“What Are You Waiting For?”
4 Advent A – December 19, 2004
Matthew 1:18-25
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” If you are like me that phrase usually means “Get moving! There’s work to be done!” Or, “You’re late! Hurry up, slow poke!”
It’s one of those phrases that must be located deep in our genes, encoded in our DNA. Because the words, the tone of voice, the way the words are accented, especially YOU and WAITING, seem to pass down through the generations like eye color and pattern baldness.
“What are you waiting for” is a rhetorical question, a statement which sounds like a question but is really a command to get busy. The speaker is not looking for an answer to the question..
But in this season of Advent, “What are you waiting for?” means something different. It really is a question that needs an answer. Because Advent is about waiting.
We hear a lot about how the commercialization of Christmas (just watch a Charlie Brown Christmas) destroys the true spirit of Christmas. But I think there is a way in which this commercialization makes us answer (however reluctantly and grumpily) “What are you waiting for?”
Have you been to Oakwood Mall in the last two weeks? How about either of the two Marts – K or Wal? Eventually, you wait, right?” And as you stand in line do ever ask yourself, “What am I waiting for?” Sometimes the answer is an ulcer or a migraine. Maybe it’s super-low price? Maybe it’s the look of delight on the face of a loved one receiving the gift you waiting to buy.
But if you just been waiting for biopsy results? Or waiting to hear the results of your first job interview after nearly a year of being unemployed? What are you waiting for when your 62-year-old mother has just been diagnosed with Alzheimers? Notice that there is little or nothing you can DO in any of these situations that will have significant affect on the final outcome. The results, the hiring decision, the knowledge that there is no cure for Alzheimers – what is left?
Five of the seven lessons in today’s Festival of Lessons and Carols are from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. God, through Isaiah, speaks words of hope to the people of
· Isaiah 40 – Preparation, a necessary part of waiting for a hoped for event..
· Isaiah 9, 11, and 42 – Speak of God’s promises and prophecies for a better future
· Isaiah 7 – God will give a sign: a baby who will be called “God with Us”
We know that Isaiah’s words were fulfilled in the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. And that fulfillment, hope because the hallmark of what it means to be a Christian.
Indeed, When Christianity is true to itself, it proclaims the centrality of wishing and hoping and waiting. But the even better news is that we do not hope or wish or wait alone. God himself waits with us is with us in Jesus Christ, who is Immanuel, which mean God with Us, the one of whom Isaiah prophesied. Those who believe God is with us . . . are with us. Christian hope is not an individual matter between an individual and God. Hope is shared, like faith. And like faith hope is a living relationship with a living and present God. A God whose promises are true.
So what are you waiting for? How do you answer? The answer will make the difference between a gift given out of joy and not obligation, a meal shared with thanksgiving instead of resentment, a visit made out of loving relationship instead of duty. Your answer will come from your heart, whether you want it to or not. Is it a heart filled with hope through faith in Christ? That’s worth hoping for; that’s worth the wait. Amen.