It was never a popular Advent hymn. It got banished from the ELW. I had trouble finding a decent recording for you. Here’s a pretty good guitar arrangement.

Come, Thou precious Ransom, come,
Only hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world!
Open are to Thee all portals.
Come, Thy beauty let us see;
Anxiously we wait for Thee.

The hymn was authored by a Lutheran pastor, Johann Gottfried Olearius (1635-1711). It is written in the warm, pietistic style popular among 17th century Lutherans, but which has difficulty finding a place today. In a season plagued by renditions of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” I long for the hope expressed in this hymn. We invite Christ to come to us, the precious Ransom, the Savior of the world. We anxiously await his coming–the only hope.

Several times I’ve been criticized for preaching about hope. People take hope as some namby-pamby wishful thinking as in “I hope it doesn’t rain on our picnic.” I don’t think much of that sort of hope either. The hope I talk about, the hope taught in the New Testament is something more akin to confidence. To have hope in Christ is to be sure of his promises.

As much as I enjoy this time of year, the hullabaloo surrounding the Winter Buying and Partying Season sometime overwhelms me. I need to know there is something greater than all this stuff which gets packed away on December 26. I need the hope of Christ.

Come, Thou Precious Ransom, Come!

Read Revelation 22:20  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne