This is the third in a series on the Christian prayers for the end of Advent. Each of these prayers begins in “O” . . .
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the Gentiles shall seek: Come and deliver us, and tarry not.
It wasn’t fashionable to admit need until very recently. In these times, many powerful people are being forced to admit that their own power is not enough. We cannot solve our own problems.
There is a reason for this weakness: we are weak.
The measure of our power is not that good times, but the fact that bad times, are unavoidable. The rich cannot buy off fate and the powerful cannot escape judgment. Even virtue is no protection against bad times as Job discovered to his shock.
God, who does control everything, governs for our good and not based on our beliefs about what is good. The rich, the powerful, and even the good have only uncertain knowledge about what is actually best. As a result, they make horrid miscalculations all the time. It is good to be reasonable, but not so wise to recognize no limits at all for the human ability to reason well or from adequate data.
This makes the common temptation in early life to put our trust in those rich and powerful people even sillier than most of our faults. They cannot save themselves when they are in peril, so how can they save us?
We assume, of course, that though the rich, powerful, and worldly wise did not know enough to save themselves, that we do know enough, but simply lack the means to do it. If, we think, we could simply combine our keen insight into our needs with their ability, then all would be well.
We forget how dubious is the notion that we know something Socrates did not: ourselves.
We mistake our felt needs for our real needs. We feel the need for money, for possessions, or for immediate deliverance from our pain. Our real needs are often quite different from what we perceive and so even when we are “lucky” enough to get what we think we need, it does not satisfy us.
Instead of learning the obvious lesson that we don’t know ourselves very well and that patrons cannot deliver us, instead we become cynical about all rule and about all chances of happiness. Our expectations have been disappointed so many times that it seems reasonable to be bitter.
The Scrooge of the early parts of the Christmas Carol is our hero if he just lost his foolish optimism in money. Having been let down by wealth, we have learned to hate that as well.
We are not hopeful enough to be misers. We have been betrayed by riches, reason, and rulers.
The prayer for this day points to a better way. We could put our trust in a better flag. This flag will never be stained by ordering evil deeds in its name. It stands for a Kingdom that is powerful, but also loving and just. It is the flag of King Jesus.
King Jesus is under no delusions about the powerful of this age. They talk a great deal, but they have nothing to say. He shuts their mouths. He also invites those outside of His family, the Gentiles, to His Kingdom.
You don’t have to be born His child the first time, because He will allow you to be born a second time into Israel. We were unlucky in our first parents, hapless Adam and Eve, but we can choose our adopted Father.
Children know that Christmas is good. They very wisely cannot wait for the great day. In the same way, sensible Christians long for the full manifestation of the rule of King Jesus. It is so close now!
We long for justice. We hope for righteousness. We want the entire world to be made whole and happy. We know He is coming with power and the character needed to do it.
We know He will do it at just the right moment . . . in the fullness of time, but we still cannot wait!
Come quickly Christmas King!
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the Gentiles shall seek: Come and deliver us, and tarry not.
