Advent 21…Wait

The problem is waiting. Just the commercials alone have trained us to "not wait…buy now."

Waiting is hard. We ought to be able to do something to move this process along in a significant way. No…not like Titus suggests in the second reading, living lives in the present age "that are self-controlled, upright, and godly while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Now what is that going to do to advance the cause?! We need to see results. It ought to feel more like David's check list…get throne, get kingdom, build house of God. Yeah, I know God was working on David's behalf, but this is the way things should go. We ought to see those results. Work the problem, people. Work the problem.

Except the problem we seem to be working is the waiting itself. Nah, Nathan says to King David. God doesn't want you to build a house for God. He'll leave that to the next king. You just wait…oh, and trust that God will be at work establishing your throne forever. No, no, don't worry about it. You just do the work you have to do today…ruling and such. God will take care of tomorrow.

Day in and day out, regular life. Even Mary and Elizabeth, in the midst of all that pregnancy jubilation, can do nothing but wait. Every day they cook, clean, sew, tend to family life. No pause to build a finger or a toe, no activity that will grow the brain or insure a kind disposition. Just wait. Oh, and pee.

The problem is waiting. The waiting itself creates this expectation that whatever-it-is-we're-waiting-for will be a hell-of-a-thing. And then the colicky baby is born…in a stable…unheated…with slobbery animals…and you have to run to Egypt to keep the baby from being massacred while you leave behind all the other babies who are being massacred. Or the temple is built and ultimately destroyed. Or the temple remnants cause wars and murders between rival groups in Jerusalem. Was that the point? Maybe if we didn't have to wait, we wouldn't expect so much. Maybe life wouldn't be so difficult.

We're waiting for the birth of the Messiah. The Christmas celebration. Then what?

Then we go back to waiting. Because life just keeps happening. Gift trash has to go to the trash can. Mouths must be fed. Dishes washed. Children fussing over new gifts mediated. Wars resume. Hunger doesn't stop. We. just. wait. more.

Today, the waiting doesn't seem like a gift at all. I read the beautiful hymn of rejoicing that Mary sings, reminiscent of Hannah's song yesterday, and then I need to cook for church and sand and paint a railing on the front porch and go the the grocery store and vacuum the floors and while I am grateful that I have a railing and a kitchen and floors and a congregation who inspires my faith…breathe…nothing I do today is likely to change the world in a way that would get even Duck Dynasty coverage.

Oh, and set up luminaries for the neighborhood.

Wait...