WAITING AND WORKING
Author:
December 15, 2019
Anyone who
has ever spent an evening watching fireworks on the 4th of July has
had to deal with the following question: “Is this the end of the show? Or shall
we wait for more?” We arrive with a vague kind of expectation of how long the
display is going to last, but we can’t be sure. And after a particularly
brilliant explosion of light and sound, it’s easy to wonder, “Was that it? Is
this all there is? Do we pack up and go now? Or is the grand finale still to
come?” Nobody knows.
That’s
especially true when there are long periods of darkness and silence between the
rockets going off overhead. A few of the impatient observers may start to head
for home early and miss the main event. In fact, the wait is usually the
longest just before the most awesome display of the night. People just trust
that the best is just about to happen.
That’s not a
perfect metaphor for Advent, but it does speak to the imploring of today’s
scriptures that we must wait in patience for the ultimate good that God will do
for us, first in the appearance of Jesus and ultimately at the end of time. I
think of John the Baptist, from whom we last heard just a week ago in Matthew’s
gospel. He was then the firebrand in the desert, announcing the immediate
appearance of the Messiah, coming with harsh judgement and the separating of
good and evil—perhaps with violence—certainly with fire.
But that was
eight chapters ago in this book. Right after all of that blusterous preaching
of his the king had John thrown into prison, and until these verses today he
hasn’t been heard from since. Back in Chapter 3 John was all amped up for the
grand finale of God in the history of Israel—the great display of power and
glory that the Messiah would bring.
I can
picture him sitting on a blanket in the grass on the 4th of July and
shouting, “Go for it, God!” And then, a long long time of nothing. And prison.
It is not hard to imagine why he today sends his messengers to Jesus in order
to ask, “Hey, did I miss something here? Or was I completely wrong in my hopes
and my expectations? Where’s the fireworks? Where’s the awesome display?”
Specifically,
what John’s disciples asked Jesus was, “Are you the one who is to come, or
should we look for another?” Which is really another way to ask, “Do we go home
now, or await something that is not what we expected, or when we expected it?”
Is this all you’ve got?
And Jesus’
response is, as usual, not a simple yes or no. It is instead an invitation to
look for different kinds of evidence for the in breaking of God’s kingdom and
the appearance of the Messiah. Instead of harsh judgement and violence and
consuming fires, how about noticing the more gentle and tender miracles that
I’ve been doing all along: The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the
dead are raised, and the poor are given the attention they deserve. It’s all
just as the Old Testament prophets said it would be.
What can
seem to be merely darkness and waiting around is actually the time of the real
eruption of God’s reign on earth. Quietly, but no less amazingly. Now.
And that’s
why I mentioned that the 4th of July is not a perfect metaphor for
Advent waiting. Because waiting and wondering about the grand finale of
fireworks involves, literally, just sitting there in the dark while somebody
else does all the work. And the great encore is something that we just look at
in awe from a distance.
But that’s
not Advent. To the contrary—we are a vital part of the production, the active
agents of God in bringing about the glorious revelation of God’s realm of
mercy, and peace. We Christians are asked to be patient—but not idle. We are
asked to keep watch, but not simply to stand around gawking at what isn’t yet
here. If the grand finale of God’s work is to be hastened in this world, it
will be—in part—because of our commitment to making that happen, with His
grace.
We may not
make the blind see and the lame walk, as Jesus did. But we can make the hungry
fed, and the lonely welcomed, and the distraught comforted, and the homeless
sheltered, and the children educated, and the loser befriended, and the sick
accompanied, and the despairing hopeful. Those are things that happen in the
darkness, while we wait. The grand finale is soon to come—we know not when—but
while we wait we may rejoice and must be busy about the privileged work that
God has given us to do.
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