“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…”

By: Sarah Hogue, Director of Children’s Ministry and Member Formation

I absolutely love Christmas music!  I listen to it all throughout the season, and I enjoy everything from the bouncy beat of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time to the tears in my eyes during the candlelight Silent Night on Christmas Eve. This is truly my favorite time of the year! (Except for the cold weather!!!) 

Of all of the lyrics I enjoy this time of year, there is one line that has captured my reflection.  I think it first hit me during Christmas of 2020, when we sat in an empty sanctuary on Christmas Eve. (My son had to work in the media booth with some others, so a few of us did get to be “in person” that year!).  It’s the line from O Holy Night:   “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…”  I felt it in my heart as I looked at the manger on the chancel and saw the empty pews around me.  Has the entire world ever been more weary than that year?  

This thrill of hope that the people looking for the Messiah got to experience that night over 2,000 years ago really spoke to me on that Christmas Eve. The long-awaited Savior was born!  How amazing!  However, he was a baby. His true purpose was 30+ years away from happening. The world was still waiting in its weariness.  It was a thrill of hope, a moment, a light at the end of the tunnel, but it wasn’t yet the complete answer. The world was still waiting.

Fast forward to today and we are still waiting. Advent is a time of waiting.  On the one hand, we commemorate the waiting of the world for the birth of Jesus.  On the other hand, we still wait for the second coming of Christ.  So, what do we do while we wait?  A few lines later, the song tells us:  “Fall on your knees…”  We should be praising and worshiping God.  We do not know the precise time when Jesus will come again, but when he does come we want him to find us on our knees, worshiping God as we pray, reading God’s Word, fellowshipping with other Christians, and serving in Christ’s name.  

I recently saw a quote that said, “When you are in a season of waiting, do what waiters do, and serve.”  We are in a season of waiting, just as those who waited thousands of years for the birth of Jesus. What shall we do while we wait?  Let us serve. Let us “fall on our knees” in worship to God and serve others in Jesus’ name.