This is the first post in a new series. I have grown up in congregations that utilize the "Hymnal: A Worship Book" resource. I know it and have used it more than any other religious resource except scripture itself. And yet, I know there are pieces of music and devotion that I have never read nor explored. There are songs and hymns I have sung many times, which contain lyrics and melodies I consistently overlook, ignore, or neglect. Starting this Advent season, I have decided to start a devotional journey through that beloved hymnal... praying the songs, meditating, reading and re-reading... Will you join me?
I have chosen to begin with the Christian calendar season now beginning: Advent. I plan to jump around with the Christian year to Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter hymns. Otherwise, the pray-through order will begin at the beginning of the hymnal and work straight through, skipping only those hymns I have already completed.
O come, o come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
One of my favorites! The first hymn in the "Proclaiming: Jesus' Advent" section, this hymn has always been the most mysterious, longing selection of the season, and most of the Christian year as well. It has a medieval, even ancient resonance to it, which adds to its power...
As I read and pray the first verse and the repeated melody, I am most struck by the call and response nature of the song. Each verse pleads for the coming (advent) of One who will rescue the singer. Each refrain repeats the assurance that Immanuel WILL come! Immanuel means "God with us", a prophesied name for the Messiah in Isaiah 7-8. Followers of Christ recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promised coming of Immanuel. Jesus is God with us; as close as God gets.
It feels sad... I hear the voices of ancient Israelites in exile in Babylon, separated from their homeland, from their normal routines of life and work and worship, from everything that made their lives secure. It's the context that Isaiah spoke to when he speaks of Immanuel... hope for those in exile.
Why does it feel good and right for me to feel sad? Especially in the season of anticipation for Christmas and all the joy and gladness that is supposed to come with it? Perhaps because I know that even though the holiday comes and goes, the world remains in a suffering state: violent extremism rages across continents, cries of racial and economic justice are met with hostile rejection or confused silence, death runs rampant in disease, and malnutrition, and war. When will Immanuel come?!
When will God be With Us!? Could he be with us now? If so, then why aren't things different? Like Israel in exile, we are captives of the world, mourning over our lost condition, longing for a Son of God, a representative of Goodness to ransom us, to buy us back. The language of ransom is interesting... It reminds me that I am a slave to the world's systems of sin and selfishness... and I long for someone good to buy me, to purchase me back from my captivity. Most of what I do and think and say is self-serving. Won't someone rescue me?
God has rescued me... she rescues me every day. The cross and empty tomb illustrate just how far God was willing to go to rescue me! But that doesn't mean everything is fixed in an instant... The world and my faith linger on the edge between promise given and promise fulfilled. God is With me... but I don't always choose to Be With God... The difference between when I am with God and when I am not is painfully clear. That is something I mourn...
And yet in the refrain... my mourning is met with "Rejoice! Rejoice!" How can I rejoice when the world is such as it is? When I am such as I am? Because, promises the voice, "Immanuel shall come to thee..." The future is in the present. Though I LONG for the day of fulfillment, when Jesus shall make all things brand new... I also REJOICE that the renewal process is already underway.
Is it possible to mourn AND rejoice at the same time? To mourn all that is wrong, but rejoice in the transformation that comes with Immanuel?
Oh yeah... and I'm Israel. Yes, in the context of the actual, historical exile in Babylon I am NOT Israel, but in the context of the Christian hymn... I am Israel. Not the nation, not the people, but "one who struggles with God." God knows... I struggle with him... And I find comfort that that fact puts me in the company of SO many who came before me.
Israel, the term for the people of God, applies today to all who enter into the struggle of faith. It's a struggle between mourning and rejoicing. Between lament and promise. Between mystery and knowledge.
Come, Immanuel... Immanuel will come...
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