DAY FIVE: Waiting vs. Ready

OK – Day 5. Let’s look at the idea of God using Christmas to introduce an alternative reality (remember The Matrix reference on Day 3?).

On the church calendar, this time of year is called Advent. The name Advent comes from two Latin words, advenire (to come to) & adventus (an arrival). People who understand it correctly know that it is a time of waiting – remembering the waiting that the world did before God came to get us, and waiting for when He will do it again.

When I was a kid, I hated to wait until Christmas Day. I can remember looking for the hidden gifts, wanting to just rip off every little flap on the Advent calendar, and wondering why time moved SOOOO slowly (I no longer think it does, by the way). To make matters worse, my family took an eternal 9 hour car ride to get to Ontario for Christmas every year. I had heard about other families who opened gifts on Christmas Eve and badgered my father about why we didn’t adopt such a fine tradition. Basically, I was in favor of anything that meant less waiting.

In the Old Testament we learn that the Jewish people were waiting for their Messiah to come. After all they had been through (captivity, exile, wandering around in the desert for 40 years, some seriously terrible kings…) they waited for God to come and FIX the situation. They envisioned a mighty warrior king who would conquer their oppressors and reclaim their status. Their prophets described a different God, but I always amaze myself when I EXPECT what I long for, not necessarily what is, so I kind of understand how they got it mixed up.

Hindsight is 20/20 though, right? Having the benefit of the whole story, it now seems pretty clear. Take for instance this snippet from the book of Isaiah, written generations before Jesus’ birth:

13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Now at the risk of committing heresy, here’s my own paraphrase: Listen up, people! Why are you being so awful to each other? Don’t you realize that every time you act like idiots, you hurt God too? Well, He's going to come and meet you, talk with you, help you understand the truth you are missing, prove His love - but be forewarned, He's going to come in an unbelievable way and His name will affirm His Presence with you. You get the idea, right?

I wish the Gospel writers had been more like the writers of soap operas. You know how you can miss two whole weeks of a soap opera, but not miss much of the story line? I have this longing to read all the “in between” words – the words in between Mary’s visit from the angel and the day she and Joseph left for Bethlehem. The Jews knew their scriptures, so when Mary told her parents that an angel had appeared, that she was a pregnant virgin, and that she had been instructed to call the baby Immanuel, did her parents recall Isaiah’s prophecy? Did the people in her town remember it as her belly started to grow?

Or, perhaps, they were waiting for the Messiah, but not ready for Him.

I suspect we approach the truth of Christmas in much the same way. We are waiting for God to come FIX this mess – or we wonder why, if He is such a gracious and all-powerful God, He let things get so out of hand in the first place. We expect Him to do things on our terms (remember our ideas about Job and self-interest? Do we embrace God so that He will bless us and give us good things?) instead of being ready to let Him lead, let Him reveal the truth to us, let Him fix us so He can fix the world.

There is a whole different way to live and relate to each other and to God. God orchestrated Christmas in an unexpected way to challenge all our pre-conceived ideas about Him and about our reality. A pregnant virgin? Angels? God born in a stable? Doesn’t make any sense in my world.

Now that I am grown, I do not necessarily like to wait, but I have at least recognized its merits. Something about waiting is often good for me - delaying my own desires, forcing me to see things differently, giving me time to step outside my preconceived ideas and entertain a different way instead. Waiting teaches me patience and perseverance.

It gets me ready.