Today we hear the audacity of Isaiah’s prophecy at its most outrageous (Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10). He had no reason to hold out those expectations of joy and splendor, of vindication and healing to people uprooted by war, people in misery far from home, despised by those around them.
That reading is complemented by the ever practical apostle James (James 5:7-10). His metaphors don’t soar like Isaiah’s. They speak to the simple but still challenging life of farmers, people who have no choice but to wait. They hope for the fruits of their labor, literally. There are no guarantees. But when we live in hope – what then does James home in on: “Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another”. Those who really hope, hope with the audacity of Isaiah, they are judged worthy on the basis of how they live with the people around them.
I think we can be sure that both Isaiah and James were clear sighted enough to know that whoever we have around us will not be not perfect. They are not always, or even usually, easy to live with. But hope is the antidote to bitching – to put it in current terms.
Then we hear Jesus restating that prophecy of Isaiah, a prophecy now fulfilled (Matthew 11:2-11). He also knows there is a price to be paid for this hope, the hope that he embodies. This hope really doesn’t fit in with what some people want or expect, particularly people in power. As he says: “blessed is the one who takes no offense at me”.
We know how this plays out. People will take offense. People in power will take offense, and they will kill him.
For now we wait, wait in hope. Patiently. And avoid complaining about each other, as best we can.