I was looking for a good image for World AIDS Day for my Facebook earlier and I saw this and gave a little giggle. Why you ask? Well because in some ways I've given up on waiting for something like an AIDS vaccine. But in light of the blazing speed upon which we have seen a Covid-19 vaccine develop, the lack of a vaccine after all these years for HIV stands out all the more. Maybe it's because of the science of it all, and on a molecular level the virus is so different from that of Covid-19 it is unfair to wonder how one came out in a year while the other has taken forever and a day and still seems forever away. But I won't lie, part of me thinks the difference is that the brunt of the AIDS epidemic is taking place in Africa. That that is the determining factor. Part of me thinks this year shows what happens when the first world really does care about ending a virus. Part of me thinks the economic disaster that has been Covid-19 and the inconvenience that has been Covid-19 in these wealthy nations has been at the least what brought on a vaccine so quickly, if not shown why we haven't had one so quickly for AIDS. But that's just wondering. And don't get me wrong, I am thrilled there is a vaccine for Covid-19 coming, because we do need it. But I know that especially in some nations we pay less attention to, we really need an AIDS vaccine.
But in the US, AIDS isn't in vogue. It sounds stupid to say it that way, but it's true. Talk to AIDS related charities. Ask them if raising funds has gotten easier or harder. Part of this is because of good things: people with AIDS are living relatively normal lives more and more. The death rate has peaked and currently is in a downward trajectory. These are good things, and they no doubt make us collectively worry less about the virus. Science has made developments.
But on World AIDS Day, once a year we pause to remember it ain't over. Once a year we stop and realize that many are still being infected or dying. Once a year we remember that access to health care and medicine for people with AIDS must still be a priority. Once a year we take time to remember those we have lost already and still miss deeply. And in a year like 2020, where the rest of us are experiencing what it's like to be in an epidemic, to wait for a vaccine, to hope and lose people along the way, we perhaps realize just a bit more what a day like today is all about.
In many churches, we have begun a season known as Advent. It is a season of hope and expectation, a time to remember what it was for Israel to wait for their Messiah. It is a season to remember that the story ain't over till our Lord returns. Advent - which means coming or arrival - looks forward to the holy celebration of Christmas, when a long awaited hope first arrived and to the return of Jesus, when our Lord will arrive in glory riding on the clouds of heaven.
In some ways, that first arrival - while the wait seemed long to those Israelites who hoped in God's Messiah - it was like 2020 compared to those of us who have now awaited Jesus' return. And like an AIDS vaccine, we sometimes have been waiting so long we forget to even look for Jesus. And like a day that calls us to pause and remember, that's Advent in the church, it's the ecclesiastical reminder that Christ is coming. This is our hope. This is what we wait for.
Sometimes waiting for God feels long because of how desperately we need him, and even if the wait in the scheme of things isn't all that long, it feels that way. Sometimes we forget to wait, but then we remember, and in remembering we realize how much we still need him. The truth is, a lot of the Bible is people waiting for God. A lot of ministry is being with people waiting for God. It's learning to trust in him who promises, and join with those in celebration who have seen promise fulfilled - all the while believing that promise is a reassurance to us.
I guess that's the difference between my faith in God and my faith in the world. I see a Covid vaccine quickly coming and in no way feel closer to an AIDS vaccine. But I see God bringing healing to a bleeding woman and believe that speaks hope for me.
We've waited for this covid vaccine. We're still waiting for an AIDS vaccine. We Christians have waited for Jesus for near about 2000 years. Some hopes have been realized. Some are still to come. But in it all, how preciously different a thing hope can be, even when we're waiting.
And of course, some things in life are worth waiting for.
Some things we wait for because we are dying without them.
In a year of waiting, empathize with those who wait.
In a year of hope fighting despair, learn the value of hoping.
And pause somewhere to remember where the journey has taken you, and where you hope to go...
Then perhaps we're ready to observe World AIDS Day in 2020.
