Bible Text: 2 Samuel 18:1-5, Psalm 130 and John 6:41-51 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
All of us have heard the phrase, “Hurry up and wait”. Did you know that the phrase likely originated in the US military in the 1940’s. But one does not have to have military experience to know what it means to hurry up and wait. I know that I experience it every single time I fly. Rushing to get to the airport in good time, only to spend most of that time sitting in a waiting room. We live in a society that implies having to wait for something is a bad thing. Our culture surrounds itself with instant gratification. There is an entire food industry based on the mentality that faster is better. I always thought that fast food was invented in the United States and I thought it was invented by McDonald’s. But it was the American company White Castle who opened its first store in 1916 in the US, 24 years before McDonald’s and 56 years after the first fast food shop. It turns out that the first fast food restaurant opened in 1860 in Oldham, England and yes, it was also the first fish and chips shop in the world. But this idea that waiting is bad is not limited to food; everything seems to imply that waiting is a waste of time.
I think this is in part because most of us get anxious when we are waiting- wondering what is taking so long?! Waiting makes most of us impatient and conversely I have seen waiting cause people to become quite rude, yelling at the person that is taking too long to get the change out of their wallet in the grocery line, or frustrated that it appears the staff are just sitting there chit chatting while they are sitting in the waiting room, or grumbling about how terrible the service is at a restaurant because they had to wait to pay their bill. Then there is the far more serious kinds of waits, like waiting for test results, waiting to see if your application was accepted, waiting to get news about a loved one. Sometimes waiting can feel like, well, hell.
I am struck by David’s words to his soldiers. David clearly is a strategic general as he divides his troops up into three groups, and names those who should take charge of them. But then he says that he himself will go with them. But the men convince him that he is needed more on the home front and so he stays and waits, waits for news of the battle, waits to hear how his son has fared, waits to find out what will happen next. David’s relationship with his son Absalom is a complicated one, and that is putting it mildly. It might explain the reason why David wants to join in the fight; he either wants to keep an eye on Absalom or it is because the relationship with Absalom has somewhat been reconciled and now they can fight beside rather than against one another. But the role of a king is to keep the peace in his kingdom, and so the men persuade David to wait on the home front.
In our Gospel passage the crowds surrounding Jesus are waiting to hear what he will say next. Quite literally they are waiting to be fed and so when Jesus launches into a discussion about food their stomachs begin to grumble. But their appetites will have to wait because Jesus isn’t talking about literal bread. Both the Old and New Testament passages demonstrate that waiting can be irritating.
However, it is our psalm today that I want to focus on. In it we hear the word wait three times and it is an entire psalm dedicated to waiting. Imagine you are hiding in a cave because a group of robbers are looking for you or perhaps you are surrounded by wild animals or you are exhausted from the long journey and you still have a way to go. Imagine that all you can do is wait, wait on the Lord. That is what is happening in Psalm 130. The psalm begins, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”. The term “out of the depths” is one of those funny poetic terms that may or may not hit us with the most appropriate meaning. In other translations we have “out of the abyss of watery chaos” or “From the realm of the powers of confusion, darkness and death.” Or, from the translation found in The Message, “Help! God- the bottom has fallen out of my life!” These are pretty desperate words for someone in desperate times. It sounds like the psalmist can’t afford to wait. Imagine describing your current experience as if you are surrounded by darkness, confusion or death. Or that you are in an abyss of chaos. I know that many of you have felt like the bottom has fallen out of your life a few times. I know that a lot of you have had to spend time waiting when waiting is the last thing you want to do.
According to the Greek understanding of the word chaos, chaos means to be separated from the divine or from the world in which people praise God. In being separated from God the psalmist finds himself in a world full of sin. He repeats lines in the psalm like his “soul waits for the Lord and watches for the morning”. Whenever the Bible has texts that repeat themselves it is not a typo but rather a sign that this phrase is important. It MUST be heard. The psalmist is not resting through the night, but rather waiting for morning to come. Because in the darkness of night, one feels a darkness come over the soul, the chaos he feels in the beginning of the psalm is slowly creeping up on him. But in the morning comes light, and with light comes God’s love and generous redemption. Many of us have had moments of darkness in our lives and I know there are a few of you who feel like the darkness is currently creeping in on your current situations- but light will come. It’s worth the wait.
We also have to realize that although the psalmist is speaking for himself, he is also speaking to the entire nation of Israel. This is a prayer for help at a time of deep, profound, challenging, personal need. It is a psalm sung by an individual. But it also serves as an invitation to the community of believers to hope in the promises of God, namely the promise of redemption. This is a nation who has suffered much and they are beginning to lose hope. But this psalmist is telling them don’t give up, rather, wait. Wait and watch for God. Despite the cries and anxieties of waiting, this psalmist also trusts in God. The message of this psalm is often interpreted as, “Faith in God does not eliminate difficulties, but rather equips God’s servants to live with courage and hope in the midst of difficulties.” I know, it is easier said than done. But within these stories of waiting are also stories of grace.
Perhaps there is something more to this term, “Wait”. To wait means to remain or rest in expectation. Maybe sometimes in waiting there is hope, but few of us would ever describe waiting as restful. Yet, as we wait and as we express how this waiting makes us feel, believe it or not we are worshipping God. Many of us are experiencing chaos in one form or another; we certainly live in a chaotic world. Although the circumstances are very different, the psalmist is experiencing chaos too and articulates it in a psalm, a psalm of praise.
I would argue that there are times when God forces us to wait, because that state is the only one in which God can communicate with us; it is the only time when we are forced to rest in expectation. Mother Theresa was once asked how did she pray and she responded, “Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.” Sometimes we are meant to wait because it is in this silence that God works. In waiting, we are hoping and in hoping, we are worshipping. Christ demonstrated that God’s love and grace are attainable, but it is only through trust, hope and faith that one can experience them. May we find solace in waiting and hope in God’s guidance, because only then will we know that it is worth the wait. Amen