We have just heard and experienced the great hope, the great expectations of Mary's Magnificat, Mary's Song. the mighty one has done great things for me... the Lord has lifted up the lowly and filled the hungry with good things... the Lord has scattered the proud, brought down the powerful and sent the rich away empty. What more could we want?! Isn't this what advent is all about. Waiting... Waiting for justice, waiting for fairness, waiting for God's kingdom to come, where everything is good and right. God's peacable kingdom. Doesn't that sound good? Doesn't that sound right? Isn't that what we're waiting for?
And Isaiah said it too. The wilderness and the dry land will be glad, the desert will begin to rejoice and blossom... The desert will blossom. Isn't that a beautiful thought? Life will come to dry, wild, desert land. Isn't that what we're waiting for?
If you are like me, when you read these passages that talk about the peaceable kingdom, many among the prophets and some in the New Testament, I tend to think about the future... some distant future when finally, everything (emphasis on everything)... EVERYTHING (capital letters and underlined) will be made right.
I guess another way of saying it is that we, or I should say: I'm looking for a happy ending. And isn't that OK? I mean, that is what the prophets seem to be saying, isn't it? They often say that things will be, somewhere in the future everything will be made right. And not just the prophets of our own religious tradition. Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, said that the sacred circle has been broken, but will be restored.
What are our expectations? What are we waiting for? Well, if we're waiting for something in the future, maybe we're waiting for heaven. And that's OK. For some, that is the best they have to wait for. For those who are close to the ending of their lives, whether it be because of age, or ill health; or whether it be because the situation they are living in is not compatible with life--whether due to war and the ravages of war and greed. For those who can hardly go on living, yes, heaven is something to wait for, to look forward to, to hope for, to pray for.
But what about the rest of us? Do we only have heaven to wait for, before we experience what Mary seems to have seen with the eyes of her spirit? Can we also be waiting for something good here on earth, before the ending of time, or at least before the ending of our time here on earth.
We can ask ourselves what are we waiting for? meaning, what are we hoping for? We can also ask ourselves what are we waiting for? meaning, come on, let's go! what are we waiting for?!
In the Gospel passage for this third Sunday of Advent (which we didn't read directly, but was alluded to in the "call to awaken"), Matthew 11, we read: When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him: "Are you the one who was going to come, or should we wait for someone else?"
Jesus answered, "Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing; the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer dreaded diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. How happy are those who have no doubts about me!"
Jesus' answer to the question: "Are you the one who is supposed to come, or should we wait for someone else?" was not"Yes I am the one" Rather, Jesus answered them by asking "what are you seeing and hearing?" The question is not, am I the one, but rather, what do you see and what do you hear.
Jesus' activity was evidence of who he was and what he was about. Jesus worked at bringing the kingdom to earth. But I have another question. Did Jesus accomplish his task? Did he do enough? Could he have done more?
I find those questions rather comforting. I mean, if Jesus couldn't do it all, how can we do it all. That's the first comfort, for me, and for all those like me, who think they are supposed to do it all. But the second comfort is even better, because the second comfort says that if you are looking for the kingdom of God then you need to look for the evidence of the kingdom. And the evidence isn't everywhere, but it's here, and it's there, and it's there and there, and here ...
... it's where Gail is, when she's laughing and crying and praying with her young moms; ... it's with Cathy and Paul and me and Alan and Georgia and probably all of us at some time or another when we're with family or colleagues or friends with whom we disagree about some of the most important things, but with whom we rise to the occassion to let the Christ within us greet the Christ within them to transform our experience from anger to love; ... it's in Premier Iglesia Menonita with Juan and Carmen and Manuel and Guillermina and the many other faithful who take in strangers and homeless because there is a need and who stand in for the troubled in their midst with prayer and good deeds; ... it's with the teachers in our midst who show up everyday for their students, whether they feel like it or not, and in those moments when the needs of their students are great, are able to communicate a God-inspired care; ... it's with Mennonite Central Committee and Christian Peacemaker Teams and Voices in the Wilderness and missionaries and peacemakers of all faiths and nations and races who stand with others in their time of need; ... it's anywhere and everywhere we are able to go beyond ourselves and our own concerns to reach someone who needs our touch, to stand with someone maligned, or provide a hand to someone who needs support.
The Great Hope that we are hoping for is already present, anywhere and everywhere that we see and hear people and situations being healed and restored; anywhere and everywhere where light brightens darkness; where hearing and understanding happens; where life comes out of what seems like death; and where Good News is found among the poor.
There may come that time in the future where all is made right and good, but that future is also present now -- not all the time, not everywhere -- but it is present fully, completely, each time we respond to God's call, to step out, to act, to be present. It doesn't depend on any one of us alone, but it does depend on all of us doing our part.
