And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.
Rev. Phillips Brooks was burned out. He was known as the most dynamic and inspirational preacher of his time, but he had lost his fervor and could not seem to recover. In his mid-twenties he had become pastor of the Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia. He recruited a super salesman named Lewis Redner to be his Sunday school superintendent and organist. The church exploded in growth. They began with 30 children and within a year there were 1000. The next two years the numbers increased, partly because of Brooks’ dynamic preaching, partly because of Redner’s music.
But then the Civil War came and the mood in the church became somber. The national spirit was dying, women were wearing black due to a husband or son killed in battle, and darkness fell over every facet of the worship services. Brooks tried to be inspirational and encourage his church but it was draining him. When the war ended he thought the vitality and joy would return immediately but it did not.
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and the pain intensified. Phillips Brooks was asked to preach the President’s funeral. He reached down deep and found the appropriate words to say for the moment but later he was so burned out that he could not rekindle his own spiritual flame. So, he asked the church for time off and took a trip to the Holy Land.
On Christmas Eve in Jerusalem, he mounted a horse and went off riding. At dusk, when the first stars were out, he rode into the tiny village of Bethlehem. The town had changed little since the birth of Christ. It lifted Brooks spirits to be within a few feet of the very spot where Jesus was born. There was singing in the Church of the Nativity and he felt surrounded by the Spirit of God.
Brooks wrote about his horseback journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where he assisted with the midnight service on Christmas Eve, 1865: “I remember standing in the old church in Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices I knew well, telling each other of the Wonderful Night of the Savior’s birth.”
When he returned, he wanted some way to express the stirring in his soul and he decided it would be best communicated in the form of a poem. He sat and penned the words to the song, O, Little Town of Bethlehem (read below). The final verse of this song it spoken or sung directly to Jesus. Jesus is still the answer for our lives, our nation, and our world. He knows you. He knows all about you. He knows your successes and your failures in this past year. He knows the challenges, burdens, and blessings that are coming in the New Year. Jesus is still the only answer.
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary;
and, gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the King,
and peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive Him still,
the dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels,
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!