What are we waiting for?

December 1, 2021
Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Isaiah 7:14 + James 5:8

Happy 1st day of December! Happy 1st week of Advent!

Advent is all about waiting and watching for the coming of Christ. The word Advent comes from the Latin Adventus, which means “coming”. And so, we wait and watch and we also remember Christ’s first entry into our world which was foretold by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 7 and verse 14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel [which means God with us]”.

Fleming Rutledge reflects on the Church’s response to Advent in her article published in Good News magazine entitled “Discovering Advent – Grace in the darkness”: “The church lives in Advent. That is to say, the church lives between two advents. Jesus Christ has come, Jesus Christ will come. We do not know the day or the hour. If you find this tension almost unbearable at times, then you understand the Christian life.

We live at what the New Testament depicts as the turn of the ages. In Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God is in head-on collision with the powers of darkness. The point of impact is the place where Christians take their stand…He came to us once as a stranger, and we put him on a cross. He comes among us now, in the guise of the stranger at the door. He will come in the future, not as a stranger, but as the King in his glory, and ‘at the name of Jesus every knee should bow’ (Phil. 2:10).

‘The coming of the Lord is at hand’, says Saint James. ‘Behold, the judge is standing at the door’ (James 5:8-9). Keep awake, then…if he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep.”

This is a great time to ask ourselves “what are we waiting for?”. Are we waiting for things to get better? Are we waiting for a special present that will make us happy? Are we waiting for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? I want to among those who choose the third response. How about you?

On a fun note, I am recalling a Mr. Rogers song about waiting. Maybe you remember it too. It starts off: “Let’s think of something to do while we’re waiting, while we’re waiting for something new to do” How about while we’re waiting, we sing a little bolder the Christmas hymns of praise, and tell the people around us what my granddaughter has been saying often to me throughout the day; “I love you!” And then we should watch for what God wants us to do while we’re waiting for his new thing to happen.

“O come, O come Emmanuel”!

AMEN!