We have never gotten to sing together during my time here at the Kensington, and I’d like to change that today. I think we all know this hymn well enough to sing it together.
When I was a kid, my father LOVED to listen to Bing Crosby’s White Chirstmas. I can remember driving in the car listening to it on cassette tape or the music playing at the drug store. There was Mele Kalkikimaka, Christmas in Killarney, White Christmas, and Adested Fideles- Oh Come All Ye Faithful.
Adeste Fidelis
Laeti triumphantes
Venite, venite in Bethlehem
Natum videte regem angelorum
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus Dominum
What I love about Bing’s version is that it begins with the Latin lyrics, which is where this hymn has its beginnings. This hymn dates to the 18th century, so it is certainly not as old as last week’s hymn, but it is still fairly old. There is some debate about the origins of the hymn, “Although its exact sources and origins remain unproven, musicologists agree that the hymn was first associated with the 18th-century Catholic layman and music copyist John Francis Wade. He lived in an English Catholic community that was exiled to France after the failed Jacobite rising of 1745” (Ivry). It wasn’t until 1947 that it was firmly established that Wade was the author of both the words and the music (Studwell 4).
The hymn was printed for the first time in 1751 in a printed compilation of Wade’s manuscript copies and thus is credited to him in most modern hymnals as well (Petersen 219). It has been published in 712 different hymnals since that time, making it one of the most published Christmas hymns (“O Come, All Ye Faithful”). It was translated in 1841 by Frederick Oakley, but additional stanzas have been added and translated over time (Hawn).
The hymn is an invitation. An invitation to worship and to adore Christ. While it draws inspiration from the various gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, as well as Isaiah, and even the Nicene creed, it is, at its core, an invitation.
I think that is what draws me to this hymn- that it invites the singer to be a part of the moment. It’s not a song about the past, but rather a hymn in the moment- to celebrate the birth- right here, and right now. But also to celebrate the birth way back then, in this invitation, we are being included in the moment of Jesus' birth and every moment of his presence since then. But the invitation is very specific.
“Oh Come all ye FAITHFUL”
This is an invitation. An invitation for the faithful of God’s creation to come worship, for angels to sing, and for all to adore the newborn Jesus. And with very specific instructions on HOW the faithful are to arrive: Joyful and Triumphant. I mean, the joyful part makes sense, folks are usually joyful about the birth of a baby. But Triumphant? To be triumphant means having won a battle or contest; or to be victorious. This is an invitation to celebrate a great victory. A victory over what or whom?
Well, I suppose it depends on who you ask. Perhaps for early Christians, it would be a victory over persecution or a victory over Roman rule. For the 18th-century Christians who wrote the hymn, it would likely be in reference to Jesus' “victory” over death via the resurrection- kind of a hindsight triumph that is re-celebrated at Christmas each year. More fundamentalist belief systems might point to this as celebrating a triumph over Sin or celebrating salvation. However, if there is any triumph in the manger, I think that it is that somehow, a teenage unwed mother managed to survive a pregnancy and a scandal in order to give birth in a strange city during a major census. And that baby was a triumph of hope for so many people.
Nonetheless, the faithful are invited to come in joy and triumph to adore the baby alongside shepherds, sheep, and whoever else shows up.
But that got me thinking. Are only the faithful invited? Do you have to have faith to be invited to participate?
Well, that’s a loaded question, Becca. Yes. yes, it is. Because I believe that faith is not a requirement to experience God’s love or witness Jesus’ ministry. Because requiring “faith” as an entrance test for church, worship, or fellowship shuts a door to so many who are needy and hurting. And the more I think about it, the more I think about how this invitation needs to be open to more than just the faithful. This needs to be an invitation to all.
If the joy and triumph are about hope and possibility, isn’t that something that even the UN faithful need? What everyone needs?
In 2020, Bob Kauflin and Lisa Clow wrote a song that kind of gets at what I’m thinking here.
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
Now, while I don’t agree with all of the theology in the song (and things get a little icky later in the verses), I do agree with its original idea: even the unfaithful are invited. Those who are weak, broken, unstable, hurting, afraid; those who have struggled with their faith or their devotion; those who don’t know if they are good enough or worthy enough to worship…ALL are invited.
We’ve talked about gatekeeping before. About people who think it is their job to decide who is and isn’t worthy of God’s love. And Christmas is a time when that gatekeeping somehow gets…worse? Don’t wear the “right” clothes for a Christmas service and you might find yourself the subject of whispers. Say “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas and you aren’t a “True Christian.” Celebrate Christmas without a nativity or going to church? Well, this isn’t for you- you should remember the REAL reason for the season.
But I’ve said it before– that ain’t Jesus. As we have discussed again and again, Jesus was about inclusion. He didn’t try to keep people away from himself, away from God, or away from faith. Jesus was radical in his departure from social norms, and again and again, we have named and celebrated Jesus’ expanding definition of love and acceptance.
Jesus tells us and shows us again and again that his ministry is about love and acceptance. The celebration of his birth is no different. It is not some private event only for those who believe. It was a humble celebration in a manger, with sheep, and shepherds, and animals, and poop. Sure, the wise ones may have shown up later and brought fancy gifts, but even they came without having received an engraved invitation.
No one needs to be invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus, no one should be excluded.
Come ALL ye faithful
And you unfaithful as well
Come to celebrate a birth
And a story to tell
Come meet the child
Unexpected, unplanned
A child who revealed
God’s loving hand
Come most deserving
Come weak or strong
Come and celebrate
Come, join the song.