O Come, O Come
In her version of the Naaman story, Jesus Storybook Bible author, Sally Lloyd-Jones, writes:
“God knew that Naaman was even sicker on the inside than he was on the outside. Naaman was proud. He thought he didn’t need God. … God was not only going to heal Naaman’s skin, he was going to heal his pride.”
And this has me thinking about the posture of advent — this posture of waiting, of hoping, of yearning, of longing — all of which take us out of the position of control. They are the opposite of making things happen, producing, or taking charge.
Maybe that’s just what we need: to be reminded that we need.
Need what we can’t make or produce or take for ourselves.
Need help, need healing, need rescue.
Need a Savior.
I don’t think any advent song expresses this humble posture of recognized need better than O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It feels like a prayer, like longing, like an admission of need.