Janet Salyer
Can you imagine observing Advent without music? I used to hear people grumble and complain about not getting to sing Christmas carols in church during the weeks leading up to Christmas. I haven’t heard those complaints as much in recent years. Perhaps it’s because we Protestants have reached a deeper level of appreciation for Advent as a season of waiting and watching, of hopeful anticipation, of journeying to Bethlehem through days of deep darkness. As we sing the lovely, haunting songs of the season, we prepare our hearts and souls for a joyful dawning of Light and the newness that the Light brings, each and every year. Only at the end of the Advent journey when we arrive at the manger, are we truly ready to sing with the heavenly host, “Joy to the World.”
Isaiah 12: 6 ends the first section of Isaiah’s prophecy. The prophet is writing in the eighth century B.C.E. to the people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) who lived in the uneasy era in which Israel, the Northern Kingdom, has been annexed to the Assyrian empire. This first portion of Isaiah concludes with two songs. The first song, verses one through three of chapter 12, is a song of deliverance. Despite the uncertainty of their situation, the prophet sings out the assurance that God is the strength, the might, and the salvation of the people of Judah. The prophet’s words ring with certainty: out of the dark and murky context of their lives, God has delivered and will continue to deliver God’s people.
Isaiah’s words in verses four through six comprise a joy-filled song of praise and thanksgiving. The song declares that God is in the midst of those living in uncertain times, and that their future is secure: “Sing praises to the Lord, for the Lord has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst [in the temple — in Jerusalem] is the Holy One of Israel.”
During these Advent days of 2015, the prophet’s ancient words are music to our ears. We, too, live in dark and shadowy times, when terrible and terrifying alliances are being formed and innocent people are living in exile. Others are held captive by powers beyond their control — addictions, illnesses, poverty, fear, and oppression. Though Isaiah was writing for a particular people living in a particular context, his words ring true across the centuries.
The promise of Advent is that we wait in hope and certainty because God came in the flesh as Emmanuel, God-With-Us. Jesus as Christ is our deliverer, our comforter, our hope for peace and joy and life. He is the Light no darkness can overcome. Let us then sing the songs of Advent with hope in our hearts, knowing that we are journeying to a bright and joy-filled Christmas: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
Isaiah 12: 6 ends the first section of Isaiah’s prophecy. The prophet is writing in the eighth century B.C.E. to the people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) who lived in the uneasy era in which Israel, the Northern Kingdom, has been annexed to the Assyrian empire. This first portion of Isaiah concludes with two songs. The first song, verses one through three of chapter 12, is a song of deliverance. Despite the uncertainty of their situation, the prophet sings out the assurance that God is the strength, the might, and the salvation of the people of Judah. The prophet’s words ring with certainty: out of the dark and murky context of their lives, God has delivered and will continue to deliver God’s people.
Isaiah’s words in verses four through six comprise a joy-filled song of praise and thanksgiving. The song declares that God is in the midst of those living in uncertain times, and that their future is secure: “Sing praises to the Lord, for the Lord has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst [in the temple — in Jerusalem] is the Holy One of Israel.”
During these Advent days of 2015, the prophet’s ancient words are music to our ears. We, too, live in dark and shadowy times, when terrible and terrifying alliances are being formed and innocent people are living in exile. Others are held captive by powers beyond their control — addictions, illnesses, poverty, fear, and oppression. Though Isaiah was writing for a particular people living in a particular context, his words ring true across the centuries.
The promise of Advent is that we wait in hope and certainty because God came in the flesh as Emmanuel, God-With-Us. Jesus as Christ is our deliverer, our comforter, our hope for peace and joy and life. He is the Light no darkness can overcome. Let us then sing the songs of Advent with hope in our hearts, knowing that we are journeying to a bright and joy-filled Christmas: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
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