FourthComing

Four seems like a resolving number: four lines make a square; four walls enclose a room; four seasons in the year; and financial reports are handled quarterly. If you want a complete meal you chose from the four basic food groups. If you want to hear a complete range of voices you select a piece with four sections of the choir. It was always ideal to take four people as a group to Six Flags so that no one had to ride alone on the roller coasters that sat two per seat. It’s the fourth week of advent and the waiting is about to be resolved. There is about to be a completeness to the story and to the waiting. From Isaiah we hear familiar scriptures at advent that collect God’s people from the four corners of the earth.

Isaiah 11 (1-2, 6, 10-12)
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious. On that day the Lord will [extend] His hand a second time to recover … the remnant of His people who survive. He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You raise your banner and gather your people in glory and peace. No where else can we find separated people unite side-by-side, and a little child will lead us. We long for resolution in our lives. We want to know ahead of time how things are going to work out. We rush to the last pages of a book to see if our hunch is right. We want to know the ending. In You, O God, we can find an ending of ourselves and the beginning of a new creation. We are made complete in Your Grace. This advent let us resolve to follow the Christ child. Amen.