The origin of this well-known Christmas carol O Come, All Ye Faithful remains a mystery. For several hundred years it was maintained that it was written by a cleric in the Middle Ages. The earliest known manuscript of the hymn was discovered 1740. The discovery of the manuscript is attributed to John Francis Wade. In England he was a copyist and writer of church music. At this time there was a Holy War between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. Ward, in 1745, left England and took up residence in Douay, France. Several years later he was ordained as a Catholic priest. Ward was a calligrapher by training, and a skilled musician. These talents allowed Ward make copies of the hymn and distribute 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.”
Frederick Oakley translated the hymn from Latin, which began with the familiar line “O come, all ye faithful.” The hymn was first published in 1852 in F. H. Murray’s Hymnal for Use in the English Church.
The hymn, now in the public domain, is an invitation to “come, all ye faithful,” which places the singer among the faithful shepherds who rushed to see the Christ child:
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:
The shepherds then went forth to tell others. This is reflected in the verse:
O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Years after the Bethlehem event, the leaders of the first century church went to the manger in spirit 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.
The Roman Catholic Church today still maintains the tradition of celibacy. A celebrate priest is married to the church, as such a spouse will not interfere with his pastoral work. Pope Francis also maintains that celibacy is a tradition of the church. The foundation for this tradition is that the twelve apostles were all celibate men. Francis believes that celibacy is only a tradition of the church, which prevents married men to become priests. He did note that celibacy should not be eliminated globally, but culturally. The pope did make it clear that celibacy is not a doctrine of the church, but a tradition of the church. It is a discipline that priests accept. Because of this there are cultural situations where a priest can marry.
This is especially true in cultural regions where there is a severe shortage of priests. Francis said, “There is, actually, nothing new here. The archbishop is correct in stating that clerical celibacy is not a dogma. It is a matter of discipline and — although I have yet to see a mainstream media story point this out — there are, in fact, married priests today, even in the Latin rite of the Catholic church, where most priests are required to be celibate.”
With the immediate return of Christ on the horizon, Paul calls, “O come all ye 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 waiting for the return of Christ.
In our lectionary reading, Paul lists what a disciplined Christian must do to remain spiritually strong while waiting for the parousia, which means the day of judgment. 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 Paul. The Christian should be one that is always giving thanks, even in the harshest situations. The Christian must be receptive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Christian must be attentive to the prophets. The Christian must be respectful and obedient to their leaders. The Christian must have the spiritual strength and discipline to “hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”
Being spiritual does not come naturally, but 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 we are always on guard to protect 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 want to be individuals whose sole desire 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.”
Even though this is the twenty-first-century, we cannot dismiss Satan as a real demonic power whose intention is to separate us from Christ. Paul, with a strong belief in evil spirits, was concerned that Christians remain faithful to God until the second coming.
Martin Luther is considered the father of the Protestant Reformation. This is when a significant number of Christians left Roman Catholicism, most of whom resided in Germany. Luther, as the leader of the movement, was excommunicated by Pope Leo X. After his excommunication, as ordered by the pope, Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms on April 18, 1521. Before the gathered hierarchy of the Catholic church, Luther still refused to recant. At the conclusion of the assembly Pope Leo X declared Luther an outlaw. With this declaration the pope ordered that it is a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence.
When Luther left the summit, Frederick the Wise had him kidnapped and taken to Wartburg Castle for his protection. There Luther would be safe from the Court of Inquisition and those who sought his life. While residing in the safety of the castle, Luther translated the Bible from Greek into German, the native tongue Saxony. It was now possible for the laity to read the Bible for themselves.
It was also here that Satan continually attacked Luther, trying to prevent him from completing his translation of the Bible. It is here that we have the famous story that Luther finally became so angry at Satan that he threw his inkwell at him. If you would visit the castle, even today you can see the ink stain on the castle wall.
Paul offered his ideas on how to remain spiritually alive so Christians don’t succumb to these evil spirits. We accomplish this by engaging in spiritual disciplines. We attend Sunday school, and then we go to the sanctuary to worship. We are involved in the Bible studies, small groups, and fellowship gatherings that the church offers. We also realize that we have a personal responsibility to have private devotions each day at home.
John Bunyan was a Puritan pastor, who is best known to us for his book Pilgrim’s Progress. He preached his last sermon at Mr. Gamman’s meeting-house, near Whitechapel in England, on August 19, 1688. Twelve days after preaching this sermon John Bunyan died. The text for the sermon was John 1:13. The message of the sermon is that every man and woman must examine themselves in order to know if they are born again or not. In his last sermon, Bunyan described the signs of a new birth. In the sermon, Bunyan asked his listeners, “Are you brought out of the dark dungeon of this world into Christ?” He went on to say that an individual “cannot you be quiet without you have a bellyful of the milk of God’s word?” He went on to say, “When we see a king’s son play with a beggar, this is unbecoming; so if you be the king’s children, live like the king’s children; if you be risen with Christ, set your affections on things above, and not on things below…”
As we await the parousia, let us “Be near, ye faithful.” Amen.