In some ways it seems a bit harsh to think about entering Advent, the season of waiting, when all we seem to have been doing the last nearly two years is waiting. Waiting for the vaccine to be created, waiting for the isolation to end, waiting to see where the pandemic numbers are heading, up or down, waiting for the restrictions to lift. Yet perhaps that puts us in a good place to really understand what not only the season of Advent is about but also the deep desire of the people of Israel before the birth of Jesus.
Jesus came to witness to the truth, the truth of God’s nature, the truth of God’s plans and the truth of God’s love. Not even we who are the recipients of two thousand years of teaching and witness to God through Jesus Christ are really able to take these truths in to our very core.
For thousands of years the people of God and in fact the whole earth was in a time of waiting. Waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled, the promise of one who would come to save us, from sin and evil and even ourselves. Over time the people of Israel began to believe that the one they were waiting for would be a mighty King with a strong army to save them from the slavery and oppression they lived under for hundreds of years. The one who would return Israel to its former glory and show the world the power of God and the love that God had for the people of Israel.
By the time a squalling baby is born in a small rural town to a poor couple the idea of a Messiah seems to have faded into the mist and become something of a fairy tale, so it is no wonder that the Israelites and in fact the world was so unprepared for the coming of Jesus. They were expecting a military and political leader, instead they received a healer and teacher, a reconciler, and a witness to the truth. A truth that was deeper and stronger than they could even imagine. The truth that God loved not just the people of Israel but all people, and not just all people but all animals and birds, fish and plants, the rocks and skies and rivers and that God’s plan was not about relieving the military oppression Israel struggled under, but the oppression of sin felt by the whole world, of being disconnected from God.
Jesus came to witness to the truth, the truth of God’s nature, the truth of God’s plans and the truth of God’s love. Not even we who are the recipients of two thousand years of teaching and witness to God through Jesus Christ are really able to take these truths in to our very core. To allow them to transform us, to heal us, to bring us to the wholeness Jesus came to bring us to. We can however learn from the Israelites and cling on to the teaching of Jesus about how to wait.
The people of Israel had lost sight of the bigger picture, if they even ever really had it, they had not reckoned with the love of God being so much bigger, so much fiercer, so much wilder then they believed. During their time of waiting their relationship with God had grown distant and their faith had dwindled. This is a natural reaction to waiting, but that does not mean it is the right reaction.
During Advent we look back to understand what the world was waiting for with the birth of Jesus and now we look ahead as we wait for Jesus to come again to complete the work he began while he was with us. So how are we going to wait? Will we allow ourselves to become complacent believing that God has forgotten us and is not aware of what we do? Are we going to become bored and turn to things that grab and hold our attention more easily, money, relationships, success? Are we going to begin to think that the stories of Jesus and the idea that he will come again is just that, a nice story, nothing more?
Jesus warns against all of these temptations, again and again we are told to ‘stay awake’, ‘keep watch’ to continue to follow the teachings of Jesus, to continue to learn and grow in our relationship with God, to continue in prayer and praise, worship and just actions are ways to guard against these temptations. During Advent we focus on these practises, we remind ourselves about why we what and what and who we wait for. We remember how we are to bring the light of Christ to the world, that the world is longing to see it and come close to its warmth.
These are also all good teachings as we continue to navigate our way through this pandemic, as we continue to wait. We need to hold more tightly then ever to the teachings of Jesus, to pray when anxious, to hand our worries and fears to God, to gather as a community to remember we do not face this alone, to be aware of the needs of others as it takes the focus off ourselves. To practise as God said through the prophet Micah, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God. Practise kindness now more than ever, it is what Jesus practised every day of his life and it is what the world is in desperate need of now more than ever. Amen.
