Loving God, you call upon us to wait for you in quietness and in trust, something which we often find difficult to do. Bring us into your presence this day and thus renew our strength by the power of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The people of Israel are feeling abandoned and forgotten by God. They don't believe that God sees what is happening to them. They don't believe that they will ever be able to go home from Babylon. They were carried off into exile over 50 years ago now. Where is God, anyway?

Their lament appears right in the middle of the first reading that we heard today from Isaiah. Israel says: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God" (Isa. 40:27). However, God's message through the prophet Isaiah asks the people how they can possibly believe that God is unaware of their situation. After all, God - the Creator of the Universe - knows even all the stars in the sky by name. God "brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing" (Isa. 40:23). God's power is such that God is quite capable of rescuing his people and well aware of their situation.

God is everlasting and does not faint or grow weary. However, human beings are not God, and they can't always see the big picture, and they do grow weary, and they do get exhausted and faint. However, to all who are in need of hope, and to all who are weary and feeling as if God has forgotten them, we find in the words of Isaiah a marvelous promise.

"Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).

The key to this promise seems to be right at the beginning of verse 31. The promise is given to "those who wait for the Lord." Of course, the next question is, "What does this mean?" What does it mean to wait for the Lord? After all, these are the people who will renew their strength!

Well, one of the best ways to investigate the meaning of a phrase like this is to look up the Hebrew word and meaning and then look at other passages that use the same word. When we do that, we soon discover that these passages are full of promises for those who wait for the Lord. We find: "The Lord is good to those who wait for him" (Lam. 3:25). "Those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land" (Ps. 37:9). "Those who wait for [the Lord] shall not be put to shame" (Isa. 49:23). And, of course, "those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength."

Waiting for the Lord must be a good thing, but how does one do it? A number of clues are found in a passage from Lamentations (3:25-30). In this passage, waiting for the Lord involves spending time in silence and in prayer. It involves seeking God with our soul and quietly expecting God's salvation. In Psalm 37, waiting for the Lord also involves being still - quieting oneself in the presence of God. The Psalm also says "do not fret" and "refrain from anger" for God will act on behalf of those who wait for him.

It would seem that Jesus was actually "waiting for the Lord" in today's gospel reading, too. Did you notice how he got up early in the morning and went out to a deserted place to pray? That is waiting for the Lord, and it's also how Jesus was constantly renewing his strength. And so we begin to get a sense of what it means to wait for the Lord - but how difficult it is for us to do so! How difficult it is in this society that has become so used to instant gratification! For, waiting for the Lord is a long-term habit and not a short-term solution. Waiting for the Lord involves an attitude of quiet expectation. Waiting for the Lord involves actually spending some quiet time in the presence of God.

And no matter how many demands we have on us or how many people are around us or how many things we have scheduled into our day, the need to wait for the Lord in order to renew our strength does not change. Jesus had crowds of people clamouring to get at him all the time. The need for healing was so great that they all wanted to touch him. Yet, he knew that he had to renew his strength by spending time in prayer and in silence in the presence of God. Our need for that renewal and that strength is the same.

Another way to think about waiting for the Lord is that it's kind of like filling up our reservoir. Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote way back in the twelfth century, talks about Christians who try to be "canals." In a canal, the water flows right through and empties out on the other side. However, a reservoir keeps a reserve of water and dispenses it only when it is needed. Bernard advises people to be reservoirs, spiritually speaking, rather than canals. Here is some of what he writes:

"We have all too few such reservoirs in the Church at present, though we have canals in plenty.... They (canals) desire to pour out when they themselves are not yet inpoured; they are readier to speak than to listen, eager to teach that which they do not know, and most anxious to exercise authority on others, although they have not learnt to rule themselves.... Be filled thyself; then, but discreetly, mind, pour out thy fullness.... Out of thy fullness help me if thou canst; and, if not, spare thyself." (Bernard of Clairvaux, from Sermons on the Song of Songs, in For All the Saints, Vol. III, p. 187)

The image that Bernard chooses to use is similar to John 7:37-39, where Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as "rivers of living water" that will flow from the hearts of believers. Most of us, though, need to learn how to tap into these rivers of living water and need to learn how to fill up our spirit with the Spirit of God. And, to the dismay of those who like everything to happen instantly, it takes spending regular time in the presence of God and in prayer in order to have a reservoir within ourselves that can then be poured out for others.

Yes - waiting for the Lord is not easy. It is far too easy for us to fill up all of our waking hours with other things. And yet, spiritually speaking, we will never be anything other than "canals" if we do not take this time. It involves meditating on the Scriptures. It involves taking the time to be quiet. It involves being aware of God's presence. It involves prayer and quiet trust.

This trust part of things is very important, for when we are unable to trust in God's wisdom and God's timing, it makes for much inner turmoil and worrying. Yet, this, too, is not easy, especially when we are waiting for God to act.

The people of Israel waited many years for God to act after they were carried off as slaves to Babylon. They were not able to see the "big picture" - as God was - and they felt as if they had been forgotten. Yet, God was very much in charge and acted when the time was right, and released them from bondage, and sent them back to their homeland.

God also acted when the time was right in sending Jesus Christ and continues to view us through Jesus' righteousness rather than through our sinfulness. Our God sees the big picture even when we cannot and has proven to be loving, merciful and trustworthy. Let us, then, also, wait for the Lord.

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:28-31).

May it be found to be so among us. Amen.

Epiphany 5(B) Isaiah 40:21-31
February 5, 2006 Mark 1:29-39
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore
? 2005 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved