Come All Ye Faithful TLOC
The Lyrics of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Last few days I have woke up and people have left lego bricks on the front porch, I don’t know what to make of it
As we go through this series, it is my hope as we look deeper into the lyrics it helps you to actually want to worship. All too often we come into a place of worship and especially in a season like Christmas where we are singing songs we have sung most of our lives we can start to kind of sing them ho humly without much thought about the words that are coming out of our mouths, and my hope is when we take a look and slow down it makes you worship from your heart and not just sing empty words.
Last week we looked at O Holy Night and we talked a little about how great it is because there is a thrill of hope and the excitement of a new and glorious morning. Next week we will look at Away in a manger, but this morning we are looking at the Hymn, Come all Ye Faithful. It was originally written in Latin “Adeste Fideles” and is attributed to John Francis Wade, an 18th-century hymnist, though the English “O Come All Ye Faithful” translation was by Frederick Oakley in 1841.
Music Here
This is such an Amazing song, from the very first line, “O come all ye Faithful, Joyful, and Triumphant,” it is calling to all of us who are his followers, but the truth of the matter is so many of us this morning might say, “I know Christians are supposed to feel that way but, I just don’t.” Really, so many of us we feel the exact opposite of those words, we feel doubtful, depressed, and defeated.” What happens to so many of us is when we don’t start seeing God in the places or circumstances we think we should see Him, we become doubtful. We may realize God is there but it becomes harder and harder to see him because our circumstances don’t line up with our theology, and doubt starts to slip in and we start to wonder if he has left us all alone.
Not only do we feel doubtful, but we are supposed to feel triumphant but instead we feel defeated; we feel like the world has gotten the better of us and we aren’t supposed to live this way, so we feel defeated. We are supposed to feel joyful but our circumstances leave us feeling so depressed. This time of year is an amplifier of the Good and the bad, all of the really good things seem so much brighter and more hopeful, but at the same time all the bad things seem more dark and despairing. So Christmas and so many holidays can be a seriously joyful time but it can also be just as miserable.
During Christmas it seems all of our loneliness is more amplified, because we think about all the people with their family and all of the meals and festivities they are having and all we can think about is how we have no one. The people we really loved and admired have left us, either by their own will, or by leaving this world and we start to think about how alone we really are, or at least how alone we really feel.
There are also so many who hate this time of year, because they hate people, and you may think that is too harsh, but there are some people who really just find it so hard to get along with other people and leaving their homes to go and be around other people is such a draining thought. Don’t even attempt to mention shopping to some of those people, tons of people in a crowded space? Forget about it. Then there are the people who hate all the marketing and all of the drive for possessions so this time of year, it just really makes them cringe.
There was a time in my life I would hate going to the checkout registers. It seemed no matter which lane I picked it was always the longest line, people would inevitably find all the items that had no price tag on them and would need someone to go search for the price, or you would have the people who would write checks, and it would drive me insane. I had things to do and people to see, and we needed to get this show on the road so I could get to the next place. Truthfully, this time of year we can easily lose all of our joy if we are not careful. One little thing and it can all just slip away from us at the drop of a hat. And we are supposed to be happy and joyous but we start to be depressed.
The more I thought about these things and the words of the song, this time of year, and how so many of us find ourselves the exact opposite of the words of this song, I started to think, who are the people that Jesus calls, is it only the faithful, joyful, and triumphant? Of course not, so I asked myself who are the people that Jesus calls.
WHO DOES JESUS CALL?
1. Jesus calls the weary and burdened.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
All of you who are tired and burdened by the things of this world, come to me and he will give us rest. Not only that, if you remember back a few weeks ago as we were going through the 23rd Psalm you will know he MAKES us rest. What I have seen in ministry so many times are the people who think Jesus is only calling the people who have their lives together to himself, the happy and unburdened, and feel like Jesus wouldn’t want them around because they don’t have his Joy, but we can see clearly from scripture that isn’t the truth. So you can know, and call it to mind, when you get to the place in life when you are feeling down and depressed and you feel like the world is too much for you, you can know Jesus is calling you back to himself.
I want you to really understand this morning, that your weariness and the burdens of this world don’t exclude you, from him, but are all the more reason for him to call you to himself. I know how hard it is in our weariness to see the Lord, because we feel like we have let go of Him and not turned our face toward him in so long that it is our fault, and I want you to know He is still calling you back to him this morning.
Who else does Jesus call? HE calls
2. Jesus calls the sinners.
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus tells us he has came for all the sinners, not the righteous, he has come for all those who have messed up. Maybe it would be better if we changed the lyrics to, “O come, all ye sinners, weak and weary!”
I can’t tell you the number of times I have had this discussion with people over the years, even my father in law before he came to know the Lord, but people say, “Pastor, I’m just too messed up to come to Jesus. He doesn’t want me and all my sin and all of my problems,” oh and my favorite, “If I were to come into the church the building would probably collapse on itself”
But us sinners are exactly what Jesus came to heal, to fix, and so he calls us to himself. I really want you to understand this morning there is nothing in your past that can disqualify you now from having a relationship with Jesus; nothing. There is nothing that you have done, no way you have lived that will make he want to not call you to himself. He loves you, he wants you, he wants to help you live a life that you can only imagine.
You may be in a position where you are saying, I have tried it all, I don’t know what else to do anymore and he says when you call upon him he will not leave you there. I think there are some of you who need to hear that this morning. You need to know he loves you and wants you to come to him so he can lead and guide you to the places he desires you to be. Look at what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
The good news is you can become a new creation. You don’t have to walk around this world the same way you have every day; he can make you new. You don’t have to walk around weary and burdened forever; he can change your world. That’s the beauty of Jesus is we shouldn’t walk away the same as we started, Jesus changes us, and he doesn’t just change what we do, he changes what we want to do. He makes a new creation and one of the greatest signs we have truly begun following Jesus is evident as he changes what we want to do. So, if he doesn’t leave us weary and burdened, and he calls sinners to himself, what does he help us to become?
WHAT DOES JESUS HELP US BECOME?
1. JESUS HELPS US BECOME MORE FAITHFUL.
Look at what the writer of Hebrews tells us in the 12th chapter.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews tells us he is the perfecter of our faith, so HE helps perfect our faith; He makes it into what we need it to be for our lives. In the times when we feel like our faith isn’t very strong he helps to perfect it. You may think well how does he perfect my faith, how does he make my faith what I need it to be to live the life he has for me? Look at what Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
So, he tells us he perfects our faith by our hearing of scripture.
I remember when my mother in law Julie was diagnosed with cancer, she was 47 years old and she had cancer that ravaged her body, and I remember thinking, “Why Lord? Why now? Why does all of this have to go on?” And I thought, “What is it you want me to learn? What can I learn in this situation? What do you want me to take from this?” While I was studying I really felt like the Lord led me to this scripture, and if you are here and you are having a faith challenge, and it may not be from losing someone you love, but just struggling with your faith in general, I want you to listen to this scripture.
Isaiah 43:2-3
Isaiah 43:2–3 (NIV)
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
He says, “When you pass through the waters I will be with you,” he says when you are going through the hard time, I am with you. “When you pass through the rivers…” and it starts to come up and it feels like it is going to over take you it won’t sweep over you, no matter how bad it gets he will not let it sweep over you. He says, “If you walk through the fire you will not be set ablaze,” and there are some of you this morning that is exactly what you are doing; you are walking through the fire and you are starting to feel it but he says he will not let it set you ablaze. And I immediately begin to think about Moses with the burning bush and it burning but not being consumed and it makes me know He has the power to do exactly what He is promising, to allow me to not be burned alive when walking through the fire of the world.
And Jesus helps us become more faithful, because he promises us the things of this world will come against us but Jesus says he will not allow it to overcome us, and this is faith building scripture.
The second thing he helps us become
2. JESUS HELPS US BECOME MORE JOYFUL.
Paul in his letter to the Galatians says,
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
So here we learn Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Let me ask you a question this morning, What does an apple tree produce? Now, I know you are reluctant to answer, but this is not a trick question, what does an apple tree produce? Apples, right! Here is the thing, there is nothing it can do to produce oranges; it is impossible - there is nothing it can do its only choice is to produce apples. The same is true with us if we are living with Jesus joy should be produced in our lives; joy is the fruit of a right relation with God. It is not something people can create by their own efforts. We cannot create joy, in the same way an apple tree cant produce oranges. I know what you are thinking, you can produce happiness, and while that is true, what you need to know is happiness and joy are miles apart.
Happiness depends on happenings, but Joy depends on Jesus!
Joy comes from your relationship with the Lord and knowing him deeper and all too often we get joy and happiness mixed up, but they are not the same thing.
We see this idea in the christmas story, no not the amazing movie with the leg lamp, but the actual Christmas story. Look at Luke 2:10-11.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Don’t be afraid, because I am bringing you good news that will bring great, what, great joy. A savior has been born to you - the life of Jesus is the joy we need in our lives. Everything he has done gives us joy - it is a fruit of the spirit.
The third thing he helps us become is
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3. JESUS HELPS US BECOME MORE TRIUMPHANT.
All too often what we feel in our lives is defeated. When we don’t get the promotion, when the relationships we wanted fall apart, when the world has gotten the best of me - we feel defeated, but look at what Isaiah says:
Isaiah 9:6–7 (NIV)
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
We have to realize who fights with us, who is on our side, who is fighting for us and we have to hold on to that.
I remember this time in High School, we were at a football game, and there were some guys causing a big ruckus, and this guy we didn’t know said something about one of my friends girlfriends, and this buddy who was all of 5’6” jumps and says you better shut up. And this other dude says, what are you going to do?
Here is what my buddy realized in that moment, he knew we would all have his back in that moment, and what you have to realize is who has your back, because even as the infant babe at rest in the manger he is the,
King of Kings Lord of Lords Alpha and Omega –The beginning and the end Nothing comes into being without him speaking it into existence The chosen one to save us from sin The author and perfector of our faith The Prince of Peace The bread of Life The light of the world The savior and the lifter of our head Born the King of angels We come to adore him for HE IS…. CHRIST THE LORD!!!!
Today may you hear for the first time a truth that has been ringing out through the ages:
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:
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
