Hope-Filled Waiting

Waiting is not much fun. No one really likes to wait all that much. I mean who comes home from a trip to Disney or Cedar Point and says, “Oh man. It was awesome. We did so much waiting. The insanely long lines were the best part.” No one says that. No one thinks like that, unless you are afraid of the rides. But for the most part we don’t like to wait.

Today marks the beginning of Advent. This is a season of waiting and expecting Jesus to return in all of his glory that from that day on we would experience life with our God as it was meant to be experienced; a new creation with no more sin, sickness, suffering, injustice, death, evil. Everything that is wrong with our world will be made right. It will be better than anything we can imagine. It is something that we are to look forward to with great anticipation and expectation and hope. But it is also something that we have to wait for. And waiting is not much fun. After all who likes to wait? But what about you, what are you waiting for?

Our text this morning is from the 64^th chapter of Isaiah. It is very rich and extensive.  It is a text that is wrestles with the concept of waiting. Only this is not waiting in lines or waiting for Christmas. It is waiting for God to act. This text is a prayer that is prayed in the midst of trouble and tribulation.  The last two verses of the previous chapter help to set the stage.  They read “Your holy people possessed the land for a little while.  Our enemies have trampled on your holy place.  We have become like those whom you never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.”  And then we get to the first verse of our text which perhaps should be read, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!”  In other words, Lord, things are really bad, you could have prevented it. 

           

Now remember we are talking about the exile again.  Around the year 587 B.C.  The Babylonians have come in to Jerusalem.  They destroyed the temple and lead the most important people in the city away to Babylon.  This is the event that is in the mind of the author as this prayer is being prayed.  For the people of Jerusalem the exile is a defining moment in their history.  At the very least it is like the Revolutionary War for the people of the United States. 

The prayer goes on.  “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.” As I hear these words this image comes to mind. About two months after Moses and the children of Israel had exited out of Egypt they arrived at Mt. Sinai.  You can read about it in the 19^th chapter of Exodus.  Listen to verse 18. “All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had come down on it in fire.  Smoke rose from the mountain like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.”  Asking God to split open the heavens and come down is not an unreasonable request.  He has done it before and now in the 64^th chapter of Isaiah he is being asked why he didn’t do it again. 

These seem like some pretty bold things to be saying to God.  I mean who are we to question his ways and how he works.  And yet this prayer does just that.  It’s important to realize however that it’s not questioning God in a disrespectful way.  This is not a question that arises out of doubt.  No this question comes from faith.  You see our author knows who God is.  He knows God’s love for his people.  He knows how God has consistently acted on their behalf.  But in spite of that there is this whole exile thing.  He seems to be asking, “God, in the past you have acted toward your people one way.  Now you seem to be going in the opposite direction.  What gives?”

He doesn’t attempt to answer his own question.  Instead he goes on to say that there is no god like God.  He is faithful.  He helps those who wait for him.  He greets the one who gladly does right and remembers his ways.  Yet he was angry because of their sin.  The prayer informs us that everyone had become unclean.  Even their good works were like bloody rags.  This ruined their relationship with God and thus they were ruined by their sin. 

At this point things seem pretty depressing and desperate.  However, it is at this point that we see great hope. Which works out well, because that is the theme for today. Hope. It is the name of the candle we lit in our Advent wreath, and we see it in the following verses,  “But now, Lord, you are our Father.  We are the clay, and you are our potter.  We are the work of your hands.  Don’t be too angry, Lord.  Don’t remember our sin forever.  Now look, we are all your people.”  In the midst of trial and tribulation, in the midst of our own sinfulness there is hope in God and who he is.  So when we talk about waiting, we are talking about waiting for God.

Well this is a very appropriate theme for Advent.  After all, Advent is a season of waiting.  We are waiting for Christmas, where we celebrate Jesus coming into our world, true God and true man.  Who lived the perfect life in our place.  Suffered and died on the cross and raised to life on the third day.  Taking our dirty filthy rags and washing them, making them whiter than snow.  We are also waiting for his return when he will restore all things to himself.  Now that seems pretty simple.  What are we waiting for?  This Advent season, and all year long we are waiting for God.

Now there is something you should know about the word “waiting” in our text.  It is not the kind of waiting we might normally think of.  It is not just standing or sitting around until something happens.  Rather the Hebrew word that is used here is one that denotes an expectant and hope-filled waiting.  It is a waiting that is sure and certain that God will act in his time.  And because there is that sure and certain hope-filled waiting, it is a waiting that is active, it is a waiting that is full of action; it is a waiting that remembers God and his ways. So the question isn’t what are you waiting for?  Rather the question is, “How are you waiting?”

We know that God will keep his promises and so we live that out in lives.  Even in the midst of exile, trial, tribulation, and sin.  Even when all things seem to be hopeless and void, we know that because God is faithful, we can actively wait for his return. So how do we actively wait for God?  We do it in service to him and to one another.

We actively wait for God as we come to his house to worship every week.  Because we know that he strengthens our faith through the hearing of his word and in the sacraments.  We actively wait for God as we take care of the homeless, the poor, the needy, those whom society has neglected and deemed to be merely a burden.  We actively wait for God as we walk with each other.  Bearing one another’s burdens, by praying with and for each other, by providing a shoulder to cry on, and just listening.  Now to be sure I am not saying that God is not currently active in our lives.  He certainly is.  But we currently are waiting for all of his promises to be fulfilled.  His promise to return.  His promise to completely restore all of creation.  So even though he is active.  Indeed the light of his Son has shined, and continues to shine in our lives.  He is not finished.  And so we wait for that completion. 

Because the light of Christ has shined in your life and in mine we can carry that light out into the world.  Because we know that God is faithful the waiting that we do for him this Advent season and all year long need not be a passive waiting, but and active waiting.  That is a life of service. 

           

In college I had the privilege of spending my spring breaks on various servant events in Orlando.  Every year a group from my church would spend the week working with Habitat for Humanity building a house.  However, one year we did not build a house.  That year we re-furbished a house.  We did some minor repairs, a lot of cleaning, and a lot of painting.  It didn’t seem as glamorous as the previous years.  That is of course until we met the man who was going to live there.  He didn’t have much of an education.  No more than fourth grade I believe.  He was quite poor.  Yet he was one of the neatest men I have ever met.  This man, who had so little, spent most of his time in service.  He would volunteer for a consignment shop, driving a truck and stocking shelves.  He would also spend a lot of his time working for Habitat himself.  To be sure he could have been doing many other things.  But he wasn’t.  Instead he lives a quite life of service to others. 

You and I are blessed in this congregation for many reasons.  One of those reasons is that we have many opportunities to serve around here.  If you have something that you enjoy doing, then there is something here that allows you to use that gift in service to others.  Whether it is doing something like Habitat or working with the Youth our volunteering for the altar guild.  There are many opportunities for active service.  We do these things not because we have to, not because they will make God love us more.  Indeed they will not.  But we do them out of thankfulness for his love and grace.  In this way our lives are consistent with his character.  We show the world who God is, in the lives of service that you and I lead.  

What are you waiting for?  The answer is God.  More importantly, how are your waiting for him?  May our great and gracious God bless you and me as we actively wait for him.  Amen.