Loving God, although all of us have times when you seem far away, you have come to be with us in Jesus Christ. Help us this day to trust in your promises and to recognize you wherever we meet you; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have you ever pleaded with God to come down and do something about the troubles in our world? Have you ever pleaded with God to put an end to your suffering or the suffering of others? Have you ever pleaded with God to come and save you? If you have, you’re in very good company.

Isaiah also pleaded with God. “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” (Isa. 64:1)! O that you would come down and show your power to your enemies. O that you would remember your people and come to save us. In Isaiah’s case, the people had been carried off into exile in a foreign land. Jerusalem had been destroyed, along with the Temple. They felt as if God had forgotten about them and abandoned them.

Essentially, Isaiah was saying, “How long, O Lord?” How long will you continue to punish us? How long will you wait before you bring us to the promised land? How long will you allow your enemies to prosper? Have any of you ever asked, “How long, O Lord?”

It is a question that has been asked many times in the history of God’s people. It is a question that especially gets asked during times of great distress and suffering. The entire book of Revelation, as well as portions of each gospel, were written for first century Christians who were experiencing persecution and suffering and were asking, “How long?”. The reading that we heard today from the gospel of Mark is part of one of those sections, often referred to as a “little apocalypse.” And for those who like to know what words mean, apocalypse means revelation.

Wherever we find an apocalypse in the Scriptures, there are people who were asking the question, “How long, O Lord?” How long until Christ returns? How long until the suffering comes to an end? How long until God saves the righteous and punishes the wicked? These are questions that do not belong only to the past. In recent weeks, there has been no shortage of news reports of violence and suffering and hardship. Many people today are saying, “How long, O Lord?” and “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down”!

In the midst of these pleas for God to swing into action, we turn to the Scriptures for answers. One of the things about having both the Old and the New Testaments is that we are able to see many hundreds of years of history. We see both the pleas to God for help, and the ways in which God answers those pleas.

In the Old Testament, there are two great stories of deliverance. The first is when God rescues the people from slavery in Egypt and leads them through the wilderness and into the promised land. In this case, the Israelites actually lived in Egypt for close to 400 years. Way back in Genesis, Abraham is promised that his descendants will be rescued from slavery and led back to their own land (Gen. 15:13-14). Although it takes hundreds of years before it happens, God keeps his promise and uses Moses to lead the people out of slavery and to the promised land.

The second story of deliverance from the Old Testament happens after the time of Isaiah. This time, the people have been carried off to Babylon, and are kept there as slaves for close to 200 years. Finally, during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people are led back to Israel, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem begins. In both of these cases, God promises deliverance through the prophets, and those promises are, indeed, fulfilled.

Of course, the Old Testament also contains promises about a Messiah – a Saviour – One who is prophet, priest and king. We see those promises fulfilled in Jesus, and even the plea that we heard today gets answered, in part, through Jesus. Isaiah cries, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” and at the time of Jesus’ baptism, the heavens are torn apart as the Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove (Mk. 1:10). In Jesus, God did, in fact, “come down” to live among God’s people.

So – we have not yet answered our current pleas for God to come and do something. However, we have established a pattern. God promises rescue and salvation and power and strength for the journey to the promised land, and God follows through on those promises. Sometimes it takes hundreds of years before the right time comes, but when the time arrives, God acts. God’s promises are to be trusted.

In the same way, there are numerous promises in the New Testament that Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. Christ will come again, and his coming will bring about a new heavens and a new earth. Yet, already in the first century, Christians were asking, “How long?”. One of the passages that addresses this question most explicitly is found in the second letter of Peter.

In this letter we discover that people have been scoffing and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Pet. 3:4). “Things are just the same as they always have been. Why is God so slow?” The answer that is given goes like this:

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:8-9).

God has far more patience than any of us do. God also has far more wisdom than we do and can see when the time will be right. For peace of heart, resign as general manager of the universe. God really does have it under control!

What we are being asked to do today is to trust. We are being asked to trust that God is still working in this world. We are being asked to trust that we are in God’s hands, and so is the future. We are being asked to trust in God’s promises. Things may not look so good to us, but God can see far more than we can. At the right time, God will act.

In the mean time, we are to live in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. We are to live each day as if it could be our last. We are to make the most of the time that we have been given. We’re not going to know ahead of time when the end will come. Instead, we need to be ready to meet Jesus at all times.

Last week we were reminded that Jesus is not absent from our world. While his body is in heaven, his Spirit remains, and he is here with the hungry and the homeless and the needy and the sick and the prisoners. Jesus is also in, with and among us, and we are called to continue to be Christ for one another until the time when he comes again. The Lord “is near, at the very gates” (Mk. 13:29). Let us then live with open hearts, ready to meet him at all times and in all places. Amen.

Advent 1(B)     Isaiah 64:1-9
November 30, 2008     Mark 13:24-37
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2008 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved