Waiting is hard work. But then again, so is faith. When we wait on what we confidently expect to happen in the future, we begin to experience a bit of what the season of Advent is all about. And if we truly think about it, deeply and thoroughly, we'll come to realize that expecting Jesus to show up, at any moment, is the posture of one who knows Jesus keeps His word--and that He's always as good as His Word. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Jesus is showing up. But if we're on our spiritual toes and our spiritual eyes are wide open, we'll soon recognize that our Savior is arriving, in our midst, whenever Christ brings hope, peace, joy and love into each and every circumstance. In other words, we wait, expectantly, and when we do, we'll notice Jesus at work within and around us--every single day.
Advent is another reminder to God's faithful that we must always be on the lookout for the loving activity of Christ to take place. We must always expect Christ to show up.
After all, Jesus always does.
For Christ-followers, waiting upon the LORD is God's way of quieting our hearts as we joyfully expect Jesus to come through at his divinely appointed time for his divinely appointed purpose. "But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31, NRSV). If we're looking closely, friends, Advent is all around us--yet most of it has nothing to do with this blessed season leading up to Christmas. Yet, it's true that Advent moves us into the Christmas season, the blessed time of year when we celebrate Christ's first arrival in the form of a baby in Bethlehem. But we await Christ second and final return, his ultimate advent, and we are called to look expectantly, never wavering though Jesus might seem as though He's tarrying. We must wait, confidently and joyfully, knowing that in between his birth and his 2nd coming we can still experience his arrivals in our lives through the inbreaking of His Holy Spirit among us.
As Christians, we are tempted to latch onto anxiety while we wait for God's word to reveal itself to us. And yet, Advent, teaches us to fully experience the joyful expectation not only the 1st and 2nd coming of Jesus but also Christ's inbreaking presence in the here and now. Put another way, we can anticipate the advent of Christ at any time because He's promised to always be with us--even to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20). Advent urges us to wait for Jesus to show up, by faith, as we actively walk in obedience, believing that Christ will arrive at any moment. Where will we find him today? Who will Jesus choose to reveal himself to us this afternoon? God, in the form of Jesus, is always among us! I love how Luke 17:21b confirms this truth: "For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you." This proves that all of life is Advent--God is calling us to obey him patiently while we actively observe Jesus in all that we see and do in our days. Jesus proves this in his earliest recorded words we have of Jesus when he begins his ministry in Mark 1:15: "'The time has come,” he said. 'The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!'” The books of Daniel and Revelation remind us that God is breaking into our experiences in ways that coronate Jesus as King, and we must remain faithful to the Lord while we wait on his promises to be fulfilled in our individual and collective lives as God's Church. We must hold these two truths in tension: while we anticipate Jesus' final return at any moment, we must actively look for Christ to show up among us as people forgive, heal, restore, administer justice and experience deliverance through reconciling relationships.
We must expect Jesus to show up!
Practicing our expectations of Jesus' presence helps us prepare wisely for the moment when Jesus does return to take us Home to be with him. What joy! What bliss! Christmas points to the blessing of living life in a state of advent. The Savior of the world was born into this world in a messy stable and revealed in human flesh; Mary's pregnancy teaches us a lot about Advent. In Matthew and Luke, we watch the story of Mary unfold; the nine months of waiting on Jesus' birth gave us the stories of Joseph and the dream, Mary and the angel's visit, and Elizabeth proclaiming the wonder and joy of the Divine child that Mary is carrying. In this way, God is compelling us to wait on Jesus' birth; God did this intentionally to show us that actively waiting in obedience to God proves how much God loves us. What a compassionate God we serve! When we embrace the hope of Mary's pregnancy and Joseph's loyalty in the midst of public disdain, we more fully appreciate the ecstasy of the shepherds as they laid their eyes on the newborn King. Trusting in God's word to come true takes active waiting, and therefore takes active obedience. When we expect Jesus to show up (Advent) in our daily lives we trust that Jesus yearns to reveal God's glory through his presence. He does this so that we might draw closer to the warmth of his love and inevitably share that same love with others.
By practicing Advent as a way of discipleship we choose to "be still and know that [God] is God" (Ps. 46:10a). Our hearts and minds are less concerned with selfish thoughts and motives and instead fixated on serving others--after all, Jesus can be trusted, and will fulfill his word at the right time (Hab. 2:3). Though the vision might tarry (God tells Habakkuk), God's will is always revealed right on time! This means that whatever you are expectantly waiting for God is using time as a gift to increase our trust in the LORD. Listen to how God always succeeds in fulfilling His promises: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isa. 55:10-11, NIV). God uses the gift of Advent to call us to immediate obedience; however, to delay our active waiting might mean forfeiting our opportunities to watch King Jesus break into our daily suffering. Let us, therefore lift up our eyes and look to Jesus, the source of all our help (Ps. 121:1-2). Let us be aware, and mindful, that Jesus is showing up within us, around us and in others. Are we looking, confidently and expectantly?
Speaking of confident expectation, there is great purpose in lighting the candles of hope, peace, joy and love during this beloved and holy season of Advent. Notice that we don't light them all at once, but we light them one week at a time. For in the fullness of time, we discover the power of God's healing light and love...it overwhelms us with joy and gratitude for the salvation and forgiveness we receive together in Christ. The candlelight of Advent leads us into a magnificent celebration, that of Jesus, the true Christmas miracle. And that same Christmas miracle continues to arrive, to advent among us, in the ways forgiveness is meted out and in the ways reconciliation happens in relationships that were once broken and estranged. Therefore, God wants each of us to expect Jesus to show up and bring people together, not just during the holidays but in every moment we're given by the Lord. This means that Advent is the perfect reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:1). We are to wait on Jesus to show up, and to do so with humility and faith-filled expectation! Here are some ways I think we'll see Jesus show up this Advent season at UBC:
We will watch for Jesus to show up in a child placing a chrismon on our tree during our Hanging of the Greens service. We will observe the Christ child in the reverent way an adult places a poinsettia on our altar stairs. We will taste the goodness of the Savior when the cracker and the juice hit your tongue on the morning of our Christmas Communion Service. We will find Jesus showing up everywhere among us, and in everyone we meet--we just have to take the time this Advent season to notice Christ the King at work!
I think you'll find that Jesus is still arriving, still showing up, even as we wait for him to come back to earth on that final, rapturous day when all the waiting, all the suffering and all the obedience will become for us what heaven is all about. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and while we wait, give us the strength and the grace to do so with a confident expectation that says, without equivocation or hesitation:
"Jesus is gonna show up soon...after all, he's as good as his Word!"
Amen.
Jesus will show up this Advent and Christmas seasons--expect Him everywhere!
Happy Advent and Merry Christmas, dear church family!
Pastor Will
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