O Little Town of Bethlehem (ELW 279)
Devotion
1 O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by;
yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
2 For Christ is born of Mary,
and, gathered all above
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the king,
and peace to all the earth!
3 How silently, how silently
the wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heav'n.
No ear may hear his coming;
but, in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
4 O holy child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
oh, come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Immanuel!
Text: Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893
We sang stanzas 3 and 4 of this tender carol at my grandma's funeral on December 20, right in the midst of Advent-Christmas. For it seemed the "wondrous gift [was] given" silently as God imparted to her human heart "the blessings of his heaven." And we who both grieved and rejoiced at her death so needed the "holy child of Bethlehem" to "be born in us" yet again "today."
We might wish for only joy this season, but life is always a mix of downs and ups, bad and good, fear and faith, despair and hope. In stanza 1 of this hymn we sing, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee" — in Bethlehem, by the newborn Christ — "tonight." Not just our hopes but our fears too: Jesus embraces both, and all our other feelings; takes our emotions and whatever caused them unto himself; wraps us and our tender feelings in God's boundless love.
Prayer
Our Lord Immanuel, we give thanks that you "come to us, abide with us," and meet all our emotions with your boundless love. "Be born in us today," and again tomorrow, and always. Amen.