The words

are by far the most familiar of our Advent hymns.

"O

come, O come, Emmanuel\and ransom captive Israel\that

mourns in lowly exile here\until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel\shall come to you, O

Israel."

As familiar

as these words are, their meaning is sometimes lost or

never known at all. Why these words? What do they mean?

Perhaps a little story can help us understand.

The time

was long ago. Young Josh was confused. He had heard all

the stories about how his people had been mighty and

powerful when they ruled their own land far away. He was

familiar with the stories about the mighty kings, Saul

and David and Solomon.

Josh had

heard all about how beautiful the temple was that was

built in Jerusalem, his family's home city. He knew that

God had chosen his people as a special people and that

God still had a wonderful purpose for them.

But things

were strange now. The only life that Josh had ever known

was as a foreigner in someone else's land. Living in

Babylon was tough because life there for Josh and his

family - and all of their people - was a life

of captivity. They were being forced to live there

against their will and were watched as prisoners, making

it impossible to return to their own country.

"But

don't give up hope," the prophet kept saying.

"Remember, you are the children of Abraham. You are

God's chosen people. God will not leave you here in

exile. He will call you back to your rightful home."

Then the

prophet would always continue, "The Lord God

Almighty will raise up for you a Messiah, the very Son of

God, who will come and rescue and save you from your

horrible peril. And never forget, God is Emmanuel, which

means literally `God is with us!' He is with us even here

in this far country."

Josh and

his people believed that the prophet spoke the very words

and true promise of God. They wrote prayers and songs and

cried out to God to come and save them, which he did

eventually.

These

prayers and songs and the crying out for God to come and

save are the background and setting for our familiar

hymn. The music we use comes much later, but even it

dates all the way back to the 15th century.

The first

lines are a yearning call by people in exile, people

scattered from all they know as security and home. Out on

the plains of Babylon the haunting melody cries out the

plea, "O come, O come, Emmanuel! And ransom [verb]

captive [adjective] Israel [God's people now in exile],

who are weary and mournful in their separation as they

wait for God's Son to appear."

But the

refrain of the hymn is the answer to each call for help!

The refrain is the hopeful, promising, and confident

answer. For each time the plea is made for God to come,

the assurance is proclaimed. The people are called from

sorrow into joy because of the wonderful and sure promise

of God. "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come [notice the

sentence structure which gives the correct meaning] to

you, O Israel.!"

So, as

Martin Luther would ask, "What does this mean for

us?" (This is the question Luther repeats over and

over in his doctrinal instructions in "The

Catechism." For he believed nothing of the faith is

left in the long ago and far away.)

So,

"What does this mean for us?" Here's what it

means for us: In Advent we ponder our own condition of

"exile," our own separation from that which

could make us whole.

Our cry,

too, is for Emmanuel, "God with us", to come to

us. He is the only one who can restore our completeness.

He is the only one who can "bring us home." And

to our pleas, as well, comes the good news of hope. To

our ears and hearts and lives God's promise comes,

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you!"

And so he

has.

And so he

does.

And so he

shall.

In that

hope. In that joy. I wish you and your family "a

very merry Christmas."

The Rev.

Justin Kollmeyer is senior pastor of Prince of Peace

Lutheran Church on Ga. Highway 314 in Fayetteville. He

invites all who may seek a Christmas Eve service to join

him and his church in a candlelight Communion service at

5, 7, 9, or 11 p.m.