O Holy Night: Our Hope for Personal Significance

“O HOLY NIGHT: OUR HOPE FOR PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE”

Finding Hope In The Carols Of Christmas

December 23, 2012

CornerstoneCommunityChurch

It is one of the greatest lines in any hymn or any carol I’ve ever heard. It is certainly my favorite line in any hymn or carol I’ve ever heard. It is the fourth line in the carol “O Holy Night,” and it simply says this, speaking of the birth of Jesus Christ: “Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.” To appreciate this line in its fuller context, let me read you the entire first verse, and the chorus:

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

I imagine that I am far from the only one here who has struggled with his sense of self-worth. It’s a struggle we all experience, at one time or another in our lives. Many of you will recognize the name Dave Dravecky. Dravecky was a very successful pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in the 1980s. Sadly he contracted cancer in his pitching arm and was out of baseball for some time, and then quite remarkably came back to pitch in the major leagues, even though he had had much of the muscle in his pitching arm removed during his bout with cancer. And then, while pitching for the Giants in Montreal, Dave’s arm snapped, a sickening sound heard all around the stadium, a sickening sight replayed all over the country. The cancer was back. On June 18, 1991, Dave Dravecky had his left arm, his pitching arm, amputated. Dave had a strong faith in God, but this was a particularly hard blow for him to endure. Four months after the surgery, Dave was diagnosed with depression and began intensive counseling along with his wife, Jan, who was herself battling depression.

Obviously Dave Dravecky had a lot of significant issues to work through, but the biggest of them, he later wrote, was with his self-esteem. His sense of self, he wrote, was wrapped up in baseball. When he performed well as a pitcher, he felt good about himself. But now he couldn’t perform at all. Now he couldn’t do a whole host of things, even simple things that he had done all his life. In his book “The Worth Of A Man,” Dave Dravecky details the journey he took to discover his worth in the eyes of God and to come to peace with his own sense of worth. And in that book Dravecky makes this point, a point I can say a loud “amen” to – “Knowledge of our true worth does not make us invulnerable to feelings of worthlessness.” (p. 90) It’s one thing to know in our heads the truth that our lives have value and worth because we were created in the image of God, but it’s quite another thing to feel it. It’s one thing to know in my head that I matter to God; it’s another thing to feel in my heart that I matter to God.

But according to the hymn writer, on that first Christmas, when God in the person of Jesus became a man and came to this earth as a newborn baby, it was then that the soul not only understood its worth; it was then that the soul felt its worth. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

So let me ask – when was the last time your soul felt its worth? What did that feel like for you? For me it’s a feeling of transcendent peace and it’s a feeling of enduring triumph. It’s the peace of knowing that no matter what I do or don’t do, no matter how well or how poorly I perform, I matter. It’s the peace of knowing that there’s nothing I need to prove, no hoops I need to jump through, no hurdles I have to overcome in order to justify my existence. And as well as a sense of peace, for me it’s a sense of triumph. It’s the feeling that I’ve reached the top of the mountain, that I have somehow won the only thing worth winning. It’s the triumphant feeling of knowing with a certainty that my life has value and significance and worth, that for as long as life goes on it will matter that Craig Selness was born into this world.

But I have to tell you … I don’t feel like that every day. It’s probably more honest to say that it’s somewhat rare that my soul feels its’ worth. And then comes Christmas, and I hear “O Holy Night” on the radio, and I turn up the volume and wait on the edge of my seat for these words – “Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

So why is that? Why is it that it was when Jesus was born into this world that my soul felt its worth? What happens at Christmas that enables us to know in our heads and feel in our hearts the peace and the triumph of knowing that we matter? Let’s see if we can answer those questions and recapture our sense of self-worth as we remind ourselves of what Christmas is all about.

Jesus Wanted To Be Like You

Let me share with you three reasons why God, in the person of his Son Jesus, came to earth in the form of a man. The first reason is this – Jesus wanted to be like you.

That’s an amazing thought, isn’t it? It’s so amazing that it sounds sacrilegious. And yet it’s true – Jesus came to earth because he wanted to be like you.

The writer of “O Holy Night” was a Frenchman named Placide Clappeau. Clappeau was a wine merchant and the mayor of a small French community who wrote poetry for his own enjoyment. This particular poem, which he wrote in 1847, was translated into English by John Dwight, and was put to music by Adolphe Adam. It is said that this song, “O Holy Night,” was the first song ever broadcast over a radio.

I know very little about any of the three men involved in writing this hymn, but I do know that they got their theology right. At the end of the second verse of the hymn are these words: “The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger, in all our trials born to be our friend!” Jesus, the hymn writer says, was born to be our friend. And while that sounds astonishing, the Bible says it’s so. Jesus, the King of Kings, the Creator of the universe, was born to be our friend.

Do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion? John 15 records these words of Jesus: “You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants … Instead I have called you friends.” (John 15:14-15) Jesus came to earth because he wanted to be your friend. In fact, Jesus came to earth because he wanted not just to be your friend, but because he wanted to be just like you.

Have you ever wanted to be like someone? Maybe it was an athlete or an actor or a model or a teacher you admired, and so in certain ways you began to act like they acted and talk like they talked. The biggest basketball star in the world is Lebron James. Professional scouts began to scout his games when he was in the 9th grade. Kids – and many middle-aged men – all across America want to be like Lebron. His jersey is consistently the best-selling basketball jersey in the country. And the reason kids buy Lebron’s jersey is because they want to be like him. They want to play like him and live like him.

Now in many ways that’s just silly, isn’t it? Putting on Lebron’s jersey isn’t going to help a ten year old play like Lebron. But in other ways modeling your life after someone you admire is one of the healthiest things you can do. Our old friend Tony Robbins tells us that one of the most effective and quickest ways to affect massive change in your life is to find someone you admire and to model your life after theirs. Do what they do, copy their habits, adopt their values, follow their lead.

Not think about this. How would you feel if someone chose you to be their role model? How would you feel if someone thought so much of you that they patterned their life after your life? You would be honored, wouldn’t you? You would take that as a huge compliment. In fact, it would probably give your self-esteem quite a boost to know that someone admired you so much that they wanted to be just like you.

Jesus came to earth in part because he wanted to be just like you. Listen to how the book of Hebrews explains this truth:

Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear … For this reason Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people … For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. (Hebrews 2:14-17; 4:15)

Did you catch that? Jesus was made like us, the Bible says, in “every way.” Jesus was tempted like us, the Bible says, in “every way.” Jesus came to earth because he wanted to feel what you feel. He wanted to see life through your eyes. He wanted to understand your struggles and your temptations and your desires.

A few years ago there was a Disney show called “The Magic Jersey.” The premise of the show was that when a kid put this jersey on, he would suddenly become the athlete he most admired. He would become Steve Young, for example. He would still have his own mind and soul, but he would have Steve Young’s body and he would live Steve Young’s life as an NFL quarterback. In a way, that’s what happened at Christmas. Jesus didn’t put on a magic jersey; he put on our skin. He left the security and safety and glory of heaven to put on our skin so that he could be just like us in every way except one – he never sinned.

Now let me share with you a couple of take-aways of this truth, the truth that Jesus came to earth because he wanted to be just like you. The first take-away is this – if Jesus, the Creator of the universe, went to the extreme of giving up his infinite powers in order to become just like you, then you must really matter to him. You must be a very important person. That’s why the hymn writer can say that when Jesus appeared in human form, then the soul felt its worth. The fact that the Lord of the universe wanted to become just like you is an amazing testimony to your value and your significance.

And here’s a second take-away – since Jesus became just like you, he truly understands you. He understands your frustration when you’re sick. He understands the pain of losing someone you love. He understands how hard it is to do the right thing. Because Jesus became just like you, he understands you like no one else does. And the hymn writer got this. Listen again to the last words of the second verse and to the chorus that follows that verse; it goes like this: “The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger, in all our trials born to be our Friend. He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!” Jesus, our King, our Lord, our Creator, is no stranger to our weakness. He knows our need. He’s experienced our trials. He’s lived in our skin. Jesus understands us; Jesus understands you.

Jesus Wanted To Find You

Here’s a second reason Jesus came to earth in the form of a human being – he wanted to find you. Here is Jesus’ clearest statement of the reason he came to earth recorded for us in Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

One of my favorite moviesis “Finding Nemo.” (Ellen Degeneres has confirmed that there will be a “Finding Nemo 2” although perhaps not until 2016.) It is the story about a father and his only son, Nemo. Nemo and his dad are fish – clownfish to be precise. They aren’t even real fish, of course; the entire movie is an animation. But the story in many ways is right out of the Bible, one of Jesus’ most famous stories in fact – the parable of the prodigal son. A father loves his son. The son wants to be on his own. He rebels against his father and leaves home, and soon the son is lost. In the movie Nemo’s father engages in an all-out effort to find his son. He takes on sharks, jelly fish and every conceivable obstacle the ocean contains in order to track down his lost son. The odds seem impossible, especially since Nemo is stuck in an aquarium in a dentist’s office in Sydney, Australia, but Nemo’s dad doesn’t stop to evaluate the odds. He will find his lost son, one way or another, and nothing is going to stop him.

Jesus came to earth because we were lost and he was going to stop at nothing to find us. The Bible tells us that we were lost in our sin, that because we chose to rebel against our Heavenly Father we were destined for an eternity in hell.

Now think with me for a moment about what it means to be lost in the biblical sense. Think about the people you love the most – your parents, your partner, your children, your closest friends. Imagine how you would feel if somehow those people were to become lost and it dawned on you that you would never see them again. You would never again hold their hand, you would never again look into their eyes, you would never again hold them close. Jesus realized that unless he found us, we would be lost forever. Jesus realized that unless he did something, he would never hold our hand, he would never look into our eyes, he would never hold us close. And that thought was too much for him. It broke his heart. So he did something, something too wonderful for us to fully comprehend. He came to earth to find us.

We seem to read about it almost every week in the papers; someone is lost. Sometimes it’s a young girl; sometimes it’s someone’s father or mother. And what do people do, the people who care about the lost one, even strangers that have never met the lost person? They search for her or for him. They drop everything they are doing, they put their lives on hold, and they search and search and search, and they will keep searching until they find her. Why? Because she matters.

Jesus came to earth to find you because you matter. Our Creator thought your life to be so important and so significant that he dropped everything he was doing to come to earth to find you. That’s why the hymn writer says, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.” When we understand what happened at Christmas, when we realize that Christmas is about our God dropping everything to search for us because we matter so much to him, because he can’t stand the thought of being apart from us forever, then we feel it. Then we feel what we’ve longed to feel. Then our soul feels its’ worth. We really matter. Our lives count. Yes, this is a great big universe. Yes, there are billions of people who inhabit this planet. Yes, there are scores of people who are more talented, have more money, who are more famous. But none of that changes this amazing fact – when we were lost, we mattered so much to God that he came to earth in the person of Jesus to search for us. That’s how much we’re worth.

Jesus Wanted To Love You

Here’s a third reason Jesus came to this earth on that first Christmas day – he wanted to love you. Jesus didn’t come to find us just to add to his collection, just to add to his list of people he saved. Jesus came to earth to be like us and to find us so he could love us.

In my office I have a stuffed toy. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but I keep it in my office for a very important reason – this stuffed toy helps my soul to feel its’ worth. The stuffed toy has a name – Quasimodo; I have had him in my office for 16 years. He is otherwise known as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Quasimodo, whose name means “half-formed,” lives in the BellTower in Paris, afraid to venture into the streets, afraid to risk love, because he is ugly and deformed. He was born deformed, and he has learned from the man who raised him, the evil priest Frollo, that because he is physically deformed he is also unlovable.