Mother Rebecca's Chapter Talk for the First Sunday of Advent
Is 63:16-17, 19; 64:2-7 and Mk 13:33-37
The theme on the First Sunday of Advent is always
about waiting. Today’s readings show how
essential knowing our self and knowing God is, if we are going to wait properly. The images in the first reading, as well as
what is nuanced in the gospel, show some unpleasant concepts of how we can see our
self and God: “Behold you are angry”, we are “sinful like
polluted rags”, we are like “withered leaves”, God hides his face from us
leaving us in our guilt, and we need to be on
guard because we do not know when the master will return.
If we see God as an angry or demanding master, we won’t
be waiting for him in hope but in fear. There
are two ways to wait – in a hope that saves or in a fear that destroys. To
wait in fear is anxiety; to wait in hope is anticipation. So who we wait for will decide how we wait.
The same could be said regarding our self.
If I see myself as worthless and unclean than I won’t be expecting a lot
of good things to come my way.
So let’s look at a few people in Scripture who can show
us how to wait properly. Obviously we
can begin with Mary. Pope Benedict said
that Advent is like a prolonged, stretched out Annunciation. We sit with Mary and ponder, prepare, and
pray. She is a pure model of patience
through her love which opened her to receive
the Holy Spirit. We know almost nothing
of Simeon and Anna other than that they were waiting in the temple for the Lord
to come. They are a model of patience
through their hope which was fed by
worship and prayer. Then there was the
paralytic at the pool who waited 38 years before being healed. He is a model of patience through his faith which was accompanied by great humility. So, we wait in patience through faith, hope
and love. This can only be accomplished
through being open to the Holy Spirit, through worship and prayer, and with
great humility.
But there were also great people in Scripture who were
not very good at waiting. Abraham got
impatient waiting for the Lord to act and so he hurried and took Hagar as a
second wife. Moses got impatient and hit
the rock twice losing his admittance into the Holy Land. I remember in college we had to read the Book
of Genesis (Mythology class) and I did what I always did when having to read a book
for school…I searched for the cliff notes!
Panic hit when there were none to be found and so I had to actually read
the book! In my impatience I wanted a
shortcut.
It is hard to be patient.
I think one of the reasons is because we walk more often by sight rather
than by faith. God assures us that he is
busy on our behalf but we still want to see something happen. Yet God’s delays are not denials. They are usually the means which God uses to
prepare us for something better. God is
always at work for the good in us and in all things. The only way God can teach us patience is to
test and try us, and the only way we can learn patience is to surrender to God who
is in all things. “God can grow a mushroom
overnight yet He takes His time to grow an oak tree.” Some
things in life just need waiting. It
took Joseph 13 years to be ready to handle Pharaoh’s estate. It took God’s chosen people 40 years to cross
the desert. David was anointed king when still a youth but he had to suffer
much before taking the throne.
Perhaps the hardest place to be patient is in the furnace
of suffering. God does not always
explain what He is doing or why He is doing it.
The Letter to the Hebrews tells us when we suffer it is the time to
“imitate those who through faith and patience (have) inherit(ed) the promises.”
(6:12) Knowing that the Father is near us and that He
is working out His wonderful purposes ought to encourage us, but we often get
impatient just the same.
A person once complained to her pastor, “Why has God made
me this way”? He replied “God has not
made you – he is making you”! It reminds me of the image in today’s first
reading: “we are the clay, you are the
potter”. Earlier in the Book of Isaiah
the prophet uses an image of a disgruntled pot who argues with the potter who
created him. (Ch 29:16) We can see the
irony and humor of a lump of clay, impatient with the potter’s work, and so disowns
him. To cut off from the potter’s hands
is to remain a lump of clay – without beauty or usefulness. If we can be peaceful in His Hands, we have
become a patient disciple, open to accept and do His will.
The problem with this school of patience is that we never
graduate. We are always learning, always
maturing. Sometimes we fail the
examination even before we know what the lesson is. No matter; our loving Father is guiding us
and making us more like His beloved Son, and that is all that does matter!
I would like to read a poem by Ann Lewin that I think
captures this virtue of patience.
Prayer is like watching for the Kingfisher.
All you can do is be there where he is likely to
appear,
And wait.
Often nothing much happens;
There is space, silence and Expectancy.
No visible sign, only the
Knowledge that he’s been there
And may come again.
Seeing or not seeing cease to matter,
You have been prepared
But when you’ve almost stopped
Expecting it, a flash of brightness
Gives encouragement.
This can be another great model of what our Advent
waiting can be. All you can do is be
there where he is likely to appear and wait.
Often nothing much happens then suddenly a flash of brightness gives
encouragement.
So this Advent Season is a time for waiting in faith,
hope, and love. There are no shortcuts
or cliff notes to a spiritual life. All
in God’s time and to His purposes. So
let us be encouraged by Mary, Simeon, Anna, and the paralytic this Season and
wait for the Holy Spirit, in worship and prayer, and great humility.
November 30, 2014: 1st Sunday Advent
**(Some ideas from Warren
Weirsbe: God is not in a Hurry
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