Advent – To Wait Is To Hope
by Chris Kamalski
“[Mary] was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.” (Luke 2:5-6)
Growing up in California, the vast majority of secondary students studied Spanish as their foreign language of choice. A fast growing majority within the United States, the presence of the Hispanic culture is constantly felt throughout the English language, from the common male first name “Jesús” (similar to Yeshua, or Joshua, in Hebrew) to the ease with which one orders authentic Mexican food (“a carne asada double wrapped burrito please”) from almost any corner restaurant. I found that I quickly grew fond of Spanish as a foreign language, at one point in early adulthood even considering myself more or less fluent in this tongue!
To this day, many Spanish words remain embedded deep within the recesses of my mind. One of my favorites speaks to the heart of the Advent season of anticipatory longing for the promised return(s) of Christ – his first coming as a babe, “God wrapped in flesh,” and his second coming as an adult, coming to set all things right in a flurry of restorative love. The Spanish verb is “esperar.” Pronounce it phonetically with me right now as you read this: “S - PEAR - ARE.” The verb is my favorite because of its nuanced dual meaning, which a number of Spanish verbs employ: Esperar is defined both as “to hope” and “to wait.” Context and familiarity of usage alone predicate the particular definition itself.
What if the Spanish language ironically has stumbled upon a great Advent truth? As we wait through the buildup of the Christmas season, we hope for things tangible and unstated. As we hope for that which we do not see (Hebrews 11:6), we wait. It’s the ever-present tension that Jesus describes life within his Kingdom as: a Kingdom that is “already here but not fully yet present.”
Doesn’t this feel exactly like waiting? Doesn’t this describe the roller coaster of anticipation that is something (Someone) that we long for actually coming to pass?
Engaging with the liturgical season of Advent involves a patient embrace of this hope, this waiting period.
“Christmas is about the coming in the present of the Lord who came long ago in the past. Jesus comes again each Christmas. This is the central purpose of the season of the church year known as Advent, the four Sundays and four weeks before Christmas. Each Advent, Christians relive ancient Israel’s yearning and hope, and each Christmas Christians celebrate the fulfilment of the yearning: ‘Joy to the world, the Lord IS come.’ The purpose of Advent and Christmas is to bring the past into the present.” (Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The First Christmas)
As we step into a fresh liturgical year, and the frenzied ramp up to Christmas Day, may we patiently “esperar” for all that we long for, knowing that to wait is to hope that all we desire shall come to pass in Jesus Christ our Lord.
