O Holy Night

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;

If this were the only lyrics of the Christmas carol, O Holy Night, it would still be my favorite Christmas carol. Many years ago, I learned how to play the violin in middle school. My father asked several times for me to play “O Holy Night” on the fiddle and much to my dismay I never learned to play it well. As I type this, I now realize that this is most certainly a reason why O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas carol because I believe it to be my father’s favorite as well.

Not only was it featured in the touching scene in a church between Kevin McCallister and the South Bend Shovel Slayer in the Christmas classic, “Home Alone,” but I hear it has been a favorite of many for quite some time. The music is great but the words written above nail me every time I hear this particular verse, “long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope…”

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Ever since the reach to be like God by our parents Adam and Eve, the world has felt the effect of sin which is death. Pining for hope, redemption, forgiveness, and peace has always been a very palpable need. Because we can die, time and the length of it feels very long. Make no mistake, the promise that God gave to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 was for sure to come to pass. The promised seed given to Abraham was always in play. God promised it would come to pass so we could take it to the bank on day one if we wanted. But even though all of this is most certainly true, we still feel the weight of this verse. How heavy the bad news for sinners is felt here.

'Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

Then the turn. Oh, what a glorious turn the announcement of good news is! The bad news had us feel the tug for hope and then the good news that the promised seed has appeared comes crashing in like dynamite. Why does the soul feel it’s worth at the arrival of Christ on Christmas? Because the soul now sees the promised price for its redemption is present and in the flesh. Emanuel has come! He is here! Faith held to the promised seed prior to Christ’s birth but now as Simeon says in Luke 2 the soul sings here, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people…” The same gift of faith that was given and placed in the promise before Christ came, is also the same gift of faith that is given to all of us now in Christ who promises to come again. It is God’s salvation to give and God who prepared it for you.

Why does the soul feel it’s worth at the arrival of Christ on Christmas? Because the soul now sees the promised price for its redemption is present and in the flesh.

What is the soul worth to God? God would give his only son in exchange for the whole world. Fear not little flock, your heavenly Father has not purchased you with gold or with silver but with the most valuable currency in the universe; the blood of God.

Your heavenly Father has not purchased you with gold or with silver but with the most valuable currency in the universe; the blood of God.

A thrill of hope

Just a few verses into this carol and I am already floored by the forgiveness that it points to for sinners like me. The thrill of Christ’s arrival can also be seen in the spectacle of the Heavenly Host singing and telling the Shepherds in the field to “fear not.” This also points to very good news, for the Law will never say “fear not” to sinners…only Good News for sinners can say such a thing to sinners. The same God that delivered on the promised coming of Christmas and Easter is the same God who promises that one day Jesus Christ will return and all of the sad things will come untrue. A thrill of hope is courtesy of Christ and specifically for this reason: Christ was crucified on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and raised for your justification. You are forgiven. For Christ’s sake this is most certainly true.