We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:22-25

Learning to wait for a baby means learning how to groan…and waiting for a baby savior is no different. This Advent, as we wait with Mary for her child to come to term, I find myself wondering why groaning must be a part of the holiday season?

Why ruin a perfectly good Advent with talk of groaning?

For one thing, bringing babies into the world is hard work. We all associate labor with groaning, but mothers don’t just groan during labor. The nine months of pregnancy offered more opportunity than I wanted to practice the work of moaning and groaning. Between low back pain, sciatic nerves, constipation, and “fatigued stomach muscles,” I learned to groan like a champ -- and my pregnancies were “uncomplicated”!

Another reason that learning to wait for babies means learning to groan is that every pregnancy doesn’t make it to term. Even in this scientific age, when we embark on the journey of bringing new life into the world, we embark knowing that we might lose the life we are trying so hard to create. Parents embark on the journey of creating new life knowing that it might end in a groan of loss.

In that first Advent season, Mary didn’t know if Jesus would make it to term. She didn’t have an ultrasound; she couldn’t hear his heartbeat. Mary didn’t know if Jesus would make it through the process of labor. She didn’t know if he would be born whole. She didn’t know if she herself would make it through the delivery alive. For those very real reasons, that first Advent was a season of groaning. That first Advent was a season of awesome wonder and trepidatious hope...because Mary wasn’t sure that Jesus would make it into the world alive.

It is tempting to think that we know better in Advent 2013. It is tempting to think that with our Christmas pageants and live-nativities we are just re-enacting a drama whose end is sure. But the truth is, as we look around us, there are plenty of reasons to fear that Jesus isn’t coming. There are plenty of reasons to groan.

What if December 25 comes, and Jesus doesn’t get born? What if Mary “fails to progress” and Jesus’ entry into the world isn’t smooth? What if Jesus is born…but all of his parts aren’t there?

These questions matter because on December 25, 2013 we have real reason to fear that the Body of Christ will not be whole. The whole Body of Christ will not be swaddled. The whole Body of Christ will not be nursed or held. And if we have not learned to groan about that, our hymns and presents and cinnamon rolls will not reflect what actually happened when Jesus was born into the world.

We don’t already have Jesus…at least, not in his fullness. Waiting with Mary means learning how to groan about the ways in which Jesus has not yet come. Advent is about groaning inwardly as we wait eagerly… hoping for what we do not yet have.

Let us pray:

Holy Spirit, help us learn to groan with you for the ways in which life is not breaking into our world. Teach us how to be grateful for the first fruits while we long for the full redemption of our bodies and your world. Show us how groaning and rejoicing came together in Mary, come together in every mother, come together in you. Amen.

Sarah Jobe is an ordained Baptist minister, prison chaplain, teacher, and mother of two. She lives with her family at the Rutba House, a Christian house of hospitality in Durham, NC. She is the author of Creating with God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of Pregnancy. As a prison chaplain, she is hoping for the reconciliation of mothers and their children this Advent.

Our Advent "Baby Jesus Blog" devotions begin today. Follow our postings each day of Advent. To learn more about the scope of the project click here.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

On your mark….get set….wait!

Advent is here! The work of this liturgical season is to wait for the birth of a baby Savior. Of course, while I wait I will decorate the house. And buy presents. And bake those peanut butter rice crispy treats with the chocolate topping that are so calorie-filled I only make them once a year.

The days of passive, peaceful waiting are officially over. Here in Advent 2013, waiting is an opportunity to check our email, make that last phone call, or use the online options available on our teeny-tiny screens. Most of us today are busy wait-ers. We are active in our waiting, prepared to fill any downtime with semi-productive scrolling through our phones.

So what does Advent, the season of waiting, have to teach us in this active age?

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus suggests that while we wait for him to come, we need to do the work it takes to be prepared for his coming. We need to have gone to the store, and bought oil, and trimmed the wicks on our proverbial lamps, so that whenever Jesus comes, we are ready. This passage suggests that we are to practice a sort of active and prepared waiting. By one read, Jesus seems to be advocating a certain sort of busy-ness as we wait for him to come.

Perhaps the concern of Advent is not our busy-ness, but what we are busy with.

During Advent, we are waiting for the birth of Jesus; we are waiting for Jesus to come again into our world. And the work we are called to is the work of preparing our lives for Jesus’ coming.

When I spend my time decorating and shopping and making chocolate-peanut butter treats, I am preparing to have a meaningful, memory-making time with my family. I am preparing a web of warmth and love that I hope will hold my children through a world that is too often harsh. I am doing good. But I am not doing the work of making space for Jesus to come into my life. I am busy, but I am not busy preparing a space for Jesus to come into my home through the stranger, the hungry, or the recently-incarcerated (all those people Jesus says he will come disguised as a few verses later in Matthew 25).

This Advent I will be an active wait-er, just as I have been every Advent of my life. But this Advent, I want my activity to reflect what I am waiting for. I want my activity to reflect my hope…my hope that Love will be successfully born into the world once more. What do we need to do in the next four weeks to be ready for that sort of birth?

Let us pray:
Lord God, teach us to wait for you. Reveal to us what we need to change in our lives for you to be able to come into the world. Claim our busy-ness for your kingdom, and keep us ever mindful that you are the hope, the light, and the end for which we wait. Amen.

Sarah Jobe is an ordained Baptist minister, prison chaplain, teacher, and mother of two. She lives with her family at the Rutba House, a Christian house of hospitality in Durham, NC. She is the author of Creating with God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of Pregnancy. As a prison chaplain, she is hoping for the reconciliation of mothers and their children this Advent.