Sunday, December 05, 2010

Sunday Afternoon Tea


Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus... such beautiful words of anticipation.  I've been reading the devotional with this as the title and enjoying the various writers so much.  Of course, my ponderings would come back to the subject... Jesus who had been long expected.

I think so often of those who anticipated his coming and knew Him, even as a small babe.  Imagine that day when Joseph and Mary brought their infant son into the Temple as the law demanded. There... in that place... Simeon sees the baby and holds him and he... knows.

This is the One who had been promised.  God had told Simeon he would not die until the One had come.  Now, he could go Home to be with the One who gave the promise.  He anticipated and he knew.

Another... Anna... a woman who had loved and lost and then gave her life to the One Who Created Her.  She had been praying and watching and anticipating and... she knew.  It was Him.  Once young and now quite old, she had lived long enough to see the Promise.

Let us turn our thoughts to the others, those who had been waiting and watching and in the meantime had  made law upon law upon law... extra laws on top of The Law given.  Those who said they were long expecting the One but who... when He came... did not recognize him.

The humble saw and knew and the proud missed the One who came.  The humble recognized the infant God and the proud missed the One who was all grown up and walking on water and raising the dead and turning the water into wine.

Dear Lord, never let me be among the proud and the arrogant and those who make laws which bound Your people more than you ever intended.  Do not let me miss seeing You in the eyes of the poor and the least and the sick and the hurting and those tossed away by society as having no value.

Let me see the need of a Savior in the man who runs the company as well as the man who cleans the floors.  Let me not be blinded by money and power and a person's role in society so much so that I miss sharing You with those who need to hear.

Let me have the vision of Simeon, the heart of Anna, the knowing that we celebrate your long anticipated coming.  Protect my heart from any remnant of the pharisee it would be so easy to become.  For rules are much easier to live with than a heart which breaks for others.

Come Thou long expected Jesus... the Holy Spirit made you known to those who were really, really anticipating your soon arrival.  Let me do the same as I hope for your second Advent, that which you promised long ago.

8 comments:

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Yes. come thou long expected Jesus... we're really, really anticipating.... every day draws us closer to the Day!

eyelandgirl said...

Just beautiful Brenda. Loved this post and your new header too.

matty said...

Beautiful post, Brenda! Happy Second Week of Advent!

Marge said...

We often sing this hymn during Advent. It's beautiful, isn't it? And I also loved your post today. Thank you, and God's blessings to you.

Ann said...

Amen!

Anonymous said...

At the end of the church service, our priest always says "...and may you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet."
Your post today reminded me of that.

By the way, I really enjoy reading your blog(although I'm a 'lurker' because I'm uncomfortable with giving out personal info.to register). You always seem to say something I really needed to hear.

Scrappy quilter said...

Again, absolutely beautiful. Hugs

wendy said...

Good morning Brenda! It's been a while since I've had the chance to stop in and catch up with your world...snow! I know I'm just one of your many admirers but wanted you to know how much I appreciate you. Your words ring true to me to me this morning ~
"No matter what my bank account says or the doctor's report or any circumstance I face... He is Real and comes with gifts of salvation and provision and mercy and grace. I see it and I know it and I feel it." Thank you so much for continuing to encourage and bring Christ's sweetness to others. Many HUGS - stay warm!