Longing for More
Isaiah 64:1-9
1O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.
Meditation
Beginning the Advent season with a lament seems a bit strange since the season touts the attributes of hope, peace, joy and love. Isaiah’s prayer kindles a deep longing for God’s presence in the world—the hope that God “would tear open the heavens and come down” (vs. 1). That longing, that hope, is what Advent is about; the anticipation of the arrival of Jesus who is Immanuel, God with us. Our anticipation manifests mostly on the infant Jesus, although it also represents our longing for Jesus, the Messiah, to return. Isaiah’s cry for God to cause mountains to quake and fires to kindle is an urgent demand for action. Things have gotten out of control to the point that even “our righteous deeds are like filthy cloth” (vs. 6). Even doing the right thing seems to get lost in individual and communal transgressions and injustices. After the prophet confesses the dismal state he sees the world in, he exclaims, “Yet, O Lord” (vs. 8), shifting the lament to a prayer of hope and confidence. God is still in control, declares the prophet. Like a potter with a piece clay, the creator is still working, even amongst the mess. So, expressing our longing for the return of Christ Jesus through lament, confession, and repentance is a fitting beginning for Advent because it leads us to our ultimate hope in Christ Jesus. O Come, O Come Emmanuel!