O Come All Ye Faithful
Carols of the Christ • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
This favorite Christmas hymn appears to be the result of a collaboration of several people. What we sing is a 19th-century version of a hymn written in the 18th century.
The Latin text comes from the Roman Catholic tradition, found in an 18th-century manuscript in the College at Douai. The college was located in northern France beginning around 1561 and continuing until it was suppressed in 1793. The college was exiled to England at the time of the French Revolution (1789-99).
One possibility is that John Francis Wade (c.1711-1786) was an English musician at the college. Methodist hymnologist Fred Gealy notes: “Seven manuscripts containing the Latin hymn are known; they are dated 1743-61. All appear to have been written, signed, and dated by John Francis Wade, an Englishman who made his living by copying and selling plainchant and other music.”
1 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!
Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
3 Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation;
sing, all ye citizens of heav'n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest![Refrain]
Luke 2:8–20 (ESV)
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Why did Luke choose to include this narrative? Other than to serve as a basis for a loved Christmas carol and to provide non-speaking roles for your child in the Christmas pageant?
There is a reason Luke chose to include it. There is something he wanted to communicate to us about Jesus and his character.
This story tells us something about Jesus (and ultimately about how we should live) by telling a story that focuses on two things: a message and it’s messengers.
The Message
The Message
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The message is GOOD NEWS
The message is GOOD NEWS
the angel gave them the GOOD NEWS (ευαγγελιον). Lit., εὐαγγελίζομαι - the angel is ‘gospelling’ the shepherds.
Gospel - Jesus in my place
The message brings GREAT JOY
The message brings GREAT JOY
The shepherds reaction to God breaking in was great fear (rightly so). The angel came to replace the great fear (FOMO) with great joy. Same word — mega
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
v11 is the gospel — for you (all) is a KING, SAVIOR, LIBERATOR/RESTORER, GOD.
The result of the gospel applied is JOY.
Why? Because if Jesus is:
KING — There is nothing out of his control
SAVIOR — You are not too far for him to reach
LIBERATOR — there is nothing that can stop your from accomplishing all that God has for you in Christ — no addiction, no past hurts, no future hurdles.
GOD — ‘nuff said — God is here, with you
The message is for ALL PEOPLE
The message is for ALL PEOPLE
You’re part of the all people
The Messengers
The Messengers
Angels
Angels
“an angel”
Literally means “messenger.”
Their whole job was to do the tasks for which God sends them and to deliver God’s messages.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
“multitude”
Greek for a whole heck of a lot
ILLUST - reminds me of when you see big fireworks - little light then FLASH!
Shepherds
Shepherds
While angels would have been an appropriate messenger to announce a new king’s birth, especially the King who is also the Lord, shepherds would have been perhaps the least appropriate.
This would have been the shock to those in the First Century.
Shepherds:
Bible talks a lot about shepherds and typically what comes to our mind is a handsome young lad with a fluffy white lamb on his shoulders.
Shepherds were generally considered by the religious to be dishonest and unclean according to the standards of the Law.
More than just spiritually, the shepherds were unclean — they likely smelled like sheep and . . sheep stuff.
Besides being outcasts socially, they were cast out physically — we find them in a field this night — doing the ordinary, the usual thing that shepherds do.
Some scholars suggest these shepherds (given their proximity to Jerusalem) may have been raising flocks for temple sacrifices.
(What irony - or divine plan - that the ones who may have been watching over lambs to be sacrifices were told to go see THE LAMB who will be the final sacrifice for sin!)
Shepherds were the unseen, and God chose to make himself known to them.
Throughout the Bible, we see a God who sees the unseen.
“It’s very easy to pay attention to angels, right? (It’s New York, so at least three or four of you have seen angels. New York is very diverse, and there’s a little bit of everything in New York.) When an angel comes and speaks to you, there’s no problem paying attention. There’s no problem understanding. There’s no problem listening and hearing. But even though the shepherds got an angel, everybody else just gets a shepherd.
Shepherds, as many of you know from coming to Christmas services, were not scholars. They weren’t magistrates. They weren’t even soldiers. They were just ordinary people. They’re the ones who come and give us the word. What does this remind me of? I’ll tell you what it reminds me of. In the Bible, we see the authors of the Bible.”
— Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2012-2013 (New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
The power was not found in the messengers, it was found in the message.
God sees EVERYONE as worth giving the gospel, and expects ANYONE is capable to responding to the gospel faithfully.
Can you imagine the conversation as the shepherds walked back out to the fields after visiting with Jesus:
Why do you think the angel told US?
You could be an angel or a shepherd - God is only concerned with your faithfulness.
Faithfulness is the key for the message and the character of the messengers.
The Faithfulness of the Messengers to The Message
The Faithfulness of the Messengers to The Message
How to be faithful to the message and with the message (as messengers):
Listen to God’s message well. (10)
Listen to God’s message well. (10)
What has God been saying to you? What is God saying to you?
ILLUST - difference between hearing and listening. children who ‘Hear’ you but do not obey. They hear just fine, but they accomplish nothing.
What would it take for you to hear God?
What are 10 things this passage says about God / Jesus:
God is powerful.
God deserves all glory.
God is omniscient.
God speaks to people
God wants people to know about Jesus.
God wants us to have joy with him, not fear him.
God is humble.
God uses unlikely people.
God wants to save people.
God trusts imperfect people with his perfect message.
Respond to God’s message faithfully. (15)
Respond to God’s message faithfully. (15)
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
The shepherds weren’t required to respond.
How different would the story be if the shepherds had said, “Cool light show!”, and went back to poking sheep!
Without responding to the good news, the shepherds would never have been able to experience joy.
Share God’s message regularly. (17)
Share God’s message regularly. (17)
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
“And all who heard it wondered”
Who were the ALL? It was certainly more than only Mary and Joseph
Wondered - surprised, in awe
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Be a messenger wherever God has you.
Their day job was probably not very impressed with what had happened.
They still had to get up early, feed the sheep, sleep in the field, but they were different. They were now doing the same things as the angels - glorifying and praising God.
“heard and seen. . . as it had been told them.”
They had experienced the message - the gospel.
Look at the percentage of those who received the message through the flash of the angels in comparison to those who received it from stinky shepherds
If you were a shepherd, where might you describe yourself today?
— You feel like you are in the dark routine of your life and God is silent
— Bible is God’s message
— Reality is, if not before, you’ve heard today - God still speaks - he has spoken through His Word - how will you respond to this glorious message?
— How faithful have you been to the message God has given you?
— What’s your next step?
“O Come, All You Unfaithful”
O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone
O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
O come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect love
O come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
He's the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe
He's the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe
So come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has done
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you