Our advent series is called ‘A Thrill of Hope’ – a line from the Christmas carol O Holy Night.

This hymn has a remarkable origin story. The words were penned by a not-very- religious French wine merchant (and amateur poet) Placide Cappeau in 1847. A priest had asked him to write a Christmas poem to celebrate the renovation of a church organ in his church town.

On a business trip to Paris, Cappeau, not knowing quite where to begin, opened the gospel of Luke, read the nativity story, and let himself feel the wonder of that holy night. The song became very popular in France. In North America, abolitionist John Sullivan Dwight translated the lyrics into English in 1855. He was particularly moved by the line,

“Chains shall he break, for the slave is his brother”

And this connection to the anti-slavery movement helped the song gain popularity in America.

The story goes that at Christmas, during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, French soldiers began singing the carol, prompting German soldiers to respond with a hymn, leading to a temporary ceasefire.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, 1906, where Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, makes history when he broadcasts the very first AM radio program – playing O Holy Night on his violin and then singing the final verse – making the beloved carol one of the first pieces of music to be broadcast on radio.

The history is fascinating, but what exactly is the ‘Thrill of Hope’ we sing about in this famous carol? It’s not the thrill of discovering large presents under the Christmas tree. It not about the thrill of getting some time off work to connect with family. It’s not the thrill of perfectly cooking a turkey (with all the trimmings).

The thrill in the hymn is the thrill of knowing that there is a God who wants to make himself known to all the world, including you.

And he does so in an extraordinary way: through being born as a baby.

This advent season, let us be awed, as Cappeau was, as we contemplate that holy night all those years ago.