Message: Waiting, Wondering, Rejoicing / James 5:7-10 & Matthew 11:2-6

Today is the third Sunday of Advent. Advent is the beginning of the church year. It is a season when we wait for the coming of Christ. We wait not only for Christmas, but for God’s presence to become real and visible in our lives and in the world.

In the Bible, a day does not begin in the morning. It begins in the evening. In the creation story, each day is described with the words, “there was evening, and there was morning.” Darkness comes first. Only after that does the light appear.

This is important for us to remember during Advent. New life does not begin in brightness or clarity. It begins in darkness, in silence, and in waiting. Often, we do not see right away what God is doing. Hope takes time to grow. Just as a baby must spend time in the womb before being born, hope is formed as we pass through seasons of waiting.

Waiting is a big part of our lives. Students wait to graduate. People wait to find a job or to retire. Engaged couples wait for their wedding day. Many people wait for medical tests, results, or surgery. We wait for news, for answers, and for change. Waiting shapes us. It can make us anxious, but it can also teach us patience and help us see what really matters.

Personally, I once waited eagerly for one special day: the day I would finish my military service. In South Korea, military service is required for all men, so I served for 26 months. Military life was not easy. The training was hard, the schedule was strict, and personal freedom was very limited. For this reason, From the very first day, I began counting how many days were left until I could return to my normal life.

One of the most difficult experiences was the long march. Carrying a heavy pack and a rifle, we walked for hours. My body became tired, and my legs felt weak. At times, it felt impossible to keep going. Some people could not continue and had to stop.

Then, late at night, we saw a small light in the distance. It was the light from the military camp. That light did not make us less tired. But something changed inside us. Our hearts became steadier. Even though there were still hours to go, no one gave up after seeing that light. When hope becomes visible, it gives people strength to keep moving.

But not all waiting feels like this. Sometimes people wait without knowing why. The waiting feels empty and endless. Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot shows this kind of waiting. Two men wait for someone named Godot, but they do not really know who he is or what his arrival would mean. Every day they hear the same message: “Not today, but tomorrow.” But tomorrow never comes. Nothing changes

Because of this meaningless waiting, they remain stuck. They cannot move forward. Their lives sink into helplessness and despair. Beckett shows that without purpose or hope, waiting becomes painful. It drains life instead of giving life.

Advent waiting is different. It is not empty time. It is waiting that has direction and meaning. In the letter of James, this kind of waiting is compared to a farmer waiting for the harvest. A farmer does not simply sit and do nothing. The farmer prepares the soil, plants seeds, pulls weeds, and protects the crops. Growth takes time, but the farmer trusts that the harvest will come. Advent waiting is like this. It is patient, steady, and active. We wait, but we also live faithfully while we wait.

If so, what are we waiting for? In today’s Gospel, we meet John the Baptist. John spent his life preparing the way for God’s new world. He spoke about justice, repentance, and hope. He challenged powerful leaders, even when it was dangerous. Because of this, he was put in prison.

While in prison, John heard stories about Jesus. He heard that the sick were being healed, the poor were hearing good news, and broken lives were being restored. From his prison cell, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one we are waiting for, or should we wait for someone else?”

This question does not show weak faith. It shows honest faith. John wanted real hope, not false hope. He wanted to know whether God’s promise was truly becoming real.

Jesus answered by pointing to what was happening. People who had been suffering were being healed. Those who had been pushed aside were being welcomed. Hope was becoming visible in real and concrete ways.

In Jesus’ time, sickness was not only a physical problem. It often meant being separated from others and excluded from community life. Jesus’ healing ministry was about more than curing disease. It was about restoring dignity, belonging, and relationship. He touched those others avoided. He welcomed those society rejected. Through his actions, Jesus showed what God’s kingdom looks like.

This way of living did not end with Jesus. From the beginning, Christians understood that caring for the sick and the poor was part of their faith. It was one way to show that hope was alive among them. Throughout history, people of faith have tried to live out this calling.

One example is John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, which is one of the roots of the United Church of Canada. Living in eighteenth century England, he saw how many people could not afford medical care. It was a time of great social and economic change following the Industrial Revolution. As machines replaced human labour, the value of human work declined, and the gap between rich and poor grew wider. Medical care was also treated as a way to make money.

John Wesley could not ignore this reality. He worked hard to learn about medicine and then published a simple medical guide to help the poor. Some clergy at the time provided basic care in rural areas, but Wesley went further by making this knowledge widely available. In its introduction, he strongly criticized the reality that medical care had become too expensive, leaving the poor without help. This medical guide became his most widely read work. His efforts were not perfect, and some of his ideas would not be accepted today. But his work was an act of faith. He believed that waiting for Christ meant caring for people here and now.

Christian waiting is not passive. It is waiting with open hands and active hearts. True joy is born in this kind of waiting. This joy does not come from having all the answers or fixing every problem. It comes from trusting that God is still at work, often through small and faithful acts of compassion. This is the joy found in a brave question asked from prison, in a small light seen at the end of a long walk, and in everyday acts of care that reflect God’s love.

So, in this season of Advent, may we be people who wait with hope, wonder with honesty, and rejoice through compassion. May our lives point toward the coming Christ, and may our waiting itself become good news for the world.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Min Hwang