PEOPLE LOOK EAST

People, look east. The time is near 
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

Its Advent again, a new year of Grace. Advent looks in two directions at once: to the First Coming of Jesus as the Child of Bethlehem and to the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time. A. R. Kretzmann, the celebrated Pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Chicago, once said in a sermon, “The purpose of the church is to bridge the two comings of Christ.” The church is an Advent people.

Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

I have run into folks who actually hate Advent. They don’t like the Advent hymns. They don’t like the church waiting until Christmas to put up a tree. Like little children, they want it all now. But a good life always involves waiting, and Advent is for waiting.

Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.

I think I came to love Advent when I was a child and sang in the Carol Choir at Ascension Lutheran Church, Chicago. There was a pattern to the anthems we learned under Eleanor Knobloch. “Hark, the Sabbath Bells are Ringing” was always the first anthem in September. “O, how amiable, are thy dwellings” was for Thanksgiving, and “People Look East” arrived in Advent. 

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

The poet Eleanor Farjeon wrote “Carol of the Advent” (People Look East) for the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols. The text is set to a Besançon tune for the carol “Chantons, Bargiés, Noué, Noué.” The bouncy 6/8 melody reveals the carol’s origin in the dance. How can you sing it and not feel the joy? How can you not love Advent.

Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.

What else is there to say, but the ancient prayer of the church:
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.!

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne