Dec. 15, 2019: 3rd Sunday Advent A

Less than ten days left...some may already be saying that they’ve watched all the Hallmark Christmas movies and listened to enough Christmas music that have been on the air since October. Are we Christians filled with the joy and hope of anticipation of the birth of Our Savior as we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent? Waiting and anticipating are not the particular forte of our generation that is so used to everything being available at our fingertips instantaneously. We may find ourselves becoming impatient as we are fatigued already from shopping, preparing for parties, and sending out cards. Some may already feel that this Christmas will not be all that they hoped it to be. At the breakfast with Santa event we held yesterday, a little child was throwing a fit and refusing to eat his pancakes. The reason: the pancakes didn’t have blueberries on it like the ones his mama serves him at home. We can always find a reason—real or imagined—to be disappointed.

John the Baptist was beginning to be impatient, after his arrest, as he waited in the dark, dingy prison of King Herod. John believed that the Messiah would come and overthrow unjust earthly kings like Herod and liberate the captives. He placed his hope in his cousin Jesus in whom he witnessed amazing signs, yet he had doubts. Did he misplace his hope? What if Jesus was not the Messiah? So John sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask plainly, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Matt 11:3)

I think many good, Christian people share John’s pondering, “Is Jesus the one?” Over the years through many disappointments, we may have compartmentalized our faith life. We have a set of expectations for Sunday, and a different set of expectations for Monday through Saturday. In this way, we may have placed limits on how we receive Christ into our hearts. There is a desire in us to control every aspect of our lives. So it may be difficult for us to agree with a popular song, “Jesus take the wheel. Take it from my hands. 'Cause I can't do this on my own. I'm letting go. So give me one more chance. And save me from this road I'm on.”

We may all recall the Christmas wish list that we made as children. Then as adults we make a list of things we want to possess and to accomplish in life. We may have achieved our goal of acquiring the house, the job, or the position we dreamed about. Yet, in the final analysis, have these possessions and accomplishments fulfilled or satisfied the longing we feel inside, or do we still crave for something new and different? What if we haven’t achieved our goals or acquired what we want? But is that all there is? Is this the totality of what you were waiting for? What do you do when you have everything you ever wanted … and it is not enough?

Martin Luther King, Jr. wisely said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Perhaps we are like John the Baptist who was disappointed and now we are asking, “Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11: 3) Do we treat the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ as simple stories, or do we believe Christ’s life, death, and resurrection as the source of our joy and hope which sustains us each moment of our lives?

Advent calls us to reflect on the three meanings of the coming of Jesus: Jesus coming into the world as a little infant to live as a man and die for us;  Jesus desiring to come into our daily lives, right now; and Jesus coming back into the world as King and Judge. Like John the Baptist, we need to cultivate the desire to wait patiently in order to make room for Christ to transform our lives. As difficult it may be in your busy lives, let us use the next ten days in a reflective way, to prepare ourselves for Christ.