2024.12.08 | Jerusalem: A Place of Waiting
“Jerusalem: A Place for Waiting”
Luke 1:5-17
Preached by
Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, CA
08 December 2024
Good morning, beloved. I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I’m grateful to be together on this second Sunday of Advent. Today, we reflect on the theme of peace — paz, the wholeness that Jesus brings to our lives. And we do so while traveling on the path of Advent, "On the Way to Bethlehem."
Our Scripture this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke, a passage that introduces us to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a couple who have been waiting — waiting for a child, waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises. Just as their very names remind us, Zechariah is from the Hebrew “Zakar” or “to remember,” and Elizabeth’s name means “My God promises” making us, the readers, think: God remembers God’s promises. As we enter the story, we find them in Jerusalem, the holy city, a place of waiting for many people. Jerusalem was a place of anticipation and longing, a city that had long awaited the arrival of the Messiah.
And what a place of longing it was, and even at that time a place already imbued with so much meaning and history. Jerusalem at the time of Jesus had already been in existence for nearly two thousand years, the name meaning “the place where peace is established,” from the ancient Akkadian Shalamu. We read of it in Egyptian and Amarna texts, predating even the time frame of the Exodus and even the Jewish people. Many people groups inhabited the holy city, like the Jebusites before the Israelites. But what King David did was seemingly unique in that he declared Jerusalem his capitol, and in so doing brought numerous tribes together to form a diverse city, filled with his supporters, which were the downtrodden, whether they were Israelites, Moabites, or even Philistines. While David was known as too violent to build the temple of God, he laid an inclusive groundwork of allowing covenant loyalties to move beyond tribe. Jesus, from the root of Jesse, from the branch of David, would truly be the Prince of Peace for all peoples. During Herod’s reign Jerusalem probably had around 40,000 inhabitants, living under occupation, waiting for true peace, just as those centuries before, and centuries after.
Hoy, les invito a reflexionar sobre Jerusalén como un lugar de espera. Jerusalén no sólo era un centro espiritual, sino también un símbolo de esperanza, de un futuro que aún no había llegado, pero que estaba por venir. En el momento de este pasaje, Zacarías y Elisabet se encuentran esperando, no solo el cumplimiento de una promesa personal — su hijo — sino también el cumplimiento de una promesa más grande, la llegada del Salvador que transformaría al mundo entero.
This is what Advent is about — waiting, esperar, with hope and anticipation. We are all on a journey, un camino, towards the birth of Christ, toward the ultimate gift of peace, wholeness, and reconciliation. But waiting, as we know, is not easy. It requires patience and trust in God’s timing, even when it feels like nothing is happening, even when the promise seems far away, or even that divine memory has faltered.
Zacarías y Elisabet estaban esperando un hijo, pero también estaban esperando en medio de su propio dolor y tristeza. No tenían hijos, y eran personas mayores. La espera no era sólo de bendiciones, sino también de sanación, restauración. Y es en medio de esta espera que el ángel les da un mensaje: "No temas, tu oración ha sido escuchada." ¡Qué palabras tan llenas de esperanza! No temas, porque tus oraciones han sido escuchadas.
In the midst of their years of waiting and longing, Zechariah and Elizabeth receive the incredible news that their prayers have been heard. What a gift this must have been — to know that God is not distant, not absent, but present, attentive, listening. This is the peace we are called to embody — the peace that comes with knowing God hears us, sees us, and is at work in our waiting, even when we claim foul.
En nuestra vida también hay momentos de espera, momentos en los que sentimos que el tiempo pasa lentamente, que las promesas de Dios tardan en cumplirse. Pero en esos momentos, recordemos que la espera misma es parte del plan divino. En la espera, somos transformados. En la espera, Dios está obrando en nosotros y por medio de nosotros.
The peace of Christ is not just the absence of conflict. It’s the presence of wholeness — integridad — the kind of peace that reconciles us with ourselves, with one another, and with God. It is a peace that surpasses all understanding, and is always becoming.
In Luke 1:13-17, the angel tells Zechariah that his son will prepare the way for the Lord, that he will bring reconciliation between the people and God. This child, John, will be a prophet who calls people to turn their hearts back to God. He will help make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Trailblazers are needed in every age.
This is the promise we hold onto during Advent — the promise of reconciliation, reconciliación, the promise that peace will come. But peace doesn’t just happen on its own. It requires action, contemplative and intentional action. It requires us to prepare our hearts, our communities, and our world. Just as John the Baptist prepares the way for Christ, we are invited to prepare the way for Christ’s peace to enter into our lives and into the world. Our English Bible study participants may recognize the task of Tikkun Olam, or repairing world while we wait. We are the light we seek, and together our luminance is greatest.
La paz de Dios es algo que debemos preparar, algo que debemos construir entre todos. El ángel le dijo a Zacarías que su hijo sería un "precursor," alguien que iría delante de Jesús para preparar el corazón de las personas. En este tiempo de Adviento, nosotros también estamos llamados a ser "precursores", a preparar los caminos para que la paz de Cristo se haga realidad en nuestras vidas, en nuestra iglesia y en nuestra comunidad.
We may not see the fullness of God's promises all at once, but we trust that God is working in the waiting. That waiting is not wasted; it is a time of preparation, a time of transformation. When Jesus came into the world, it wasn’t just a quiet birth in a humble manger. It was the fulfillment of centuries of waiting, the coming of the Prince of Peace, el Príncipe de Paz. And that peace, that wholeness, continues to break into our world today. Can we be at peace–work for peace–“live peaceably”–even while waiting?
Waiting can be so hard – especially when we just want to know the answers to an uncertain outcome. Think back to the last time you had no choice but to wait – for test results, for a decision, for news, for an arrival. What did you do to deal with the uncertainty in the interim? How do you practice acceptance in the midst of anxiety or uncertainty? How did you find God’s peace amid panic or pandemonium?
Even amid the uncertainty, we press onward. As the good book says, Good things come to those who wait, actively. “What else are we waiting for” in this season? What are you waiting for? We learn that what happens within us while we wait, as was the case with Zachariah and Elizabeth, is just as important as the outcome.
Hermanas, hermanos, y hermanes, que en este tiempo de Adviento, como Zacarías y Elisabet, podamos vivir nuestra espera con esperanza. Que no dejemos que la espera nos agote, sino que la vivamos como un tiempo de preparación para recibir la paz de Cristo en nuestras vidas. La paz de Dios no es solo una promesa para el futuro; es una realidad que podemos vivir aquí y ahora, a medida que nos preparamos para recibir a Jesús en nuestros corazones y en nuestro mundo.
Hoy, mientras esperamos la llegada de Cristo, también debemos reconocer las realidades dolorosas de nuestro mundo. Vivimos en una época donde la paz parece escasa, y muchas comunidades sufren debido a la injusticia, la pobreza, la violencia y la discriminación. La paz que Cristo trae no es sólo una paz interior o espiritual, sino una paz que se manifiesta en la lucha por la justicia y la equidad. Jesús, el Príncipe de Paz, nos llama a trabajar para que el Reino de Dios se haga realidad aquí y ahora. Esto significa abogar por los derechos de los inmigrantes, luchar contra la violencia racial, garantizar la igualdad de género y proteger a los más vulnerables. La espera de Cristo no es una espera pasiva, sino una espera activa, en la que nos comprometemos a ser agentes de cambio y reconciliación en el mundo.
As we wait for the peace of Christ to come, we cannot ignore the painful realities of our world. We live in a time when peace often seems elusive, and many communities are suffering from injustice, poverty, violence, and discrimination. The peace Christ brings is not only a spiritual or inner peace, but a peace that is made manifest in the struggle for justice and equity. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, calls us to work for God's Kingdom to be realized here and now. This means advocating for the rights of immigrants, fighting against racial violence, ensuring gender equality and trans rights, and protecting the most vulnerable. Our waiting for Christ is not a passive waiting, but an active waiting, in which we commit ourselves to be agents of change and reconciliation in the world. Christmas is not coming to distract us from the violent inequities of our society with pretty bows and spiked eggnogs, it doesn’t ask of us to look away from the rubble. Christmas is God saying, “I’m coming, hang in there. Just you wait.” And like Zacarías and Elisabet we too will know again joy and gladness.
Let us then be a people of peace, prepared to welcome the Prince of Peace into our hearts, our homes, and our communities. May our active waiting be filled with expectation and hope even in times when hope seems far away. And as we wait, may we experience the wholeness and peace that only Christ can bring. It’s nearer than you can even imagine.
Que el Señor nos bendiga en este tiempo de espera, y que nuestra paz en Dios sea un testimonio para todos los que nos rodean. Amén.