the University of Douai College, located in northern France, by John Francis Wade. The archivist, a calligrapher as well as a skilled musician, used these talents to translate the hymn from Latin into English, making copies of the hymn and distributing the sheet music across Europe. The tune name Adeste Fideles came from the first words of the hymn in Latin, meaning “Be near, ye faithful.”
The hymn has a significant theological confession as well as a meaningful invitation to participate in the birth event of our Savior.
Stanza 1: The first stanza is an invitation of the faithful to come to Bethlehem places, the singer both among the shepherds who rushed to see the Christ child, and in the long procession of the “faithful” that have journeyed to Bethlehem in their hearts for over 2,000 years.
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!
Stanza 2: Of particular note is hymn draws heavily upon the Nicene Creed proclamation: “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.” Reflecting this theological truth, the second stanza proclaims:
True God, of true God,
Light from Light Eternal,
lo, he shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father,
begotten, not created.
Thus, singing stanza two establishes a link to the church that reaches back to 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicaea, where the Creed originates.
Stanza 3: In the third stanza the “faithful” join their voices with the angels singing, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.”
O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
Stanza 4: Stanza four invites us to model our response on that of the shepherds.
All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing
Refrain: The refrain then becomes a cosmic chorus uniting heaven and earth.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
DEVOTION
Years after the Bethlehem event, the leaders of the first century church went to the manger, sometimes actually, always spiritually, and saw the Son of God. They then felt duty bound, as the shepherds did, to share this good news with everyone.
The leaders of the first century church believed in immediate return of Christ. They held so strongly to this belief that they expected to see, in their lifetime, the return of Christ on the clouds of heaven. This is certainly the belief that was held by Paul, and it influenced much of his teaching.
For instance, a letter from Paul arrived at the church in Corinth with these words, “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” We need to understand that Paul was not opposed to marriage, he just thought that it was unnecessary with the immediate return of Christ. He just felt that the time devoted to a spouse would be better spent serving the evangelical mission of the church.
With the immediate return of Christ on the horizon, Paul calls the faithful to remain spiritually disciplined until Christ is seen on the clouds of heaven. Paul then offers advice on how to remain spiritually disciplined and pure in heart while awaiting for the return of Christ.
In our devotional reading for this morning, Paul lists what a disciplined Chastain must do to remain spiritually strong while waiting for the Parousia, the Day of Judgement. We are not expected to go to the extreme of celibacy, which is an acceptable path for those who choose it, but we must heed the instructions provided by the Apostle. A Christian should be one that is always giving thanks, even in the harshest situations. A Christian must be receptive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A Christian must be attentive to the prophets. A Christian must be respectful and obedient to their leaders. A Christian must have the spiritual strength and discipline to “hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
Being spiritual does not come naturally, as it must be nurtured. It requires that we are focused on being spiritual. It requires self-examination, questioning ourselves if we are living examples of Jesus. In a secular world it is so easy to live by the flesh, so we must constantly avoid places and people who will tempt us. It means we forsake Satan, and to always be on guard protecting ourselves from Satan’s deceitful ways. It means we no longer walk in darkness; it means we don’t even have the inclination to walk in darkness. We only desire to be individuals whose sole task is to walk in the light. Paul calls us to always have the mindset of worship, or as a stanza from our hymn reads, “O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”
Molly Tucker is the pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. She is a 2016 graduate of Duke Seminary, and is married to a United Methodist clergyman who also has a ministry in Louisville. She wrote devotion, that for me was personally inspiring, published in Reflections for Saturday, April 6, of this year.
Molly opened her devotion with this question, “How can we be sure that we know God?” After penning some thoughts, she answered her own question by quoting from First John: but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked. She summarized, it is only by obeying God that we will know that we love God.
Then the Baptist pastor shared that to love God “we intentionally move our center away hatred, moving out of the darkness that permanently keeps us from seeing the truth.” To do so, we must live a life that is “honest” and “transparent.” Doing so, as she concluded, “Opening our mind and heart to see where we can grow, what we can change, where we may be wrong, or, where we have misjudged others is the key.”
hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil