Rev. Katie Montgomery Mears

Psalm 130:1-2, 5-6
1 I cry out to you from the depths, Lord—
2 my Lord, listen to my voice!
    Let your ears pay close attention to my request for mercy!

5 I hope, Lord.
   My whole being hopes,
    and I wait for God’s promise. 
6 My whole being waits for my Lord—
    more than the night watch waits for morning;
    yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!

Reflection:
When someone tells me I’m going to have to wait on something, I go to a negative place pretty quickly. I hate inefficiency and slowness and, unfortunately, I’m a pretty awful version of myself at the DMV.  I am an eyes-on-the-prize, how-quickly-can-I-get-there type of person.

And it’s not just me. We live in a culture that refuses to slow down.  Faster cell networks, faster internet (don’t you shudder when remembering the beeping dial-up for AOL?), faster shipping. We live in an instant gratification society. 

That’s part of what has made this Covid year so tough. We are ready to get it over with and get back to the speed of our “normal” lives, but we can’t. We literally cannot rush through this season, and as it drags on, we are getting wearier and wearier. I find myself like the Psalmist, crying out from the depths.

In his final discourse to the disciples, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” Take a look around. He wasn’t kidding.  As Paul wrote in Romans, our world is groaning under the ache of various pains—the pandemic, worries about the economy, immigration, racism, violence. And many of us are struggling on a personal level—with our marriages, concerns for our children’s education, cancer, job loss, infertility, broken relationships, caring for aging parents.  But after his warning about the world, Jesus said, “But take heart! I have overcome the world!”

My favorite Christmas hymn is ‘O Holy Night’ and I’ve been singing a line from the first stanza to myself over and over, almost like a meditation: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”

That thrill of hope is the love that binds us up when we are hurting. That thrill of hope is that God is with us, we are not alone. That thrill of hope is Jesus Christ. This is what Advent is about.  In the face of darkness and pain, we have a very real hope in the coming of our savior who conquered death and darkness.

The Psalmist writes that he hopes, his whole being hopes, as he waits for God’s promise. As much as we don’t like it, Advent is a period that teaches us to simply wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus. At the time of year when we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, cooking, decorating, entertaining, Advent reminds us to slow down and look inward, focusing our hope not on the world, but on Jesus.

Just like the night watch waits through the long, dark night for the morning that he knows is coming, we wait through these long days with expectation, anticipation, and hope for the joy of Emmanuel, God with us, that we know is coming.

Prayer:
Jesus, In the midst of our weariness, we are grateful that you are our hope. We know that you are the true bearer of peace and joy. In the coming weeks, don’t let our minds and our bodies get ahead of our souls.  Remind us that we aren’t meant to rush to Christmas day, but to do the slow work of making room for Jesus in our hearts and lives.  And help us to take hold of the hope that is in Jesus so that we might both cling to it when we need it and sharing it with others. Amen.