When is Enough Enough?
September 21, 2023
Today’s reading from Isaiah shows why this book is required reading for Advent. Isaiah 2:2 reads, “In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.”
The key words for Advent are “In days to come.” It is Advent. And so, I wait. But waiting has already taken up so much of the year. Waiting for work to return. Waiting for impulse online purchases to arrive. Waiting for sourdough bread to rise. Waiting to see loved ones. Waiting for a vaccine. Waiting for normalcy to return, and beginning to wonder if it ever will. So when I think about entering a season of waiting to wrap up a year where I’ve felt trapped, I’m reminded of the famous last lines of the play Waiting for Godot:
Vladimir: Well, shall we go?
Estragon: Yes, let’s go.
They do not move.
But Advent involves a different kind of waiting—Far more hopeful than Waiting for Godot. It is more hopeful than even the promise of freshly baked bread. (Remember, man does not live by bread alone!) In Advent I wait for the promise of Christ—The King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. As the Isaiah reading today says (2:4), “He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
This waiting is joyous, because I know that God will deliver on His promises, just as He has before. The day of celebration for the birth of Christ will come, and the darkness will turn to light. This waiting helps sustain me through the forced waiting of 2020, because it helps me remember that God will never leave me—No matter how hard the waiting gets, no matter how desperate I get for the light to come, no matter how long it takes for a vaccine to arrive.
And this brings me to the other major word of Advent: Prepare. Just as Isaiah’s readers are urged to prepare for a great coming, so am I. I aim to prepare for Christ’s coming with prayer, studying the Bible, and sharing my faith wherever I can. Happy Advent.
