December 2024

Dear Friends of First,

December 1st marks the beginning of Advent. Advent is my favorite season of the church calendar. I love the old familiar hymns that reminisce and proclaim the encountering mystery of the Incarnation. One of the most popular hymns is from a French composer Adam Adolphe (1803–1856), O Holy Night. It’s a majestic, mystical piece of music.

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 appear’d and the soul felt its worth.

When I read “the soul felt its worth” then it struck me. This phrase, indeed, opens up the entire hymn, offers a message, an understanding of Christ’s nativity not found in another Christmas hymn. Ask yourself, what is Christmas all about? Most people would probably answer: it’s the day that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Then ask yourself: why was he born, what was he born to do? Many people would say that he was born to save us from our sin; he was born to suffer and die in our place, Jesus came to show us God’s way, he came to show us how to love and forgive.

“O Holy Night.” Jesus’ birth demonstrates definitively for the world that the soul has found its worth, that with his birth the soul felt, knew, acknowledged, accepted its worth, its value.

I know of people who used to be believers, who use to be Christians but are no longer. Perhaps, they have not truly heard this message; they have not heard this gospel word. Nevertheless, somehow, we have forgotten another aspect of the gospel. God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). And God sent the Son because we’re worth the journey, we’re worth the effort. You and I matter, ultimately, in the eyes of God. We are worth the risk, the hurt, the rejection, the suffering of the Son because the Son risked the hurt and rejection and suffering and even death in order for us to know that we are the object of God’s love, the apple of God’s eye.

It’s remarkable still to find this message in “O Holy Night,” in the depths of one’s soul something new comes into being: we discover who we are in God’s eyes, that we are people of extraordinary worth, whose lives, by grace, can be beautiful expressions of God’s glory.

Please join us in worship this season of Advent as we contemplate the meaning of: and the soul felt its worth. Have you ever asked yourself, “What am I worth?” Quite a bit actually, in light of God’s deep love for you, love that prompted God to go to such great lengths in order to secure for you a place in God’s eternal presence. As you ponder all that God has done for us in Christ this season, let your thoughts inform your appreciation for the immense value of God’s love for you.

Blessings upon your Advent worship!
Pastor Jim