Our Christmas hymns are not only well known and beloved, but many have profound theological depth. Hymns for this season focus on the Incarnation, God taking on human flesh in Jesus Christ, and what that means for us today.
In Bethlehem God’s Word Came Down
This is one of my first hymns, written in seminary for a course on the hymnal and church music. At the behest of the instructor, the original draft, which focused on the whole life of Christ, was rewritten to keep us in Bethlehem at Christmas. It seeks to illumine some of the lovely paradoxes of God being incarnate as a human being–and a baby, no less. The arrival of God-made-flesh among us as an unassuming, poor baby is a quiet roar and thunderous peace, indeed.
The hymn is set to Wilbur Held’s In Bethlehem, a nice tune currently paired with a text for the Feast of the Holy Innocents (December 28). Given that, it is not a well known tune.
Unknown Child of Heaven’s Kingdom
I don’t often say this, but I love this text. I remember the final touches hit me like a flood while I was walking the beautiful gardens at the Biltmore in Ashville, NC. It’s a Christmas hymn, certainly; but unusually for this season, it employs the traditional trinitarian formula, with one stanza for each Person of the Holy Trinity. After all, each Person of the Godhead is intimately involved in the Incarnation. The tune for this text is Mississippi, a lovely tune by William Bradley Roberts, often set to “Sing with All the Saints in Glory.”
Storied Grace 