The God Who Lifts--December 14, 2021

The God Who Lifts--December 14, 2021

We aren't just waiting for anybody.  That much needs to be clear.

This season we keep coming back to in church time, this thing called "Advent," it's not just about waiting "in general" or about the importance of delayed gratification as an abstract life principle. It's about whom we are waiting FOR--and about the question, "Who is really worth waiting for in this life?"

And the answer to that, of course, is that the particular God we meet in the Scriptures, the God who has come to us in Jesus, this is the One who is worth the wait.  It's a peculiar sort of God at the heart of Advent and Christmas, not just any old placeholder deity.

The Greeks and Romans, the Egyptians and the old Norse peoples, too, they all had their own pantheons of deities on whom they waited, as well.  But they were by and large giant capricious sky-bullies.  They were short-tempered lightning-bolt throwers like Zeus, or warriors with thunder like Thor.  But they weren't particularly known for lifting up the lowly, or strengthening the weak.  They were projections of human imagination, and like all such inventions, they reflected our own capacity to be selfish, fickle, and volatile.  You are free, I suppose, to wait for such gods to show up... but I hardly think they are worth the wait.

By contrast, the Scriptures keep reminding us that the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Moses and Miriam, the God of Mary and Elizabeth and their sons, is always committed to lifting up those who are bowed down.  It's there in Mary's song, as she sings about God filling the hungry with good things while sending the rich away empty, and it's there in her life story, as God calls her to bear the Savior while leaving all the powerful people around her out of the conversation.  It's there in the words of so many of the prophets' visions, too--they spoke of God coming to gather in the outcast, to be gentle with those who were wavering and wobbly, and to strengthen the weak and wayward.  It's there throughout the story of ancient Israel, from liberating the enslaved Hebrews at the expense of Pharaoh's power through the laws commanding debt cancellation and provision for the poor, to little David's victory over the arrogant giant Goliath, to the hope of return from exile.   Over and over, the God we meet in the Scriptures is one who lifts others up who need it.

And at the very same time, this God--whose coming in Christ is what we are looking toward this Advent--always leads us to lift others up as well.  The God who freed the enslaved Israelites then commanded them to look out for foreigners, refugees, and strangers who came across their paths as well, because, as God reminded them, they knew what it was like to be the ones in need and to be lifted up when they were low.  The Savior who was always willing to stop and help the person in need then also called his followers to "Go and do likewise."  The early church, too, was full of people who used their energy to build others up--from Barnabas (who was given that nickname because it means "Son of encouragement,") to the Apostle Paul who instructed his congregations over and over again in his letters to strengthen the fainthearted, to support the weak, and to weep with those who weep.

So, what if today we showed the watching world what sort of God we are waiting for this Christmas--by choosing to lift someone up in our own lives?  It can be an encouraging word, a gesture of kindness, a gift that would brighten someone's day, a compliment to build someone up, or a way of amplifying someone else's voice when you have a platform to help them be heard.  Whatever action it is, let it be a way of letting your own life be shaped by the character of the God who lifts up the lowly, who strengthens the weary, and who encourages the faint-hearted.  Let people see the wonderfully peculiar ways of our God--the God who calls the Marys and Elizabeths of the world while leaving Herod and Caesar out of the loop--in the ways we fill up the people around us who are running on empty.

Lord God, we thank you for your way of lifting us up when we are bowed down, and for your care for the ones who have been stepped on.  Help us to do the same as a witness to your own presence in the world.  Having been lifted up already by you, enable us to lift up others.