Now, I would not want to be labeled a Christmas grouch; it just a fact of the intersection of two seasons. Because of its material attractiveness, the anticipation of Christmas shopping simply drowns out the beauty of the O Antiphons, the rich color of violet, the longing sounds of the Advent: Maranatha, “Come Lord Jesus Come. The decoration of the malls began long before Thanksgiving whereas the beautiful season of Advent creeps up quietly upon us at first vespers of the First Sunday. From that moment forward until vespers of the Nativity we stay quiet, letting this time have its place.

But that is okay, my friends’ we’re not going to do battle with those who are simply trying to celebrate the birth of Christ in their own particular manner. It’s just that the Christian faith that lies in the heart of Advent does not seem as interesting as the effort to find a good bargain on a flat screen television. No more of this griping. I’ve gotten it out of my system.

So, what can one find in this Fourth Sunday of Advent, only a few days before Christmas, that will help us redeem the heart of the Advent season?

Well, first of all, for folks who try to find spiritual meaning in the scriptures of this season there is plenty to reflect on simply because all of Advent is a shortened symbol of the waiting we humans have been doing, ever since the great prophets of Israel began to speak of The One who is to come, the Redeemer of all humankind, the great Christ event. Michah, the prophet, for instance, speaks of Bethlehem, David’s birthplace, from whence shall come a shepherd who will bring that peace for which we have waited so long, peace for a fractured world and healing for wounded sinners.

The gospel also speaks so clearly of waiting, the brief waiting that Mary and Elizabeth did as they prepared for the eventual coming of Jesus and John the Baptist. It is the a symbol of the kind waiting that we all do as we search for signs that the Lord’s coming is closer than we first thought possible.

The whole meaning of this season, therefore, is a lesson in waiting, not for death, but rather for the coming of the Christ into our lives, our families, our neighborhoods. In some sense this is a waiting that has no end, at least none that we know of at this moment. We do realize, however, that all human existence is a kind of in-between-time, life from the mysterious beginning of human existence until each of us comes to the point of the eternal vision of God’s presence.

So, the question comes: What shall we do in-the-between-times, while waiting. Consider this: Life itself is not simply a period of hesitancy, waiting for something to happen over which we have no control. The waiting of the Christian is one that is filled with opportunities to make Christ present, not at the end of time, but rather here and now in this moment of history, the history of our lives.

Given all that, my friends, let us not do battle with those who have never heard of Advent’s waiting. Let us rather live in such a way that people may be a bit astonished that we are not rushing around until Christmas eve. Rather, let this be a quiet, contemplative time, a moment during the year when we give God, God’s time to become present to us in the Son who comes from Bethlehem, not yet, but sometime. In the meantime we say, “Come Lord Jesus, come.” All creation waits for the moment of final fulfillment that, for now, is only a dream, but will be reality….sometime.

The scriptures: Michah: 5: 1-4; Hebrews 10: 5-10; Luke 1: 39-45