Hymns for the Nativity: I

Charles Wesley composed many hymns and collected them according to topic, season, etc. One such collection is his "Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord." There are 18 in the collection so I thought it might be fitting to share about one per day along with some reflections upon them over the course of Advent. So, Hymn 1 goes like this:

1. Ye simple Men of Heart sincere,
Shepherds who watch your Flocks by Night,
Start not to see an Angel near,
Nor tremble at this glorious Light.

2. An Herald from the Heavenly King
I come, your every Fear to chase;
Good Tidings of Great Joy I bring,
Great Joy to all the Fallen Race!

3. To you is born on this glad Day,
A Saviour by our Host ador'd,
Our GOD in Bethlehem survey,
Make Haste to worship CHRIST the LORD.

4. By this the Saviour of Mankind,
Th' Incarnate GOD shall be display'd,
The Babe ye wrapp'd in Swaths shall find,
And humbly in a Manger laid.

I love stanza 2. I can't get my mind off of it: "I come, your every Fear to chase...Great Joy to all the Fallen Race!" There's no fear in the mind and heart of a newborn. Christ came to recapitulate all stages of human life. And that means he redeems us from our fear by starting as we all have: born in the midst of a troubled, alienated, and ailing world that is out to get us. The Babe of the Manger has come to set us free from any and every fear. It reminds me of that great passage in 1 John 4 where we are told that "perfect love casts out fear." That's certainly a Wesleyan emphasis, too, and by being united to Christ, who came and "humbly in a Manger laid" we can know that perfect love and let it overtake us.

This season, may we let the fears that so easily ensnare us be "chased away" by the Good Tidings of Great Joy wrought in the proclamation that God has become Incarnate and dwells among us.