Text: Charles Coffin, 1736
Tune: based on PUER NOBIS, 15th c
Refrain & Arrangement: Rachel Henkle, 2014
Click here to listen... lyrics are at the bottom of this post.
This season is full of preparations. Have you finished your shopping yet? Marked all of your Christmas parties on your calendar? Put up your decorations? Have you listened to the music, visited Santa with your kids, sent out Christmas cards, watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and orchestrated all of your gatherings to be sure to spend adequate and meaningful time with grandparents, in-laws and friends? Well you better hurry. There are only 20 days left...
Advent is all about preparations, too. The Advent hymn I have been thinking about the past few days gets its title from a curious character, John the Baptist. He showed up on the banks of the Jordan River wearing camel's hair clothes and eating locusts and wild honey. Read about his parents and his birth in Luke 1, and his ministry in Luke 3:1-20. John's ministry was focused on one thing: preparing the way for Jesus. The way he told people to prepare was to repent - or turn from their lives of sin and self-reliance. Then he pointed them to Jesus, the ultimate source of salvation and life.
The hymn calls us to "awake and harken" - or wake up and listen up. John's message is for us, too. I'm asking God this question today: What do I need to do to prepare my heart this Advent season? As I'm hurriedly trying to make the season festive, fun and memorable for myself and my family, I am in danger of missing the fact that there are people and places in desperate need of a Savior and the hope and healing he brings. I think God is telling me to learn from John the Baptist. First, to repent of my sins and return to Jesus. Then, point others to him. So that is my prayer for myself and for anyone hoping for a meaningful Advent season - Prepare our hearts, Oh God!