Advent: Remembrance and Preparation

This past month has been the season of Advent. I had been planning on doing a whole series of posts on Advent, but I found myself far more contemplative this year, and wasn't sure how to put a of lot of my contemplations into words. But now that we are coming into the last few days, I thought it was as good a time to share as any.

Every year, liturgical Christians observe the season of Advent, which is a time of prayer, preparation, and remembrance before Christmas. We remember the longing of the people of Israel waiting for God to send them the Messiah. We also look forward to the second coming of Christ, when he comes again in glory. As we read scripture and prayer and make preparations for Christmas, we remember that we should also always be preparing for when Christ comes again. He came the first time in weakness, to redeem the world from the power of sin and death. When He comes again, he will come in power to reclaim His own, and rule the peaceable kingdom.

The hymn "O Come, o come Emmanuel" has always resonated with me. It is one of the older surviving hymns, sung to an antiphonal melody. It is based around the prophecies in Isaiah, and the longing of God's people for a Savior. I think it resonates because the prophecies are now half-fulfilled. The Son of God has appeared. He has given us victory over the grave. He has shown us the path we should follow.  But we are still waiting for Him to fling wide heaven's gates and close Hell's forever. For Him to disperse death's shadow, so it is no more. We are still waiting for the new Heaven and new Earth. But we wait in faith, sure that in our flesh, we shall see those prophecies fulfilled.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

R: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,

and order all things far and nigh;

to us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go. R.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,

who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law

in cloud and majesty and awe. R.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem,

from ev'ry foe deliver them

that trust Thy mighty power to save,

and give them vict'ry o'er the grave. R.

O come, Thou Key of David, come

and open wide our heav'nly home;

make safe the way that leads on high

that we no more have cause to sigh. R.

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,

and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death's dark shadow put to flight. R.

O come, Desire of the nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind;

bid every strife and quarrel cease

and fill the world with heaven's peace. R.