Waiting…Waiting…Waiting… Those three words open the poem that was written by someone dear to me. In fact, these three simple words are repeated throughout the body of the poem, emphasizing over and over again, what it feels like for this individual in the season of life in which they find themselves. They are waiting, as patiently as possible, wondering what tomorrow will hold. Will it bring something different…or it will be more of the same. Waiting…Waiting…Waiting…
This weekend, specifically on Sunday, we begin the season of Advent. This is the time period that leads up to and helps us prepare for Christmas. So, even though Advent becomes such a busy time with concerts, baking, decorating, celebrations and parties, the season is really about waiting. Waiting…Waiting…Waiting…
But the truth is we don’t “do waiting” well. We have instant news alerts and notifications. We have fast food and microwaves. We have communication devices (cell phones) that can put us in touch with someone on the opposite side of the globe almost immediately. We have technological capabilities that allow meetings to take place in real time even though the meeting participants are scattered all over the state, country, and even the world. Coffee shops are placed strategically along the major routes in our community so people can get their coffee quickly and be on their way. Yes, we definitely like things fast. We don’t like to wait.
Yet waiting is a part of who we are as a people of faith. It is a part of our story and God’s story. Abraham and Sarah were promised a baby and descendants as many as the stars…but they had to wait until they were both elderly before the promise was fulfilled. Joseph had visions of being a leader that would make a difference in his tribe and ultimately his people. But he had to wait years and go through some terrible experiences before he would find himself in charge. David was anointed as a young boy to be the next king, yet the opportunity to wear the crown didn’t come until years later. The time between the Old Testament and the New Testament of our bible or the time between when Malachi was written and Mark, the earliest gospel written, was about 400 years. During those years people waited for a word, a messenger, anything from God. Even in the New Testament, the disciples had to continually wait for understanding, wait for direction, wait for the Spirit, etc. Waiting…Waiting…Waiting…
It's not easy to wait…just ask a child how hard it is to wait for Christmas, especially when it’s just a day or two away!! Yet, waiting can be beneficial. Joseph would likely say that the waiting and enduring life’s horrible experiences made him a better leader later on. David was able to look back to his experiences of waiting as a sheepherder and being responsible for the sheep, as part of what made him a better warrior and ultimately a better king. Time and time again in the Bible, waiting isn’t wasted time, rather it is a time of shaping the person or people, preparing them for what is next to come.
May this Advent season for us not just be a time of passive waiting. May we use it as a time for actively Waiting…Waiting…Waiting…for God to speak…for God to work…for God to make preparations within us/me and within our world for what is coming next. May we be involved in allowing this season to prepare us to see, experience, and live Immanuel – God with us!! Plus, this season of waiting is also about us preparing for the day when God’s Kingdom will come in its completeness in our world. Until then, we keep striving to bring the “Up There Down Here”. We keep making the Kingdom real right here in Mitchell. Yes, we are Waiting… Waiting…Waiting. But it is a hope-filled waiting knowing that God is at work in our midst. This December may our waiting be meaning-filled…preparing each of us for what is to come next.
Pastor Keith