O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

December 1, 2024 homily on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 by Pastor Galen for the First Sunday of Advent

May [The Lord] so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. — 1 Thess. 3:13.

Advent: Celebrating the Coming of Christ

Advent is a season of preparation, as we prepare to celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” or “visit.”

During this season leading up to Christmas, we remember when Jesus came to earth 2,000 years ago and was born as a baby, and laid in a humble manger. We sing songs telling the story of this glorious event. We decorate our houses with lights to remember that Jesus is the light of the world. We hang stars on our Christmas trees to remember the star that led the magi to worship Jesus. We put up nativity scenes to remember Joseph and Mary who welcomed Jesus into their family, and the shepherds and magi who came to worship the baby Jesus. We remember the angels who proclaimed the good news of Christ’s birth. We tell the story again and again of how Jesus came to earth, because truly it was the most wonderful and glorious thing that has ever happened in the history of the world–when God took on flesh and lived among us. 

During this season of Advent, we also look forward to the Second coming of Christ, when Jesus will return to make everything right. We sing songs like O Come, O Come, Emmanuel that tap into our deepest longings for Christ’s return. We anticipate that day “when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold,” as in the words of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, “when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.” We look forward and anticipate that day when Christ will return to fulfill all of the promises of Scripture and to make everything new. 

But during Advent, there is also a third coming of Christ that we remember and celebrate, and that is the coming of Christ into our hearts and lives in the here and now. This is the coming of Christ that often gets neglected in our celebrations of Advent and Christmas, and it is the coming of Christ into our hearts and lives and the transformation that he brings that the Apostle Paul invites us to remember here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

1 Thessalonians can be thought of as a kind of Christmas letter from the Apostle Paul, written to his friends and loved ones in the city of Thessalonica he was separated from by distance. Throughout the letter, he expresses his longing to be with them, and how much he misses them and wishes he could see them face to face. (I know that we often think of Paul as a “lone wolf.” Paul never married, as far as we can tell. He had no children, and he very rarely mentions any close relatives. For those rare instances, see Acts 23:16 and Romans 16:7. But Paul was far from being an isolated individual because he had deep connections with those that he ministered with and to. And we catch a glimpse of that here in 1 Thessalonians.)

Reading Paul’s letter, I’m reminded of the popular Christmas song, I’ll be Home for Christmas, written by lyricist James Kimball Gannon, and originally recorded in 1943 by the famous singer, Bing Crosby. The song is sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed overseas during World War II, writing a letter home to his family. In the letter, the soldier tells his family that he will be coming home for Christmas, and instructs them to make preparations for him. He requests that there be snow and mistletoe, and presents under the tree. The song ends on a melancholy note, however, with the soldier indicating that he may not actually be there in person, saying, “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

The holidays often evoke these sorts of longings to be with friends and loved ones. We dream of being able to go and see friends and loved ones who are far away. We long to host them for a visit. Occasionally we may be able to travel to see them, but often we are not. And so we write letters or send cards. We call them on the phone or talk to them by Zoom or Facetime. And when even that is not possible, we are left to think of them in our dreams.

Paul and the Thessalonians

This was what Paul was facing. He longed to see his friends and family members in Thessalonica in person, but obstacles kept getting in the way of his being able to go and see them. And so he did the two next best things: 1. He sent his friend and colleague Timothy to check on them and make sure they were OK, and 2. He wrote this letter to let them know that he is thinking of them and praying for them.

Earlier in chapter 3, we find that Timothy had just returned from Thessalonica, and had given a glowing report about the two things that Paul was most worried about in regards to the Thessalonians. First, Paul had heard about the persecutions that the Thessalonians were facing, and so he had been worried that perhaps they had abandoned their faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, he was worried, given the physical distance separating them, that perhaps the Thessalonians had forgotten about him, or that they thought that he had forgotten them. 

But Timothy’s visit to the Thessalonians gave Paul all of the reassurance that he needed, and so Paul says,

…Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, just as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. — 1 Thessalonians 3:6-7.

For Paul, getting this good report about the Thessalonians from Timothy was like receiving a Christmas card from someone we haven’t talked with in a long time. We wonder if we’ve perhaps done something to hurt or offend them. Perhaps they’re not returning our calls or emails, and we’ve been worried that they no longer want anything to do with us. But then we get a beautiful Christmas card from them, or perhaps a phone call apologizing for how long it’s been since they’ve called or written, and we know that everything is OK, that they miss us just as much as we miss them.

Paul was encouraged to know that even though he hadn’t heard from his friends in Thessalonica in a long time, they still thought of him fondly, and they looked forward to his visit, whenever he was able to come. 

And so Paul tells them that he has been praying night and day that he will be able to see them again soon. But in the meantime, he tells them what else has been praying for them And this is where we see the connection to Advent, as we anticipate the coming of Christ. 

Paul prays for the Thessalonians: 

1. That their love for one another would abound more and more. After all, this is why Jesus came — to remind us that we are called to love God and love one another. And it starts here in church! We’re not just people who come and sit in the same meeting for an hour each week. We are called to love and care for one another, as brothers and sisters in Christ! And so Paul prayed that the Thessalonians would grow more and more in their love for one another — caring for each other, even when he couldn’t be there with them.

2. Paul also prays that God would “strengthen [their] hearts in holiness that [they] may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thess. 3:13).

Preparing for Jesus’ Arrival

And so here we see Paul’s biggest hope and concern for the Thessalonians — that they would be ready when Jesus returns. Because truly that was much more important than that they felt fondly toward him or that they missed him. Paul’s greatest desire for his friends and loved ones was that they would know God’s love, experience Jesus working among them, and be prepared for His return.

Because truly this is why Jesus came, and it is why Jesus wants to come into our hearts and lives here and now. Jesus didn’t come so that we could have an excuse to decorate our houses and get together with our friends and loved ones. He wasn’t born so that we could have an excuse to spend a lot of money buying gifts and presents for our friends and loved ones one day a year. Rather, he came to restore our relationship with God and to help us grow in godliness and holiness so that we can start living into our eternal destiny now, and so that we will be ready to welcome Christ when he returns. 

This is why the first verse of the classic Christmas hymn that we sing, Joy to the World, proclaims,

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! 

Let earth receive her King; 

let every heart prepare him room, 

and heaven and nature sing, 

and heaven and nature sing, 

and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Truly this is the most important preparation that we can make this Advent season — preparing our hearts to receive Jesus as the King and ruler of our lives. 

Imagine if everyone in the world were to make space in their lives to receive Jesus as king! Imagine if the whole world espoused the values of peace, and love, and hope and joy that we proclaim during this Advent season. Imagine what a world that would be!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

But alas, we live in a world where not all is as it should be. And so we are left with a mixture of longing and hope. Longing for the day when Jesus returns, but hope, because we know that when Christ returns we will spend eternity with him in our eternal home. Like the Apostle Paul, we’re left with a longing to be reunited with our friends and loved ones, including the many who have gone on before. But we have hope because we know that one day we will be reunited with them for all eternity. And we’re left with a longing for the world to be made right, for evil and injustice to come to an end, but we have hope because we know that one day Christ will return, and our longing for peace and love and joy will be fulfilled.

Although we are left with longing, we have hope because Christ was born, and has made his home among us. We have hope because we know that this life is not all there is. We know that no matter what troubles or problems we face in this life, one day all will be made right. And so we welcome Christ into our hearts and lives, inviting him to make preparations in our hearts for when he returns. We invite Christ to come and make his home in us here and now, even as we look forward to that day when we will spend eternity at home with him and all those who have gone on before.

And so we pray, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Emmanuel–God with us–come and make your home in us.

Amen!