How Long Oh God? Advent Waiting

“In a far-off place, Jesus comes to earth. Sheep and cattle grace the site. As the angel songs begin, like a whisper of the wind, nature’s hope awakes again; Jesus comes. For the poor in heart, Jesus comes to earth. Humble shepherds start the news. For each homeless infant born, for the meek and those who mourn, for the weary and the worn, Jesus comes. In our deepest night, Jesus comes to earth: radiant star to light our way. Summer’s heat or winter’s chill, with a warm and loving will, to a world that needs him still, Jesus comes.” - In a Far-Off Place, Jesus Comes - ACS 908
 

Dear siblings in Christ,
           Here we are at the start of the Advent season as we look ahead to Christmas and the promises of God made real through the birth of Jesus, God incarnate, Immanuel, God with us. Before we reach the joyous celebration of Christmas, we must journey through the four weeks of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation as we prepare and await for the savior’s coming. That first Christmas night must not have gone the way that many who were waiting for the long foretold Messiah thought it would have. Who would have thought that the Messiah would be born as a tiny vulnerable baby, in a place of no real significance like a stable in Bethlehem far from any grand cities. And yet that is what happened.
           Now that we know how the story goes, thanks to hindsight, and the continued retelling of the miracle of Christmas, we know what we are anticipating, we know what we are celebrating on Christmas but yet the good news of Christmas and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is not where the story ends.  We know that Jesus, the Christ child was born to not only make God and God’s love known, but to fulfill the promises of the long hoped for salvation for all people through his death and resurrection.  We trust in this truth, that one day we will too, know true salvation when we enter into the kingdom of heaven, but yet as we continue on in our lives in the here and now, we may feel similar longings for this promise of salvation and deliverance from our current realities within the world. Where there is so much war, distrust, division, and hatred in the forms of racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, sexist, patriarchal, ableist, and so many other harmful ways of thinking and acting towards our fellow children of God, there is much that we each long for and pray for in hopes of a better world not just for ourselves but for the young ones in our lives. And then as we will soon be gathering to celebrate Christmas we are reminded that Jesus was once a vulnerable young one in this world that was already against him since his birth, having to flee from the tyrant that was King Herod, leaving his homeland to take refuge in Egypt with his family for a while. God through Jesus has lived through such heart break and horrors that are similar to what so many people and families continue to experience throughout the world, near and far, and we again find ourselves in a similar situation at those asking God, how long until the long awaited Messiah would come and deliver them from the oppression of the powers that be.
             How long oh God must we continue to live in such times? How long until all oppression finally ceases? As we continue to ask these and other questions, we continue to wait and prepare for the unknown time of when all of this will come to pass. In the meantime we can take comfort and hope from our various beloved Advent and Christmas hymns, like the one above. Though In a Far-Off Place, Jesus Comes is a newer hymn found in the All Creation Sings hymnal, the lyrics are a stark reminder that just like how that first Christmas happened in a way that those waiting for a Messiah did not expect, Jesus still came and throughout his life on earth, he taught that he came to not just bring salvation but also hope and love to those who are down trodden, outcast, and those experiencing their deepest nights, and that even today as so many still experience these realities, that Jesus is still here and continues to remind us of all of God’s promises of salvation and unconditional love. In the meantime, we as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to embody the love of God and Jesus in the here and now and share that love with all our fellow children of God throughout the world, as we each continue to live through our own Advent moments of waiting for the promised salvation and  liberation from all oppression for all people as we look forward to the joyous celebration of the Christmas miracle.
Peace,
Pastor Tamara Siburg