December 2, 2018
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16
So who here has ever
had to wait for anything? Waiting to get
an appointment with a specialist.
Waiting for the results of medical tests. Waiting for a much-anticipated baby or grandbaby
to be born. Waiting for a flight to land
bringing a loved one home. Waiting with
someone as they pass from this life into the next. Waiting in line at Sobey’s.
I think that all of us
have waited on more than one occasion!
Next question: who here enjoys waiting? It’s not always a comfortable place to
be. Often we’d rather skip over the
waiting and go straight to the ending!
I have two sisters,
and when we were growing up, the rule was that on Christmas morning we weren’t
allowed into the living room where the stockings had been hung by the chimney
with care until 7am. Being kids though,
we were usually awake at 6am (or earlier).
We would go downstairs to wait.
Usually our auntie would wait with us – making us hot chocolate and
trying to entertain us until the magic hour.
That hour between
waking up and being allowed at our stockings felt like the longest hour of the
year. It felt like it took at least 6
hours for the clock to move from 6 to 7.
Waiting was not fun – if given the choice, we would have much rather
gone straight to the ending and opened up our presents as soon as we were
awake!
Advent is a season of
waiting. We too are waiting for
Christmas. When the world around us is
in full-blown Christmas by now, here in the church we are in a season of
not-yet-Christmas. We are in a season of
waiting and preparing and longing for Christmas.
The people that
Jeremiah was addressing were also in a season of waiting. The ancient Israelite people lived in a small
country surrounded by superpowers, and as usually happens to small countries
surrounded by superpowers, they were invaded by their more powerful
neighbours. First of all, the northern
kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian army and the people fled south for
safety; and then just over a hundred years later, the southern kingdom of Judah
fell to the Babylonian army, Jerusalem and the first temple were destroyed, and
most of the key leaders were sent into exile to Babylon.
And this is the moment
that Jeremiah is prophesying in. He is
speaking to a people on the brink of exile.
It’s pretty much a given that things aren’t going to go well for the
people. With the perspective of history,
we know that they are going to be exiled to Babylon for 70 years – the people
who went into exile were not the same generation that would return. It is going to be a 70-year waiting period
before their descendants would be allowed to return. Maybe next time you are waiting in line at
the grocery story and it feels as though the line is moving at a snail’s pace,
you can re-assure yourself by thinking, “at least it isn’t going to be a
70-year wait!”
And Jeremiah promises
the people that God is with them, and God has not forgotten about them, no
matter how long the wait may be. God
promises that they will return from exile, and that Jerusalem will be re-built. “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when
I will fulfill my gracious promise.” God
doesn’t say how long it will take, but the time is coming!
And so Advent is a
season of waiting; but if God is with us, then waiting can be a holy time. We are on the threshold of something new –
there is something new unfolding in front of us, and God is with us as we wait
and as we watch the unfolding and as we long for that which is new to be
revealed.
Our Advent theme this
week is hope; and our hope grows in the waiting. Theological hope is so much more than wishful
thinking – our hope is our confidence that God is with us, our confidence that
God loves us, our confidence that God’s promises for all of creation will come
true.
And so while our
waiting feels long, our times of waiting are times that we can set aside to
look for God’s presence in our lives.
Our times of waiting are times that we can set aside to see how God is
working in the world. Our times of
waiting are times that we can examine our own hearts to see how they are lined
up with God’s plan for the world, but also how they might be out of
alignment. This can be uncomfortable,
but waiting is uncomfortable. But it is
in our discomfort that God can work on our hearts.
So rather than rushing
to the ending, rather than skipping ahead to Christmas Day, I would invite you
to embrace this time of holy waiting.
And whatever it is that you are waiting for in your life, whether it’s
the result of medical tests, the birth of a new baby, the opportunity to see a
loved one, or opening your stocking on Christmas morning, I invite you to
embrace the waiting. Sit with the
discomfort. Avoid the temptation to
distract yourself from the waiting, whether the distraction be in the form of a
cell phone or a whirlwind of social engagements. Embrace the waiting, be still, and simply BE
with God. Embrace the waiting and see
how God is wanting to use you and change you and prepare you for the new thing
that is coming.
May we all have a holy
Advent.
Amen.
(Waiting for the Sunrise)
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