Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall Come to All of Us!

First Sunday in Advent  

"Waiting and Watching"

COLOR: Purple ~ CANDLE: The Candle of Hope

The candle we light today symbolizes Israel’s hope
for the coming of the Messiah,
and our hope as Christians for the coming again of
Christ in final victory.

Hymn of the Day -

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

"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, O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh.
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go."
"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."


"O Come, Thou Root of Jesse's tree, 
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call."
"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."


"O Come, Thou Dayspring, 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, Desire of Nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind.
From dust Thou brought us forth to life;
Deliver us from earthly strife."
"Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel." 
 (Public Domain) 

Lectionary Readings for the
First Sunday of Advent ~ Year A

Isaiah 2:1-5    Psalm 122    Romans 13:11-14    Matthew 24:36-44

Based on Luke 1:32-33

"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the highest;

and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and of His kingdom there will be no end."

~Meditation ~

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall Come to All of Us!"

When this hymn was published in 1851, it bore the name of John Mason Neale as the author, but the hymn was actually inspired by a Latin hymn of an anonymous writer.

The hymn was based on seven antiphons dating to the 9th century or even earlier. Antiphons are short verses, sung at vespers before and after the "Magnificat" - - - part of the Advent season (between December 16th and Christmas Eve).

The seven antiphons were called the "Great O’s" because each one began with an "O", and each one was an address to Christ with one of His titles from the Bible – Wisdom, Lord, Root of Jesse, Key of David, King, God with Us . . . Some of the verses were made into a hymn by an unknown writer around the 12th Century and John Mason Neale made the English paraphrase we find familiar today.

The Messiah’s coming (Advent) was prophesied to Jews who were held captive in Babylon some 600 or more years before His birth. Jews of that time faithfully believed that their Deliverer, their Messiah, would come to free them from slavery. Their hopes and celebrations centered around their great longing and expectations - - - echoes of their prayer for a Messiah to "ransom captive Israel."

This hymn tells us that Advent is a joyous season because it is the time when God draws near to everyone to deliver them from bondage with the coming of Emmanuel.

Bondage? Are we in bondage in this day and age? If so, to what? Bondage is a very strong word . . . it means things like "captivity" and "slavery" and "servitude" and "enslavement" . . . are we any of those things? I know that I am at times enslaved, and I don’t like it when it happens. People become enslaved by their jobs, by the lure of money and "things". They become captives to substances and lead miserable existences. Sometimes people are held captive through no fault of their own. The Israelites were being held captive by cruel slavedrivers. They longed for the promised Messiah, a Savior, to come to them and free them from those who held them captive.

Do we also "long" for the coming to us of the Savior? Do we seek out His presence, and LONG for Him to come to us again, as He has in the past, and afresh as we so desperately need?  Do we joyfully anticipate His arrival anew in our hearts and lives during Advent? How are we like the Israelites? How are we not like them at all?

Prayer ~ Gracious God and loving Father of us all, we pray for spirits of joyful anticipation during this Advent season as we wait for the coming anew in our midst of the divine Gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. We confess that we are far too often willing to be enslaved by the things of this world, and that we too often fail to live the abundant life You have promised to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who follow His teachings. We thank you for providing our Messiah - - - our Savior - - - and the means of salvation from these sins. We praise your most holy Name and look with expectant and thoughtful hearts toward His coming again. Amen ~

Activity ~ Start reading a long book. Find a book, novel, etc., you’ve been wanting to read, the longer the book, the better the choice. Advent and Christmas are full of stress because there is so much we think we must do. One of the first things to "go" is personal time. Committing yourself to reading a good book during the season, a little bit each day, will insure you some personal private time each day in a sea of chaos.  Light a candle and sit quietly in a cnadlelit room with just enough light to see your book . . .

"I feel strongly that all the arts, and particularly music, should be used in the service of Him who has created and given them." Martin Luther