O Come Divine Messiah
Look to the poets to find that the onset of winter has long evoked in the soul of man the imagery of death and loss and longing. Consider these two stanzas:
The Autumn leaves fall to the ground,
Soon all the trees will barren be;
And all that is so dear to me,
Will soon have ended with no sound.
The Darkened landscape wrapt in frost,
And all the flowers wilt and lie;
Dead in their spot under the sky,
O what is this that all is lost! [1]
We feel this poignantly in Minnesota. There’s a palpable sense of a communal preparation of hunkering down for a long winter. And perhaps the increased flurry of shopping and parties and cookies this time of year is to distract ourselves in part because we intuit the sorrow winter stirs.
The turn in weather itself awakens in us a stark reminder that while the youthfulness of spring gives rise to the vitality of summer before the fading days of fall, winter is coming. Death is inevitable. It is the curse of sin (cf. Romans 6:23). And we look about in the dark days of December and see the pervasive impact of sin. We feel it in our bones. Like the false prophets of Israel in Ezekiel’s day, our society eagerly covers over the sorrow of the season by saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace (cf. Ezekiel 13:10). There is still death; there is still winter. The natural world itself has been groaning in its subjection to futility (cf. Romans 8:18-25).
And so we plead in song, “O come, Divine Messiah / The world is longing for the day / When hope shall sing its triumph / And her sadness flies away.” We look about in these dark days and turn our gaze on Hope, on true Peace. It comes not in sales or in fleeting fun but in the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He came, and he died, and he rose, and he departed. And it’s winter. We wait, and we groan. We groan until his promise is fulfilled and the warm light of eternal spring shines in new creation wonder.
So Church, may we repent of the vain distractions that obscure the reality and consequence of sin. May we know godly grief that produces repentance that leads to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). And may we look eagerly for the day when our Divine Messiah comes in triumph.
“O Come Divine Messiah” (Lyrics)
O come, Divine Messiah
The world is longing for the day
When hope shall sing its triumph
And her sadness flies away
Dear Savior come to tired earth
And bring the grace of dawn
Dispel the night and show
Thy face Come, Messiah, Come
O come, Divine Messiah, come
Come Messiah come
O Thou whom nations sigh for
Whom priest and prophet long foretold
Will break the captive fetters
And bring the wayward home
There is hope today
That God Himself might shine upon our souls and say
Unto you a Savior comes
And everything will change
Everything will change
There is hope today
That God Himself will heal our wounded world and say
Unto you Savior comes
And everything will change
—
[1] “Winter, Death, and Life” (https://hellopoetry.com/poem/248790/winter-death-and-life/)