Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,
so that you by his poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

I first heard this beautiful carol shortly before Christmas 1991, at a carol service at Christ Church Beckenham.  It's been my favourite carol ever since.  It deserves to be far more widely known, although Keith and Kristyn Getty's version, released in 2016, has helped to bring it to a wider public.

The words to Thou who wast rich were written by Bishop Frank Houghton (1894 - 1972).  In 1920, as a young Anglican priest, Houghton joined the China Inland Mission.  He served in China until 1928, and after six years back in the UK, returned there as a Bishop in 1934.  He was General Director of China Inland Mission 1940 - 1951, and then spent the final 10 years before his retirement as a Vicar back in the UK.

In December 1934, two young CIM missionaries, John and Betty Stam, were captured and killed by Chinese Communists.  In the wake of these murders, and those of other missionaries in China at the time, Frank Houghton decided to set out on a tour of missionary outposts in the country.  As he travelled through the mountains of southwest China, he was inspired by the words of 2 Corinthians 8:9 (quoted above), to write this beautiful carol.

Dr John Tweeddale comments that this hymn focusses on Christ.  Each verse is a meditation on a different aspect of his work: verse 1 on his humiliation; verse 2 on his incarnation; and verse 3 on his exaltation.  His comments continue:

[Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour] reminds us that Christmas is about a gift beyond our comprehension.  In his humiliation, the Son of God exchanged a throne for a manger, celestial courts for a stable floor, and riches for poverty (Philippians 2:5-8).  In his incarnation, the Son of God became a man in order to redeem his people from their sins (cf Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1,14).  In his exaltation, Christ is the object of our love and adoration (Philippians 2:9-11) . . . this carol . . . reminds [us] that the only fitting response to the Christ of Christmas is worship.

Christmas is about a gift beyond all splendour, all praising, all telling.  [We] simply cannot fathom how magnificent this gift is . . . Christmas is about the greatest, and costliest, gift of all - the gift of Christ himself.  

For me, Houghton's words touch my soul every time I hear or sing this carol.  If you don't know it, I hope and pray that you will follow one of the links, and find that Houghton's carol moves you to worship our Lord and Saviour anew.

The tune which I know for Thou who wast rich is a traditional French melody, usually called 'Fragrance' in English hymnbooks, but in French, 'Quelle est cette odeur agréable?'  It's a wonderfully simple tune, which carries these words to perfection.  

Sadly, I don't think that the Getty's version of this carol (see link above) does it justice.  There's a lyric video here, and another version, without the lyrics on screen, here.  

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
(2 Corinthians 9:15) 

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash