O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

I found the picture above when I was preparing for an advent service we led for the first week of advent, this year. I used it in the powerpoint and have been wanting to write an advent piece ever since. I find the empty chairs sad and yet hopeful, perhaps evocative of people in exile looking to return. Waiting for someone to come fill them?

I have really been struck this year by the readings in the early part of the advent cycle. Christ's coming is promised in dark and troubled times of exile and oppression.

Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel, 
And ransom captive Israel, 
That mourns in lonely exile here. 
Until the son of God appears.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel, 
Shall come to you, O Israel. 

 Isaiah 9: gives hope for victory over oppression and evil in the world:

 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. . . .The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.. . . You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

So the advent season starts in a time of Darkness but anticipating coming Light - the everlasting light shining in thy dark streets, O little town of Bethlehem. 

Advent is not unlike the season of Lent and Good Friday where, in darkness, we anticipate the Resurrection on Easter. Both of the seasons parallel our ongoing anticipation for the 2nd coming. (Is there a time in the liturgical year when we look forward to the second coming? If not, why not?)

I think part of the reason "O come, O Come Emmanuel" has resonated so much with me this year has been the rather dark times that are upon us in Mali, where I live. There have been 2 separate kidnapping incidents here in the past few weeks (see news report here), and we have had to call people from that region in to the capital where it is safer. In addition to the terrorism, banditry is on the rise, and there is famine in one area of Mali (details and giving options here).

The advent songs remind me, in a way, of the Negro Spirituals, which were written in a time of oppression and looking forward to hope in the life to come. For them to really ring true, you need to be first experiencing that oppression that so few of us can really imagine. 

I noticed another thing in musing over the Isaiah prophecies and the Christmas carols. Much of the language looks forward to a coming Messiah, but not so much as a personal, individual savior (as Christ is portrayed in Western evangelical circles), but as one bringing justice and banishing evil in the world.  Now we know that when Christ did come, he made it clear that his was not an earthly political kingdom, driving out the Romans.
But he did spend a lot of time talking about the Kingdom of God, which was not JUST for the world to come but also very much for now, in how we live in relation to each other. (cf. Sermon on the Mount)
Jesus comes to bring us life and restoration and justice and healing NOW, at least partially, but also in complete fullness in heaven. There is a tension between living out God's Kingdom in the NOW and waiting for what will not be resolved during this time of NOT YET. Until that day, we are called to love and serve people living in the midst of the NOT YET. (paraphrase of Adam Cox, Kansas City Boiler Room).

There is thus a tension between Jesus coming to be my personal savior (very western and individualistic) and Jesus coming to bring common good and "peace on earth - great joy for all the people". Between a Personal Gospel and a Social Gospel.  I'm reading a book, "Finding our way again: the return of the ancient practices". In it, the author suggests that this is not an either/or dichotomy. The Kingdom of God can be both of this world and the world to come. He says that we normally paint 2 opposing ways to live out the Christian life:
              Contemplative Way                      Activist Way
              Personal Gospel                              Social Gospel
              Seeking Private Piety                      Seeking Common Good
              Heaven-Centered                            Earth-Centered
              Sin-Averse (avoid sin)                     Injustice-averse (avoid injustice) (p.72-75).

Our typical evangelical take is to promote the Contemplative, individual-centered way, but the Christmas passages tend to point us to both sides of things:

"Chains shall he break [Yes, chains of personal sin]
For the slave is our brother.[and chains of real slavery]
And in his name, all oppression shall cease".

Certainly in our popular culture there is an idea that there should be Peace on Earth at least at Christmas time. The social aspect comes into play with soup kitchens were people are warm and eat well at least one day a year. And in sappy movies where we wish it was "Christmas all year round."
I think that people are just resonating with the side of the coming of Christ that seeks the common good, stamping out injustice.

And so in this advent time, 

Look forward in Hope to the Coming of the Christ child 
Look forward in hope to his second coming. 
And live to make his kingdom come, first in your heart, and then in the world around you.