1. This is the truth sent from above,
The truth of God, the God of love;
Therefore don’t turn me from your door,
But hearken all, both rich and poor.
2. The first thing, which I do relate,
That God at first did man create
The next thing, which to you I tell,
Woman was made with him to dwell.
3. Then after this, ‘twas God’s own choice
To place them both in Paradise,
There to remain from evil free
Except they ate of such a tree.
4. But they did eat, which was a sin,
And thus their ruin did begin;
Ruined themselves, both you and me,
And all of their posterity.
5. Thus we were heirs to endless woes,
Till God the Lord did interpose
For so a promise soon did run
That He’d redeem us with a Son.
6. And at this season of the year
Our blest Redeemer did appear
He here did live, and here did preach,
And many thousands He did teach.
7. Thus He in love to us behaved,
To show us how we must be saved
And if you want to know the way
Be pleased to hear what He did say.
8. Go preach the Gospel new, He said,
To all the nations that are made
And he that does believe in me,
From all his sins I’ll set him free.
9. God grant to all within this place
True saving faith—that special grace,
Which to His people doth belong—
And thus I close my Christmas song.
(Traditional/ Sharp Source)
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M_8vjqWYmM
This week we have a bunch of historical carols. This one is apparently also known as the Shropshire carol (although there seems to be more than one carol by that name) . The verses given at the link above are part of an even longer carol (16 verses apparently), although some books abridge this version even further- the Oxford book of carols unfortunately leaves out verses 3 and 4, giving the distinct impression that it’s the mere existence of women that leads to ‘endless woes’!
The musical arrangement I most like for this carol is actually part of Ralph Vaughan Williams' 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols' so I haven't given it as the recording link above, but I think it captures the sense of yearning and loss in the early verses of the carol better than other versions, so do have a listen if you have time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Ib8LUJkMEjU ).
This is one of a number of carols that lay out the history of God’s relationship with humans, I’ve chosen it because it’s more comprehensible than some of the others (such as ‘Adam lay ybounden’). As with ‘O come o come Emmanuel’ there’s something haunting about the music, at least in the arrangement I’m familiar with; a sense of longing for something out of reach. It seems to work well for the season of Advent, of waiting and looking ahead to what is to come.
The third line “So please don’t turn me from your door” suggests this was the sort of carol sung by carol-singers going door to door (more on that tomorrow). Perhaps there’s also a sense in which the singer is trying to win a hearing for their message. Verse 9 acts as a bookend to verse 1, a blessing on the hosts to (hopefully) encourage their generosity. The fact that the carol reminds the listener of their sinful nature, and of God’s sacrifice to atone for that, might have been calculated to encourage generosity- either in penance or thanksgiving.
The carol tells the history of humanity’s relationship with God, from creation to the fall to Jesus’s coming and teaching, with verse 8 being about what we should do on behalf of that.
It’s about putting Christmas in context. But it’s not about judgement and recrimination. The second line sets it out:
“The truth of God, the God of Love”
The story of God’s relationship with us is one of love- love and rejection, as humanity rejects God’s way of doing things (by choosing to eat the fruit in the garden of Eden) [1], but God doesn’t give up on us and because of his love sends Jesus. Jesus’s life, death and resurrection repaired our relationship with God. We've heard a lot so far about Emmanuel- God with us. This carol describes why the idea of Emmanuel is important- it’s the ultimate expression of God’s love for the world and for us.
In our current world, where things can seem dark and we may feel alone, remember that there’s at least one person out there who loves you. God doesn’t give up when we ignore him and make mistakes in our lives. You are loved.
[1]: Whether you see the story of the garden of Eden as literally true or as symbolic of humans’ collective and individual rejection of obedience to God’s commands doesn’t really affect anything, in my opinion, at least in this context.
