Psalm 89

One key phrase of Advent is "already, but not yet." In Advent, we celebrate the fact that Jesus has come into the world, taking on human flesh and living among us with our struggles, hurts and everything that comes from an embodied life. On the other hand, I'm looking outside the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company at the Prescription Shop, which reminds me that people are still sick. I spent the noon hour yesterday face-to-face with the same reality at Munson Hospital in Traverse City. My memory is flooded from time to time of my own failures and the ways I have hurt others. I am afraid. I read articles this morning about how Wikileaks has changed the face of diplomacy with its recent burst of documents exposing secrets and conversations. North and South Korea are marching toward the brink of war. Clearly, not everything is right yet.

This psalm captures the already/not yet reality of Advent. On the one hand, the Ezrahite is celebrating Israel's return from exile. They are back in Jerusalem with a Temple and everything. Priests are functioning, people are worshiping in the way they were meant to, everything is better. Except Cyrus (the king of Persia) is still the face on their money. Their governor, a descendant of David, is not king but rules under the guidelines of Persia. And so things aren't great yet. They aren't the way that the prophets described, when Israel would be greater than they were before. Where's the Messiah?

Life is a mixture of waiting and receiving, of acting and pausing. Indeed, as Job tells us, our worship is not based on circumstances but on God's unchanging character. So, although we are surrounded by reminders of the not-yet, Praise be the Lord forever! Amen, and amen.