Advent Reflection 05 December

Come, thou long expected Jesus

 

Pause for a moment

 

What are you frightened of?

 

Listen to the music

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Learn about the carol

 

This hymn by Charles Wesley was published in the collection Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord in 1744. Of the eighteen hymns in the collection, this is the only one to survive in popular usage.

The hymn draws on our deep human longing for freedom and deliverance from sin and fear.  If you look at each set of 4 lines, you  can identify four different elements:

1) the longing for freedom;

2) different names / attributes of Jesus;

3) being ‘born’;

4) prayer that by the birth, the longings will be fulfilled.

These elements enable the words to touch our hearts and resonate with the longings of Advent for Christ to come again.

 

Time for reflection

 

I remember hearing a comedy sketch based on the television programme ‘Who do you think you are?’ The premise of the programme is that a well-known person is helped to explore the story of their ancestors, finding out where they came from and what they did. This particular sketch had the Queen as the subject of the programme. She asked curiously as each generation was revealed ‘oh, who were they? What did they do?’ and responded with surprise when she found out that they were kings or queens. It is also fairly certain what career options are open to her son, grandson and great-grandson.

We are all born into a place as well as a family, and a certain amount of our future is laid in front of us. We have been lucky to be born into a country and time where there is clean water, medicine and health care, a good supply of food and access to education. Jesus wasn’t born not such a time – and spent much of his early life as a refugee, before returning to a village where he was no doubt gossiped about. Yet he was also born a King – not even a ‘king in waiting’.

We also have the privilege of being born again, and becoming the
children of God.

 

Time for Action

 

Look out your family / baby photos. Can you see the family likeness?