"O Holy Night" (Carols and the Gospel 4 of 5)

This post is part of a five-part series on discovering the place of traditional carols in the Gospel in an effort to revitalize worship during the Christmas season. Click here for the first post. And be sure to vote for your favorite Christmas carol to the right.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new glorious morn!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angels' voices

O night divine, O night when Christ was born

O night divine, O night, O night divine

Leading the way in our Christmas poll on the right is "O Holy Night." At the time of this post, it holds about 44% of the votes for your favorite Christmas carol. Most likely every church in America will sing this song every December. It has been a favorite of the church for over a hundred years. In fact, it was the first song ever broadcast over the radio in 1906. But how much have we considered the lyrics of this traditional carol? Do they follow Scripture? Do they reinforce our knowledge of the Gospel so that we can use it to corporately worship Christ in spirit and truth? Let's check it out...

I believe there is good reason to be a little skeptical of the lyrics of "O Holy Night," and so did the churches of France. It was deemed "unfit for church services" because of its "lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion." It's interesting that we in the American church accept this song so readily and sing it without bothering to consider its lyrics. Here's why: It was written by a wine seller turned socialist radical who may have never been a Christian. It was put to music by a Jew who did not even celebrate that "O holy night." It was translated into English by a Unitarian (believed only God the Father was God; Christ was just a great prophet) Transcendentalist (believed man is naturally good) named John Sullivan Dwight. He was also an ardent abolitionist and very liberally translated the song from its original French so that he could put in it a message of abolitionism ("Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease"). The song most likely went from idea to tradition without being touched by a Christian hand along the way. This means a close examination of if and how this carol spurs on Gospel worship is even more necessary.

I love the description of the human condition in the first verse of this song. We "lay in sin and error pining." Pining paints a picture of how we as humans are longing after something. Blaise Pascal termed it the God-shaped hole of the human soul. Without Christ, we pine in error, we long after the temporary pleasures and destruction of the world. Til He appeared, the soul's Creator, the only satisfaction for the God-shaped hole, the only true purpose of our souls. When we look on Christ, "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3), our souls finally realize their true purpose for which they were created: to reflect the image of God. At the same time, when we look on Christ, we realize how far we have veered off purpose. That is why this message of Christmas, of a "divine night when Christ was born," should send a thrill of hope through our churches! We should rejoice with the thought of a new and living way opened through Christ's human body.

With that beautiful message starting this song off, it's hard to go wrong. We see in the second verse that because Christ came to earth and took on human form, He is "no stranger to our weakness," and can sympathize with us through any trial or temptation (Hebrews 4:15). And for the third verse, instead of the abolitionist version, let me encourage our "sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus" with the direct translation of the original French: "The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle, the earth is free and Heaven is open. He sees a brother where there was only a slave, love unites those that iron had chained." We have gone from chained in irons, slaves of sin, subjects of God's wrath to heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. We are free!

So this Christmas, when "O Holy Night" is sung from the lips of the people of God, I pray that you are contemplating the message that God had ordained through the lyrics of this song despite its ungodly origins. I hope you remember that Christ has fulfilled the purpose of our souls, He has satisfied our longings, He has made us whole. I hope you remember that He has passed through earth and was tempted in every way humans are, yet was without sin so that we have Him as great high priest. I hope you remember that you are free and Heaven is open! You are no longer a slave but a coheir with Christ! Praise His name forever! Proclaim his power and glory forevermore! Amen.