Prospect
The Rev'd Robert Warren Isaiah 40:21-31
Epiphany 5 - Year B
Have you been waiting long?
I
might ask this question if I already knew the answer - that we had
agreed to meet at ten o'clock and now I've come running, out of breath,
to the appointed street corner at 10:20. You are sheltering from the
rain under an awning. You look bored to tears. You're shifting your
weight from one foot to the other. Have you been waiting long? Yes.
Precisely 20 minutes. What have you been doing in the interim?
Nothing. I've been waiting.
The
reading from Isaiah this week says that "...they who wait for the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like
eagles". This might mean that the eventual arrival of the Lord on the
scene will have been worth the wait, the rain, the inactivity and the
long frustration. It could mean, however, that "waiting" is a more
active pursuit than merely standing under an awning in the rain, puffing
away at a sodden cigarette and staring down the street.
The
verb in Hebrew has both a literal and a figurative meaning. "Waiting"
here means, literally, to braid together a cord out of various strands
or to weave something together. Figuratively, it means to strive after
insight, to discern something solid amidst the confusing things of the
world, to seek out the open door after one has been closed in your face.
It is quite active and expansive - not passive and exclusive at all.
The
reading appears towards the end of the 40th chapter which is a grand
description of everything that God is doing in the world and with his
people and it has already contained one word specifically critical of
those who stand around grumbling that God has not come up with the the
timely goods they were expecting. They complain that "my way is hid
from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God". Their inclination
is to stand in the rain wondering why their number has not come up. To
whom the Lord gives a pointed reminder that he is at work in the world.
He is raising up the valleys and causing the mountain heights to tumble
and causing life to appear in the wilderness. He is building community
and giving second chances to sinners.
You
were waiting, perhaps, for something particular. You will do nothing
until that very ship comes in or that particular letter comes tumbling
through the mail slot. But you are not waiting - not in the sense that
this Sunday's reading would prescribe: That sort of waiting would
require that your eyes were wide open and not focussed narrowly on what
you thought you were entitled to. God is at work in the world. Find
your place in that work. Discern what has an enduring value. Be part
of what God is about in the world. It will be for you both strength and
wisdom. God will surpass your expectations.
