Advent 1B 2005
Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7,16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37
Wouldn’t it be nice if God put in a dramatic appearance everyone once in a while? You know, if only God would just show up and blind us with glory and overwhelm us with holiness every now and again. Then we would know God is still active and alive. We could say, “Here God is” “These God is” no guessing or speculating.
And then we couldn’t explain things away using lines like “it was fate” or “what a coincidence” or “I don’t know, it just happened!”
We would know God did it! “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” And give us the answers and the power and the miracles.
Maybe God could show up and we assure us that our faith is not in vain. Interesting thought. Popular thought even. Movies like “Dogma” and “the Book of Life” take this idea and run with it. What would it be like if God or Jesus came in person in this day and age?
Of course he would come to us! Here in this place!
But we know that isn’t likely to happen any time soon; Jesus showing up and sliding into the back pew or taking over the pulpit.
People have been watching for that and praying for that for decades, for centuries, forever. The early church thought that Jesus’ return was imminent. And when he didn’t show up they had to learn to wait. And wait. And wait.
But wait! It isn’t as if God just went off and left us…or Jesus crawled back into heaven and is busy watching reruns of “Leave it to Beaver”.
The world of faith didn’t stop when Jesus died or when that first generation of followers went to their graves. All of these years, centuries later we are still believing and we are still waiting.
Yet God is still present among us. Maybe not in the big dramatic ways that we would like. But God is still here.
I read somewhere that maybe even in the stories we have handed down in the Bible God may have quietly appeared. But in the retelling of the story God’s whisper is proclaimed in a shout! That even way back when God came quietly but the story was told loudly.
Look at the way God comes in the flesh. Not in some loud showy attention getting way. But in the birth of a baby. In an out of the way town, born to simply nobodies.
I’m pretty sure God never made the cover of the local gossip sheet or the top ten of the rich and famous. Even now Jesus hits the cover of Time and Newsweek only in December.
But most of the time, God comes in whispers and shouts and shadows. And that is easy to miss.
We are so surrounded by noise and lights and business. Especially this time of year. The Christmas music, the sale flyers, the lists of gifts to buy. The wish lists of the kids and the adults. The frantic drive to fill our emptiness is so present this time of year.
Maybe the right gift will make me feel better about myself. Maybe the right gift will heal the breaks in our relationship. Maybe the right gift will show how much I love you, if only I had more money to spend!!!
Maybe the lights and candy and giving gifts none of us really need will fill up the emptiness of the world, will calm the fears we carry around, will make all things right.
How we try to keep busy and look good and cover up. All the while God is waiting for us! God in the shadows, under the noise, beneath the wrappings and debris.
God is waiting for us to stop running about, to turn off the noise that fills our lives, to be quiet and honest and still.
If we really want to see the fragile light of God grow stronger, we must first sit a while in the darkness and let our eyes adjust. And our hearts grow still, and the endless to-do lists fade away.
And then we see that God has already broken open the heavens and come down. And even if Jesus walked the earth with other folks so long ago, he is still with us. And even though we don’t always feel it, the Spirit is still blowing.
Beware, keep awake! And we will see God is already among us. Whispering our name. Waiting for us in the shadows. Holding out a handful of hope.
This is why the church keeps Advent. While the rest of the culture is running around like crazy, putting Christmas decorations in the store before Halloween, playing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving, the church waits. Patiently, quietly, hopefully.
We gather and listen to the Advent stories. We sing the Advent songs. And we practice holy waiting. We practice holy watching. We practice holy listening. Until we feel God waiting for us and we see Go already at work and we hear the Spirit already whispering in the world.
Awake, alert, attentive to the God already here, the kingdom of the already not yet breaking in, quietly, persistently, lovingly.
Wait! There is God
at work in the shadows as a family gathers at a loved one’s bedside, waiting
for death. There is God at work in the
giving of friends as they seek to rebuild
There is God at work whenever we speak up on behalf of the poor, the children, the elderly, the forgotten. There is God in the corner of the room whenever a baby is born. Whenever a person dies, whenever friends gather.
Yes we want the Lord to come down with a shout, to break open the heavens and make the mountains tremble. We want drama and light and sound!
But the Lord is already here, snuck in the back way, whispering our names, entering our darkness.
So even while we start our Advent waiting, filling the room with our desires and fears, God is among us, waiting for us to see the light that shines in the darkness. It may not look like much now, but it is growing stronger.
So keep awake, watch, listen…take time to step back from the business of the season and just be. Be in the presence of the God who whispers to us. “Peace, fear not. Only I can fill the longing of your heart. Hush now, I bring you hope. Breathe deeply of the Spirit. Rest in me. Peace. The light is breaking into the world even now. Even here.”
Amen.