Rector’s Reflections
Thursday 5th December 2024
Keeping Advent with the Prophet Isaiah
Here’s question for you: do you find waiting easy? Would you describe yourself as a patient person?
The Book of Isaiah contains several passages which encourage us to find spiritual benefit from learning to wait on God. Let me provide a couple of examples, “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him” (Chapter 8, verses 17). “From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him” (Chapter 64, verse 4).
The spiritual value of waiting for God is also part of the poem found in Chapter 26. This poem is a song of victory, celebrating the restoration of God’s faithful people to new life; the poem’s imagery can be challenging, and the original Hebrew is not always easy to translate into contemporary English, but it deserves to be better known. Let me quote the first 9 verses in the translation found in the New Revised Standard version:
“On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets up victory like walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace- in peace because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock.
For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, The feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My souls yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26, verses 1-9).
The value of waiting on God remained part of Jewish spirituality in New Testament times. Indeed, it is quite possible that it became even more important, as many Jew continued to wait for the coming of the long-promised Messiah. In Luke’s gospel, we read that Simeon, described as “righteous and devout” , was “looking forward to the consolation of Israel” – in other words, he was waiting expectantly for the coming of the Messiah, and the blessings which this would bring (Luke 2, verse 25 and 26). In Mark’s Gospel, we learn that Joseph of Arimathea, who came to Pilate to ask him for the body of Jesus, was “a respected member of the council”, who was “himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God” (Mark 15, verses 42 to 43).
The idea of waiting patiently for God is not only at the heart of the message of the Book of Isaiah. It is also at the heart of the Advent season. But it is not an easy message. It requires a willingness to surrender ourselves to God, and to God’s agenda. It requires a willingness to place the future in God’s hands, rather than our own. And it requires patience. Our world today doesn’t really do patience. The world of social media encourages us to expect an instant response to whatever is said or done. We send an email and get irritated when we have to wait longer than expected for a reply.
I would add that the Church also finds it difficult to be patient. It is rare that things are actually as urgent as people might think. It would usually be much better if we paused, and gave ourselves the time we need to think and pray about the matter in hand, before rushing into action with something we think is a good idea (or which someone else has told us is a good idea.) I think the Church would save itself from much pointless busyness if it pressed the pause button more frequently than it does.
Let me finish with a final thought. So far, I have written about the spiritual value of our waiting for God. But might it also be the case that sometimes God is waiting on us? I think it is often the case that God wishes to give us a particular blessing, but He has to wait until we are able and willing to receive it. This might well relate to the stage we have reached in our spiritual growth. Some of God’s gifts depend on our reaching a certain stage of spiritual maturity. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we are enabled to receive more of God’s gifts. This is one reason why the season of Advent is so helpful- it provides us with a God sent opportunity to grow further in our faith. I wonder how we might grow spiritually this Advent?