THOUGH IT COULD HAVE BEEN HIDDEN in monasteries since the 1300s, the hymn “Adestes Fideles”—famously translated into English from the Latin with the opening line, “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant”—was first published in musical score in 1782 and attributed to English composer John Francis Wade (1711-1786). The history of this marvelous hymn is something for another flurry of investigation, but the sentiment takes me along another tangent this Christmas season. The sentiment is the invitation to “come” to Bethlehem. Several other Christmas carols echo this invitation, such as: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” but is it even possible to, “Venite, venite in Bethlehem - Come, come to Bethlehem,” two millennia after the fact?
Certainly, people respond to invitations. Walmart® opened at 5am a few days ago (November 28) on the infamous “Black Friday” for anyone game enough to line up for the pre-dawn sales. Throngs responded. Tragically, however, so many gathered to “Save money. Live better.”® that one employee at a Long Island Walmart® store was literally trampled to death by the stampede of crazed shoppers as he unlocked the door. The police report indicated that the mob was at a full run at the time of the 5am homicide. At least one reporter said that the retailer “invited” tragedy at some level with such good sales. That conclusion is arguable, but it is beyond question that people respond to invitations. Sometimes in throngs, but more often people respond in less ostentatious and less violent ways.
During this very … interesting … year we, as a family, have happily responded to a gracious invitation to join the faith community at Fellowship Bible Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (by the way, the abbreviation for Arkansas is AR not AK, which is of course Alaska!). We are settling into this new situation nicely, though I still don’t know where the spoons are in the early morning when I attempt to make coffee before my eyes begin to focus. We have responded to the realtor’s “invitation” to buy a house. We have likewise responded to the banker’s “invitation” to send in a mortgage check. The children have responded to the “invitation” to enroll in the local schools. On this first day of December the snow clouds responded to the snow dances, a.k.a. “invitations,” of all the children in Siloam for snow. Though there was about an inch on the ground, it was not enough to cancel school. The girls and Shellie just accepted an invitation to go to a birthday party with new friends from church. In a few weeks Shellie and I will join the festivities of a wedding because of an invitation (we are going to call it a “date-night” for our quarterly evening without the kids!) We have even responded to the invitation from the local animal shelter to adopt a pet. I don’t know how much the young golden retriever, “Misty,” had to say about the invitation, but all the kids said, “Hooray, a dog!” We are deciding to which invitations we should respond in the New Year—baseball teams, community theater, book clubs—realizing that we cannot say, “Yes!” to everything … but it is nice to have options once again. Of course, if the invitation for Jocelyn (almost 3 years old!) to become a “pop star” comes, like she was pretending yesterday, I think such an invitation would trump a whole year of invitations. Suffice it to say, people respond to invitations.
The invitation to “come” to Bethlehem is legitimate no matter the year, no matter the background, no matter the circumstances. People do respond to invitations. Consider the original responders to that original invitation to “come” to Bethlehem. A priest, Zacharias, who basically asked the angel for proof before he assented to the truth, came to Bethlehem all the same and found a song where there was once an accusation. A band of shepherds, who were functionally only one notch higher in the socio-economic stratum than lepers and Gentiles, came to Bethlehem and made a stir in the procession becoming the first evangelists of the good news of Christ’s grace. A cluster of stargazers, who realistically had nothing to gain humanly from an arduous trip across culture and desert, came to Bethlehem but left out the “side door” yet not without first adoring the Christ with gifts fit for a king. These gifts possibly financed the emergency flight the holy (and dare I say “blended”) family had to take to Egypt with the government hot on their trail. A devout and unshakably honorable Joseph, who had staked everything on the word of God through the angel, came to Bethlehem. But even more impressively, Joseph remained in Bethlehem instead of skipping town soon thereafter like so many other males who think they are men, but when the relational pressure is on they behave like boys. A young and contemplative Mary, who had known the temporary though intense isolation that can come directly as a result of the blessing of God, came to Bethlehem without all the answers but with the astounding confidence that “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). People respond to invitations.
For some cosmic reason the sale flyers will always dredge up more response than the announcement of “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14). But that does not negate the invitation or the response. That does not tarnish the call to “Venite, adoremus, dominum! - Come and worship Christ the Lord!” So bring your situation, your baggage, your gifts, your confusion, your joy, your confidence, even your unbelief and “come” to Bethlehem all the same—for the Lord has visited us there, personally delivering the blessing of restored relationship through salvation in Jesus Christ. We’ll meet you there!
Certainly, people respond to invitations. Walmart® opened at 5am a few days ago (November 28) on the infamous “Black Friday” for anyone game enough to line up for the pre-dawn sales. Throngs responded. Tragically, however, so many gathered to “Save money. Live better.”® that one employee at a Long Island Walmart® store was literally trampled to death by the stampede of crazed shoppers as he unlocked the door. The police report indicated that the mob was at a full run at the time of the 5am homicide. At least one reporter said that the retailer “invited” tragedy at some level with such good sales. That conclusion is arguable, but it is beyond question that people respond to invitations. Sometimes in throngs, but more often people respond in less ostentatious and less violent ways.
During this very … interesting … year we, as a family, have happily responded to a gracious invitation to join the faith community at Fellowship Bible Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (by the way, the abbreviation for Arkansas is AR not AK, which is of course Alaska!). We are settling into this new situation nicely, though I still don’t know where the spoons are in the early morning when I attempt to make coffee before my eyes begin to focus. We have responded to the realtor’s “invitation” to buy a house. We have likewise responded to the banker’s “invitation” to send in a mortgage check. The children have responded to the “invitation” to enroll in the local schools. On this first day of December the snow clouds responded to the snow dances, a.k.a. “invitations,” of all the children in Siloam for snow. Though there was about an inch on the ground, it was not enough to cancel school. The girls and Shellie just accepted an invitation to go to a birthday party with new friends from church. In a few weeks Shellie and I will join the festivities of a wedding because of an invitation (we are going to call it a “date-night” for our quarterly evening without the kids!) We have even responded to the invitation from the local animal shelter to adopt a pet. I don’t know how much the young golden retriever, “Misty,” had to say about the invitation, but all the kids said, “Hooray, a dog!” We are deciding to which invitations we should respond in the New Year—baseball teams, community theater, book clubs—realizing that we cannot say, “Yes!” to everything … but it is nice to have options once again. Of course, if the invitation for Jocelyn (almost 3 years old!) to become a “pop star” comes, like she was pretending yesterday, I think such an invitation would trump a whole year of invitations. Suffice it to say, people respond to invitations.
The invitation to “come” to Bethlehem is legitimate no matter the year, no matter the background, no matter the circumstances. People do respond to invitations. Consider the original responders to that original invitation to “come” to Bethlehem. A priest, Zacharias, who basically asked the angel for proof before he assented to the truth, came to Bethlehem all the same and found a song where there was once an accusation. A band of shepherds, who were functionally only one notch higher in the socio-economic stratum than lepers and Gentiles, came to Bethlehem and made a stir in the procession becoming the first evangelists of the good news of Christ’s grace. A cluster of stargazers, who realistically had nothing to gain humanly from an arduous trip across culture and desert, came to Bethlehem but left out the “side door” yet not without first adoring the Christ with gifts fit for a king. These gifts possibly financed the emergency flight the holy (and dare I say “blended”) family had to take to Egypt with the government hot on their trail. A devout and unshakably honorable Joseph, who had staked everything on the word of God through the angel, came to Bethlehem. But even more impressively, Joseph remained in Bethlehem instead of skipping town soon thereafter like so many other males who think they are men, but when the relational pressure is on they behave like boys. A young and contemplative Mary, who had known the temporary though intense isolation that can come directly as a result of the blessing of God, came to Bethlehem without all the answers but with the astounding confidence that “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). People respond to invitations.
For some cosmic reason the sale flyers will always dredge up more response than the announcement of “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14). But that does not negate the invitation or the response. That does not tarnish the call to “Venite, adoremus, dominum! - Come and worship Christ the Lord!” So bring your situation, your baggage, your gifts, your confusion, your joy, your confidence, even your unbelief and “come” to Bethlehem all the same—for the Lord has visited us there, personally delivering the blessing of restored relationship through salvation in Jesus Christ. We’ll meet you there!
