Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
This is the Memorial acclamation professed when celebrating Holy Communion. It is also what we proclaim at Easter. But what about Advent?
âAdventâ means âarrivalâ or âcomingâ, usually for which we prepare and wait. During the Christmas season, we busy ourselves shopping for presents, and planning for gatherings with friends and families. In our busyness, we tend to lose sight of observing Advent as preparation for the commemoration of Jesusâ birth and in expectation of His coming again.
âIâm looking for the coming of Christ, I want to be with JesusâŠâ goes the third stanza of this Advent hymn. In expressing her yearning to be with Jesus, the hymn writer Kathleen Thomerson professes that Christ will come again!
Thomerson clearly knows who the resurrected Christ is. The hymnâs first stanza declares with conviction and deep confidence: âI want to follow Jesus, the star of my lifeâŠâ She continues to describe who Jesus is: the light (John 8:12); the Lamb (John 1:29); the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2).
Knowing how Jesus lived and His saying that it is only through Him that we can come to the Father (John 14:6â7), the hymn writer expresses the desire to follow Him. She asks that Jesus shows her the way to the Father.
We now begin a new cycle of the Church year with Advent. This hymn reminds us to prepare and wait for Christâs second coming. It gives us hope that as we wait, God works in and through us.
We do not know what tomorrow will bring. What we do know is that Christ will come again. As Godâs redeemed people, âLet us with patience run the raceâ (stanza three) and live following Christ and allowing Him to lead us to the Father!
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
(The United Methodist Hymnal, #206)
I want to walk as a child of the light;
I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world;
The star of my life is Jesus.
Refrain:
In him there is no darkness at all;
The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of God;
Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.
I want to see the brightness of God;
I want to look at Jesus.
Clear Sun of righteousness, shine on my path,
And show me the way to the Father.
Â
Iâm looking for the coming of Christ;
I want to be with Jesus.
When we have run with patience the race,
We shall know the joy of Jesus.
Text and Music:Â Kathleen Thomerson, 1966
Tune:Â HOUSTON
Meter:Â 10 7.10 8 with Refrain
Judith Laoyan-Mosomos is the Director for Worship and Church Music at the Methodist School of Music, and a member of Kampong Kapor Methodist Church.
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