Third Sunday of Advent

Title

What does it mean that we are still waiting?

Outline

We love to read passages like our Isaiah reading

It is full of fruitfulness and encouragement and promises like “Here is your God, he comes with vindication.” We can feel what the exiles must have felt when reading, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and enter Zion singing . . .” But that has not yet happened literally, so no wonder adventist groups are looking for that to happen in Israel literally at present.

That was John the Baptist’s problem

He sends to Jesus asking, “Are you really the Messiah?” Where is the fruitfulness? Where is the destruction on our enemies? Where are the throngs returning from exile to Zion? Jesus’ response is to point to other parts of Isaiah’s message, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, . . . the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Those are kingdom signs, but before the fulness comes there is a cross and a resurrection and a learning to read the promises spiritually, as the Fathers did. Zion will be built in heaven and then come to earth and the stones will be living stones, the people of God.

John was the messenger, but to get the full message of the kingdom you need to listen to the king.

We live in the era of James

We tend to get impatient or even to forget about “the coming of the Lord.” A lot of what God does in us is building patience in us, but we are in a hurry for him to do it. “Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord i at hand.” It is always at hand, and to show this we have his daily coming in the sacrament of the altar as well as to us in our hearts. But we become impatient and therefore anxious and do what anxious people do, “complain about one another.” That is not good news if the one and only “Judge is standing before the gates,” for we are then taking his place. James encourages us with the “hardship and patience of the prophets,” to which we add the many martyrs and saints of our era.

So, Sisters, we learn how to wait

Perhaps as children we found it difficult to wait for Christmas and grumbled and complained. Now we struggle with waiting , maybe for the assignment we desire, maybe for another step along the way. But ultimately we are waiting for the Judge, and perhaps he is waiting for us to stop judging others and complaining so he does not catch us at that. But of course he is waiting outside time in the timeless now where he sees the new Zion, the body of Christ, being built, and knows that the resurrection will perfect it. We need to meditate on this and give our impatience, our anxiety, over to him so that we are indeed ready.

With eyes firmly trained on him our waiting will indeed seem to pass more quickly.