Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:46-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
Can it be Advent 3 already? I dimly remember a day when Advent took a month of Sundays, but then a month of Sundays seemed to last longer than four weeks. It’s taken a while for the Lord to return as well and while it may seem as if the day is closer than ever we’ve no way to know for sure. What we can say is that the dream Isaiah penned in the 35th chapter is as much our hope as it was those who first heard it. The ransomed of the Lord return with singing to the place of promise while sorrow and sighing flee from the sound of everlasting joy. In the same way our hope is given voice with the young girl overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, bearing in her secret place “the hopes and fears of all the years” singing the forever song even though the Holy One has done a dangerous thing to her. We wait as those called beloved three times in four verses which means we wait patiently and do not weary ourselves or others with grumbling. And finally we are blessed by not taking offense at the Christ who comes on his own terms which the first time around was good news for a whole bunch of people not on the A-list of their day or ours. So whether Advent 3 has taken you by surprise or taken a long time to arrive the prayer is the same. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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