As I mentioned last week, Advent is a season of waiting, not for Christmas per se but rather for “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). In that sense, Advent is a microcosm of the Christian life: we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23).
Betsy Childs Howard says this:
Advent is about more than waiting for Christmas. The word “advent” means “coming.” During Advent, we not only remember that Jesus came to earth as a man; we prepare our hearts for his second coming. When we sing, “O come, O come, Emmanuel,” we are not role-playing what the ancient Israelites must have prayed before the coming of the Messiah. No, we are praying that Emmanuel would return and make right all that is wrong with the world. When we sing, “Let every heart prepare him room,” we are not retroactively chastising the innkeepers of Bethlehem; we are preaching to all of the souls within earshot to be ready to meet their Judge and Maker unafraid.
The timing for this emphasis on Christ’s return couldn’t be better, in my opinion. Just when we would like to be happiest, and are therefore, ironically, the saddest, we remember that not only has Christ come, he has promised to come again. This life is not our only shot at happiness. It is a brief prelude to the life to come where we will find pleasures evermore. In the presence of Jesus, we will not regret anything we lacked in this life.
If your heart is heavier than you’d like this Advent season, take hope that the joys of Christmas aren’t ultimately what you wait for. The very best Christmas—one in which every family member sits around the table, speaks sweetly to everyone else, and prefers giving to receiving—is a pale shadow of the rejoicing to come. Let the fact that your heart aches point you beyond Christmas to the better celebration still to come. Join with the voices of Christians around the world, who together pray, “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”
How Advent Teaches Us to Wait Well
Here are more songs to help you wait and watch for Christ this week.
“Comfort, Comfort My People” by Page CXVI is based on a 1671 hymn by Johannes Olearius and draws on Isaiah 40.
The Old Testament prophets—Isaiah, for example (Isa 9:1–7)—made extensive use of darkness and light imagery in their prophecies about the coming Messiah. Likewise, the Gospels employ this imagery in their accounts of Christ’s first coming (e.g. John 1:1–18; Luke 1:67–79). The Book of Common Prayer’s “Collect for Aid Against Perils,” on which the hymn below is based, picks up on these themes:
Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord; and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
While not specifically a prayer connected with Advent, it expresses the wonderful news that Jesus is the Light of the World who came to lighten our darkness with the radiance of his truth and grace.
I’ve been enjoying Greg LaFollette’s musical version of the prayer.
A couple of songs from Rain for Roots that kids will enjoy. The whole album is worth a listen.
Finally, “Savior of the Nations, Come” is a 4th-century hymn written by Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, who played an influential role in Augustine’s conversion.