Advent 2 (2006): "Pointing To the One Worth Waiting For"

Advent 2 (2006): "Pointing To the One Worth Waiting For"
Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6
Preached December 10th, 2006.

It's fun to have a visit from St. Nicholas. It's good to be reminded about where many of our holiday traditions came from.

As for me, I do like seeing Santa in the mall, and for a person with a sweet tooth, this is one of the greatest times of the year, and I certainly don't mind the gifts I will get.

I'll be honest, though, I'm getting a little tired. Being new here, and new to a lot of this work, and on top of that feeling the pressures of the season, I'm getting pretty worn out.

So at times like this, when I get a little overwhelmed by work and the Christmas season I'm glad for St. Nicholas. St, Nicholas means something, something more valuable than anything I'll purchase between now and the 25th.

Let's be honest, most of what we've come to call the Holiday season is a far cry from what the church calls Advent. Most of the holiday season is really a celebration of crass consumerism.

I buy into it, too. I can't wait to open my gifts at Christmas. This isn't meant to be a finger wagger of a sermon. Part of me loves buying stuff and buying stuff for others.

But Advent is not, in the tradition of the church, a season marked by stories of feverish spending. And our lessons point this out. Our lessons are marked by silence, by patience, by expectation, and by something far greater than ourselves.

***

At times like this there's a lot to be said for silence; though perhaps not exactly the silence that Zechariah had silence forced upon him by Gabriel.

When Zechariah was told in his vision of Gabriel that he was going to have a son, and he was to name that son John. The last words Zechariah says are words of unbelief, and Gabriel says to Zechariah that because of his unbelief he was not going to say anything until Gabriel's words were fulfilled. Zechariah wasn't going to say anything until he and his wife Elizabeth had a son.

I myself feel like Zechariah most of the week. A lot of preachers do, I think. I read the scripture that I'm to preach on, immediately Gabriel takes my voice away, and I haven't a clue what I'm going to say about it. I have to wait expectantly on Gabriel to life the curse of silence.

Maybe in this kind of season it might even be best for Gabriel to not even lift his curse, but rather, in the midst of our unbelief and our distraction from Advent, it might be a very good thing for us to sit here in silence for a good while. Silence might be a good remedy for the holidays, good medicine for a world gone mad with rushing, noise, clutter, and just plain stuff.

But the preacher's gotta say something.

The preacher can't get away with silence any more than Zechariah could.

Zechariah and Elizabeth did have a son, by the way, and when they named that son John the time came for Zechariah to speak again. Zechariah is filled by the Holy Spirit,
and he spoke the words we said together today. Zechariah speaks the great of the themes of Advent: patience and great expectation. Zechariah points out that what the world has been waiting for is drawing near. God will show mercy, keep His promise, save His people, and he will do all this by sending his holy one, the Messiah.

***

Zechariah also points to the last of the prophets, his own son, John the Baptist. John, in turn, will point as well, and call us to be ready and to be prepared, because the Holy One if Israel is on his way.

None of the people that we recognize today find meaning in and of themselves. Zechariah, John the Baptist, and even St. Nicholas in his own way, point away from themselves and to the coming of the Christ, the Holy one of Israel.

***

I think we struggle with this, with what it means to be the church in a world that would rather be busily spending than to take a moment of silence to remember, to be patient, and to expectantly await.

In this season, of all seasons, it would be good to take some time to practice pointing for the sake of a scurrying world. It would be good for us to practice pointing to what the world can't find by itself. We, the church, can point to the one worth waiting for. Like Zechariah and John, we can point to Jesus, our Saviour and Lord. We can point, like Zechariah does in the poetry of his song, to the one who comes like the sun breaking on a quiet dawn, to the one bringing light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to the one guides our feet on the way of peace.

We, of all people, can point to the one who is truly worth quietly and expectantly waiting for.