We have fewer
opportunities to practice the virtue of patience these days because of
instantaneous communication through the internet, the availability of fast food
via microwave ovens, and streaming capabilities that offer us entertainment at
the click of a button. However, as persons in the Kansas City area well know, we
still must wait for some things—such as a World Series title and a Super Bowl
championship. Perhaps because it took 30 years to win a second World Series title
and 50 years to win a second Super Bowl championship, the fans who had been
waiting so long for their teams to win were extraordinarily jubilant.
It is easy to
understand, then, the excitement of the people who recognized the Messiah in
the person of Jesus. The Jewish people had clung to the promise of the coming
of the Messiah as foretold by the prophet Daniel not for 30 or 50 years but for
close to 500 years. What joy when he finally arrived! No wonder Mary and Simeon
broke into song when they first encountered Jesus.
Of course, not
everyone recognized him because he wasn’t the Messiah they expected—a healer
rather than a warrior. The same could be said of us today; we don’t recognize
Christ in our midst in the refugee, the homeless person, the peacemaker—all of
which Jesus was at one time or another. Perhaps, then, the patience we need
today is for our sight to grow sharper, as people who have cataracts removed
must wait for their vision to clear. As Jesse Manibusen sings, “Open my eyes,
Lord; help me to see your face.” And may we have patience with our weak vision
and lack of understanding while we are waiting.
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