Where Do We Belong?

Verse

1 John 3:8 NIV

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

Introduction

Today we are continuing our series entitled Hymns About Him where we examine different traditional Christmas hymns in light of scripture.

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent. We are standing on the edge of Christmas. Our straining eyes can just make out the glow coming from the cave where Mary is beginning her labor pains. We are on the verge of welcoming this infant - the Christ who takes away the sin of the world.

Our focus today will be this act of salvation and reconciliation begun in Jesus’s birth and brought to fruition in his ministry, torture, murder, and resurrection thirty years later.

Our Hymn for today is God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.

The hymn God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is over 500 years.  The hymn is one of the oldest known Christmas carols.

The song we sing today has a completely different meaning then at the time it originated. Over the centuries, times and meanings have changed.  The song we sing today does not have the same meaning that it did to the English peasants in the 15th Century.

In the 15th Century church, songs of joy and happiness were rare.  The songs were generally somber and usually written in Latin. The people counteracted this by singing Christmas songs in the streets.  The nightwatchmen are said to sing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen as they walked the streets of London.

In the Middle Ages the word “merry” meant great and mighty.  The word “rest” meant keep or make at this time.  So, the nightwatchmen were really saying, “God make you mighty, gentlemen.”

Think back through history, and how England was known as “Merry old England” at the time this song originated.

Soldiers were told to eat and drink because tomorrow they would conquer hence the term “eat, drink and be merry”.

Ace Collins wrote

““God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’s” lyrics reveal that the song’s unknown writer knew the story of Jesus’ birth well. He included the high points of the gospel throughout the carol’s verses. The writer also fully understood the power of Christ and what His arrival meant to all who embraced it.”

While the song is believed to originate back to the 15th Century, evidence is lacking.  The first broadsheet of the song was published around 1760 in London.

Charles Dickens referenced the song in his classic A Christmas Carol.  “… at the first sound of ‘God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!’, Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.”

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen has been a traditional Christmas carol since the mid-18th Century.  This may be due to Queen Victoria’s love for carols, which found their way into the Anglican Church and soon spread to America and Europe.  The upbeat melody also helped to keep the popularity of the song alive.

The key here is that the song is really about strength and God’s power in keeping us or maintaining us in our faith walk.

Listen to these lyrics:

God rest ye merry, gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember, Christ, our Saviour Was born on Christmas day

To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy O, tidings of comfort and joy

Purpose

The song tells us to stay strong and abide in God’s power. Why? Because Jesus - the long-awaited messiah - is born on Christmas Day. And what is the purpose of the messiah?

As the song says:

To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray

Which allows us to rest in comfort and joy.

Circle Back

Let’s circle back to our verse for today:

1 John 3:8 NIV

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

This verse defines where we belong, but it does so in two context. If we are living in habitual sin, then we belong to the devil. But, there is a second option made available by the mission of Jesus Christ.

Prelude

In the verses preceeding the 8th verse of chapter three, John has led us up to the 8th verse. John has clarified some specific things about sin.

1. John tells us what sin is. He clarifies that sin is the deliberate breaking of God’s law. Sin is to obey ourselves instead of obeying God. Sin is to follow our base desires instead of God’s lofty purpose. It is to ignore the paradise of God’s presence and choose the selfishness of forbidden fruit. It is to savor the flavor of the apple for a moment instead of relaxing in the permanent presence of God.

2. John tells us what sin does. John writes that sin undoes the work of Christ. When we sin, we choose the very thing that Christ came to destroy.

3. Thirdly, John tells why sin exists. He clarifies that sin can only exist when we ignore or forget the presence of Christ. When we abide in sin we cannot abide in God. Sin is the antitheses of Christ.

Main Idea

In our verses today, John tells us where sin comes from and how sin can be conquered.

First, sin does not originate with us. It originates with the devil. We sin for the pleasure that we think it will bring us. But the devil sins out of the principle of evil. John doesn’t try to prove that the devil exists. Instead he present it as a fact of universal experience that there is an evil force hostile to God.

Jesus describes this force in the 8th chapter of John:

John 8:44 NIV

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

When we sin, we obey that evil power instead of obeying God. All of humanity understands this.

Romans 3:23 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We are trapped by sin. We are hopelessly ensnared. In our habitual sin we belong to evil. But we have an opportunity to change this. We are given a second chance through Christ. John addresses this by telling us how sin is conquered. Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil. Christ has broken the power of evil and through faith in him that victory becomes ours!

From our hymn for today:

"Fear not then," said the Angel "Let nothing you affright This day is born a Saviour Of a pure Virgin bright

To free all those who trust in Him From Satan's power and might" O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy O, tidings of comfort and joy

Conclusion

Christmas is coming. The christ child is coming. Everything is about to change. Can you see the manger in the distance? The journey can be long and difficult. We can become weary burdened by our sin and separation from God. But Christ is coming to destroy sin and the power of evil. Christ is coming to free all who trust him from Satan's power and might.

We can count on God’s power in our lives to to keep us and uplift us - to rest us. Because of that, we can be strong and mighty - to be merry.