Advent Day 4, 2015 - This is the Lord for whom we have waited...

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
⁷ And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
⁸ he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.  - Isaiah 25:6-9


Remember when you were a child and it was still a couple of weeks until Christmas? Wrapped boxes started appearing under the Christmas tree and it was impossible not to surreptitiously pick one up and shake it to try to get a hint of what was inside. The big presents wouldn't show up until after you were in bed on Christmas Eve, but eventually Christmas Day came and there would be wrapping paper and ribbons and squeals of joy. But we are still in the early days of Advent and we are beginning our wait.

Mountains have been important symbols in Biblical stories.  It was on a mountain that Moses got the tablets of stone and on another where he saw the promised land he had been forbidden to enter. The Psalmist refereed to the mountains where help would be found (121). Mountains were places from where great distances and beautiful vistas could be seen. They were sacred places because they were closer to the sky, the heavens, the homes of gods and the closest they could approach God.

Mountains were journeying places, places that are quiet except for the whistling wind and where it can be easier to meditate. They are places where it's easier to pray and wait for some answer or clarity to a situation. Advent may not be the mountaintop but it is on the journey toward the mountaintop.

Come Christmas we can say that "This is the Lord for whom we have waited."  In the meantime we wait.