Christmas, As Anticipated

Be it a family gathering, a project at work, just reading a book, sometimes events turn out the way you hope they will, but often times they don’t. Expectations are tricky to manage. Somewhere between pie-eyed optimism and deep skepticism is the right level of anticipation, but finding that right combination . I have expectations when rooting for my son’s flag football team, but when rooting for the Minnesota Vikings, I do not…not this year, at least. When hopes are fulfilled, there comes satisfaction, relief, and often joy. The report is done! The garage is clean!

As we enter the seasons of Advent and Christmas, the language of worship is seasoned with words of anticipation: hope, expectation, yearning, fulfillment. This sense of anticipation comes from a group of people highly associated with advent: the prophets. Known for their waiting and longing, the prophets of the Bible were from different times and places who spoke for God, indicating what God thought and what God would do. Prophets delivered messages to the people of Israel, famous for their line “thus says the Lord”. Sometimes it was bad news from God, sometimes it was good. Whatever the oracle (prophetic oracle) the people waited to see how the message came to unfold.

This December each Sunday we are going to look at a different prophet and consider the message that he brought. We’ll consider the time and place of the prophecy as well as the message each bore. Christians have always been interested in the prophets of Israel because they often described Jesus. Centuries before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets delivered oracles (prophetic utterances) that anticipate Jesus’ birth.

Prophets spoke to a particular context. They looked at what was happening around them and shared what God thought about it. Unfaithfulness grieves God, as does poverty and greed. The prophets would call Israel back to faithfulness, asking that they return to the Lord (Jeremiah 3:14) and “trust in the Lord” (Isaiah 26:4) with the assurance that God will send the messiah to save them….all they need to do is wait. And wait they did, for a long time.

All that the prophets said about the messiah was finally fulfilled on that night in Bethlehem when the Christ child was born. The anticipation and the yearning was fulfilled. Christ is a “wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9) just to name a few of his qualities.

The prophets are an interesting group. They spoke in metaphors, often cryptically. They speak of kings who have long been deceased and places that no longer have the same name on the map. Yet once you get past those details to the real issues at stake, the prophets are remarkably relevant. It will be good to consider the messages they bear in the month to come.

How are you waiting for God to act in your life?  What is it that God is expecting from you right now? What is it that you need from Jesus? All these questions relate to this time of year. Advent is the time of preparation and expectation. Christmas is the season of the fulfillment of these expectations. May you experience the presence and activity of God in both.