O Holy Night - Part II
Truly he taught us to love one another
His law is love and his gospel is peace
Every time I see a T-shirt or yard sign with the Love is Love slogan, I want to prod the person to expound beyond the bromide and prove out the next level of what they are trying to tell us. Most often, it is less a unifying call to honor others with higher regard than oneself and more a statement of activism intended to beat down dissidents.
This is the problem when our lexicon has been hijacked and the terms of communication are no longer universally agreed upon or understood.
Today’s flavoring of love is primarily expressed as a self-gratifying emotion. Jesus’ standard for love is self-emptying. Today’s brand of love is mostly reserved for those with whom we agree. But for those who disagree, watch out — the Hate is Hate T-shirt surely comes in your size.
Scripture always finds a way to say it best: God is love. Unconditional, universal, and never ending. That’s a T-shirt that comes in every size, is free of charge, and will never shrink.
Jesus always finds a way to raise the bar ever higher: If you only love those who love you, what reward do you have? Love demands we love our enemies.
And his gospel is peace. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, but it encompasses so much more than just tranquility or the absence of conflict. Shalom is a right relationship with God, a right relationship with one another, wholeness, health, provision, and benevolent stewardship of creation.
In light of this expansive understanding of Shalom, we can better understand why this gospel is such good news. Likewise, when we try to determine what constitutes sin, Shalom also points us to the meaning: Sin is any action that disrupts Shalom. Just imagine a world where everyone strove to maintain Shalom.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease
It was this very stanza that helped ban the singing of this song in France in the mid-1800s. Around the same time American writer John Sullivan Wright, an ardent abolitionist, translated the song and introduced it to America. The power of this verse quickly found favor in the North during the Civil War.
By the time Mary’s water was about to break, the brutality of centuries of slavery and captivity had been deeply etched into the consciousness of the Jewish people. The Roman Empire thoroughly subjugated the Jews and made life in Israel a living hell. King Herod the Great was a twisted despot who was overly suspicious and loaded with demons. Tragically, this made him Rome’s perfect appointment to rule over the Jews.
Herod was so insanely protective of his power and throne, he killed his wife and two sons to erase any chance of heirship. So when the Mystics from Asia arrived in camels asking where the King of the Jews was born, Herod was triggered enough to cancel an entire future’s generation of men.
Summoning all the religious experts, Herod learned that the birthplace was prophesied to be Bethlehem. This is when Herod infamously told the wise men, Go and look carefully for the child. Then, come back and inform me so that I can come to worship him too.
Warned in a dream, Joseph quickly took Mary and baby Jesus to Egypt. At precisely that time, Herod did what only Satan himself could have conceived. In a deranged effort to protect his defiled throne, Herod had every baby boy aged two or younger slaughtered in Bethlehem and beyond.
While earthly thrones rise and fall every day, God’s throne can never be touched.
Imagine what it might be like to live in a country with a deeply corrupt ruler who; was appointed not elected, despised those who adhere to scriptural values, possessed no wisdom or insight to know how to best serve the nation, and spared no expense to vehemently silence all dissenting voices.
As the book of Ecclesiastes says, There is nothing new under the sun.
This is a brand of oppression our constitutional republic would never permit, so fight with everything you have to keep the tenets of Communism far from our homeland. Any student of history knows two things. First, Communism is responsible for the genocidal annihilation of hundreds of millions of innocent people. And second, as purely evil as King Herod was he would barely make the honorable mention list for his atrocities against mankind.
Jesus’ rulership is unlike anything earthen systems can muster. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Galatia: It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and do not let yourselves be burdened by the bondage of slavery.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His Holy Name
Our current cultural construct seems to pattern itself after George Costanza’s traumatic childhood celebration of Festivus. Father Frank would preach; The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear it!
I remember when AGI stood for Adjusted Gross Income. Today, it resounds as America’s Grievance Industry. Spend an hour scrolling through Twitter or watching cable news or perusing the day’s top articles on medium.com and you will quickly realize the real pandemic that is killing our culture is not a virus. The pandemic we need to mobilize against is; ingratitude.
Never underestimate the transformative power of a grateful heart. Gratefulness spreads like yeast everywhere it goes. Likewise, never underestimate the destructive power of an embittered heart. The poisoned leaven of resentment and offense also spreads everywhere it goes.
Next time you find yourself about to air a grievance, seek first to air gratitude.
We are alive! We have air bellowing our lungs! We are created in the very image of God! We live in one of the most desirable places on the entire planet! May we all see these as sufficient reasons to raise a joyful chorus of gratefulness. And once your chorus begins, watch how stanza after stanza is quickly added.
Also carefully notice that this timeless lyric does not read, Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise I. No, our gratefulness is tied to our one another-ness. Like a symphonic orchestra fitted with a myriad of diverse instruments and musical parts, the intended heavenly sound can only be released once perfect unity is achieved.
Today’s brand of justice warrior is keenly adroit to thoroughly exegete the demands for diversity. However, their purely secular approach entirely fails to do so in a spiritually unifying way. Under the banner of diversity and equity, what we mostly hear these days is nothing more than a resounding clanging and dissonant bleating.
It is with this view we clearly see that the frail, flimsy strategy of the adversary being waged against us has a singularly potent purpose; to separate and divide us. Once disunity is achieved, no further good can ever be birthed.
Resist and revoke any thought which entices you to distance yourself from a loved one, particularly a loved one who shares the same blood coursing through both your veins.
Lastly, remember that no one can praise God on your behalf. Your mother may be faithfully praying for your protection and your spouse may be fasting for you to come to faith. But praise to the Holy Name can only rise from within. It comes not from a lobe or chamber but erupts from deep inside the whole being.
I believe it is not mere filler that the writer chose to use the word Let. Having been created in the very likeness of God, our natural state is to praise. But as sin, brokenness, and despair work their way deep into our being, we either willingly or unknowingly suppress and deny our natural response of praise.
This Christmas Tide, may we pay close attention to clearing the emotional debris that blocks our praise and opening up the wells which have been closed for far too long. May we respond to Messiah’s invitation and let his extravagant love reawaken our souls.
LET all within us praise his Holy Name!
Look for Part III coming before Christmas to complete this series.
