Your Invitation Into Advent
O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things, far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go
O come, desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
And be Thyself our King of peace
Every advent I think about a chapel service I attended over a decade ago. The music director invited us to sing - “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” but there was one catch, we were not going to sing “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel/ Shall come to thee oh Israel!”
Instead, for the weeks of advent, we were only going to sing the verses - the words of longing, waiting, and pleading but without the comfort and relief of the refrain. There would be no answer until the end of Advent and we were going to live in the musical tension.
I included the words of the verses so you could read them. When you read or sing the song without the refrain it just does not feel right. Something is missing and the last line of each stanza begs a resolution and an ending.
The reason I remember this chapel moment is because singing this hymn, in this way, is exactly what Advent is supposed to feel like.
Something is just not right in the world. We ignore it or cover it up with various activities but underneath we feel it. Our world is raging. There are all sorts of suffering, yearnings for peace, for comfort, and for mercy.
That yearning is what Advent is about.
It is waiting expectantly in that tension for Jesus.
Advent is an opportunity to stand with the prophets, crying out for deliverance against very real and present oppressors. It is a chance to join their longing for the throne of David to be restored and Israel to be freed, the feel their desire to return home and for the restoration of a covenantal relationship with God that has been deeply broken. It is identifying with their need (and our own) for a Messiah.
Advent is the waiting, uncertainty, and anticipation of a baby growing for nine months. It is the pregnant carrying of a promise not knowing what it truly all meant. It is the mystery of a baby about which marvellous and overwhelming things had been spoken. What would it all mean?
Advent is about the terror and wonder of the shepherds. Terror at the veil of heaven had been lifted and an encounter with the supernatural world unlike any others. Wonder at why the news of this mysterious but, obviously, important King was announced to those on the the lowest wrung of the 1st century world What could His Kingdom be like that they would be included?
Advent is about the wandering and faith-filled journey of the Magi. About setting off on a bizarre search for the King they read about in the sky.
All these journeys ending with the arrival of Jesus - heaven’s answer and resolution. It is about the arrival of the one in whom all things would be held together, in whom the homeless would find a home, in whom the tensions would be resolved, in whom creation would be restored, the cries of the afflicted would be answered, the tears wiped away, and the promise would be realized.
And you are invited into the tension of Advent. To take four weeks and participate in the cries of a world desperate for a good King.
You are invited, for the next 24 days, to hold back your “Rejoice! Rejoice!” and wait, listen, be still, and allow his Holy Spirit to uncover your own longing for Jesus.
God is inviting you to allow Him to reveal your need for Jesus and to reveal the places where you are waiting for Him - both inside and out in the world.
To find the places where you need the Christ child to be welcomed anew or for the first time.
God is inviting you to have your heart opened to the places in your own life and in the world that need comfort, a Prince of Peace, a Mighty God, a Wonderful Counselor, an Everlasting Father, and a Redeemer. And asking you to wait for Jesus there.
Will you enter into the waiting and hoping, the cry of “How long oh Lord?”. Will you prepare your heart to receive Christ again?
You are invited, by God, into the tension of Advent because it is into the centre of the chaos and uncertainty, that Jesus was born. Not far away or removed, not waiting for an easier moment but right there, in the thick of it. And, still today, it is in the tension that we will find him - redeeming, moving, changing, and remaking.
This Advent, you are invited to wait for Jesus in the tension. Will you?