Wednesday, December 11, 2024 Advent Three
“At that time there
was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was
eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was
upon him.” (Luke 2: 25, New Living
Translation)
Waiting in an emergency room in
the hospital is a little like waiting for Christmas in some respects. Yesterday,
I was in our hospital’s ER for ten hours waiting for all the different stages of
the visit to unfold. First, I waited to get registered. Then I waited to see
the triage nurse. Then I waited for blood work. Then I waited to get called to the
examination waiting room. Then I waited to get called to assess my problem.
Then I waited for the first course of treatments. Then I waited while the first
results of tests come in. Then I wait for the Dr. to prescribe further tests.
Then I waited around some more. Then I waited for the Dr. to make his
appearance to tell me what was the diagnosis and prescribe next steps, next
drugs and next treatment. Small wonder that it took ten hours.
The long and the short of it is
that I have been diagnosed having diabetes. One might say that unlike Advent/Christmas
this is an unhappy result of all the waiting. For sure, I am a little rattled at
this unexpected development, but on the other hand I now know why I have been
feeling so crummy lately and now I will have medications and treatments which
will help me begin to get better. That’s
worth the wait.
Like ER visits, Advent waiting
is also a process. We don’t get to Christmas without that process. The Jews of
Jesus’ times had been eagerly waiting for hundreds of years for the Messiah, waiting
through suffering, foreign oppression, at the ends of the civilized world. It
must have seemed indeterminable.
For us, whether we like it or
not, our eager waiting is marked by four Sundays of Advent, each very important
in getting to Christmas. Hope. Peace.
Joy. Love. Each of those characteristics speaks to each one of us in different
ways depending on what “ails” us or what may be separating us from God, or what
may be hindering us from feeling the Christmas Spirit. Slowly we move through
Advent, step by step, gathering the information and evidence that will
eventually reveal the Good News of Jesus Christ and that we have Someone who is
on our side through thick and thin.
Waiting is hard. It challenges us to be patient, faithful,
trusting and perseverant. We hope that there will be a happy ending at the end of
the waiting. Often there is. But sometimes the happy ending is wrapped up in
some new, challenging circumstances and we will need to seek the blessing
inside the problem. We will need to grasp the hand of God and be utterly amazed
that our salvations rests in a manger in Bethlehem. This is what we have been waiting
for? A baby in a manger? Seems preposterous!
But wait! There is for more to
this story than Bethlehem. We wait again for this child to grow into his role
as the Messiah and fulfill God’s work on the Cross and through his
Resurrection. Perhaps, we can say that Advent is but the beginning of growing
into faith. It initiates the long process of what it is means to follow Jesus
Christ, from birth to death. Learning. Growing, Experiencing. Accepting. Sharing. Enduring. Persevering. But in the end, we achieve the prize of the
upward calling.
“Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)
Christmas is there, waiting for
us.
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