Waiting

[Our lessons were Isaiah 64:1-9, Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 and Mark 13:24-37.]

Advent is a season of waiting as we prepare to look back, recalling Jesus’ birth two thousand years ago and look forward to the time Jesus returns in glory. But we are not just concerned with the past and future; Advent also calls for us to be watching for Christ’s presence among us today.

As a culture, we don’t like waiting. We all have horror stories of waiting at airports or in line at the license tag office—a recent experience of mine! But we must recall that waiting is sometimes essential. The best food sometimes isn’t fast food; waiting is required. A couple waiting for the birth of their child—either in Palestine 2,000 years ago or in Georgia today—must wait about nine months for the baby to be born.

When we have to wait for something, we realize that we are not in control. Having to wait reminds us that we can’t make everything happen at our command. Waiting helps us watch for the needs of others rather than our own.

During Advent, we are called to be attentive and watchful for Jesus’ presence and for the chance to serve him. During Advent, our song is, “Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.”

Outside, in the world, it is Christmas time already, in fact it has been for some time now. But the Church calls us instead to a season of preparation, taking stock, and being ready for the coming of the Christ child. Our focus isn’t on buying presents and parties and stuffing turkeys. Advent is God’s time, when we get ready for the return of the Light. It is time to listen to the Prophets reminding God’s people that they have strayed from God’s plan, and it is time for sincere and prayerful change. They are calling us back from the darkness of winter.

Let us make time in this Advent season for reading the prophecies and praying for the birth of the child again, making ready in our hearts and homes a place for that child who comes again in power and great glory. Look clearly into the darkness and the cold out there and pray and work for a decent and warm and orderly place for the baby to come into. Make ready in our hearts and minds a place for the Christ Child to come once again. The prophets are right: we must be ready, and time is short!

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus tells us of a man who leaves his home in the care of his servants, each with a task to perform. And there is a warning: don’t be asleep when the master returns. Be watchful, be ready, because you don’t know when the master will return.

We are called to be awake in this middle time, the time between his first coming as a child and his second coming in power and great glory. The reason Jesus told his disciples to be alert, to stay awake, was because he couldn’t tell them exactly when he was going to come again—that secret was known only by the Father alone. If he’d known, why tell them to stay awake and be on the watch? He could have said, “I’ll return on November 30, 2008. So just relax until then.” But Jesus tells us that he didn’t know when he was going to come again to judge the world, only that he was going to come again. Be alert, keep awake.

There is a story that John Wesley—who was a founder of the Church here in Georgia—was once asked, “What would you do if you knew the Lord was going to return tomorrow afternoon?” He said, “I would tonight sleep soundly, and rise at my accustomed hour to greet the day with prayer; then I should visit any of my congregation who are sick, and spend the rest of my time at my desk composing my sermon for next Sunday: for I would want the Lord to find me at the work he has given me to do, and not in idleness. He has given me many days to serve him; and I would serve him as well on the last as on the first.”

Jesus may come tomorrow. He may come next month; he may come a million years from now. When he will come isn’t for us to know. That he will come is the core of our faith. We can be prepared for his return by recognizing that he is still among us in every person we serve and honor in his name. Because we have faith, not only that he will come, but to do the work he gives us to do, we are called to be awake and at work in this long middle night of the world. We are to keep awake, be alert, do God’s will, because we do not know when the king will return in glory. May we be awake and doing his will when that day comes.