The Object of Our Faith and Objections to Christmas Carols
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Q: Where does our faith lie today, in God or men?

A: Are you ~asking~ the question or ~begging~ it? To even ask implies that you strongly think
it's the latter. Declining church attendance, decreased giving, increasing bickering, attempts to
ignore God's clear Word on everything from abortion to the authority of the pastoral office ...
well, we could go on and on in examining lack of faith in God.

Of course, none of this is peculiar to our new millennium; Satan, a fallen world, and our own
sinful natures have since Adam's fall encouraged us to place confidence in anyone or anything
besides the One True God. Fresh on the heels of the completion of the Exodus, following a series
of God-given victories, Israel's confidence in the Lord was sky-high. Still, Joshua saw it necessary
to challenge Israel, asking if they'd serve the true God or the false gods of their neighbors:
"Choose this day whom you will serve ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
(Jos 24:15)" If misguided confidence weren't a problem, the Psalms wouldn't provide reminders
otherwise: "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in
the Lord than to trust in princes. (Ps 118:8-9)" Likewise, Psalm 146:3-4 says, "Put not your trust
in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.... Blessed is he whose help is the God
of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God."

This confidence is built and sustained only in communion with God through His Church and His
Word as he creates and strengthens faith though Baptism, Gospel, and Lord's Supper. Martin
Luther, commenting on the First Commandment in the ~Large Catechism~, remarked, "A 'god' is
the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all
need." Only the Christian knows that the Source of "all good" and "refuge in all need" is and
remains Christ: "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the
founder and perfecter of our faith. (Heb 12:1-2)" Only He who never took His eyes off of His
Father can keep us so focused.

Q: During a recent discussion, the statement was made that most of the Christmas Carols
were not "biblical," particularly We Three Kings. What is the truth in this?

A: Although they may be meditative, devotional, celebratory, and containing some biblical truth,
many carols depart from the Scripture record. Does this mean we need to avoid them? Probably
not. However, we shouldn't base doctrine on them, use them to the exclusion of more biblically
accurate hymns, or forget to let Scripture inform us. Your example is a good start: Matthew 2
speaks of ~wise men~ (magi), not ~kings~, who came. Nowhere does it say that they appeared on
or near the time of his birth verse 11 says they saw the "child" while Herod's order to kill all of
Bethlehem's boys "two years old or under (v16)" shows that Jesus may not have been an infant
anymore. Also, while they gave three ~gifts~, the Bible doesn't say there were three ~givers~.
Yet at the same time, the verses of the carol dedicated to the individual gifts provide theological
illustrations about the meaning of each gift.

I'll not attempt an exhaustive list, but here are a few more examples: "Away in a Manger" says of
the Babe, "no crying He makes." How else would a fully human newborn tell his parents that he
needed food or a diaper change? "The First Noel" talks of the shepherds following the star; the
Bible plainly says that they followed the angel's instructions (Lk 2:15-16).

So feel free to keep singing about "the newborn King" who was born in the "little town of
Bethlehem"; just remember to check the "facts" of these songs against His holy Word.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Large Catechism quoted from ~The Book of Concord: Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church~, © 2002 by Augsburg Fortress.

Ask the Pastor, © 2004 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer,
by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations
into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international
copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book
~What Do Lutherans Believe.~