Be patient, therefore,
beloved, until the coming
of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being
patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient.
Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5 (NRSV)
Today’s advent words are ‘patiently
waiting’. It’s hard for any of us at any age
to be patient. It’s especially hard at Christmas. Remember how difficult it was
when you were small to wait to see what wonderful gifts Santa would bring? Did
you peek in closets trying to get an advanced view?
James
used the Old Testament prophets as an example of patience. “Brothers and
sisters,” he writes, “as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” One of the prophets he surely had in mind was
the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah refused to
give in to the despair of his time. Isaiah still managed to hope in God. And
under the leadership of God’s Holy Spirit Isaiah was able to write, “A
shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The
Spirit of the Lord will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the
Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
“He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth . . .” He may not say it, but in there you can still hear “BE PATIENT.”
No
matter what else you think Christmas is about, it is also about patiently
waiting. It is not just about a house so
lit up you can see it from space, or about giving or receiving the biggest and
best gift money can buy. It isn’t about
eating ham or turkey. It’s not simply
about spending time with family-- as precious as that may be. It isn’t even about celebrating an infant’s
birth in a manger.
Did
you catch that? Christmas isn’t even ultimately about celebrating an infant’s
birth in a manger. Christmas is about the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan
of salvation. IOW;
God
has a plan for our world.
A plan that extends from
creation
Through the
manger
through
the cross
and
the empty tomb
to
eternity.
God
is at work bringing in a perfect world a world where all people will live in
harmony and dignity together as children of God a world where that which is
broken will be made whole a world of peace, joy and love. Sure, the babe in the
manger is an important part of that plan, and it is right and good that we
celebrate his birth. But Christmas is only a part of the entire Christ event.
It is not only about the coming of Christ, but it is also about the coming of
God’s Kingdom when Christ shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
forever and ever.
Pastor Jim
Pastor Jim
