Advent Reflection: The Unrequited Wait
Deuteronomy 34:1-5
1Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” 5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.
Many of those who waited in the Bible had to do so through long periods of suffering, silence, and doubt. But through their faithfulness—and in many cases their long suffering—they were able to see the fulfillment of the hopes they deeply desired. Their waiting did not disappoint.
A highlight reel of Moses’ life reveals that he moved from season to season of waiting; waiting for Pharaoh—a hard hearted leader to let go of power, waiting through the suffering of people (Israelites and Egyptians) as plagues and disasters struck the land, waiting for provision—daily bread and water in the sweltering desert, waiting for vision and directives from God, waiting for relief from the burdensome journey and the sometimes burdensome people. And at age of 120, Moses life ends as he was still waiting to enter into the Promised Land of God.
This is where we see something beautiful in the waiting of Moses. His life illuminates that sometimes we are called to wait and work faithfully through the wilderness’ of our lives and move toward God’s promises—not just because they are good for us as individuals—but because we are waiting in solidarity with others who need to experience the fullness of God’s promises as they hope and anticipate things still yet out of their reach.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was much like Moses in that he waited and worked for a vision he believed in, though he would never fully experience. On the eve of his untimely assassination in 1968, he spoke in Memphis in support of the black sanitation workers—individuals that had been waiting on better treatment and higher wages. He remarked, “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life—longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
I am going to say a hard thing that is not very aligned with the general Christmas spirit; many things that we wait on in life, don’t actually come to pass. Unlike the Hallmark-genre holiday movies that I love so much—most of our deepest desires aren’t fulfilled in a predictable 90-minute journey. The deepest questions we seek answers to, the healing we desire, the understanding we want to uncover, the justice we yearn for—much of it invites us to hold hope closely to our chest like a fragile newborn as we traverse the treacherous field of longing.
Moses travelled this field. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did as well. They remind us that even if we don’t get to experience the fullness of all we hope for, we can still see the glory of the coming of the Lord. We can see the glory of the coming of all we hope for, even in it’s absence. This prophetic way of seeing is what gets us through the rough landscape of our experience. This also is the gift of advent. This unrequited wait also is for us this advent season.
Selah.
What are you hoping for, despite the delayed arrival, that you need to hold closely to your chest?
What justices in the world are you waiting and working towards?
If you discouraged in your waiting, what might Christ invite you to see differently in this advent season?
