"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Advent plus 1) Pt 2
(If you would rather listen to the sermon, go here)
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Pt 2
Isaiah 2.1-5 (Jude 1-5)
ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away
the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of
this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great
humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious
majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
We heard
last week how “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (TH 194) was an 8th century
composition. This reminds us that every time we sing it we are adding our
voices to millions who have sung these words for over a millennia and a half. We
also learned that a different verse was sung each night from 16-23 December,
and so, appropriately, we’re going to approach this Advent carol one verse per
Sunday. Today we tangle with the second verse, mention the Scripture that it
has grown from, and look at the Passage it hints of : “O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's
height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” As we sing this
carol reflectively and thoughtfully, we’re quickly struck by something
peculiar: wherever you prick this carol, it bleeds Bible and glistens Gospel! But
where in the world is the Gospel in our second verse?!?! “O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's
height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe.” The
answer is found in the following ways.
First,
we must think about this carol itself, and then reflect on a particular flow in
Scripture. Notice that the other four stanzas in this carol are praying for
what? Praying to whom? “O come, O come, Emmanuel” “O come, though Rod of Jesse,
come” “O come, thou Dayspring from on high” and “O come thou key of David, come”.
Emmanuel, rod of Jesse, dayspring from on high, key of David, are all older
translations of Scripture that are descriptions of….Jesus! Which means, then,
that this stanza is making a very astute statement: that this “Lord of might” who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in
ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe is Jesus
(before his becoming human)! That the eternal Son of God is the giver of the
Law of God there in Exodus 19-20; and is the rescuing Redeemer: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself…And
God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods
before me”” (Exodus 19.4-6, 20.1-3).
Now we
need to ask if Scripture agrees with what this carol is asserting. Our New
Testament text in Jude gives us the answer. The English Standard Version makes
it clearest “Now I want to remind you,
although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land
of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 5). If
you’re using other translations, it says “the
Lord who saved…” but v.4 tells us who this Lord is: “our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude makes it very clear
(as does Paul in 1 Corinthians 10.1-4) that the eternal Son of God was there,
involved in bringing about the redemption of God’s people from Egypt, was there
in the wilderness wandering, was there at Sinai, was there bringing about the
downfall of unbelieving Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16) and others who
did not believe. Therefore, it is right and relevant to make the connection
with the one who is Emmanuel – God with us – and the giving of the law at Mount
Sinai! “O come, O come, thou Lord of
might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst give the
law, in cloud and majesty and awe.” So, yes, wherever you prick this carol
it bleeds Bible, and it does glisten Gospel; even this verse. But further,
because v.2 is in the context of this carol, there is a hint of another Mountain
– something of a new Sinai – that has tribes coming to receive the Law of God
as the Israel of God. And so we move to Isaiah 2.1-5.
The day
is promised (Isaiah 2.2-3) when the nations will be magnetically drawn in a
shockingly new direction, just as shockingly new as if a stream flowed upward.
The draw will be a supernatural magnetism that will turn barbarians—whether
civilized or not—away from their valley existence upward to a mountain top
life. And the call of 3a to the nations is restated in the call to Jacob in 5b.
Both Jew and Gentile come together going in the same direction. At Mt. Sinai
the tribes were told to stay away; but this type of “new” Sinai, the tribes are
invited to come up and come close! The challenge is for both to cast off their
darkened blindness, and to change direction. “O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's
height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe.”
Then
observe that the yearning of those who are coming up is for the LORD to teach
them (2.3b). These people have an anticipation that this teaching by the Lord
of might will impact and infect their way of living and thinking. “That he may teach us his ways and that we
may walk in his paths”!!!! There’s an anticipation of a new way, a new
life, new patterns and new habits of life-style. “O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's
height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe.”
This template is laid down all over scripture: Come as you are, but thank God
he won’t leave you as you are! Those who are desirously singing, “O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to
thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud
and majesty and awe” know that they’re not what they ought to be, they’re
not what they will one day be, but are also grateful they’re not what they used
to be!
Finally,
with this new thing, this surprising attraction to God’s place and God’s way,
there is a new definition (2.3c-4). This is an inside-out reorientation! Watch
how the Hatfields and the McCoys, the Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs, Sooners and
Longhorns are transformed by the intervention of the Lord of might who has
taught them. Though they come as they are, he doesn’t leave them as they are;
and they’re mighty glad of it! The inside-out changes are liberating, making
them capable and content to cast off all their ruptures and fractures. THEY
(1) transform the means of war from plundering to plowing, from bloodshed to
bounty; (2) toss the practice of war; and (3) trash the mentality of war.
Those
who wistfully sing “O come, O come, thou
Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst
give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe” are grateful that God’s
rescuing, redemptive grace pulsates and pumps through the Law given on Sinai: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself…I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 19.4-6, 20.1-3).
The Gospel and Law are not the same, but the Gospel empowers the Law! “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to
thee, O Israel.”
Those
who reflectively sing “O come, O come,
thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times
didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe” are longing for Jesus to
come and rescue them, refresh them, remold them, and even remediate their
relationships starting with themselves. We sing knowing we can come as we are,
and glad he will not leave us as we are! “Rejoice!
Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”
Those
who longingly sing “O come, O come, thou
Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst
give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe” are grateful that this same
Lord of might said, “And I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12.32). “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to
thee, O Israel.”
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