A thought for each day of Week 3 in Advent.
Monday
“He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all.”
When I was minister of Coat’s Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley, the midnight service always began with the robed choir processing by candlelight into the church, singing ‘Once in Royal David’s City”. Whether the weather was cold, wet, windy, or all three, this was pure theatre, drawing us all into the mystery and wonder that what God does is who God is. And what God does, is come to us in the human form of Jesus, to show us exactly who God is, and what God does.
Tuesday
“O Come, bright Daybreak, come and cheer, our spirits by your advent here.”
I regularly pray this hymn throughout Advent, or play it, and Lord have mercy, occasionally even sing it! We’ve almost lost the art of longing, that long wait in anticipation for what we hope for. Either we look to have what we want as soon as we can get it, or we distract ourselves from the awfulness of the world we live in. Try praying these words to the Light of the World, the true light that lightens every human being ever born. “Lord give us a holy longing, and cheer us with new hope.”
Wednesday
“Born your people to deliver, born a child and yet a king; born to reign in us forever, now your gracious kingdom bring.”
Wesley wrote ‘Come, Thou long expected Jesus’, in response to the poverty and suffering of orphans in England in the 1740s. It was a hymn that looked for better days, and deliverance from the injustices, oppressions and brokenness of the human community. As an Advent hymn it asks exactly what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” You may never have thought about it, but in its forward look, the Lord’s Prayer is pure Advent!
Thursday
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate deity.”
Never let the wonder drain out of well-known carols. If we know them by heart, it’s also important to know them as truth that wins and holds the heart. Wesley is recalling the words of John’s Gospel, “The Word became flesh and made himself at home amongst us.” The creative Eternal Word is articulated in a human life, is announced and pronounced in a baby’s cry. The little Lord Jesus, contrary to what we sometimes sing, much crying he makes, because God in Christ fully and for love’s sake entered into that human struggle to breathe and live!
Friday
“Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.”
It’s Matthew who makes the lovely word Emmanuel the keynote of his Gospel. Not only God is with us, but God is for us. Throughout the four Gospels Jesus is on the side of the broken and the fearful, the children and the excluded, the sinners and anyone else who recognised life wasn’t working for them, and sensed that coming to Jesus would give them another chance. Emmanuel has come that we might have life, and life more abundant, purposeful, free and lived in the company of God with us.
Saturday
“Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light.”
Christmas tree lights, Advent wreath candles, illuminated nativity scenes – light is Christmas made visible. Just as the glory shone around the angels and the shepherds, and the star led the Magi, so in Advent we are called to hear again the angel song of peace on earth and goodwill to all people. Because the light is the light of love. “Lord the light of your love is shining, in the midst of the darkness shining,. Make time for glad silence before the mystery of love’s pure light, Jesus the Light of the world.
Sunday – Christmas Eve
“How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!
How silently. Silence again, but this time broken by the cry of the Christ child, against the background chorus of angels, interrupted by the stumbling steps of shepherds, and, accompanied by the exhausted breathing of Mary. This Christmas Eve, we open our hearts, our minds, and the private spaces of our lives, to the coming of God in Jesus, who is “Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel.” In Jesus “God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.” Fifty years later Paul would write, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” Amen to that.
……………..
Prayer for the Week
O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.
Leave a Reply