The Waiting

THE WAITING
Anna wondered whether she could last the distance. Her seven year marriage seemed a lifetime ago and at 84 plus she knew that her days were numbered. Yet she waited with expectation. Every day she went to the temple and worshipped. Her eyes scanned the visitors ... would this be the day when the redeemer came? (Lke 2:36-38)

Someone else waited. Time was passing but God had promised that he would see the deliverer before death closed his eyes. Something took him to the temple compound that day. Then he saw them. There was a mother, her man and a baby not long past the one month anniversary. Something tugged at his heart and he knew this was the moment – taking the child he embraced God’s salvation. As for himself, Simeon was now ready to die. (Lke 2:25-35)

What are we waiting for?

We habitually count down to all kinds of events and may even have a countdown timer on our computer. Weddings, births, holidays, graduations and retirements all give us a sense of expectation and thus we watch the days shrink. But, do you notice that the waiting is sometimes better than the getting? And so we ask ourselves: ‘What was that all about?”

Is it worth the wait?

Anna and Simeon were waiting for God to act. They didn’t know it, but their wait was for Jesus. He is the one whose coming marked the close of the waiting time and the start of the ‘now’ time. This was the ‘last days’ as the end-game of God’s big plans came to fruition. And thus the Christmas cradle led to the Easter Cross and the cancelling of sin’s penalty and power through the self-sacrifice of Jesus.

We call all this ‘advent’: the coming of God’s Son Jesus at Christmastime.

There is another waiting. Another coming. Another advent. And so the Bible speaks of Jesus coming a second time to bring the fullness of God’s salvation to those who are waiting for him (Heb 9:28). We wait for this advent by putting our faith in Jesus to reconnect us to God and by giving ourselves to a life of love for God and humanity. This kind of waiting means that we are always as ready as Anna and Simeon to welcome Jesus and that we have no fear of God’s judgement.

Jesus has come and is coming.
What are we waiting for?