Hallelujah Christ Is Coming

This time of year as fall winds down and we begin to look toward Christmas, is a favorite
time of mine. This time of year is categorized in the Christian liturgical year as Advent. The
word Advent means arrival, and in Christian terms it refers to the first and second coming
of Christ. The Advent season is rich with meaning, contemplation and the eventual joy of
Christ’s birth. But for many, Advent and Christmas are difficult and painful because the
season is a reminder of all that has not yet been made right in this world.

Christ came, and yet there’s earthly death. Christ came, and yet there’s brokenness. Christ
came, and yet there’s war. The longer I study Advent, the more I realize that the Christmas
story, while incredibly bizarre and joyous, is also full of a lot of pain: 400 years of silence. A
pregnant teenager. A dreadfully confused husband-to-be. A family member who literally
can’t speak until his baby is born. A long, uncomfortable journey. Fleeing the country soon
after giving birth, for fear that rulers will hunt down your child to kill him. The slaughter of
thousands of infant boys.

More Christmas hymns than any other theme within Christian music are written in minor
keys. Isn’t that fascinating and telling? Minor keys sound dark, sad and mysterious,
opposed to major keys which typically sound uplifting. There’s a reason that so many
Christmas hymns contain the word come. They are a desperate plea for Christ to come
again and make all things right.The Christmas story is dark, remarkable, and wildly
unlikely. But even still, in the darkness, a Light came and will come again.

One of my very favorite Christmas songs holds these lyrics: He will return to end the fight
/ To banish all the power of night / When Christ returns our hope is sealed / When Christ
returns the world is healed / When Christ returns He is the prize / When Christ returns
the dead will rise / Hallelujah! Christ is coming / Lord, we wait for you.

These words are a promise: Christ will return to end the fight and banish the power of
darkness and night! Revelation 4:8b says: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who
was, and is and is to come!” God is not done! He was, he is, and he is coming back. And so
even when we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we can say confidently:
Hallelujah! Christ is coming! Lord, we wait for you.