Our Scripture readings for this Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Advent, are: Isaiah 40:12-26 and Romans 4:18-25. Our theme is: We Waver.
“Waver” can be defined as: “to become unsteady or unsure.” (Dictionary.com)
In the song, “What Have We Become” by dc Talk, we hear of man and a child who waver.
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A preacher shuns his brother because his wife’s a different colour,
And this is not acceptable, his papa told him so.
It was love that he’d been preaching, but this was overreaching,
A boundary stretching further than his heart would choose to go.
Ooh … like an angel with no wings … like a kingdom with no kings.
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Mom and Dad are fighting, as Rosie lies there crying,
For once again she’s overheard regrets of their mistake.
Christmas bells are ringing, little Rosie’d leave them grieving,
The gift she’d give her family would be the pills she’d take.
Ooh … an inconvenient child … she wasn’t worth their while.
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We waver when we call our beliefs into question and we wonder if what we believe is true at all. But we also waver when what we believe isn’t reflected in the way we live our faith.
The people of Israel wavered between God and the gods of the nations surrounding them. They believed in God but they wanted to fit in the with nations around them. The exiles who returned to build the temple and Jerusalem wavered in their work because they feared the nations around them who didn’t want the walls built again. Peter wavered after he promised Jesus he would never deny Him and then did so three times. They wavered.
And so do we. We waver. But God draws us to Him again and again, forgiving our wavering and faltering faith and renewing us (over and over) through the gracious gift of His Son at Christmas and His death on the cross. God draws us to Himself and in Christ gives us the ability to transform ever our wavering faith to wonder as we look to the manger at the gift of Immanuel, God with us.