Waiting with Expectation (Hope 2)
Advent is like a seed pushed into the darkness of the ground.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed that the whole of our lives is Advent. That we are always waiting. And we are, aren’t we? Advent isn’t only a season of remembrance of waiting for the Christ child (the first advent), but also it is a calling to our waiting for Christ coming again (the second advent). And so as his followers, we are waiting all the time, indeed.
Maybe that sounds like a chore to you, but I’m not sure that it has to.
We can wait with expectation. Having expectation means that we are actively waiting, doing things that resonate with that which we expect to come. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus says that God’s kingdom is like someone waiting for a seed to grow. For best results, you don’t just sit there watching the ground, waiting for the seed to show forth as a plant.
You water it. You give it nutrients. You protect it from things that would cause it not to grow like pests and scavengers.
In the same way, we cultivate our faith, waiting for the plant and fruit to come, but not passively. Of course, there are many times of dormancy. This is what it is to wait, too. Sabbath, patience, holy stillness - like Elijah waiting and listening on Horeb - all things we’re called to as people who wait. It’s the Spirit’s slow, steady work forming us for the future God has promised.1
Remember that seed. Once you’ve pushed it down into the earth, you can’t see it. You believe that something is happening there in the darkness of the soil, out of your sight. You believe that there are unspeakable, mostly unknowable processes that are happening, leading to it’s eventual appearance above the ground. But you can’t just reach your fingers in the ground and pinch it out.
We have to wait. Trust. Expectantly, but also obediently. We wait not because nothing is happening, but because God is forming life in places we cannot yet see.
As the earth puts out its growth, and as a garden grows its seeds,
so the Lord God will grow righteousness and praise before all the nations.
- Isaiah 61:11
Mark 4:26-29
Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though someone scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.”
Prayer
Holy Father of all creation,
I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit, make me more like him.
I think I’m actually a rather patient person at this stage in my life. Having children has really changed my posture and perspective. But I could sure use some help in waiting for the right things.
Hope. Help me to hope. I don’t want to be a grumpy patient. I want to be an active participant in the process of your kingdom. So help me God: put me to things with an expectation of your future. Like I really believe Jesus is coming back.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
The resonating patterns of the Church year are quite beautiful. There is a strong parallel between Advent and Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Resurrection Sunday. The darkness, the belief that something is yet to come, but is not here yet. And that this something is full of light, full of a new life we can taste but can’t quite fully experience yet. Something that can happen only with the work of God, as we open our hands to receive it.
YES, sister!
"it's also about cultivating that expectation with effort and commitment" - that is beautifully said. It's is a cooperation with God, a partnership, co-creation, etc. We can't do it without God, but not much will happen without walking forward.
Reading this post has strengthened my faith. Being faithful in Jesus isn’t just about planting a seed of expectation—it's also about cultivating that expectation with effort and commitment. Sometimes I feel confused when I see some church members relying only on hoping and praying for a miracle, as if waiting for a gift from God without taking any steps toward their goals. It reminds me of certain Eastern superstitions, and it doesn’t reflect what I believe it means to be a Christian.