Advent Devotional: December 23

Since 1843, "O Holy Night" has resonated all around the world in music halls and churches, on radios, and in people's hearts. It is undoubtedly one of the most cherished and thrilling Christmas hymns ever written. It begins like a quiet, gentle tide that continually swells until a break in the 16th measure (of our hymnals) that begins, "Fall on your knees..." (verse 1), reminiscent of Psalm 2:11-12, and with the right soprano or tenor, the song is nothing short of breathtaking. That said, it is also bewildering that a song so beautiful and that so powerfully proclaims Christ's birth can be so beautifully and enthusiastically sung by those who ultimately reject, rather than pay homage, to the Son. That tension is only further exacerbated by its history.

Placide Cappeau was born in France in 1808 and was supposed to follow in his father's trade as a wine merchant, but an accident in his youth turned him to the life of an academic. Raised a Roman Catholic, after studying in Nimes and later Paris, Cappeau became an atheist at the same time he embraced socialism (which usually go hand-in-hand together). Nevertheless, he was well known as a poet, so when his local priest asked him to write a Christmas poem, Cappeau agreed (despite his disdain for religion). Cappeau then approached his friend, a Jewish composer named Adolphe Adam, to set "O Holy Night" to music. It was considered scandalous that a priest should commission two individuals who rejected the Incarnation to write a song for the church, so when word got out, it was banned from being sung in French parishes. Still, the song was so widely popular it couldn't be restrained, so much so that during the Franco-Prussian War, French troops began singing it on the battlefield on December 24, 1870. The Germans were so moved that they responded with Christmas carols of their own, and an informal truce lasted through Christmas Day. Still, the story of the song's unlikely contributors doesn't end there.

John Sullivan Dwight was an 1832 graduate of Harvard where he became influenced by the then-popular ideas of Unitarian Transcendentalism (meaning that he, like Cappeau and Adam, rejected the Deity of Christ while also embracing the Pelagian heresy that says man is born inherently good). After hearing "O Holy Night" in French, he translated it into English and amended the refrain into the version we now know today. It is now sung millions of times every year.

Well, the Lord can use the mouth of a donkey to proclaim His Word if He so chooses (cf. Num 22:21-39), and "O Holy Night" was commissioned by an unbelieving priest, written by an unbelieving poet, composed by an unbelieving Jew, and was translated by an unbelieving Unitarian. Despite all that, it proclaims the biblical Christ as Lord, who set us free from the chains of sin and calls on us to proclaim His name forever.

Perhaps then "O Holy Night" reminds us not only of Christ's birth but that sometimes the most surprising, if not the most corrupt and pagan mouths are used to pronounce His message, again, just as He used the mouth of a donkey to save its wicked master. And in that same passage, He used that wicked master and prophet to proclaim blessing instead of cursing as he intended. That should be a warning to us, and a cause for rejoicing as well.

We should take warning because we know that while many likewise profess Christ as Lord, they do so while not truly knowing Him (Matt 7:21-23). Conversely, we can rejoice in the true message of the song: that by His grace, we can truly know Him and experience justification by faith. Then, when we sing "O Holy Night," we know that not only are we proclaiming the truth about Christmas, but He is pleased by our worship as well.