TUESDAY OF ADVENT 3

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

zEchariah 2:10-11

This close to Christmas I can easily see verses in our readings that seem to anticipate the coming of Jesus.

In seminary, my Old Testament professor and I clashed on more than one occasion because she discouraged us from reading the Old Testament Christologically.

To my disadvantage, I resisted because from everything I had learned – and I entered seminary later in life – every part of the Bible proclaimed Christ. That was, as a pastor once told me, how Martin Luther interpreted scripture.

The New Testament authors also relied heavily on the Old Testament scriptures, the prophets in particular, to give credence to their belief that Jesus was the Son of God.

So it’s hard not to look at the verse quoted above from Zechariah and not see a foretelling of Jesus in those words.

“I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord.”

But, as much as I hate to admit, my Old Testament professor was right in this case. While these verses can be read as a reference to Jesus, it would be the most far-flung suggestion.

Zechariah, along with Haggai, were the first two prophets to come to Jerusalem after the Jews’ return from exile. I made reference to Haggai a few days ago, on December 15.

The challenge to both prophets was the apparent lack of enthusiasm among the returnees to rebuild the Temple. Many of them had more pressing concerns, like rebuilding their own homes and planting crops in their fields. After all, they had been without a Temple for so long, what was the big hurry? There would be plenty of time to rebuild God’s house.

So it was the task of Zechariah and Haggai to encourage the people to reset their priorities and get busy.

Even though the reading makes no reference to Christ, it is easy to draw parallels to our current situation regarding the state of Christianity.

Many of us are busy these days making plans for Christmas. But few, if any, of those plans have to do with Jesus.

There are presents to buy, gifts to wrap, trips to plan, and meals to prepare. We look forward to the holiday, relaxation, family gatherings, and good times.

Yet in all that busyness, I would venture to guess that not much thought has been given to Christmas worship.

Many will show up. That’s for sure. It’s one of the two times in the year some will attend church, if at all.

Some will go by force.  It’s part of the family tradition/obligation. And it is a less painful place to be than, say, a dentist’s office.

Others will seize the opportunity to catch a quick nap during the sermon.

Still others will be distracted by the thoughts of that turkey they might have left in the oven, or the dressing they forgot to buy.

Like the returning exiles of old, Jesus is not a priority for many of us in this day and age.

And yet he cautions us in the Gospel for today:
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
[Matthew 24:44]

Though we may not see him physically, Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us.

It is God with us that gives us a future full of hope and promise.  

So, as the time draws nearer, may we live in the hope that our hearts can be opened to experience the joy of the certainty that God will come and dwell in our midst.   

Let us pray:
Lord, give us joyful hearts this Advent/Christmas season, that we may delightfully sing with the Psalmist: “I was glad when they said to me, “let us go to the house of the Lord.” Amen.