Merry Christmas

This year for my Christmas blog post I’m going to quote from my favorite Christmas hymns. The only Christmas songs I really like are hymns (just personal preference), so don’t expect me to quote anything modern. I hope you will enjoy these lyrics and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

As usual for Christmas, here are links to the Christmas story, Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2.

The first Christmas hymn up is “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”. The whole Christmas season is summarized, basically, in the first verse,

God rest you merry, gentlemen, 

let nothing you dismay, 

remember Christ our Savior  

was born on Christmas Day 

To save us all from Satan's pow'r 

when we were gone astray. 

O tidings of comfort and joy,  

comfort and joy; 

O tidings of comfort and joy.

Next is “Angels from the Realms of Glory”. I’m going to quote the original final stanza, which isn’t included in some hymnals. It might sound gloomy to some people, however, it completes the narrative of the song. The narrative goes from the Angels song, in the first stanza one, leads to the Shepherds’ adoration, stanza two, and to Sages’ gifts, in the third stanza, and to Saints’ praise in heaven, stanza four, and lastly, to the Sinners’ repentance on earth.

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,  

Doomed for guilt to endless pains,

Justice now revokes your sentence,

Mercy calls you; break your chains.

“I Saw Three Ships” is up next. The original song is about the ships that took the supposed skulls of the wise men to Cologne cathedral in Germany. The version I’ve quoted, which is the most common version now, is about Mary and Jesus traveling to Bethlehem. I couldn’t decide which stanza to highlight, so here’s the whole song.

I saw three ship come sailing in, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

I saw three ship come sailing in, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And what was in those ships all three? 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And what was in those ships all three? 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

Our Saviour Christ and His lady, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day.  

Our Saviour Christ and His lady, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And where they sailed those ships all three? 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And where they sailed those ships all three? 

on Christmas Day in the morning.

All they sailed in to Bethlehem, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

All they sailed in to Bethlehem, 

on Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the bells on earth shall ring, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And all the angels in heaven shall sing, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the the angels in heaven shall sing, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And all the souls on earth shall sing, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the souls on earth shall sing, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And let us all rejoice again, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And let us all rejoice again, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

“Good Christian Men, Rejoice” is another good Christmas hymn. This song was originally written in German and Latin with the title of “In dulci jubilo”. It dates back to at least 1328. This is the third stanza,

Good Christian friends, rejoice  

with heart and soul and voice;  

now ye need not fear the grave:  

Jesus Christ was born to save!

Calls you one and calls you all 

to gain his everlasting hall. 

Christ was born to save! 

Christ was born to save!

Next I have “Hark! The Herald Angels sing”. This hymn was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, as “Hymn for Christmas-Day”. Then in 1754, George Whitefield changed some wording in the the first verse and renamed it "Hark! the Herald Angels sing". I’m going to quote the third stanza,

Hail the Heav'n-born Prince of Peace 

Hail the Sun of Righteousness! 

Light and Life around he brings,  

Ris'n with Healing in his Wings.  

Mild he lays his Glory by, 

Born that Men no more may die; 

Born to raise the Sons of Earth, 

Born to give them second Birth.

Now, last but not least is “Silent Night”. “Silent Night” was written in 1816 by a Catholic priest named Josef Mohr from Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. The original name was “Stille Nacht” and it was a poem written to commemorate the coming of peace after the Napoleonic Wars.

Two years later the river Salzbach flooded into Mohr's parish church of Saint Nicholas damaging the organ. Just days before Christmas Eve, Mohr contacted asked Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf, to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass. Gruber composed the melody in an afternoon.

I’m going to quote the last stanza,

Silent night, holy night, 

Son of God, love's pure light; 

Radiant beams from thy holy face 

With the dawn of redeeming grace, 

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, 

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. 

Is money "the root of all evil"?

“Money is the root of all evil.” I’ve heard this phrase many times in my life and I’ve said it many times believing it to be a Biblical quote. Many folks use this quote as a condemnation of the wealthy. The real quote uses slightly different wording, which changes the meaning. This is my topic today, the Biblical view of money.

The actual quote is found in 1 Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) The verse is speaking directly about the love of money as opposed to money itself. This love of money “is a root of all kinds of evil”, not the root of all evil. This may seem to be a petty argument over semantics, but there really is more to it than that.

Let's start with money versus the love of money. Money is needed to buy food, clothing, housing, water, healthcare, and many other necessities. Money can also be used for charitable endeavors such as, feeding the hungry or buying winter coats for the homeless. All of these good things are accomplished with money. Now, the love of money is dangerous. The love of money leads to things like extortion, Ponzi schemes, theft, corruption, and excessive spending. The money doesn’t cause these actions, a heart poisoned by the love of money causes these actions.

The context of 1 Timothy 6:10 also clarifies this point; this section, made up of verses 3-10, is talking about false teachers and the love of money. Verses 3-10 read,

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”(emphasis added)

To put that another way, those “who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” do not agree with the teaching of Christ and “godly teaching” and are conceited. Apparently at this time there false teachers that taught that godliness brings financial gain and people were believing it. This passage also clarifies that the love of money is the actual problem. The Bible doesn’t take the easy route and blame an inanimate object, rather, it goes straight to the condition of the heart.

Next, let’s talk about “the root of all evil” versus “a root of all kinds of evil.” The misquote (“Money is the root of all evil”) implies that having money (or material possessions) leads to evil, because money is the root of all evil. Whereas “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” means that money can lead to evil, if  it’s allowed to. As stated earlier, money can be good or evil depending on how it’s used.

A situation that folks typically include with the misquote (“Money is the root of all evil”) is Jesus and the rich young man, or ruler depending on the translation, found in Mark 10:17-27. In the respect of time, I’ll summarize this account for you:

A rich young man stops Jesus one day and asks him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17) Jesus explains that none are good except God and he says, “You know the commandments.” (v. 18-19) The young man arrogantly declares, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus lovingly tells the young man, “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (v. 20-21) The young man went away sad because he couldn’t bring himself to do it. (v. 22)

Jesus then tells his disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (v. 23-25) In light of this teaching, the disciples ask Jesus who can be saved and he replies, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (v. 26-27)

This account is commonly mistaken as a condemnation of being wealthy, but this is a condemnation of idolatry. The idol being money in this case. The rich young man put his money before God and, therefore, couldn’t be saved. “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) Money had become his master. Jesus told his disciples that it is difficult for a rich person to be saved, not impossible. He said it is impossible for man alone, however, all things are possible with God.

Here is the good news folks: if a person has devoted their life to money, then they can still be saved, as long as they give their life over to Christ. It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible with  God. This is the Gospel of Jesus in a nutshell. No matter the sin, aside from continued unbelief, a person can be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

So, the love of money is the sin, not having money. We shouldn’t condemn someone for something that isn’t a sin. And idolatry isn’t specific to one group of people, anything can be used as an idol. As with many things, it’s about the condition of the heart and not an object.