2022-12-11 Advent 3 "Waiting Patiently"

 2022-12-11 Advent 3      Isaiah 35:1-10      James 5:7-11      Matthew 11:2-15

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Marie, Thomas, and I used to live amongst farmers, so whenever a scripture reference is explicitly made about farmers, my ears perk up.  So, I took note when I read James 5. 

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 

Farming, like many other vocations, does require an enormous amount of patience, as well as discipline and skill.  But, as I read verse 7, I said to the Lord and my Bible, “they may be patient, but that does not mean that they are quiet while they wait.”  I remember the many conversations I had with farmers in the course of our five and half years there.  There was a lot of worry and anxiety about the weather and other things that can harm crops. Rain, wind, drought, insects, and wild hogs all brought on conversation.  There were regular remembrances about past years and because several of the families go back to when the area was first settled and farmed in the 1850's, there was talk about what the parents, grand parents and great-grand parents said and did. 

Some of those remembrances were pretty tough, dismal even. There was joy, but sometimes it seemed there was more hardship. But, every year farmers would plant the seed again.  T’was an annual statement of hope for the future, when they planted. 

I lift up the farm experience because what the farmers were doing while they were trying very hard to be patient, is also what we do in Advent.  We wait patiently for Jesus to come. We wait not only for the celebration of His Incarnation, but also for His second coming.  While we wait we engage in the act of remembering.  The church is entrusted with God’s Word.  We return to Scripture because it is the source of our faith’s memories.  We recall God’s instructions about how to live a God centered life.  We recall the promises that God made to His people.  We recall that God kept His promises always.  

We remember not only God’s Law and promises.  We also remember our collective human failures. There are lessons to be learned in remembering the good and the bad. It is good to remember that when people placed their faith in idols, they soon after began to treat their neighbors terribly. Forsaking the Sabbath, they worked all the time. Family relationships changed. Parents were dishonored and children were not always cherished. Sins such as stealing, adultery, bearing false witness, and living a life of greed and perpetual coveting become commonplace. The idols and their supporters promise power and material wealth, but it seems that all that awaits their worshipers is misery and spiritual emptiness.  Remembering the bad encourages us to make better decisions about where we focus our attention and our energy. 

We also remember that in the midst of terrible news, God brings Good News. Isaiah 35 is really quite a surprise.  Chapter 34 was a judgment upon the nations.  Then, Chapter 36 is about Assyria invading Judah.  But, in between the bad news is a happy respite.  A look to the future for those with faith in Christ. When Christ comes all of creation will be affected. Even the desert will be transformed. Isaiah proclaims, “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.”  People will be transformed. Lives will be improved immeasurably. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, the mute will sing. When Christ comes there will be a new normal. Where there was once sorrow, suffering,  anxiety and worry, there will be gladness, joy, and peace. 

In his ministry as the Incarnate One, Jesus has already inaugurated the change. When John inquired of Jesus if he is truly the long hoped for Messiah, Jesus replied with an echo to Isaiah.  Jesus is healing people in just the manner in which the prophet prophesied. We heard one of those prophecies in Isaiah 35.  But, there are also the messianic prophecies in Isaiah 26, 29, 42, and 61. The desert has not yet been completely transformed, but that will come when Jesus returns. But, right now, Jesus heals to fulfill what the scriptures say.  People see what Jesus is doing and hear what he is saying, and they remember what Moses and the other prophets foretold.  Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the fulfillment of their hope. 

But, really and truly, at this point in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ ministry is just getting started.  Jesus’ ministry reaches a certain pinnacle when he takes up the cross.  In his suffering and death on the cross, his ministry moves beyond the individual and the local to encompass the world and transcend time and place. Jesus comes to transform humanity through his death.  The cruel instrument of death becomes through Jesus the instrument of our salvation and the focus of our hope. Lots of people died by crucifixion and it changed nothing. But when Jesus died on the cross, because this is the Incarnate Son of the Father, his sacrifice meant the end of the power of sin, death, and the devil.  For sin, there is the Father’s forgiveness. For death, there is the promise of eternal life. For the devil, there is the truth of Christ that smothers his lies.  

The benefits of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is available to us through faith. The benefits of the cross comes at the Lord’s expense, not ours.  The benefits are freely given to us through faith. 

We are now in the third Sunday of Advent.  As we wait patiently for our Lord to come again, we contemplate the joy we have in Christ, knowing that there is so much more to come.  Together, we engage in the practice of disciplined remembering.  And, we continue to prepare for our Lord’s Advent by talking to one another, strengthening each other’s faith, praying together, singing together.  

We move forward in hope.  For Christ is coming. 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.