Scriptures: Isaiah 64: 1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Advent is a time of expectant waiting; waiting for God to come down and live among us. The scripture readings also speak of expectant waiting - waiting for God to come and save His people. Here, Isaiah is writing after the exiles return to Jerusalem. They faced a temple in ruins and the extreme difficulties of rebuilding. God seemed far away, and Isaiah pleads for Him to again show His face. The Psalm reading is a similar plea for deliverance after some national tragedy. Both readings express an expectation of deliverance that comes with earthly power. The Israelites were waiting for a Messiah with political power and military might to restore their nation.
As Christians, we know a Messiah whose power did not come from political or military dominance. We can see how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, but many of the people with him did not understand. They just didn’t quite get what Jesus was about. He didn’t fit their expectations and certainly wasn’t the savior they’d been imagining. It is easy for us, from our vantage point 2000 years later, to question why they didn’t see who Jesus was. How did they miss the message in his miracles, actions, and preaching? I tell myself that I would not have been so blind; I’d have surely been among his followers.
We know who it is we are waiting for this advent. Or do we? If I am honest, I wonder how often I have been guilty of “not getting” Jesus. My blindness comes not from unbelief, but from wanting to fit Jesus into my mold. Not the mold of a warrior or an earthly king, but a mold of my making. Perhaps I am not alone in doing this. I want a Jesus who sees the world and its people as I do. I want a Jesus who wants to spend time with the same people as I do, who would vote as I do and worship like I do. It’s so much easier to believe that Jesus thinks just like I do.
This time of waiting is a good time to do a reset on who Jesus really is and what his coming revealed to us about God. It is a good time to remember that this savior told us to love our enemies, to forgive without end, to not store up treasures on earth and to seek first the kingdom of God. If I am serious about helping to make God’s kingdom come, I must take the time to search the scriptures and my heart and ready myself anew for this surprising Messiah. I must remember that the savior we are waiting for turned all expectations upside down. His was the power of love. And that is a power greater than anything man can conceive.
I pray that we may all use this time of waiting to make ourselves ready to fully accept and share this surprising and powerful love. Come, Lord Jesus.
Mary Sue Beahm
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