December 24th, 2023
Scripture
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
--John 3:16-21
All Shall Be Well
I love music. Advent is a season, in particular, in which I listen to a lot of music, in person, online, and in the car. I enjoy it, and also find it useful in my spiritual preparation for Christmas. I listen to Advent carol services, hymns and anthems, then as Advent winds down, Handel’s Messiah, and usually some more contemporary music, too.
This year, a particular contemporary song has been speaking to me: Sandra McCracken’s “All is Well” from 2019. It’s a beautiful, tender song, with a simple, almost childlike refrain: “All is well. All is well. God with us, Emmanuel.”
Part of what keeps drawing me to the song is its echo of that famous line from Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
2023 is the 650th anniversary of the divine visions of Mother Julian that inspired her to write “Revelations of Divine Love,” the earliest known surviving work in English written by a woman. It is a profound and prayerful meditation that has pointed countless people towards Christ.
In our troubled times, to say that all is well or even that all shall be well invites incredulity and even scorn. So much is wrong in our world today: wars, disease, injustice, hatred, division, poverty. But as our Advent season ends and the 12 days of Christmas begin, we proclaim as people of faith that all shall be well.
We say this not out of naivete, or denial, but because we believe that God is with us, Emmanuel. “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).
Because God was born for us and is with us in Jesus Christ, we have no need to fear. For we not only have a Savior who knows our human suffering, who comforts us in our sorrows, but a Savior who, when he comes again, will set all things right, on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus Christ was born, lived, died, was raised, and ascended into heaven that the world might be saved through him. Even sin and death have been vanquished by God’s gracious love.
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” For God is with us, Emmanuel.
Merry Christmas.
The Right Reverend Poulson Reed
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma