Faith Matters 19: For the Gardner News, December 2, 2006
Advent: A Season of Watching and Waiting
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The church year begins with watching and waiting as we enter the season of Advent. For the next four weeks, scripture readings and Advent hymns remind us that for centuries the people of Israel waited and watched for their promised deliverer, the descendent of David who would free them from foreign oppression and restore the greatness of David’s kingdom. They dreamed of their homeland restored and rebuilt. They hoped in a coming time of God’s justice and mercy, when the poor would be fed and the nation would be at peace. The lion would lie down with the lamb, and iron swords could be safely hammered back into plows. The people of Israel cherished prophesies that gave them hope through the dark times, hope that God’s promises would be fulfilled.
What are we waiting for in this season of Advent? On the surface, we are waiting for the arrival of the Christ child at Christmas. But there is so much more to Advent than simply marking the days until December 25th. Advent is our time of watching and waiting for God to come to us, to be Emmanuel, “God with us,” God’s answer to our heart’s deepest desires and hopes and prayers.
Our deepest desire is for love. We yearn for the unconditional love of one who knows us completely, inside and out. One who knows not just the face we present to the world, but who knows our deepest selves, knows all we have done and all we have thought and all we so carefully hide away from the world, and still loves us and will never abandon us. And in our desire for that love, we sing the ancient hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Come and be with us, God.
We desire peace, the deep peace that goes to the heart of our souls. A peace that passes understanding, the peace that encompasses life and death and all that threatens to separate us from God. It is the perfect peace that casts out all fear and all anxiety. We pray to the one who brings this peace, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Come and be with us, God.
Deep within, many of us seek healing from broken bodies and broken relationships and broken hearts. Sometimes we seek healing from brokenness of our souls. And in this season of Advent, we allow this desire for healing to rise within us, as we pray, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Advent is our time of watching and waiting through the dark night of our souls, waiting for the light to arrive, waiting for God to come into our lives. We face the reality that God’s time is not our own, and that there is nothing we can do to speed up the coming of the light. We are not in control, God is. All we can do is sit and wait, remembering God’s promises to us and holding onto our hope, even as the night gets darker and darker. But we also remember that there is no place we can go where God is not present with us, even in our watching and waiting. Even in what appears as darkness to us, God is with us. And God uses the deep desires of our hearts to draw us even closer in God’s divine embrace.
The people of Israel watched and waited through the ages until, in the fullness of God’s time, their prayers were answered. But when it happened, God’s coming to them was beyond their wildest imaginings, transforming their lives and their understanding of God. What might God have in store for us in answer to our hopes and desires and prayers? Watch, and wait, and see!