ADVENT III
December 13, 2020
“Active Waiting”
It’s not very enjoyable to have to wait for anything for very long, and yet the season of Advent emphasizes waiting for all four weeks. As we hear the words of the prophets of ancient times, exhorting God’s people to wait for God’s deliverance in the form of a Savior King, we are taught that our waiting has a purpose. These days are a necessary part of becoming ready to hear the familiar, yet always new, proclamation, “unto you is born this day . . . a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
During the weeks of Advent, we learn of prophecies and promises, and how generations of God’s people were waiting, looking ahead, and preparing for the arrival of the promised Messiah. As people of the 21st century, we may react by saying, ”This isn’t that new to us. Since Sunday School, we’ve heard the story of the humble birth, the angel chorus, the amazed shepherds, and the declaration that this child was indeed the Messiah. How much of this waiting and getting ready is really necessary?”
But let’s consider our very human need to be renewed and refreshed from the stresses and anxieties we face every day. As we sing, pray, listen, and reflect throughout this season of anticipation, our hearts are opened, and once again we marvel at the gift of God in human form, come to earth to bring us into relationship with him. Rather than trudging through this time, just getting it over with, we are given the opportunity to savor it, to appreciate and understand the depth and breadth of our Father’s love for all people.
We learn about the significance of waiting in both the Old and New Testaments, from the Psalms to the letters of Paul. Psalm 27:14 tells us: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Our Lutheran Study Bible explains that the phrase, “wait for the Lord” means to maintain hope that God will arrive, and also to refrain from going one’s own way.
Many of our days are filled with waiting, whether for a delivery or service person who isn’t very close to the time of their promised arrival, or standing in a checkout line behind someone with a huge number of items or a complicated transaction. But as God’s people during Advent, we aren’t just standing in line, wishing it would move along so that we could get this whole waiting thing over with — we are assured that the wait is part of the process; a gift, to make us ready for Christ to come into our lives and the lives of all people.
However filled with fear and turmoil this world may be, the waiting, the listening, the hoping, remind us that the amazing gift of God’s own Son will come to us once again, bringing light and life to all.
Appreciating this time of waiting,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers