| Reflection
This passage in Second Corinthians inspired one of my favorite Christmas carols. In the midst of grieving the loss of two of his fellow missionaries who were beheaded by bandits in 1934, Frank Houghton wrote “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor.”
The first verse tells us the lengths to which the Son of God went to become Emmanuel – God with us.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor,
All for love’s sake becamest poor.
Most of the time, when I use the word “hope,” I do not mean much more than a wish or desire. But wishful thinking is not enough to get us through the everyday difficulties of life, much less the sort of loss or grief Houghton experienced with the unjust murder of his friends thousands of miles from home. Houghton’s hymn reveals a different kind of hope. A Gospel hope. A confident expectation based on something greater than himself.
The second verse expresses the basis for Houghton’s confident expectation: if God became man for love’s sake, then we can trust God with all that life brings our way, even death.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenward by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man.
Houghton closes the loop in the final verse.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship thee.
Jesus poured out his riches, and he became poor, so that by his poverty, we can experience and know the greatest of riches: Emmanuel – God with us. That’s a hope that is secure. That’s a hope that sustains and transforms. That’s a hope that leads us to worship a good Savior and King. |
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