This is a typically convicting text for a Christmas carol by Graham Maule and John Bell, with a tune by John Bell. This song asks the question, “How much do you want to unsettle your Christmas crowd?”
It is in the book Heaven Shall Not Wait available at Wild Goose.
1 Had the Son of God been born in a place where kings are found,
We would have an easier faith built on more attractive ground:
Jesus jilted human fable by appearing in a stable.
Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius.
2 Had the Son of God divorced prayers from poverty and power,
We would have an easier faith vacuumed in a hallowed hour:
Angels called for peace on earth consequent to Jesus’ birth.
Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius.
3 Had the Son of God been met without hindrance or alarm,
We would have an easier faith cossetted from those who harm:
Herod, cruel and unimpressed, made heaven’s child forgo earth’s rest.
Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius.
4 Had the Son of God conformed to the pattern we would choose,
All that leads to faith and love, love would lack and faith would lose:
God, undressed and laid in hay, contradicts our will and way.
Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius, Deo Gratius.
Words and Music © 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland