Adeste Fideles

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

Refrain

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

These words have been a treasured part of Christian worship for generations. This Christmas carol was first known as Adeste Fideles, and could pre-date the Reformation. The English version was translated from the Latin in 1841 by Frederick Oakeley, an English Roman Catholic priest. However, as sacred as these words are, they can convey the wron impression: as they stand they can give the impression that only those who are “faithful, joyful and triumphant” are welcome to worship the new born King. And of course this is simply not true! The Christmas message invites all to the manger – both king and shepherd,  righteous virgin and cruel despot were welcome to worship Jesus.  

I am grateful to my colleague Rev Barrett Lee, who rewrote this carol to reflect these values. He reflects on this experience in his blog The Theological Wanderings of a streetpastor. I love his adaption of this carol – and not being able to leave well enough alone I have adapted his adaption. So here it is:

O come, all ye faithless, beat up, and defeated
Come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold him, born the Friend of Sinners
O come, let us adore him
O come, let us adore him
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord

Sing, choirs of vagrants, sing for inspiration
Sing, all ye citizens on earth below,
Glory to God, giving us new courage
O come, let us adore him O come, let us adore him
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord

Yea Lord, we greet Thee
born to bring us joy
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given
Hope for the Hopeless, now in flesh appearing

O come, let us adore him
O come, let us adore him O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord

Adapted by J. Barrett Lee, and readapted by P. Grassow