Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
(Lyrics by Charles Wesley)
One thing that anyone who grew up with me, or knows me well now knows is that my parents, especially my dad, are Christmas fanatics. I mean, the works! The first hints of Christmas, which start to appear in early November are these little “precious moments” looking candles, which prompted many eye rolls from their four daughters. Of course, now when I look back at my own many eye rolls over the overdone Christmas, I realize just how lucky I was to have parents who worked so hard to make Christmas special for our family. But besides the sights and smells of our home, there was always sacred music playing. (Literally 24/7 after Thanksgiving) And when we weren’t listening at home, we were attending concerts or singing it at church.
In our church home, the first hints of Christmas come in the music, especially “Come thou long expected Jesus.” Whether it is sung to the stately Stuttgart hymn tune in our hymnal, or the exciting and more familiar Hyfrodol, the text is quintessentially Advent. Prior to writing the hymn text, Charles Wesley wrote a prayer over his frustration with the treatment of orphans and income inequality in Britain: "Born Your people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now Your gracious kingdom bring. By Your own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone; by Your all sufficient merit, raise us to Your glorious throne. Amen."
The word “freedom” or “free” appears many times in the hymns of advent. In our current political climate, this word can evoke both positive and negative emotional responses. The promise of God in Christ, however, is a freedom that supersedes any national or political identity that we have here on Earth. We are a delivered people because Jesus Christ, born a child and yet a King, lived and died that we might be free from sin. As you reflect on all the verses of Wesley’s text this Advent season, let the gratitude for God’s promises fill your heart.
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