“Are We There Yet?”

Tanya Eustace
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

December 24, 2006
8:30 am service

“Therefore Israel will be abandoned “until the time” when she who is in labor gives birth…. Until the time? Until what time? How long is that? Is the woman pregnant now, or is she going to be pregnant in the near future? Micah’s words are not very helpful here—we are told of great things that will come when “she who is in labor gives birth-“ but we’re not told who she is and when she might be planning on doing such a thing…. As I read Micah- my “need to know personality” has a really hard time with this language- what was the prophet trying to tell the people of Israel- hang tight- some great things are going to happen…. However my impatient nature wants to say- what things and when??? My questions mimic those you might hear in the back of a car on a long family trip: Are we there yet? How much longer? I have to go to the bathroom!!!! Words and questions of impatience, they come from knowing something exciting is about to happen- we’re about to get to a really cool place where there will hopefully be some fun and exciting things to see and do- however we’re unsure of our exact E. T. A.-estimated time of arrival. When I was in high school my youth director always had the same response to the question: How much longer? He would simply say “bout an hour.” As a newbie I always took that literally, until I got older and wiser in my years realizing that he said that anytime anyone asked the question- it didn’t matter if we were five minutes away or 10 hours- his standard response was “bout an hour” and we’d shrug and say o.k.… and go back to singing 100 bottles of coke on the wall, trying to be as obnoxious as possible… This is the same response Micah is giving us in today’s scripture, and it might have been the same response Joseph gave Mary as they made the 70 mile, 3-4 day journey on donkey to Bethlehem. It’s the be patient and have faith answer- it will all happen in God’s time….

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I can be very impatient and in response to these answers I always say- but I want it to happen now!!! And so in response to Micah I was quick to ask- what am I waiting patiently for? Who is this guy telling me to be patient? What does he know anyway? The prophet Micah lived approximately eight centuries before Jesus dating his writings somewhere between 737 and 686 B.C… although the actual date is uncertain. He was fourth in the line of those great prophets which we call the prophetic succession: Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. He was apparently a small town artisan whose prophecies indicate deep sympathy for the poor. The small town that he was from was called Maresh- and would have probably gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been the home of a famous prophet. Maresh was seated geographically where it was one of the first objectives for attack in case of a military campaign against Palestine from either south or west. The concern of invasion, and the fear of political instability that is typically engrained in people from seacoast and borderline towns is apparent in Micah’s writings. He was deeply concerned for the peace and welfare of his hometown and its neighboring communities. His message in today’s pericope is no different- Micah’s words of hope and promise for security and peace seem to be addressing a town in despair and fear. Although Micah 5:1 was not in today’s reading- it is an important piece of the puzzle. In this verse Micah tells of an upcoming siege against their town, and alludes to the humiliation of their king…. All is not well for the people of Maresh, Micah’s words in verse one lay it out pretty clearly that there is nothing but gloom in the people’s future. In fact, as history tells us, Micah began preaching just a few years before the Assyrian Empire swallowed up the kingdom of Israel piece by piece until there was nothing left….so what did the people have to hope for? Where was God in the midst of all of this political instability, destruction, and chaos?

Verses 3-5 provide us with the answers to these questions as Micah outlines his vision and God’s promises. Although Israel will be abandoned, and they will experience destruction and political instability all is not lost for God’s people. Micah’s voice of gloom turns to words of joy and hope as he foretells the coming of one who will rule in peace. Although this king, this shepherd is yet to come, it has a joyful effect on the listener’s because once again they have a reason to hope. They may be waiting asking- when is this to happen, and although Micah’s response was as clear as my youth director’s “bout an houràThey had reason to rejoice, because God had promised that sometime in the future, they would be redeemed and saved. They didn’t know how long they would have to wait- but somewhere in the far off distance, I’m sure they heard a baby cry as they opened their hearts to the idea of new possibilities, to God’s redemption, and their salvation as children of God.

“Until the time when….” In today’s text the people of Israel were waiting, they had to wait an unknown length of time, and I’m sure there were continual people who asked- are we there yet? How bout now? How much longer? But I’m tired of waiting!!!! Then 800 years later there was two other people who were waiting… Mary and Joseph- they had been waiting at least nine months for the birth of their baby, they had journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem- a route that is approximately 70 miles and would have probably taken Joseph and Mary 3-4 days of traveling by donkey- possibly as long as a week. I’m sure they were growing tired and weary from their journey asking: Are we there yet? We’re ready for this baby to be born!! I have two friends who are very pregnant at the moment. One is due any day now, the other isn’t due until Feb 14th- both talk about the joys of being pregnant, but now as there feet swell, their backs begin to ache, and the babies continue to push and kick and move, and put pressure where it’s not truly comfortable-the mom’s are getting antsy, getting tired of waiting, and they’re ready to greet their newborns with love and joy. I imagine that Mary wasn’t any different. As Jesus moved around, stretched, kicked, hiccupped, as Mary’s feet swelled, and her back began to ache (especially after riding on that donkey)- I’m sure she grew tired of waiting…. Asking “how much longer??? Are we there yet???? And then there’s us modern day folk- we began our official waiting period four weeks ago at the start of advent- we created our lists, we journeyed to different stores and parties- trying to get everything done while enjoying the holiday season, and now that we’re sitting here on Christmas Eve- we’re ready for the celebration to begin. We’re ready to put our feet up, to take a big sigh of relief, and to greet the baby with open arms- we arrived- the waiting is over…. Well isn’t it?

This is when we hear God saying ever so subtlety—not there yet- “bout an hour” You see- we live in an “already, but not yet” reality. We know the joy that comes when we greet the newborn Christ child, because we do it every year. Every time we greet the child, each year when we celebrate Jesus’ birth, our hope is renewed and our faith is strengthenedà but yet we hear- yes… but not quite—almost there… bout an hour. We know as we greet this child that much suffering and struggle lie ahead for him until the completion of his earthly mission. And much suffering and struggle lie ahead for the people of God as we wait for the second advent, for Christ’s return, as we wait for the final fulfillment of all that God has promised. We see the baby in the manger and we are reminded of the promises God makes through Micah. Promises for protection and Security, promises for just leadership through Christ our shepherd, promise of God’s greatness, and finally promises for peace. We wait for the day when God’s greatness will “reach to the ends of the earth” when God’s power will be abundant and when the just shepherd will bring peace to an unstable and chaotic world.

As we read the Christmas story, and we sing the carols, especially today, on Christmas Eve our hearts can’t help but be full of joy as we welcome the tiny child, our Savior and king, and we embrace the promises this little one brings. At Christmas our hope is renewed we anticipate Christ’s final victory—“thy kingdom come—“ and we hasten the day of his return by working now for the transformation of this world. This is what we do while we wait- we continue to prepare, to spread God’s light and love, and we continue to get our hearts and home ready- for as Christ says: the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. So how do we do this? What do we do while we wait? Do we sing 100 bottles of coke on the wall over and over again just to pass the time? No of course not… we continue on our spiritual journey, deepening our faith, growing closer to Christ, and sharing that relationship with others so that they to might prepare and get ready. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Matrix movies- but in the very first movie the character Trinity says: “It’s not the answer that drives us… it’s the question.” We know the answer… we trust God to fulfill God’s promises through Christ, but we continue on our journey driven by the questions: Who am I as a Child of God, where is God calling me to go, how am I being called to serve, who can I share Christ’s love with? This advent has been a blessing for me- I coveted to make time morning and night to sit in quiet, to put all distractions aside, and to light my advent wreath- then in the light of God’s love- I took 5-10 minutes reading scripture and a daily devotional. This discipline helped me experience God’s peace in the midst of the chaos created by the holiday season. For 10-20 minutes each day I was able to sit and experience God’s presence and God’s peace. Now the trick of course is- will this continue now that advent is over, now that the waiting is finished and the child’s birth announced?

It’s up to us- it’s takes discipline and focus to light the candle, to lay all distractions aside, and to spend time with God. I always ponder over the fact that when Mary and Joseph reached the end of their long and tedious journey why there wasn’t any room in the inn….. I wonder if it’s because the people of Bethlehem weren’t prepared- after all they’d been waiting 800 years, why should they have known that tonight was the night. And so we can ask the same question of us- In this world with its noisy and demanding clamor the crowd of common thoughts and common interests has poured in upon us and taken possession of our time and our attentionà when Christ comes will there be room for him in the Inn- will we be prepared…. Will we be ready? As we sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and we yearn for God’s final renewal of this world, we continue to wait, preparing our hearts for the return of our Savior, our Shepherd, our King. As we wait we need to keep asking: are we there yet-staying on our toes, hoping for the fulfillment of God’s promises, experiencing the joy and the peace that only God can give when we remain open to God’s presence in our lives.