Good Christians All Rejoice

Pastor Page, December 18, 2007

In need of a rest at this Advent season, I went in search of hymn-nical (I know, I know . . . not a word) inspiration. I tried to find “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” in our blue Presbyterian Hymnal, and lo and behold—what a wondrous sight—it’s not in there. There’s “God of our Life,” “God is Here!,” even “God of Grace and God of Glory,” but no “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” I thought “What kind of hymnal doesn’t have ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen?’” Just hearing it reminds me of Christmas, of groups of warmly-dressed Victorians, huddled on street-corners, puffs of steam issuing from their mouths as they sing. It reminds me of lamplight and evergreens and “God bless us, one and all.” The melody is haunting, in a minor key, as befits the mystical aspects of the season: expectation and celebration, at one and the same time. It bespeaks a certain wistfulness, a certain sadness that though the world isn’t all that great, though there is hunger and war and homelessness, there is also hope, for Christ the Savior was born on Christmas day. God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay . . .

Of course, I know why it’s not in the hymnal, even if I didn’t remember that it wasn’t when I started out. To understand, all you have to do is look at another Christmas classic, “Good Christian Men Rejoice” or, as the blue hymnal has it, “Good Christian Friends Rejoice,” and I do And although it’s tempting to label it derogatorily as mere “political correctness”—thus dismissing the concerns behind it as trivial—there is a good reason for the change: we don’t want just men to rejoice. We’ve moved into a more inclusive time, a time when our writings, proclamation and liturgy should reflect what we believe: that Christ came for everyone, not just men. And yes, I do get it that “men” at one time referred to all humankind. get it, I really do.

So “Good Christian Men Rejoice” has been changed to “Good Christian Friends Rejoice,” a pretty easy fix, just the one word substitution, and I guess it would be too hard to change “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (God Rest Ye Merry, Gentle-persons wouldn’t fit). But I wish there had been some way the blue hymnal’s editors could have seen fit to include it, just because of the message. It’s the gospel in a nutshell, the reason, as they say, for the season. It describes what we already know to be true, but what others only dimly sense: that Christ has come, and despite all evidence to the contrary, it will all be OK. God rest you, my dear friends, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day. Merry Christmas, and God bless you all.