The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Advent 3A
“What are you looking for?” Or, if you subscribe to a particular view of English grammar, “For what are you looking?”
Watching and waiting are at the heart of our Advent observance. We join the prophets from of old in waiting and watching for the Kingdom of God, for the joy of the Messiah, the Anointed One. While the ancient prophets did not know precisely what they were expecting, they were full of hope in dark times. They knew wars, poverty and oppression, and they knew that some folks preferred the self-righteousness of religion rather than the righteousness and mercy that truly practicing religion can bring; even though the world seemed terrible and sometimes hopeless, they persevered in hope. They kept watch for the Kingdom of God drawing near, they kept looking and watching for God to act decisively in the world.
The prophets had hope in God to make things right.
John the Baptist arose in the wilderness to baptize people with water and call them to repentance. People were to be reborn and renewed – and yet John the Baptist expected more. It wasn’t enough to turn people back to God through changing their hearts and minds. There was more. John the Baptist was keeping watch. John the Baptist was looking for more, the Messiah.
And so he was fearful and anxious when he was arrested and imprisoned. Was this the Messiah? Was this the one? Or was he – or, rather, his disciples, since the clock was ticking on John the Baptist – to wait for another? Was it someone else who would inaugurate the Kingdom of God?
Jesus sent the message back in his usual ambiguous style. It was not an enthusiastic “Yes, it’s me.” Jesus tells these messengers to carry back the news: the hurting are being healed and the oppressed are being lifted up. In a way, Jesus is asking John the Baptist and his disciples to figure out if this was what they were looking for. If they were looking for the military warlord who would reassert Israel’s sovereignty to be the Messiah, then Jesus would not be what they were looking for. But if they were looking for the Kingdom of God that the prophets of old hoped for, then look at what Jesus was doing and compare. The Kingdom of heaven is drawing near.
Jesus’ mother, Mary, she knew what was going on. We shared her song today, her Magnificat. She knew in her heart the hopes and dreams of the prophets, and she recognized that the message of the Angel Gabriel to her was part of the beginning of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was not going to be a proud king sitting on a throne, but the Kingdom of God will be lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry. She understood in her heart that the Kingdom of heaven could start from humble beginnings, and it could start with a young woman from a corner of Israel, that it could start from her.
So our forebears the prophets were looking for the Kingdom and for the Messiah. They were looking for God to do something to set the world right.
We as modern Christians join them in watching and waiting … though we wait for the *fullness* of the Kingdom of God. We know what the Kingdom of heaven looks like: it looks like Jesus. It looks like Jesus who heals the sick and brings good news to the poor and speaks the truth. It looks like Jesus who feeds the hungry and casts out evil and sees the sacredness in each human being. That’s what the Kingdom of heaven looks like.
In the birth and life of Jesus we saw the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. In Jesus we see the beginning of the Kingdom. The Messiah did not come in power to destroy Israel’s enemies and return the nation to a so-called “golden age.” God wanted more than that. God wanted to bring the hearts of all humanity, the hearts of all creation, to healing and wholeness. The Messiah would be sent to the tribes of Israel, and yet the Gentile nations would find themselves drawn to the message, too. The Messiah would be a baby of humble birth, not a son of power and privilege; not a warrior, but the son of a carpenter. The Messiah would ignite the hearts of many to turn toward God, the God of all creation, the God who lovingly made all that is. The powerful would be set free from their privilege, and the poor and oppressed would be lifted up and liberated.
What we’re waiting for is the *fullness* of that Kingdom. We see how much the world still fixates on the wrong thing. The world focuses on money: we see that right now in how much money is being thrown at AI and how much money is being stolen by the rich who have no need of yet more money. (Fun side fact: I’ve been reading a catechism written by the Church of England bishops back in 1537, nearly 500 years ago, and in the section on the Ten Commandments, the bishops say that hoarding money and monopolizing resources is a violation of “Thou Shalt Not Steal”). We see how the world still focuses on power, or vengeance, or dominating others, or cruelty, or callousness. (Another fun side fact: in that same catechism from 500 years ago, those bishops wrote that even when punishing people who committed crimes, one should never lose compassion and love for them, and that cruelty in any form was a violation of “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” So woke!) Like the prophets, we watch and wait for God to set it right. We watch and wait for the fullness of the Kingdom of heaven; we’ve seen the beginning of the Kingdom in Jesus, and we wait for the completion of the Kingdom.
We watch and wait for the Kingdom of God. Or, to be more precise, we’re looking for Jesus. In every day, we should keep watch for the work of Jesus, the work of Jesus in feeding the hungry, healing the sick, caring for our neighbor, proclaiming truth, practicing mercy, growing in love with God and neighbor as ourselves. Where we see these things, we see the work of Jesus, and when we see the work of Jesus we see the presence of the Kingdom of heaven, and we take our place in the Kingdom, building the beloved community, the holy fellowship, the beautiful communion of the Kingdom of heaven. As we wait, as we hope, as we keep watch, let us keep working, too. Working for the Kingdom, that others may see the Kingdom and have hope and hear the Good News meant for them, too. Amen.