The King has come.
The Good Shepherd, dated mid-3rd Century
The King has come.
The King, who came through a young, obedient girl. The King, who came under the care of a socially-scorned couple. The King, who came from the town of the old king, under the oppression of many evil kings. The King, who brought outcast shepherds and foreign powers to witness your birth and life. The King, for which the very angels sang out in celebration upon the Earth. The King, who in very nature God, in communion with God and by the power of God, became lowly man.
The King, who would take in all that is God’s nation on Earth, and make it what it was to be. The King, who would show love to the unloved, justice to the oppressed, freedom to the captive, and hope to the hopeless.
The King, who would take on the sin of all humanity, so that we may be saved. The King, who on the Third Day rose again and defeated Death. The King, whose kingdom is now, but not yet. The King, whose new creation will herald renewed, complete, and everlasting communion with God.
The King, who will return soon.
Merry Christmas,
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 25, 2008 at 11:28 am, filed under Christianity, Internet and tagged Advent, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Jesus. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
O Come Emmanuel
Since coming to grips in my biblical studies with the implication of what a Jewish Messiah was to do and what they were to look like, and how Jesus both fulfilled and changed it, this has come to be one of my favourite Christmas carols.
In the 1st Century, The Jews had been in exile for nearly 600 years, and were wondering what God was up to, letting them toil under foreign oppressive evils for so long. They were constantly trying to remind themselves that God was still their god, and that his Messiah would come as promised. It was messy, since many ‘Messiahs’ came along and inspired many for awhile, only to fail miserably, like the Maccabees.
This song is a true advent song: It is all about the waiting and the hope for Israel and the World. Rejoice is reflective here, it’s a command: despite trial and oppression we need to rejoice in the coming of God’s Messiah. Once more, this song illustrates how Jesus is the Emmanuel, the Messiah, and the Saviour, not just in the freeing of Israel the people, but of all people from Death.
In this day before the joy of the Incarnation of God, Emmanuel (God is with us), let us remember our need to rejoice out of obedience and not feeling, as we wait for the Second Coming of our Emmanuel, to help usher in a new creation and the fullness of his Kingdom.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 24, 2008 at 9:00 am, filed under Biblical Study, Christianity, Music and tagged Advent, Christmas, Emmanuel, Jesus. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
A simple song, with a good message
Sufjan Stevens, Put the Lights on the Tree
Put the lights on the tree
(Put them on the tree)
Put the ribbon on the wreath
(Put it on the wreath)
Call your grandma on the phone
(Call her on the phone)
If she’s living all alone
(If she’s all alone)
Tell her Jesus Christ is here
(Tell her He is here)
Tell her she has none to fear
(There is none to fear)
If she’s crying on the phone
(Crying on the phone)
Tell her you are coming home
(You are coming home)
WK
This entry was written by , posted on at 12:41 am, filed under Music and tagged Advent, Christmas. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Advent Songs: Rudy
Rudy, by the Be Good Tanyas:
Rudy lives on the borderline
Between civilisation and basic survival
The summertime treats him fairly well
But the wintertime is a bitter cold rival
It’s wintertime now in Georgetown
And the streets come alive with the Christmas lights
And Rudy sleeps on the warm air grate
With a newspaper blanket
On December nights.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
Cuz I’ll be home for Christmas
But this man has no place to go.
Christmas has no meaning at all?
These people of greed and incredible waste
Who seek the deeper meaning in a shopping mall
With a yuletide spirit of impatience and hate
Rudy is a patient man
Who tries to see the beauty in everything
Is not a very demanding soul
Whose only wish is to live until the spring
Nobody knows the reasons why
Things turn out the way they do
And there ain’t no one to tell you the reasons why there’s fortunate folks like me and you
Rudy must have people somewhere who wonder what became of a man
And Rudy must wonder the same damn thing
As the crowd passes by and he sticks out his hand.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
Cuz I’ll be home for Christmas
But this man has no place to go.
Rudy died on the borderline
Of a civilized world on Christmas Eve
And the shoppers shopped and the temperatures dropped
On a man whose absence won’t be greived
Peace on the soul of the cop who found him
In a booth with his hand frozen to a telephone
Y’know, I think I know who he had on the line
And Rudy won’t spend this Christmas alone.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
And I’ll be home for Christmas
But this year Rudy gets to go
And I’ll be home for Christmas
But this year Rudy gets to go
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 23, 2008 at 9:08 am, filed under Music and tagged Advent, Christmas, Homelessness. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Advent 08: First Christmas together.
In an ongoing effort to avoid work that would actually go towards, say, a B.A. in Religious Studies, I’m going to start my Advent 08 talks with one that comes up amongst the newly married, like myself – The need for compromise and the joining of two traditions into a new tradition.
As Andy Crouch puts it, the family is the primary cultural unit. Why did I add that? It’s because (almost) everything you will attribute to Christmas, how you’ll do Christmas, who you’ll spend Christmas with, and when you start celebrating Christmas comes from (or comes as a reaction to) your family. Now that I am happily and newly married, this means that two cultures are coming together with differing views of how to do Christmas/Advent.
This leads right into a little confession: I started Christmas celebrations a week early. Christine decided that last week was really the best time to set up the tree, and since I didn’t want to leave her to do it herself/not take part in what I think is integral to the season (setting up), I broke my own ‘Not-until-Advent’ rule. These things happen, and I’m sure I’ll have to give on other things as well.
Luckily, we argued about Christmas last year. Instead of trying to synthesize our entire two traditions into a composite tradition interval, like many of my friends have done over the years, we will be attempting to create our own traditions for Christmas. This is both exciting and scary, since it is a big departure for both Christine and I, though I did spend Christmas in her tradition and with her family last year, so I may be slightly more prepared for the culture-change.
Most of all, I’m trying to keep everything in perspective. Throughout this season, I’ll be dropping lots of song lyrics, since song is integral to this season. The song that has, and will always, help keep me in perspective, is First Christmas, by Stan Rogers:
This day a year ago, he was rolling in the snow
With a younger brother in his father’s yard
Christmas break, a time for touching home,
the heart of all he’d known
And leaving was so hard
Three thousand miles away,
now he’s working Christmas Day
Making double time for the minding of the store
Well he always said, he’d make it on his own
He’s spending Christmas Eve alone
First Christmas away from home
She’s standing by the train station,
pan-handling for change
Four more dollars buys a decent meal and a room
Looks like the Sally Ann place after all,
in a crowded sleeping hall
That echoes like a tomb
But it’s warm and clean and free,
and there are worse places to be
At least it means no beating from her Dad
And if she cries because it’s Christmas Day
She hopes that it won’t show
First Christmas away from home
In the apartment stands a tree,
and it looks so small and bare
Not like it was meant to be,
Golden angel on the top
It’s not that same old silver star,
you wanted for your own
First Christmas away from home
In the morning, they get prayers,
then it’s crafts and tea downstairs
Then another meal back in his little room
Hoping maybe that “the boys”
will think to phone before the day is gone
Well, it’s best they do it soon
When the “old girl” passed away,
he fell apart more every day
Each had always kept the other pretty well
But the kids all said the nursing home was best
Cause he couldn’t live alone
First Christmas away from home
In the common room they’ve got the biggest tree
And it’s huge and cold and lifeless
Not like it ought to be,
and the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on top
It’s not that same old silver star,
you once made for your own
First Christmas away from home
If it is your first Christmas away from home, I pray you find peace in your new traditions.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 2, 2008 at 12:47 am, filed under Culture and tagged Advent, Christmas, Culture, Family. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
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