“Waiting for God (not Godot)”
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
– Luke 1:38
Waiting for Godot, a play written by Samuel Beckett, is one of the most frustrating literary works that I have ever read. Spoiler alert: Godot never comes. The readers or the people who read or watch this play will be subjected to the agony and absurdity of endless waiting for nothing or no one. It depicts one of the realities of the human experience, that hoping against all hope for something or someone who never shows up! If this is the only reality that we are ever going to face, we are surely headed for a life of despair (or perhaps wallowing in it already).
But the Bible offers us another story. The characters involved are Waiting for God (not Godot, two letters deleted after ‘t’ make a huge difference, doesn’t it?). In Luke’s telling of the story we focus on Mary of Nazareth who is literally waiting for God show up as a baby, that she would carry in her womb for nine months. When she received this astonishing news from God’s messenger, Gabriel, her initial shock gave way to a humble and joyful acceptance. Mary began the journey of watchful waiting. When she visited her cousin Elizabeth, who herself was waiting with her speechless husband, the priest Zechariah, for their own son (another with God nothing is impossible story); Mary bursts into a song of praise, after Elizabeth declared her “blessed among women” while reporting that her baby, the soon to be forerunner of God’s Son, leapt for joy in recognizing God, forming as a human fetus in Mary’s womb.
Mary’s Song of Praise (also known as the Magnificat) is a testimony of her faith and willingness to watch and worship while “Waiting for God.” We can learn from her about being watchful and alert in the season of Advent, paying careful attention to what God is doing in us and among us. Mary’s waiting for God meant making time to:
- Worship God alone (after the angel Gabriel left).
- Worship God with others (while visiting her cousin Elizabeth).
- Worship God through service (making space for God’s Son to form in her womb, risking her life in birthing Jesus and accepting the sacred responsibility of a parent in raising him with Joseph).
Mary’s whole life became a worshipful watching and a lifelong journey of praising God with her life. It was not an easy life. She and Joseph had to be refugees in Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod who sought to kill Jesus driven by a mad lust for power and staying in power. Later, when Jesus became a grown man, there were times that she and her other children were confused about who Jesus really was and the mission that he was sent to do by his heavenly Father. We can relate with Mary’s faltering faith that led her to do an intervention just in case her son, Jesus was beginning to lose it under the weight and pressure of his rise to popularity as a teacher, healer and miracle worker. But in the end, Mary’s confusion and waiting led her to the foot of the cross, where she recognized God in her Son, who willingly gave his life not just to save her but the whole world. In the end, God showed up for Mary and for all of us because God loves and cares for us so much. Advent and Christmas will only make sense if we follow Mary to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when God shows up for us in the risen Jesus.
Perhaps this is not the usual Advent and Christmas message that you had expected to read. But I hope and pray that in the midst of the busy preparations, the parties, the wrapping of gifts, the giving and receiving of material blessings, we will make time like Mary, to quietly sit and wait for God to show up this Advent and Christmas with hope, peace, joy and love. In doing so, may our waiting and watching and worshipping alone, together, and in our service to others, bring us closer to Jesus, who is the real reason for this blessed Christmas season. Someday, Jesus will return for the final inauguration of God’s kingdom when Jesus will reign forever, with us, with peace and love. Until then, we continue to prayerfully watch and wait for God.
Have a Blessed Advent and a Joyful Christmas!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Carla
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