The time is coming when I will fulfill the promise
that I made to the people of Judah and Israel.
At that time I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David.
Jeremiah 33: 14-15
I was recently bemoaning my lot to a friend that the house has not yet sold. When is it going to happen? How long will it take? My pragmatic listener asked how long it had been on the market and were there many visits: only one month and 50 visits said I. Change brings anxiety and I am both nervous and excited about the future. But honestly, one month is not long and there is a lot of interest. As you can see, I am not a very patient person. Waiting is not my strong suit. In fact, once I decide something, I want it to be done, yesterday!
I thought I could sell, move and be ready to celebrate Christmas in a new home, with the tree decorated, lights installed and a gift for Santa at the chimney.
The season of Advent is all about anticipating and preparing for the birth of Jesus. It is about waiting for the promise. It is also a quick four weeks that move through each candle of the Advent wreath, and before you know it the baby will be in the manger of hay. Waiting and savouring the present moment helps recover the wonder of this starlit season and lets me prepare my heart and spirit for renewal, joy, and the inevitable chaos that birth (and new birth) brings.
My four weeks with a for sale sign on the front of my property is nothing compared to the centuries between the promise made by the prophets of Messiah and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. 500 years of waiting! That’s a LONG wait, a lot of patience, hope and trust in God’s promise.
The psalmist writes:
I wait for God with longing;
I put my hope in God’s Word.
(Psalm 130:5-6)
And so I pray in the waiting for the sale and in this Advent season;
God of the unexpected and undreamt:
In this holy season, instill your hope in our hearts.
Prepare us;
prepare us so we can hear again the song of the angels
and see again the beckoning star. Amen.
(Celebrate God’s Presence, UCC)
- Rev. David