As I was walking my dog in the dark hours of the early morning, I passed by the front of St. John in the Wilderness Church.  A couple of weeks ago, I changed the sign that is in the church yard.  In true Advent spirit I posted letters that formed the following message: “Come thou long expected Jesus.”  Of course, this is the first line of a familiar hymn.  The entire first stanza goes like this:

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.

There’s a lot of theology brimming forth in hymns, and some of it is even good theology!  This is an example of some excellent theology that goes to the heart of Jesus’ mission and to the core of our identity. 

The hymn is actually a prayer.  It is calling on Jesus to come and act in our lives.  The prayer fervently implores Jesus to take away the fears and sins that so often imprison us and keep us from becoming the people God dreams us to be.  And so, if the purpose of Jesus’ birth was, indeed, “to set people free,” then the purpose of our lives is, simply, to be free!  What liberation there is in that statement!  Our purpose is not to be good or holy or righteous, at least not in the traditional way of using those words.  Our purpose is not to be successful.  Our purpose is not to save the world.  The purpose of our lives is to be free.  That’s it, in a nutshell.  Saint Paul, perhaps, says it best: “for freedom Christ has set us free.”

Now the beauty of it is, of course, that people who have found true freedom live holy, good, beautiful, lifegiving lives.  But it’s almost as if all of this is just an after effect.  Focus on Jesus.  Focus on the freedom Jesus brings and offers.  All the rest will fall into place.  What are your fears?  Leave them on Jesus’ altar.  Where have you fallen short?  Leave them at the cross.  What is still holding you back, holding you in bondage?  Let Jesus break those chains. 

Come, Thou long expected Jesus!

Born to set Thy people free!

~Father Art