All You Want for ChristmasНамуна

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” - Matthew 1:22-23

Think

I grew up on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Somebody had to do it. The church we attended had a Christmas morning sunrise service, which meant waking up at 5 a.m. and needing to be polite. I thought this was a terrible idea. I mean, it’s Christmas, right? But what made it tolerable was I got to open one present before we left. Just as a teaser. The rest would come later, so I was told, if I could endure the church service!

I don’t remember much of those services now, but I do remember singing a Christmas carol that goes like this, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here…” The minor key melody matched the angst in my young heart. I couldn’t put it into words then, but what I was feeling in those sunrise services was something like this: “O come, O come, end of service, and ransom captive Tim that mourns in lonely exile here unable to open his presents until this is over!”

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize we could each rewrite these lyrics to fit our unique stories. How would you write your lyrics? “O Come, O come graduation.. marriage… divorce… new job… winning the lottery, and ransom captive Me that mourns in lonely exile here… unable to shake this deep sense of loneliness until I’m free!”

No Christmas gift ever ransomed me fully from my lonely exile. And I bet none have for you either. While opening each gift after church transported me momentarily from the hell of loneliness to the heaven of feeling seen and cared for, it never lasted. I own none of the gifts I opened as a child. Their memories are all but forgotten.

Apply

If you know the song, you know it finishes this way: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” This song calls us to enter the loneliness, to sit in the pain of it but also to see Jesus for who He is. He is, as Jesus’ disciple Matthew wrote, “God with us.” God has come at Christmas to meet us in each of our lonely exiles and invite us to the audacity of hope… that He is worth rejoicing in as the one who can ultimately save, heal, and redeem us even in the midst of our journey. Nowadays, that’s something I’d get up at 5 a.m. to celebrate!

Pray

Dear God, I pray that you would help each of us be honest with our lonely exile and cling to the audacity of hope this Christmas season. Thank you, God, that you are indeed with us!

Author - Tim Rogers serves as the Lead Pastor of Grace Point Church in Paradise, PA. Tim is married with three children and enjoys biking, reading, and traveling.