MINISTER’S LETTER
O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Dear brothers, sisters and friends,
It is an immense privilege to be writing to you as minister of Gilcomston Church, knowing the rich and blessed history this church has and having already begun to experience the love and care of the church; something myself, Steffi, Jonathan, Josiah and Micah are profoundly thankful for. We feel privileged and blessed, and we look ahead with excitement and thankful hearts to the future.
As I write it is snowing outside and winter is fast approaching – I narrowly avoided crashing twice and was also stopped by the police on my way into work this morning (I’d left the passenger door open!) – but somehow it all seems worth it, because Christmas is here. For many of us this will bring back fond memories of family gatherings and an anticipation of more to come, whilst for others Christmas can be a sorrowful and painful season marked by loss or loneliness.
Written over and above all our experiences and emotions is the Gospel.
Fundamentally humanity aches and yearns for better. This played itself out in the first great rebellion when our first parents wanted more than their allotted amount and so took it upon themselves to be their own gods. They ached to be kings/queens themselves. That ache formed into sin, and the world fell into darkness.
But in the midst of that terrible darkness, even as the LORD pronounced his judgment on their sin, He spoke the first Gospel in Genesis 3:15:
I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.
From that point on the world awaited, ached for, a serpent-crushing saviour-king to arrive. The wait was on. Abraham arrived – perhaps he was the one? He was not. Isaac? Jacob? Moses? David? All fell. But then came Jesus Christ – and it is his birth we now celebrate at Christmas. The ache gone, the scratch itched.
But even as we now rejoice anew that Christ has come – and rightly so – as his people his coming has created a new itch, a new scratch, a new yearning, that he would come again. Which is why at Christmas time we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, we rejoice at the new birth he has given his people, and we eagerly await his coming again. Until that day we pray: Come, Lord Jesus!
Yea, amen let all adore thee,
High on thine eternal throne!
Saviour, take the pow’r and glory;
Claim the kingdom for thine own.
O come quickly, O come quickly, O come quickly,
Hallelujah! come Lord, come.