Given by The Rev. Marian Humphrey  

December 7, 2014

This morning's Scriptures center on the theme of waiting. In order to completely understand, the reading from Isaiah this morning, we must return to the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah.

Israel, in the reading from Isaiah, is waiting in exile in Babylon. The temple lies in ruins, the leaders of the community have been brought into a foreign land leaving the more vulnerable to tend to what's left of the farms. Religious leaders may no longer speak of Yahweh as a new god, Marduk, has been forced upon them.

The city of Jerusalem was a distant dream. The sense of God's presence once felt so keenly during the desert wanderings towards the Promised Land has vanished. The relationship between the People of God and Yahweh had been breached.

The people feel abandoned by God and God's silence is deafening to them but they did not heed the message of the prophet and continued to exploit the poor and neglect the widows. As a consequence of the people's failure to listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah, disaster followed and great suffering ensued.

Some folks here today might identify with the confusion and sense of abandonment by God. God may feel very distant and immune to the pain and suffering you feel. As the prophet of old said, "Here is your God! He will feed His flock like a shepherd; and carry the lambs in his arms, and carry them in His bosom." We await the coming of Jesus, Emmanuel, and God with us. God at one with us.

Israel waited for a time when God would redeem them and restore their relationship. It was a long time for God's people to hear God's tender words of forgiveness and restoration of relationship.

Waiting is a difficult discipline. It is difficult to wait for the results of one's biopsy to return. It is difficult to sit by the bed of a loved one in the throes of an illness. It is difficult to wait for a child to call that they have arrived safely at their destination.

Twenty plus years ago, I had a dear friend that worked for an organization that assisted women who had family members, friends and other loved ones who were incarcerated. I went with her one day to the city jail and sat in the waiting room. As I looked around me I realized that the poor and the powerless in our society are subjected to a great deal of waiting. They must sit and wait until their name is called. They must sit and wait for the public defender to arrive. They must sit and wait for a chance to see their loved one for the allotted 30 minutes they are granted. If something inside the correctional facility goes awry, then the families must leave and return again on the following appointed family visiting day. No ifs ands or buts. Those are the regulations. And so these families must leave the facility and return home many by the buses which transported them. But first they must wait for the bus to arrive. Travelling by bus to one's home can be a lengthy trip. Upon arrival home, many must walk several blocks or wait for another member of the family to pick them up. Waiting can be very wearisome.

So God's people waited for the Lord's forgiveness and for the fulfillment of God's promises to send a Messiah to bring about the inauguration of God's reign in our midst.

A century later the author of this chapter of Isaiah writes of God's forgiveness and grace. "Comfort, O comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that she has served her term that her penalty is paid." A fresh start is at hand for God's people. A new beginning is God's promise to His people.

A new beginning for humanity is Jesus Christ. John the Baptist in our Gospel calls us to "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." We are called to a totally different way of being. John calls each of us into an awareness that God is waiting for you and I to change. God is waiting to transform our lives. God wants to invite us into His way of being which is always self-emptying love.

John the Baptist calls each of us to a metanoia- a complete turning around in our hearts in a Godward direction. God has promised to salvation to all who call upon His Name. God wants to use us to participate in the healing of creation. Once we are headed towards God, God wants to use each of us for His purpose of saving all nations through the light of Christ. God is waiting for each of us to say "Yes" to the call to follow Christ in our daily lives. Seminary President, David Lose, wrote, "But consider this: What if God's promises are not all eschatological, something we wait patiently for until the end of time? Or, maybe more accurately, what if we are invited to participate here and now in the eschatological promises of God by contributing to them in the present? What if, that is, part of how God keeps God's promises is through our efforts to heal, comfort, help, and bring justice? [1]

What if indeed, brothers and sisters? AMEN!