3^rd Advent

She was nearly a year old and not yet able to fully express herself with words.  She missed her father.  The military had sent her father away to a far-away place.  She didn’t know where he was.  She only knew he was gone.  She missed him so much that she carried around with her a reminder of his presence, and his absence – his image on an official military photograph.  She resembled the man in the crisp military uniform, his hair cut to precise military standards.  He had no smile, just a strong, no-nonsense look.  She carried his photograph everywhere she went.  She even slept with it.  His image was a sign of her hope – hope they would be reunited.

Waiting takes up a significant portion of our lives.  We wait in lines.  We wait for appointments. We wait for transportation.  We wait to hear about a job.  We wait to hear the results of a test.  We wait to hear about a school application.  We wait for family and friends to return to us.  By far the most difficult waiting involves reunions, waiting to be reunited with those who have left us and whose return we long for or perhaps even dread.  Sometimes we wait in joyful anticipation.  Sometimes we wait with fear and anxiety.  We wonder -- were we abandoned?  Do they still care about us?  Have they changed?  Have I changed? 

Waiting can be really hard.  When we wait for a reunion with someone we know or love, we often don’t know just how long we will have to wait.  Waiting can fill us with uncertainty, anticipation and expectation -- all at the same time.  When we wait for someone we are not in control.  We are at the convenience of those for whom we wait.  Our wait can seem like an eternity.  Sometimes we wait passively.  There is nothing more we can do.  Life is put on hold until that for which we wait finally comes to us.  We are at a “fork in the road” until the next step is revealed.  There is nothing more we can do.  If our car breaks down while we are driving we have to wait for a ride before we can get to our intended destination.  Other times we actively wait, especially when we expect a very long wait.  Our lives continue on.  Active waiting involves preparation so that we are ready when the time comes.   

Advent is about active waiting – waiting and preparing for God’s arrival.  It is a solemn time in our church year, a time of repentance, preparation, and anticipation.  We wait for the fulfillment of God’s word – the coming of a savior, judgment at the end of time, the coming of God’s reign in its fullness.  We are now deep in the season of Advent, waiting and preparing for God.  Advent waiting has two distinct aspects.  We await the celebration of our Lord’s Nativity, when God became man.  As we confess in the Nicene Creed, “For us and for our salvation

[Jesus Christ] came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man.”  Fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ came to reunite mankind to God.

In our Gospel text the Israelites were waiting -- waiting for God’s promised Messiah.  John the Baptist was sent by God to help prepare the way for Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah.  John exhorted the people to repent in anticipation of God’s coming judgment.  He baptized them with water, a tangible sign of their turning away from sin and turning back to God.  John had a rough manner.  His message was direct and blunt.  “You brood of vipers,” he said, “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  Bear fruit worthy of repentance.  He didn’t mince words.  He even anticipated those who might claim special status as God’s people – those who claimed Abraham as their ancestor. 

John told the people not to rest on the branches of their family tree.  Instead he compared the people to trees.  What mattered, he said, was the fruit their lives produced.  “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire,” he said.  Judgment is coming, John warned.  Repent, be baptized, and bear fruits of repentance.  John the Baptist undoubtedly provoked feelings of fear and anxiety in the people who heard him rather than joyful anticipation.  John the messenger also waited for the Messiah.  The one he described as so powerful and so great.  He was not even worthy to untie his sandals, which was a servant’s task.  While he waited, John preached the Good News of the coming Christ. 

During Advent, not only do we look forward to our Lord’s Nativity, we also await his coming again in great power and glory.  Again as we confess in the Nicene Creed, “For our sake [Jesus Christ] was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried, on the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.”  This is what we wait for, long for and hope for -- Christ’s return in glory. 

Responding to John’s call for repentance and baptism prior to the coming judgment, the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?  How do we live as we actively wait       for Christ to come again?  How do we prepare to greet Christ?  John the Baptist’s response was elegantly simple. Share what you have, do your work faithfully, be content with what you have, honor your neighbor.  During this Advent season we have and we continue to share with our neighbors through the Salvation Army Angel Tree Campaign, through the ministry of the Child Care Center, and through many other organizations and agencies which address the needs of our neighbors in specific ways.

It may seem obvious that we should do our work faithfully.  The two groups that John addressed, however, tax collectors, and soldiers held positions of authority.  They generally had a bad reputation for abuse of power.  St Paul also had something to say about how we should actively wait.  Rejoice always, he said, the Lord is near.  Worry about nothing; let your requests, your concerns and your needs be made known to God.  Be thankful.  God’s peace, peace beyond all human understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Even with the coming judgment, we can joyfully anticipate our Lord’s return.  St Paul assures us that all of us who were baptized were united with Christ in death and we will surely be united in Christ’s resurrection.  We have been made children of God, inheritors of eternal life with God.

For four months the little girl carried her father’s picture around with her everywhere, day and night.  The edges became worn with her love.  She would not part with her father’s photograph until one day she and her mother got on an airplane to the far away place where her father was.  He had finally received permission to bring them to him.  When she got off of the plane the little girl walked into an unknown place.  Unsure of where she was, she clutched her mother’s hand with one hand and held the photograph of her father in the other.  In front of her was a man with outstretched arms.  She did not hesitate; she recognized him instantly and ran into his waiting arms.  It was her father, the man whose image she literally carried around in her hand and in her being.  Her father gathered her up, gave her lots of hugs and kisses and rejoiced over her.  She dropped the photograph.  It was no longer needed.  She was filled with joy.  She was in the presence of the one whose image she bore.  Her Father had arranged it. 

Not all of our earthly reunions turn out as well as this one did.  Not every child whose military parent has deployed will see them again.  Not everyone who is reunited with someone they have not seen in a long time is delighted at the results of the reunion.  The story reminds us that our Heavenly Father has promised to make arrangements for a face to face reunion.  For this we can actively wait with joyful anticipation.  We know that God in Christ is in our midst, even now.

When Christ ascended to the Father he did not abandon us.  He promised to be in our midst, in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, in his Word proclaimed, and whenever we gather together in his name.  He desires us to rejoice and be glad.  Our salvation is near.  We should let worry and anxiety go and bring all of our cares and concerns to God and rest in Christ’s peace, the peace that passes all understanding, regardless of our circumstances.  So now we wait in joyful anticipation for our savior’s return.  We know that our Heavenly Father, whose image we bear, who re-imaged us at baptism through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord empowers us by the Holy Spirit and will gather us together to live forever in His presence.

Amen