Advent: What and who are we waiting for? And why?

from Google Images

          There are only two instances of “waiting” listed in the volume, Where to Find It in the Bible: the Ultimate A to Z Resource, by Ken Anderson, published by Nelson:  

            When God made his promise to Abraham, he swore by himself, because he had no one greater to swear by: 'I vow that I will bless you abundantly and multiply your descendants.’ Thus it was that Abraham, after patient waiting, attained the promise. ––Hebrews 6: 13-1

            The other is in Genesis 29:20ff. Jacob waited––and worked seven years to gain the hand of Rachel. The rest of the story is worth re-reading. While Laban surreptitiously sent Leah to Jacob by night, Jacob found out and was furious with his uncle. Jacob had to work––and wait–– seven more years to earn Rachel’s hand. Altogether, Jacob stayed with Laban twenty years, though not all of it was “waiting.”

            How––and how long––do we wait? Do we wait in exasperation while the computer wakes up? Yes. Or when searching for something we put away yesterday and forgot where? Yes.

            Or do we wait in dread when our teenagers are two hours past curfew and it’s senior prom night? Or when we hear sirens and wonder if it’s someone we know and love?

            Or do we wait in excitement because our out-of-state children are coming home for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Or because a family member has decided to re-enter the loving fold?

            D. Todd Williamson, of the Chicago Archdiocese office of Divine Worship believes it’s the latter kind of excitement that we are called to during Advent. He also believes we should wait in joyful hope:

           “At Mass, (or during church for us United Methodists) after praying the Lord’s Prayer, we hear “. . . as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” This prayer reminds us that during Advent, we wait in joy, in hope, and in anticipation for the wonderful event we are about to experience— . . . the coming of Christ into our lives in new ways, the return of Christ in glory at the end of time. As the [c]hurch, we wait during Advent and look forward to celebrating the fact that God loves us so much that he sent his Son into the world to save us. This waiting is far from empty; rather, it is full of the hope that God promises us as we prepare for Christ in the feast of Christmas.”

            In the Advent hymn, “Send Your Word,” (Yasushige Imakoma, 1983), page 195 in the UM hymnal., let's substitute the word “wait” and “long for” for the word “seek.”

“We await your endless grace, with souls that hunger and thirst, sorrow, and agonize.”

           “We await your wondrous power, pureness that rejects all sins, though they persist and cling.”

           “We await your endless love . . . we long for your new world.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Written for Dot Hatfield's 2015 Advent booklet. The message still stands as we patiently wait. And hope. And love. Peace and joy to you.

c 2017, PL. 

           

           

Sometimes the answer’s right in front of us

            I need an Advent devotional, I said to myself one year while still in the choir at Salem UMC. My BFF Dot collects, edits and publishes an Advent Booklet each year and asked me for an entry. Something/someone––Muse and/or Holy Spirit––hit me between the eyes and said, Duh! You have a folder full of Advent anthems on your lap. Surely …

              “Advent Processional” (words from scripture, music by Anna Laura Page) begins with Isaiah’s proclamation to prepare the way of the Lord. And––anthem-like, prophet-like, parent-like–– the phrase is repeated, drummed, as it were, into our feeble and flighty brains.

But how to prepare lo these many eons from Isaiah’s tongue lashings? Rejoice … sing … give praise to God! Does that mean feed the hungry, clothe the cold, build houses for the homeless?

Who, me?

             “Creation will be at peace,” our director’s favorite Advent anthem, uses scenes from Isaiah 11. In the holy mountain of the Lord, creation will be at peace … all war and strife will cease.

It’ll have to be in the future, because it’ll never happen on this planet! At least literally. Not the way we act today.

                In that blessed day, wolves, lambs, cows and bears will be friendly to each other and they will be led by a child. The child Jesus? The child God? The sick children among us? The beauty pageant child? It defies belief.

          “Come like the snow,” words by Herb Frombach, is a plea from our point-of-view, always about Jesus:

Like the snow … he will wash us clean … he will drift into our hearts (set on earthly concerns) and bring us peace…

There’s that wish for peace again. Surely … that’s to be found only “in the mountain of the Lord,” in the days after Jesus comes again. Surely not here and now!

Unless …  Perhaps another level of Isaiah’s meaning is that today, we are to be instruments of peace––among ourselves, our churches, our neighbors, those we meet in the office, in school, in the market, on the highway, at Fred’s, the bank, the cafe …

You think? … That should be doable.

c 2017 PL