I keep waiting for things to get easier.
A young woman I care for deeply has discovered a lump in her breast, and I wait
with her to learn whether or not it's cancer. Several among us fight that evil
right now, and I wait with each of them for a cure. In our battle against the
H1N1 virus we so sanitize the nursery that you could perform brain surgery in
there, and I wait with every single parent for an end to fear. My brother just
moved to Florida for work, and I wait for him to tell me he's found a job. I
just had coffee with a retiree who waits every Monday to see if he'll have enough
in his pension check to pay for his prescriptions. We have troops in Afghanistan
and Iraq, and I wait with their loved ones for their safe return. We'll soon
celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, and I wait with the whole world
for a world that lives without war.
I never thought so many of us would have to fight so hard for our lives, whether
it's fighting off depression or fighting an infection, fighting hunger or fighting
for our country. Sometimes it almost feels like we're at war, and I keep waiting
for God to put an end to that fighting. It sure doesn't always feel like Christmas.
Which all makes sense - because the season we've entered isn't Christmas, it's Advent, the season that's all about waiting. It comes from an ancient word for coming or arrival, and relates now to the four Sundays that herald the coming of Christmas. In Advent our lessons will remind us of the Hebrew's long wait for a messiah, John the Baptist's wait for repentance, and our waiting for Christ's return. In Advent we'll share groceries with those who wait for a reprieve from hunger, and gifts with those who wait for release from despair. In Advent we sing carols with folks who wait for the company of our song. In Advent our children will sing us a sermon about waiting for the birth of our Savior, and we'll make luminaries to hasten the wait to his Christmas Eve service. In Advent we will wait together - for the peace we've been promised by the one whose death and life won us from all our wars.
Wait with us in Advent, my friends, and meet the God who carries us through all our waiting.
Pastor Jim
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory. I will remove disaster from you...I will deal with all your oppressors, and I will save the lame and gather the outcast. Zephaniah 3:16-19
From the Shepherd's Song Newsletter -- December 2009
Copyright 2009 by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
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E-mail your comments and questions to Pastor Jim in care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at good.shep-holland@sbcglobalnet.