Hymns for the Nativity: X

Now we come to my absolute favorite Advent Song in Hymn X of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. 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.

2. Born thy People to deliver,

Born a Child and yet a King;

Born to reign in Us for ever,

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.

Textual note: this reflects the 2nd edition of 1788. The first edition (1745) had "...From our Fears and Sins relieve us..." I like both words but 'release' is probably the better option here because the emphasis is upon a setting free from bondage. But I get why Charles first put 'relieve.' The next line is an appeal to a line from St. Augustine: "You have created us for Yourself, and we cannot rest until we rest in Thee." The idea there conceptualizes the human pursuit for happiness & peace. This pursuit is burdensome but when we find that it is Christ who brings us peace, we can find rest in him. Folksong writer David Wilcox has a great song that relates here in his 'That's what the Lonely is For.' (Seriously, click on that link and read the lyrics!) As he introduces the song in his live album he indicates that the song was inspired by his annoyance with the empty space in the Biltmore mansion and in so doing says something profound (paraphrased): "I discovered I was annoyed because our hearts our built this way. We have hearts that are just HUGE, which hold a tremendous amount of fullness. This is great if there is that much fullness to find, but it sure does leave a lot of room for lonely. So that's annoying! But then I realized that our hearts are not just some stupid, ostentatiously large house, but were designed that way for a purpose. It's the design of your heart. Maybe it's only the empty that can keep you looking long enough to find the fullness that will really suffice." Christ 'relieves' us of our tiring pursuit by entering our atmosphere and hearts. "Come to me, all you who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest." That is a message we need this Advent. That is a message we need to receive in this age!

This hymn, maybe better than any other, bridges together the First & Second Comings of Jesus in a way that best demonstrates the significance of Advent. Perhaps that is why it's my favorite. Herein he fulfills the promise made to Abraham, the blessing through whom "all the nations" would be blessed. Therefore, he is "Israel's strength and consolation" as well as the "Hope of all the Earth." He's the one who was brought to fulfillment God's single plan of rescuing the whole world through the line of and promise made to Abraham, and though that promise has been initially fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus, it will be completely consummated in the second coming.

The second stanza is clearly about the Kingdom, which also ties together the First & Second Comings. Key words identifying this: "reign," "gracious kingdom bring," rule," "throne." It's important that it is by the Holy Spirit that Christ "rules" in our hearts. The Spirit has shown up in several places in the collection and that communicates that although Advent & the Nativity are centered on the Person of Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who makes him known to our hearts and makes him able to reign as King even now!