I don't want to wait

I’m weary

I’ll admit it. There are days that I’m just plain old weary. It isn’t that life isn’t for the most part good. It is. I’ve got a good job, a wonderful family, we live in this great city. There is the potential here for so much that is positive, and yet at times, I’m just plain old weary.

Why?

Why, when there is so much good?

Why?

Why, when I know I’m blessed by just being lucky to have been born into the family I was, and live in this part of the world?

Why?

Well, this is what I see often, when I look around.

This picture is from Bloomberg news about violence in France. Over 255 people were arrested. There appears to be no centralized leader, but over 75 percent of the country supports the protests that are going on. Some of the protesters who once were peaceful are now prepared to fight. The police used tear gas on the protesters to try and get them to disperse.

This picture is from CTV News about the tear gas used on the migrants who have gathered in Mexico with the hope to gain entry into the United States. Firing tear gas over the border just seems wrong to me — although we’ve learned this week that it isn’t just Trump who has had that happen on his watch, it happened when Obama was president too.

This picture is from Bloomberg News about the deadly events at L’ecole Polytechnique 29 years ago. We still take time each year to remember the 14 women who died, and work on making the world a better place for all people.

This year, November 6 falls on a Thursday. Our National Bishop has been a supporter of a campaign from the World Council of Churches. Every Thursday Bishop Susan tweets out to remind the church to work to end gender based violence.

So these words of Habakkuk make so much sense:

Habakkuk 1:2–4 NRSV

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

God answers the weariness

In the second part of today’s reading, we hear this:

Habakkuk 2:3 NRSV

For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.

What struck me so much about this was it doesn’t try to dismiss the weariness of the first part. It does give a bit of a hint though on how to respond:

If the vision seems to tarry, wait for it

The vision that we have for the world is the kingdom of God. In the past, we might have labelled that Christendom. We might have thought when the pews were full, and the offering plates were overflowing, and we had multiple worship services, that we were approaching the kingdom of God.

But this is what we hear from Jesus in Matthew chapter 13:

Matthew 13:44–46 NRSV

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

There’s nothing there about full churches, and overflowing coffers. There’s something about joy, and extravagance. There’s something about fully committing to something — hopefully fully committing to God.

So, if we need to wait for the kingdom to come, it sounds like it will be worth it. While we may not want to wait, our belief in God’s faithfulness should at least take the edge off of the weariness.

It can be hard to trust

Our final section from Habakkuk today talks about Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble (or at least that’s what the translators of the NRSV label the story as.) The trust doesn’t come easy when the weariness sets in.

Our reading today talks about a fig tree that doesn’t blossom.

Jesus talked about one too:

Luke 13:6–9 NRSV

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

And the same theme as before from Habakkuk:

Wait

This is our season of waiting. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for presents, waiting in lines, waiting in parking lots, waiting for better days — when the violence will end.

Habakkuk’s message is a powerful one. Again, it doesn’t dismiss the weariness. It does remind us to look for a better day. For by faith, it will come.

Our God is about to do something miraculous, wait for it, trust me, it will be worth it. And if we can shed some of the weariness we’ve grown over the years, and find the kingdom of heaven like a young child does, then we’ll forget all about the waiting — for we’ll know the joy and great value of God’s love in our lives. Thanks be to God.