During Advent, many congregations sing the beautiful hymn Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. For good reason. The hymn speaks of our desire to be set free from our fears and sins while also expressing a yearning for Jesus, the “joy of every longing heart.”
When evening falls on December 24th, Advent will give way to Christmas, a time when we will have the opportunity to attend worship services to celebrate and give thanks for the long-awaited Messiah’s birth.
No doubt many people had expected the Messiah to overthrow the Roman oppressors and restore Israel’s power. While still others hoped for a royal Messiah who would restore the glory of King David’s lineage.
“But as the prophets warned,” notes Mary Elizabeth Sperry, “God’s ways are not our ways.” God is not bound by human expectations. And though we cling to the promise that God will come to us, be prepared to be caught off-guard. Rest assured, God will come, but more often in unanticipated and surprising ways. Coming to us not in power and might, but more often in the ordinary, routine, and unexpected of everyday life.
Instead of coming to us as an all-conquering hero, Jesus’s entry into history could not have been more unassuming. Who would think of looking for a Messiah in a stable? Only a few lowly shepherds and sign readers from the East even noticed.
“Christmas is not really Jesus’ birthday at all,” writes pastor and theologian David Lose, “rather, it is ours. Christmas is … the day we celebrate our birth as children of God, the keeping of all God’s promises, and the beginning of the restoration of all creation.”
The heart of the Christmas story is the Incarnation, a living and evolving tale of God’s activity in our lives. For as the ancient saying reminds us, “The wood of the manger becomes the wood of the cross.”
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever…
Walking to Golgotha 