Time is an interesting commodity--many of us connect it to our sense of worth. We’re driven to produce, afraid of falling short of our own and others expectations--so time is a precious “commodity” and we feel pressured to be busy and to expect those around to to be busy, too.  If, for whatever reason, we find ourselves with nothing to do, and can’t imagine a way to be productive, we feel like we’ve “wasted” our time.  The drive and the bustle are surely going to take us a a useful end--striving and producing surely are good things.  But what is it that we really need?

Possibly a different, awareness of time?  We’re living in the midst of God’s abundance and He invites us to be aware of Him and his will for us, to note that He is moving among us.  He wants us to watch and wait--to be alert--to stop long enough to notice what is happening around us.  To be surprised by God’s generosity and creativity and catch the vision of His world.  To remember why we are a people of faith who live for His Kingdom.

Pray with me:

Almighty God, patience is not our best characteristic. 
Everything around us moves at breakneck speed.
And we expect you, too, to adopt our pace, our values. 
Forgive us for this arrogance. 
By your Spirit teach us to live in Your grace
And to embrace your long and steady quest for justice and righteousness.  Amen.

I’d like to read a passage from Psalm 146:5-10 and from James 5:7-10.

Psalm 146:5-10:

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob
Whose hope is in the Lord his God, the builder of heaven and earth
The sea and everything in them--the Lord who remains forever faithful and steadfast.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and feeds the hungry
He sets the prisoners free and gives sight to the blind
He lifts up those that are bowed down and loves the righteous
He watches over the alien, sustains the fatherless and the widow.
He frustrates the ways of the wicked.  Our Lord reigns forever;
For all generations.  Praise the Lord.

And then James 5:7-10

Be patient then brothers until the Lord’s coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the seasonal rains.  You too be patient and stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near.  Don’t grumble against each other, or you will be judged.
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  As you know, we consider blessed those who persevered and have seen what the Lord has brought about--the Lord who is full of compassion and mercy. 

Oh, to be a child again and wait for Christmas morning.  How well I remember those last few weeks when time slowed down to an unbelievably and unbearably slow pace.  Little did I know then, that waiting was a big part of the joy and the meaning of Christmas.  Anticipation.  Waiting seems to be the price we pay to get what we long for.

We spend an incredible part of our lives waiting.  We line up and wait to pay bills, to purchase groceries, to get into the movie theatre, to get onto the plane that will take us somewhere, till the doctor has time to see us.  We wait for spring, winter.  If we counted up all of the hours we spend waiting, we’d be amazed.  So is this dead time--wasted time--or does it serve a purpose?  Let me elaborate with an example--we go to see the doctor and sit down in a waiting room.  A room with dozens of outdated magazines and maybe a television that is always on the wrong channel--to wait until we’re called.  Here’s an opportunity to prepare ourselves for the dreaded verdict, a calming period for the news we’re about to receive, and a room full of people who are doing the same thing.  Possibly also dreading but hoping for hope.

Our relationship with God always involves waiting--continuous waiting--possibly dreading the news we are about to receive--hoping that it will give us reason to hope.  Without too much inconvenience to our way.  Advent is a time when we’re in a “waiting room.”  We are on the way and still waiting.  Waiting for the coming of the Lord to us in a new way.  Sometimes we think He is coming too slowly and then realize He’s already there--and we’re waiting for Him to reveal His new way--that which is yet to come.

We are becoming tuned to the future.  We are being trained to expect great things from our Lord.  Waiting is about that which is to come and that for which we hope.  It’s not in our hands.  Never was.

Paul Tillich once said, “If we wait in hope and patience, the power of that for which we wait is already effective within us.”

When we apply this to Advent we might say that God gives us the promises and we wait for them to be fulfilled; and by waiting we allow the promises to become incorporated into our faith and our worldview.  Meanwhile we’re being prepared for the realization of these promises in our lives here on earth.  The waiting room is a microcosm of the coming of God to His world.

To expand a bit more on the image of waiting being a time of preparation, I’d like to toss in another image.  John the Baptist was designated as a forerunner to the King.  He was a fiery preacher whose preaching cost him his life.  His lifestyle was that of a desert nomad and a bit of an oddball--but he was known throughout all Judea for his sermons on being ready to “come into the presence of the King.”  He spent his time in the desert alone with his Lord in an incredibly harsh environment where there was little comfort to be found.  He called people to repent but then added, “Don’t only use nice words when you do this.  Share your wealth, be  fair and honest in your dealings. Never use force or participate in violence.”  Now many of his audience were the converted --the “religious people” of Judah and instructors of religious law.  The connected ones.  They were to change their ways to prepare for the coming of the King.  The self examination that he called them to is what we’re called to today.  To let the Lord do the changing to what he would have His followers be.  To have folks yield totally to Him and His plan.  To spend our Advent period learning to die to self.

A young man once came to his priest.  He wanted to dedicate his life to serving God.  The priest replied, “You are not yet ready.  Go home and pray.”  After a long time of prayer the young man returned and said he was now ready to dedicate his life totally to God  The priest replied with the same answer, “You are not yet ready.  Go home and pray.”  The same thing happened a third time, and a fourth.  After the fourth time he came back to the priest and said, “I’m not worthy of dedicating my life to God.  I can’t possibly live up to the expectations He has for me.  I’ll need to withdraw my request.”  The priest replied, “You are now ready to enter into His service.”  The times of waiting and expectation had shown this young man in what his hope lay.  He was ready to leave his false securities and trust completely in the message of God to him and to take his place in the Kingdom, waiting graciously .  His period of Advent had served its purpose and he was prepared to live in God’s hope, leaving his own desires and prejudices behind.  He was prepared to forgo his rights and his pride, and had discovered that his hope lay in glorifying his Lord  and not himself.  Time would not longer be a commodity to be bought and sold but a treasure that was a gift from his Lord--while he waited.  His sense of worth was completely tied up in “waiting to serve his King” in the way He needed him to serve. 

Bow with me to pray.

Lord, in this season of waiting
Help us to get over ourselves and our need to struggle for self-sufficiency
and wait on you.
Help us to see that self-reliance isn’t a part of the plan
and isn’t needed to fulfill us. 
Our reliance is on You.
Give us back the things we used to wonder about--in awe and fear.
Help us to want more than a dry pair of socks and three meals a day, and a warm place to sleep.
Give us those things that reshape our lives
and show us what gives us value--
things that redefine our intentions and purposes,
those things  that make our lives precious and complex and spirit filled.
Help us to engage ourselves fully in your Kingdom as the routine of our lives.
Amen.

Back to Top