Here, Messiah Comes

Some of us have been waiting a very long time. We have never stopped believing, never stopped looking, never stopped hoping for God. We have been as faithful as we know how to be. 

Will Messiah come? 

Some of us have worked our asses off, frankly. We've done the right things, the necessary things, the hard things. Some of us have had the rug pulled out from under us by the very God we expected to have our backs, and we feel disoriented, betrayed, or confused. We're just trying to make sense of it all.

Will Messiah come? 

Some of us have never quite found where we belong. Maybe we thought we had, a few times. We've tried over and over and over again. But it hasn't worked out. It always seems to end up the same way, in failure, disappointment, regret. We feel isolated and perhaps a little jaded in the end. We find a way to keep going, but..

Will Messiah come? 

These are the stories of Anna (the prohetess, in Luke 2:36-38), of Nicodemus (in John 3:1-7), and of the woman at the well (also in John 4:4-30). But, as with many of the stories depicted in scripture, we find our stories in theirs. What did these three very different people with very different experiences have in common?

They all met the Messiah. Jesus came to them all, one by one.

Jesus came to the woman who had been looking for him, praying for him, seeking him her whole life. She recognized him and rejoiced.

Jesus came to the man who already had all the answers, who had worked hard and was doing what he knew to be right. 

It disoriented him.

Jesus came to the woman whose life hadn't gone the way she had hoped. She was judged. She was isolated. She was ... surprised.

Because the Messiah came to them all -- the ones who were ready, and the ones who were not; the ones who had it all figured out, and the ones who did not. 

In the first week of Advent, I was happy to remember that life, hope, salvation -- it comes for us, ready or not!

This second week it strikes me that, regardless of our stories, regardless of the twists and turns our lives take, regardless of our mistakes, our failures, our disappointments or regrets: Christ comes to us. 

In other words, it doesn't matter what kind of mess we are right now, he comes. But it also doesn't matter what kind of mess we've always been, he comes. If we have lived faithfully, he comes. If we have been Pharisees, he comes. If we are living day to day just trying to make things work, he meets with us -- right in the middle of our mundane tasks. Right here. Right now.

Will we recognize him? Will we rejoice? Will we let the disorientation phase us, or will we press in ... and be transformed?

Because it is here, wherever here is, right now, that Messiah comes.

Ready or Not

I'm not ready for "happy holidays," for Advent reflections, cheesy movies, or new years. 

Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year. But it doesn't seem to matter how much I look forward to the season, it sidles in while I'm distracted, overwhelmed, or, you know, still in bed with the covers pulled over my head.

     Wait, what's that noise? Oh, it's just the holidays breaking in through the living room window.

     Eeeeek!

Maybe some of you like the way it sneaks up on you. You're in the grocery store and jingle bells starts playing overhead. You feel a little more cheerful as you drop canned goods in your cart and weave in and out of the egregious number of people standing oblivious in the middle of the aisles.

     DEAR HEAVENS, PEOPLE, PLEASE STOP STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLES.

     *ahem*

But maybe, like me, you feel like Advent is a houseguest who always arrives a day earlier than expected. You haven't made the bed yet, haven't vacuumed, haven't fixed the toilet or finished the laundry or built the back deck or really done any of the things with your life that you wanted to do or thought you would do or planned to do. 

Maybe, like me, if you really got right down to it, you feel a little lost, whiplashed even, like you've been muddling around in - if not the dark, well, the half-light of perpetual dusk, anyway.  

Well, we've got good company.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:3, Matthew 4:16

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Isaiah 42:16

And, of course, that's the whole point of Advent, isn't it? Christ came for the lost, the lonely, the overwhelmed ... the underwhelmed. He came for the isolated, the addicted, the abandoned, the oppressed -- ALL people walking in darkness. And he comes for us still. Light and love break in on us where we are, in the midst of our stumbling, our grief, our not-knowing, our doubts and fears and longings unfulfilled, our desire for hope and meaning and something more. 

So, kudos to those who are on top of things, who aren't lost or weary or disoriented. I rejoice with the ones who already have their Christmas decorations out, who are listening to holiday music and baking, those who made it to church this morning, those who were ready and more than ready for the promise the season offers. Seriously, we probably all want to be you. And the good news is that the light is coming for us all, independent of us and our efforts and our preparedness, regardless. 

Ready or not.

Everything Will Change

God. 

changed. 

everything.

And we never saw it coming.

We didn't know it was happening,

had no clue that anything was even going on.

How often does God change things this way?

Quietly. 

Sneakily.

Not through pompous nor idealistic politicians, kings, or commerce,

but a light in the darkness we somehow do not see?

How often is God with us, birthing hope

in secret places 

that shake the foundations of the earth?

Because God changed everything in the womb of an inconsequential woman,

through a baby born where there was no room for him,

through a carpenter turned Great Physician.

Yet someone knew to look for him -

a ragamuffin child.

Someone knew to watch

they knew what to watch for,

knew how to recognize the work of God, the light of God.

No one talks much about this mind-blowing fact.

Someone knew how to see the subtle, mundane-seeming movement

of the Maker of the Universe in our midst.

We call them wise.

Teach us how to see, God,

how to see God.

Show us what to watch for, that we may leap for joy

within our own small wombs.

Because we need you to change us.

change.

everything.