Fulfillment (Fourth Sunday in Advent)

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“Fulfillment.”  It’s a wonderful word that means that things have finally come together.  My dreams are fulfilled when they come true.  My plans are fulfilled when they’ve finally been accomplished.  Even Amazon tells me that, when my package has arrived at my doorstep, it’s been because of “Amazon fulfillment”!

It’s good and satisfying when things are fulfilled in our lives.  Yet when things are still in progress – when the unknown may step in and mess up our plans or our dreams – things are much more unsettled.  We’re not sure of what will happen.  We don’t know if our plans will work out.  And we looked forward to the warm, fuzzy feeling that we hope will happen when our dreams or plans finally do come to fulfillment.

And so it’s interesting that, in the last line of today’s Gospel reading, Elizabeth exclaims, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”  It’s interesting – and unusual – because neither Mary nor Elizabeth have seen the fulfillment yet.  They’re both pregnant.  Their sons haven’t even been born yet. And, at least in Elizabeth’s case – since she and Zechariah are both pretty old – she may not actually live to see the “fulfillment” of the promise that’s been made about her child.

And yet, Elizabeth says that there is a blessing even before things are fulfilled. Elizabeth sees blessing not just in the fulfillment, but in believing the promise.

And that can be a hard thing to do.  After all, we all enjoy the feeling of a hope, a dream or a promise being “fulfilled.”  But where’s the joy, satisfaction or blessing in the promise?

Perhaps for Elizabeth, the blessing of the promise – not just the fulfillment – was found in the:

• Realization that God was paying attention, even in the hard times past when people wondered where God was – to Elizabeth, both her own pregnancy and the realization that the Messiah was on the way – brought with them the certainty that God had not been asleep at the wheel.  God had been working and planning through it all, even if people hadn’t noticed – even if she herself sometimes hadn’t noticed.  And the blessing of the promise for Elizabeth was that she could be certain that God was still at work even when she couldn’t see or feel the fulfillment yet…

• Purpose she found in living in the moment – it was true that both Elizabeth and Mary were still pregnant, both with babies and with hopes for the future.  But they both knew that right now, what they were doing was part of how God was going to bring about fulfillment.  God had made both of them part of the plan, and that part was worth doing.  Elizabeth saw purpose and meaning for herself and for Mary in this moment, even though “fulfillment” might be a long way off…

• Confidence she now had for the future, which didn’t finally depend upon her own ability to fix or change things.  Often, I’d like to reach “fulfillment” because I know that, at any moment, I can mess up the fulfillment of my hopes and dreams by my own mistakes or inaction.  But Elizabeth is confident in the future because she sees God’s faithfulness, and she’s sure God will make it happen, even if she makes mistakes.  And that confidence gives blessing, even if fulfillment hasn’t arrived…

So on this final Sunday of Advent, when we’ve all heard the stories about waiting and watching and hoping for the fulfillment of the promises, Elizabeth reminds us that there’s hope and blessing for us right now, even and especially when we may feel like the “fulfillment” of our hopes and dreams is pretty distant.

As with Elizabeth and Mary, there is blessing in believing the promise of the fulfillment of God’s good and gracious will in our lives and in the life of the world.  And that blessing can also be experienced by us when we’re open to the:

• Realization that God really has been paying attention to our pain and our needs when we recognize the ways God has been acting to help us through the difficult moments… (as we get near the end of the calendar year, we often look back at the “highs and lows”; but maybe it’s also a good idea to consider the moments when we were, by some miracle, empowered to get through those low points…)  Those are moments when, like Elizabeth, we can see in retrospect that God really was working to help us when maybe in that moment we were wondering where God was.  And there’s blessing in the promise that God will do that again…

• Purpose and meaning of what God has given us to do in this moment – there are a lot of things I hope for as we get ready for the coming year, in my personal life and in the life of this congregation.  And sometimes, it seems like I just have to wait for the fulfillment of some of those things.  And yet, what I’m doing – and what you’re doing – right now is probably part of what God needs us to do to reach fulfillment.  And being involved and invested in this moment, because you know God has made you part of the plan, is part of the blessing of living in the promise of fulfillment…

• Confidence that the future finally depends upon God’s promise, and not upon us.  Certainly, we can mess up a lot of things!  But all is never lost, because the future is finally in God’s hands.  God’s promise is sure, even when we mess things up.  And there’s great hope and blessing in living in that promise, even and especially when it doesn’t seem like fulfillment will ever arrive…

In the end, it’s great when things are fulfilled.  It’s wonderful when our dreams come true.  It’s satisfying when our plans have been accomplished.  And of course, at this time of year, it’s less stressful when Amazon has actually “fulfilled” our orders!

But even when things haven’t been fulfilled yet, Elizabeth reminds us that there’s blessing in believing the promise of God’s fulfillment which is yet to come.  For even when things aren’t fulfilled yet, there is blessing in the realization that God is working to bring about fulfillment even when we don’t see it or notice it.  There is blessing in the realization that God has made each of us part of the plan for that fulfillment.  And there is blessing in the surety that the ultimate fulfillment of history – and therefore also the fulfillment of our lives – is finally in the hands of a loving and trustworthy God.

Amen.