O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Song:  O Come O Come Emmanuel

Today we begin a series of devotions centered around the scriptures and songs of Advent and Christmas.  Some of them will be our sacred hymns and overtly Christian songs that we sing each Advent season.  But mixed in will be other popular songs of the season that will provide us the opportunity to reflect on our culture from the point of view of scripture.  I invite you to sing these songs each day as a way to practice our Advent virtues of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace.

Today’s hymn is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Of all the songs we sing during this time of year, this one has roots that reach farther back into history than most all others.  The text of this hymn was originally written in Latin.  We have found versions of this text dating back to the 800’s and 900’s.  The hymn with its most famous tune (the one we sing today) can be traced back to at least 1851.    Millions of Christians have sung these words longing for Christ to come yet again in new ways each Advent season for hundreds of years now.  I now sense the power of that when I sing it these days. 

I find it interesting that this song is on most new Christmas albums in 2024, more than I have ever noticed before.  Perhaps the longing for Christ to come in a meaningful way is stronger this year than has been the case in a long time.  Maddie and Tae, a Country Duo, released a song a couple of years called “We Need Christmas (No, It didn’t make our list, but is worth a listen).  Here is the chorus:

We need Christmas now more than ever

Bring us together

We need Christmas come on December

Help us remember

The joy, the peace and the hope that love can bring

Oh we need Christmas

I love the line that begins “help us remember. . .”  because that it what I believe we do each Advent.  We re-member our hope, love, joy, and peace.  The Hebrew understanding of “remember” is more than nostalgia.  It is bringing the power of what God did in the past into the present once again.  As we do that, we prepare ourselves to recognize it when God arrives in a new way.  Advent means arrival or beginning.  I want to be prepared for that.  I bet you do too.  So lets sing about the Dayspring, the Wisdom from on High, the Root of Jesse’s tree. . . let’s sing about Emmanuel. . .God with us!

Question:  What are the moments in your life when God showed up in powerful ways?

Prayer:  O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who have lost loved ones in the last year and are facing their first Christmas without them.