“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” 
1 Corinthians 15

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When I was 14 years old, my hipster, indie-band loving associate pastor asked if I’d sing “The Trumpet Child” on the last Sunday of Advent. Our worship services were mostly quite traditional, so when I listened to this song for the first time, I was absolutely stoked. And when I listened to it a second time…I was absolutely confused. 
   Written by husband-wife folk duo Over the Rhine, “The Trumpet Child” is layered with deep metaphor, allusion and scriptural reference. Instead of the familiar images of mangers and donkeys, the song points us towards some less cozy moments in Isaiah and Revelation: most notably, a burning coal on one’s lips (Isaiah 6:6–7), and trumpets playing as the sky bursts into flames (Revelation 8:6-13).
   While I’d love to say that my teenage brain caught the apocalyptic nods, I must admit, I didn’t give it that much thought. But I knew this: the song felt dark, mysterious, heavy, and perhaps a bit creepy. So how was it possibly being used as an Advent song?
   As it turns out, the songwriters meant for it to be just that. Intertwining themes from both the first and second advents of Christ, this song describes the passion and intensity one would need to arrive in a fallen world, rupture its deeply-rooted social order, and carry out God’s will.             
   When I think of trumpets, I think of formal, rigid fanfare… but that’s not how Jesus comes to Earth. Instead, this “trumpet child” depiction of Christ is one with some serious grit and soul—a Jesus that can rip a fiery improvised jazz solo that rivals “Satchmo” (Louis Armstrong) and “Thelonious” (Monk). At the same time, the immense power is balanced by a smooth grace. This trumpet child holds tenderness in one hand and tenacity in the other, which—to me, at least—perfectly describes Jesus and his arrival into this world. 
   As an adult, this version of Christmas is much more compelling to me than the Hallmark version we are used to. It’s a version that acknowledges the grim darkness that leaves the Earth desperate for a Savior, and that recognizes the Savior’s arrival is marked not just by peace and grace, but by a “burst of wild desire.” And—like the unresolved final chord of this song—this version of Christmas leaves us with a persistent longing, reminding us that the story of Christ is a story that is not yet finished.

 

 

The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it's reborn
With Gabriel's power and Satchmo's grace
He will surprise the human race

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The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

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The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He'll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

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The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

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The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer's outstretched hand

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The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed