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Sunday,聽 December 11

Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

One of my favorite hymns to sing during Advent has always been 鈥淥 Come, O Come, Emmanuel.鈥� Its solemn, almost mournful鈥攜et joyful鈥攖une seems to me to capture the spirit of the season perfectly. The first stanza acknowledges that things are not going so well right now:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

The people of God are captive, having been taken in exile from their homeland, in a mournful state. Yet immediately comes the refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The joy that is enjoined on us is because of a certainty of what God will do in the future. It鈥檚 based on what we look forward to, not on what has already happened. For Israel, as described in Isaiah 35, this meant the certainty of God鈥檚 literal redemption, of being brought from exile and captivity back to the promised land, back to the peace and certainty of God鈥檚 rule rather than suffering under a foreign oppressor.

Our Advent joy should be similar. During Advent we rejoice not because things are going well for us right now, not because all our ducks are in a row, and not because we鈥檝e got all of our bills and debts paid off and we have nothing to do but eat, drink, and be merry. No, most of us are all too aware of our own shortcomings and the shortcomings of those around us. We may be experiencing the pressure of our jobs, the economy, family needs, illnesses and deaths of loved ones, and maybe other things we can鈥檛 even name. Yet we are called to rejoice! The joy we experience during Advent is not based on the here-and-now, but on the certainty that whatever our circumstances, whatever our sins and burdens, God is going to visit us and redeem us. There will be 鈥渟treams in the desert鈥� and 鈥渟orrow and sighing shall flee away,鈥� as Isaiah puts it (35:6, 10).

It鈥檚 probably easier for us than it was for the people of Israel, because we know in fact that Christ has already come. The Advent season requires us to use our imagination a bit in this regard. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, we鈥檙e supposed to think as if Christ鈥檚 coming is something to look forward to rather than a past event to celebrate. That鈥檚 hard. It would be much easier to skip to the baby in the manger. But in another sense, we do still look forward to Christ鈥檚 coming鈥攖o his future coming in power, when not only we ourselves but when also 鈥渃reation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God鈥� (Romans 8:21), or as Psalm 146:10 says, when 鈥渢he Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations鈥�! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Scott Shauf
Professor of Religious Studies, Department Chair