Christmas at Valpo is this weekend. Current events, locally, nationally, and globally, have moved us to plan the Vespers concert under the theme “Savior of the Nations, Come.”
“Savior of the Nations, Come” is the opening phrase in the English translation of the fourth-century Latin hymn, Veni redemptor gentium, by Ambrose (c. 339 – 397), Bishop of Milan.
The hymn’s first stanza continues, “virgin’s son, make here your home. Marvel now, O heav’n and earth; God has chosen such a birth.” In the remaining stanzas, the hymn tells the story of God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus, the child of Mary. As such, we might think of it as a Christmas hymn.
Yet, for many years, among Lutheran Christians, this has been the assigned hymn for the first Sunday in Advent, when attention is directed to the expectation of Christ’s return at the end of all time and fulfillment and restoration of all things. In that context of longing and anticipation, the opening line, “Savior of the nations, come; virgin’s son, make here your home,” has a timeless quality to it. To be sure, the birth of Jesus is an event in time, but in the years that followed, has there ever been a moment when the church has not prayed for the presence of Jesus among us?
“Savior of the nations, come.” It’s an acknowledgement of two realities that are most significant for our time. First, it calls us to remember that the work of our salvation is beyond the capacity of individual human beings and their partisans, nor will the machinations of any person or party, no matter how unhinged and violent, bring about a destruction that God cannot bring to restoration. Secondly, the salvation which God alone can bring is not just for one people. It is for all the nations. The Body of Christ is a manifestation of divine salvation and is as fundamentally transnational and multicultural. Valparaiso University is but a small expression of this global truth.
Ambrose served in a tumultuous time. The church was working out a theology that would come to be expressed in what we know as the Nicene Creed 1700 years ago. Some historians have observed that his time was as theologically rancorous as the time of the Lutheran Reformation, a time marked by theological rancor and political violence. In light of this comparison, it is striking that Luther thought it relevant to his time and translated it for what would be the third Lutheran hymn book, Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn (“A spiritual song booklet”), published in Wittenberg in 1524.
This is a hymn of hope to be sung in times of uncertainty. This is a hymn for our time.
May God bless you with peace and patience as the semester winds down in this Advent season. May you be blessed with the assurance of God’s salvation, not only for you and yours, but for all the nations and the whole of creation.
– Pastor Jim
Rev. Katherine Museus and Rev. James A. Wetzstein serve as university pastors at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University and take turns writing weekly devotions.
