What are we waiting for?

For the past several weeks, we have been in an intense period of waiting.  Like we do so often in life, the wait has been accompanied by a counting down of the days until the big day.  On Thursday night, the wait ended!  Stars Wars is back!

Of course, in the Church, out Advent waiting doesn’t end until this coming Thursday evening.  But what exactly are we waiting for?  Christ lived and died, as I saw on a clever church sign, long, long ago in a Galilee far, far away.  So we wait to celebrate that event, yet it is not simply a birthday celebration.

Our readings tell us why our celebration is worth the wait. The prophet Micah describes the Messiah not as simply one who brings peace, but one who is peace – “He shall be peace.”  This is the peace with which Jesus lived his life, the peace with which he laid down his life, and the peace that he breathes into each of his disciples when he first sees them after he rises from the dead.  It is the same peace that, before the Eucharist, the priest extends to all of us, and which we – perhaps much more casually and thoughtlessly than we should – extend to each other.

It is not a peace that ends all war, ends evil, and ends all violence in the world.  It is not a peace that guarantees our bodily safety against those who wish to harm us.  It is much greater than all of that.  It is a peace in knowing that God has taken on our human nature to show us a love that conquers all fear, despite the fearful things that continue to surround us.  It is a peace based on our assurance that God, in his great and provident love, will surely provide us with all that we truly need.  If we really understand the profound nature of this peace, our sign of peace would be much more than a simple greeting.

And, as we hear in the Gospel passage, this profound peace leads to profound joy.  The greeting of Elizabeth hints at this joy.  Even more, the depth of this joy is shown by the reaction of John the Baptist, who even in Elizabeth’s womb, leaps for joy at the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary.  And that presence is the source of our profound joy.  For Jesus did not just live and die long, long ago in a Galilee far, far away, but remains with us today, tomorrow and every day, here, there and everywhere.  

Thus, it is God himself who guides and inspires, strengthens and encourages us.  It is God himself who loves us despite our sins and failings; God himself who celebrates our successes and mourns with us in our losses.  Christian joy transcends our highest highs and our lowest lows.

As we come to the end of Advent, our season of patient waiting, may our celebration of Christ’s coming into the world fill us with profound peace and joy, now and forever, Amen.