Time Between

John 1:1-3; 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence LBW 198

1    Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
      ponder nothing earthly-minded, for with blessing in his hand
      Christ our God to earth descending comes our homage to demand.

2    King of kings, yet born of Mary, as of old on earth he stood,
      Lord of lords in human vesture, in the body and the blood,
      he will give to all the faithful his own self for heav’nly food.

3    Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way;
      as the Light of light, descending from the realms of endless day,
      comes, the pow’rs of hell to vanquish, as the darkness clears away.

4    At his feet the six-winged seraph, cherubim with sleepless eye,
      veil their faces to the presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry:
      “Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia, Lord Most High!”

Text: Liturgy of St. James; tr. Gerard Moultrie, 1829-1885, alt.

      There are some who wonder if this 5th century hymn is about Jesus’ first coming or second.  We sing it at Christmas, and during Communion, so it seems to be an acknowledgment of his presence among us then and now; “King of Kings, yet born of Mary…” sounds kind of “Christmas-y” to me. 

      The first verse is a paraphrase from Zechariah 2:13 “Be silent, O flesh, before the Lord.  For he has risen from his holy habitation…”and speaks of meeting him in fear and trembling. The second speaks of his angels tending his arrival as a vanguard; the third of how he comes to vanquish the powers of hell, so it also seems to point to a future, second coming. 

      And we live between the times of these two ‘comings’. We live in the knowledge of Christmas, of his real presence in the sacrament, and of the promise of his coming again.  We live in the “time between the times”, a time of promises made and promise kept, a time of hope, which is not a bad place to live. For in spite of the hopeless words that float around us, we, His people, stand in silent wonder before the truth of the Word made flesh dwelling among us!

 Prayer:  God of grace and glory, we are grateful for the gift of Your Son in a manger, on a cross, in the bread and the wine, and in his coming again to redeem this world to Yourself.  Amen.