There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord, for you to reveal yourself to us.

There is a longing in our hearts for love we only find in you, our God.

– Anne Quigley

To Those Who Wait,

Advent is once again upon us, ushered in with the reverberant echoes of Isaiah’s voice announcing God’s Dream for the world.  This Dream is grounded in four texts from four chapters this season: Isaiah 2, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 7.* How is it that these ancient prophecies—first spoken to a different people at a time and in a place so far removed from our own—still retain their majesty and power?

Swords beaten into plowshares – Predator and prey living together without fear 

Desert lands becoming bubbling springs – A maiden whose womb carries Immanuel Ü

At their hearts, these texts from the prophet Isaiah are about transformation, and I look forward to exploring them with you in the weeks to come and entering into their promises together with you.  As we do so, we’ll begin each week with the simple, powerful chant by Linnea Good: O God, We Call.  This simple song crystallizes the yearning we feel inside as we witness the world’s chaos and long for God to come and make things right.  The ancient hymn, O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL deepens our longing even while testifying to the One we call EMMANUEL, WISDOM, LORD OF MIGHT, BRANCH OF JESSE, KEY OF DAVID, KING OF NATIONS, SUN OF JUSTICE.

Each of us has favorite moments (and, let’s be honest, dreaded ones too) which we anticipate during the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Getting the tree, making the special recipes, finding “just right” gifts for each person on the list.  During this tradition-laden season it’s easy to simply put our heads down and turn on autopilot in an effort to sustain traditions that have become central to our observance of the season.  The gospel texts of Advent challenge the “autopilot” mode by striking provocative, evocative, and sometimes discordant tones; sounds which are meant to wake us up and call us back to first things.  They pull off the veil from over our eyes and call us to turn again toward the Savior in whom our true hope resides.

Advent hymns do similar work, but do it in a way that is less strident and therefore more inviting.  The hymn by Anne Quigley quoted above names those things for which we long: justice, freedom, mercy; wisdom, courage, comfort; healing wholeness, new life.  Naming these out loud and singing them in community helps to reground us in the midst of the commercial “Christmas” industry that offers an infinite variety of material items, while promising fulfillment that it can never deliver.

While we express our longing for Emmanuel to come, we discover the truth that he also waits for us. And knowing this, we know that our waiting can be joyful rather than fearful.  “GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY” is how the angels first sang it to shepherds’ ears.  And good news of great joy is, above all, what we long for still.

Waiting in hope,

Pastor Erik