Dear TRA Families,
“O Come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer...”
I wonder if any of you feel as though you’d enjoy some Christmas cheer this Advent season?
When you think of Advent, what do you think about? I was recently in one of the elementary classes here at TRA, and one of the students shared in the form of a prayer request that we needed to pray for his dog because it discovered his Advent calendar and ate all the chocolate out of it.
Admittedly, this is what comes to mind when I think of Advent. I remember the cardboard calendars with openable windows filled with chocolate goodness. I remember the anticipation I felt each evening, knowing I could open up that window and get my tasty treat. There is something of deeper meaning and importance to this anticipation; the intent of Advent is to build anticipation for the coming of the “Dayspring, the Key of David, Emmanuel.”
I am intrigued when I peruse the hymnals and thumb to the Advent section. What I find on the pages of those traditional Advent hymns is not nearly as cheery as the type of anticipation akin to chocolate after dinner. Chocolate is indeed good, but the lyrics of those hymns are more in line with the most famous of our Advent hymns, “O Come O Come Emmanuel.”
For example:
O come… and ransom captive Israel
O come… and free [us] thine own from Satan’s tyranny
O come… and disperse the gloomy clouds of night… and deaths dark shadows put to flight
Not exactly cheery… or is it?
The song ends with the familiar phrase repeated through all seven verses:
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel.”
I wonder if any of you have felt the “gloomy clouds of night” over the last 18 months? I wonder if any of you have felt captive; to fear, uncertainty, anger, to the news, to anything else? I can answer yes, yes, and yes to each of these.
This brings me to my point today. I keep asking myself, “How do I move past this?” How do I NOT feel captive? How do I NOT feel the gloomy clouds of night? Our world has been turned upside down since March of 2020. And while all of us wish this overturning would end soon, it doesn’t “show signs of stopping” (to quote a much less spiritual Christmas song). But perhaps that is the point. Perhaps the answer is right under my nose, in my all time favorite Advent hymn.
The reality is that life is and has always been filled with challenge, adversity, gloominess, and darkness. Why? Well, sadly because we as humans inhabit it and we don’t always—no thank you to Adam and Eve—do what is best for ourselves or others.
But there is good news in the midst of the dark. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee.
And this promise isn’t past tense. It is present tense. This is the point. Since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, the world has been plunged into chaos, disorder, darkness, and gloom. The good news we celebrate at Christmas isn’t the eradication of these hard things. It is the gift of being changed, transformed, and renewed through Christ and the work of the Spirit, in the midst of this troublesome place.
I promised you cheer. Emmanuel: God IS with you (and me)! And the miracle is that His invitation to be at peace in the midst of chaos is here for all of us who belong to Him. Sadly—I must confess—I haven’t always availed myself of these promises over the last 18 months. Sometimes I’ve rejoiced in the presence of my Savior and sometimes I’ve been held captive by fear or anger. Maybe you can relate? But today I rejoice that God is with me. I rejoice that He is with my children! I rejoice that he is with you. I rejoice that He is with our school.
This is the Good News, and it is indeed bright and cheery!
Wishing you God’s Peace this Christmas!
Eric
