Third Sunday of Advent Year A

3rd Sunday of Advent 2019

Isaiah 35: 1-6, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

Lord, give me patience, and do it now! Are you a patient person? Can you wait in hope, or do you, like so many in our world today, demand instant gratification?

One problem which we have with patience is that instant gratification is, in so many ways, available, and so we come to expect it as the natural order of things. You switch on the TV and without leaving your armchair, you have access to programmes from all over the world. You don’t even have to wait for the telly to warm up any more, as used to be the case when we had one, or at most two channels, and the notice “There is a fault: do not adjust your set” was a regular companion to daily viewing.

You push a button or two on your phone, and are instantly in touch with whomever you wish—no need to write a letter, and wait for an answer. You want some food that is out of season, and you can guarantee that you will find it in the supermarket, along with inexpensive clothes, toys for the children, and anything else you may have persuaded yourself that you need. You buy tickets on line , without the need to queue; we all heat our homes at the press of a switch; you click another switch for instant hot water. There is rarely a need to wait for anything—apart from a doctor’s appointment—and the art of waiting patiently has largely been lost.

It was not always thus. The Jewish people, whom Isaiah is encouraging with the vision of a joyful return to their homeland, had waited through seventy years of exile in Babylon: indeed the original exiles, and even their children, would have died with their hopes unfulfilled. Nor should we forget that the instant gratification which we take for granted  is not available to millions of people today, not least to refugees and exiles, to the victims of war, to the poorly paid and the unemployed even in our own society.

Presumably farmers, like those about whom James wrote, still have to do their share of waiting, and there are many who share the condition of John the Baptist, languishing in a prison cell and longing for freedom.

For John, this must have been particularly disturbing. He had confidently introduced Jesus to the world as its Messiah, who would usher in the Kingdom of God, who would overthrow tyrants and set free the downtrodden; yet, not only are the tyrants still in power, but he, the appointed messenger and forerunner, is now the victim of one of them, uncertain of his fate, trodden down by those whose sins he had denounced in the name of the Kingdom—small wonder that he has begun to entertain doubts.

What is Jesus’ response? Effectively, He calls for patience. He points to the signs of the Kingdom—“the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor”—the Kingdom which is present in embryo, though its glory is not yet, and He tells John not to lose faith, even though gratification is delayed.

As it was for John, so it is for us. We too must have eyes to see the signs of the Kingdom already present, where disease is conquered, goodness and kindness are displayed, welcome and generosity are shown, and the Good News is still proclaimed, however few are receptive to it. But also like John, we must have patience, and not lose faith. Rather we should do our best to shed our desire for instant gratification, acknowledging the God who is present in small things, whose Kingdom has indeed taken root, but who will bring that Kingdom to fulfilment in His own way, and His own time.

Lord, give me patience, but do it when and as you will.

Posted on December 16, 2019 .