There is a problem with pointing our finger at others . . . there are three fingers pointing back at us. Such is the issue in our scripture reading this morning. The people of God are pointing their fingers at God and asking, “How long are we supposed to wait for God to show God’s face around here again?” You see the issue is that after the Babylonian king issued a decree ending the Babylonian Exile, there were a number of exiles who returned to Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild the crumbled kingdom. Confronted with the difficulties of the return and the immense work necessary to rebuild, these exiles experience a noticeable shift from hopefulness to hopelessness.
What we are hearing in our reading this morning is a proclamation of hope tinged with a large dose of doubt and lament. The people feel abandoned by God . . . that God has not shown God’s face as they struggle with the difficulties of rebuilding. The prophet begins with God’s great deeds for the people, then moves into the question of where is God, before finishing up with a subdued acknowledgement of hope. It seems that towards the end of his speech, Isaiah realizes that as the people are pointing their fingers in God’s direction that they are pointing three fingers at themselves. Their questioning of God’s presence in their situation and lives comes glaring back at them as the question of where they are in the presence of God. As the people are wondering when God is going to show up, God is wondering when the people are going to show up.
I don’t imagine it would take too much to add our own voices to the cries and laments of the people Isaiah is representing. Life and the world around us are pretty much a mess. This historical pandemic the world has been struggling with for nearly a year has made a disaster of the way that we once lived on a daily basis. We have become stressed and anxious as we battle this COVID-19 virus . . . we have become separated and lonely . . . and the world we have always known seems to no longer exist. It has changed the way that we live and the way that we see the world . . . and, it has not always been for the best as there is divisiveness that separates us from one another over the whole thing. During a pandemic we struggle to find God’s presence in the midst of it all . . . we wonder when God is going to show God’s face.
Throw into that mix our nation . . . well, the whole world . . . and the politics that abound. These have been some difficult times as we see a nation becoming more divided and divisive as we forget our “one nation under God” being replaced by partisan loyalties only looking out for the groups we belong to. As the year 2020, an election year, has demonstrated we are living in a mess . . . and we are frustrated . . . we are angry . . . and, we are scared. Through the turmoil we long for God and wonder when God is going to show God’s face.
We are living in messy times . . . more than one person has proclaimed that the end is near and that everything that is happening is pointing towards that end. Maybe, maybe not . . . whatever the case, we can all agree that the world we live in, how it touches our lives, and how we respond is one great big mess. So, why wouldn’t we long for God’s presence is such times? Long to see the face of God? Like those before us we look to the heavens and point our fingers in God’s direction wanting to know, “How long?”
Like those in our reading, we want God to come down here and clean up this mess. That is what the prophet longs and asks for as he begins his words . . . God to come down and clean up the mess. Yet, by the end, as the prophet realizes the implications of challenging God by pointing at God, the prophet begins to see the illogicalness of the whole thing. The problem is not God, it is the people.
God is present. In fact, God has always been present. It is the people who have not been present to God . . . they have turned their eyes and ears away from God’s presence in the world. God has always been with them though not in the way that they are demanding. Instead of a vengeful interventionist, God is present like a parent or as the prophet says in verse nine . . . a potter. Instead of a vengeful interventionist who smites the problems, God is a like a potter who molds and shapes the people through their experiences in life. The prophet proclaims: “We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Though the prophet does not fully embrace the realization of God’s presence already among the people, he does know that it is true. Isaiah asks for God’s patience as he and the people struggle to fully embrace God’s presence. “Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.” Luckily for Isaiah and the people . . . luckily for us . . . God is a patient and gracious God.
It seems that every year we begin the season of Advent pointing our fingers heavenward shouting the question of “how long do we have to wait for God to show God’s face” in the world we are living in. Every Advent we seem to be pining for . . . longing for . . . God to show God’s face. We want God to intervene into our world and lives to clean up all the messes we are dealing with. Thus, we point our finger, only to realize that there are three more pointing back at us. Then we realize that the problem is not God, the problem is us.
We are the ones who are separated from God. We are the ones who need to open our eyes to see God’s presence . . . open our ears to hear God’s voice . . . and, open our hearts to embrace the intimate reality of God’s presence within us and around us. God is here . . . are we?
Advent has always been a journey based upon the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. Throughout the story the people are journeying to Bethlehem and the infant Jesus . . . the shepherds, the wise guys, and all the other characters in the story. They are journeying towards God and that intimate relationship with God. Journeying to receive the gift. They are the ones making the effort . . . God is there. God is waiting.
So, it is for us.
We begin the Advent season feeling separated . . . feeling lonely . . . feeling abandoned by the messiness of the world we are living our lives. Out of the sheer madness and craziness of the world around us we wonder . . . we express, where is God? We long to see the face of God. We long for God’s intervention. And, yet, like Isaiah and the people of his time, we know . . . we know that God is with us . . . always with us. It is us who need to make the journey to acknowledge God’s presence in the world around us and in our lives.
And so, we begin. We begin realizing the problem is not God, the problem is us . . . we have separated ourselves from God. We begin one step at a time knowing that we are being shaped and molded as we experience life around us. One step at a time realizing that it is not the end destination, but the journey that reveals God’s presence . . . reveals our relationship with the Holy . . . and, allows us to be who God created us to be. Advent is the journey home . . . it begins one steps at time. The question of Advent becomes: God is with us . . . are we willing to be with God?
Welcome to the season of Advent . . . let us find out. Amen.
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