November 27, 2005
Rending the Heavens

When was the last time you asked God to “rend the heavens and come down?” (Rend means to “rip open”.) It’s not usually our first prayer, yet as this new season of Advent begins, these are among the first words we hear as we turn to that prophet of Advent, Isaiah. He figures that things on earth are in need of God so much that he wants God to rend the heavens and come down among the people. As we get ready for the Feast of Christmas, we are preparing ourselves to celebrate the very time when God did indeed come to earth.

There may be some circumstances where you’d really hope God would come down -- just this past week quite a few people asked me to pray for relatives and friends who are quite sick. Oh, that God would rend the heavens and come down to heal! Then there are the situations of war and terrorism in the world where we’d want the Prince of Peace to come down to us -- and often we’d want him in our own families too.

Let’s not forget something very important: at every celebration of the Eucharist Jesus does come to us. Not in signs of ripped heavens, but in a most real way, through his Word, and through his Body and Blood. In fact, we do not face the sickness, the wars, the hardships of life alone. If this Advent teaches us anything, it’s that we’re not waiting for a tiny statue of a baby Jesus to be placed in a model of a manger, but that we’re waiting for Jesus to come into our lives again -- and he does come into our very bodies and souls. We are not alone -- God is with us!

And still we wait. There seems to be a “disconnect” between us and the Lord until God’s final coming. Jesus is with us, in us, yet we go through our lives as if he’s some distance away. For many, Jesus seems somewhat like a retired relative in another state -- his state happens to be heaven. We figure we’ll meet him someday when we get there. But maybe Advent is a time of waiting because Jesus is still waiting for us to realize that he’s already ripped open the heavens and he’s already coming in our lives. Right now. Stay awake! Notice!

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