It seems as though war is the great spur of Christmas carols. There is, in the heart of people, a desire for conflict. We war against those who will not submit to us, we war against those who disagree with us, we war against those who attack us. We don’t even need a good reason. It can be small or large, just so long as we show who is boss. Two brothers in Kentucky went to war for twenty years over a dog. It only ended when one brother died. On the other hand, one man in Germany took socialism to its logical end and plunged the world into war.

          And, as there are many who view war as a way to settle things, there are others who are sickened by war and seek peace. This is where many of our Christmas carols come from. Has there ever been a carol for Christmas that talks about slaughtering enemies? Well, yes. A novelty song called “Christmas at Ground Zero.” My son claimed it was his all time favorite. But, almost 100% of Christmas songs proclaim peace.

          And sometimes songs can foster peace among adversaries.

          England has had a violent history. Wars between families and wars between invaders and wars between little fiefdoms. Once the Roman Empire left there was unrest and hatred that had been kept in check. Some of the bloodiest fighting came between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants. The same was happening throughout Europe, but in England the Protestants were mostly in control. Such conflict confuses us until we think of religion in our country. While in seminary I pastored Sandy Creek Baptist Church. Just down the road and across the bridge that spanned Sandy Creek, was Bridge Creek Church. On the other side of our church, just a stone’s throw away, was Hurricane Baptist Church. Three churches, all close, all Southern Baptist, and yet separate. Why? Well, one split was about a hog and one split had something to do with an ice cream social. Stupid, little things split churches.

Now, we would say that the difference between Catholicism and Presentism is pretty wide. But not in the case of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. They are virtually the same. When King Henry the Eighth wanted to divorce his wife and take another, the Pope would not allow it. So the British king cut all ties with the Catholic church and established the Church of England, which just used everything and everybody from the Catholic church in England. And then the Church of England turned on the English Catholics with a vengeance.

Many of the English Catholics fled to Scotland, which shares the British Island with England. There were Catholics in abundance and, since England had defeated Scotland in a series of wars, there were also Church of Englanders in abundance. These two factions warred among themselves. The Catholics wanted to win and then lead Scotland in a war with England and obtain Scottish independence. Are you lost yet?

Scotland actually tried to gain her independence. From the mid 1600s to the mid 1700s there was one battle after another. Loyalties changed, leaders came and went, but always there was the religion thing. Vast amounts of hatred in the name of God.

Enter into our story one John Francis Wade. No kin to me, as far as I know. We are looking at England and Scotland in 1745. My Wade family arrived into Virginia from England in 1694 and the Irish side, the Sullivans, a few years later. So, while John might be some kin, it is way, way back. Not only that, but John was a Catholic. A well known and highly regarded writer of religious papers, he could move seamlessly between the Catholics and the Church of England. They were doctrinally the same, so John was able to keep his Roman Catholicism pretty much hidden. Even now the Church of England regards him as one of the truly great hymn writers in their church. But eventually, around 1740, he headed for Scotland to help defeat the Protestants there.

Somewhere around 1743 he began to see the foolishness of it all. Atrocities and killings that never seemed to end, and for what? Frustrated, he sat down and wrote a poem, in Latin (he was Catholic, after all), about Jesus. Obviously, his point was that if we all believe, then why are we fighting? It was a plea to both sides. A year later, he wrote the music.

And it was picked up by both sides. The Church of England used English in their worship, so the poem was translated into English. The same tune, written by our friend John, is still used to this day. The Catholic church kept the Latin for worship services, but Catholics freely sang the English version in casual settings.

Christmas music prior to the 1700s was heavy and almost threatening. The common church attender had trouble following the Latin phrasing, and so they mostly sat and endured. But this song was different. It gave hope and peace and adoration to the Lord in a way no other song at the time could. We have talked about the great songs of Longfellow, Brooks and Mohr, but before their songs there was this song. It inspired them in their times and it still inspires today.

The song has six verses in the Latin and usually just three in English. But three is enough to rest our spirits.

1.    Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

o   Refrain:
Oh, come, let us adore Him, oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

2.    Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
Oh, sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

3.    Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;

You can see Wade’s thinking. First he calls for all the faithful, on both sides, come. Be joyful and triumphant in Jesus. All of us, let us adore Him.

Then in the second verse he is probably alluding to the choir of angels before the Shepherds. That triumph was greater than who would win their war.

And then in verse three, he is calling for all the faithful to greet the Lord. All glory goes to Him, and only Him.

Maybe it was because everyone was sick of war, or it might have been because a man sat down and wrote a hymn all could sing, but it was about this time that the fighting eased between Scotland and England. More religious liberty was given. People all over the world sing, in their language, this song.

Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.