Weight of The Wait

There's a saying that tells us this is "the most wonderful time of the year."

And this IS the most wonderful time of the year.  I love the Fourth of July, with its sun and fireworks and flip flop tans.  It's difficult to beat a good Thanksgiving! Football, cooler temps, and turkey.

But there's something about Advent, this month leading up to Christmas, that just makes my heart go.  It's got nothing to do with presents, pumpkin spice lattes (or whatever the flavor of the season is) or even SNOW!

Advent, the season we spend anticipating, eagerly awaiting the birth of Christ, is meant to bring us to Christmas morning ready to raise our hands and praise the King that came as an infant.  Ready to praise because in the midst of hopelessness and despair, and after generations of crying out "O COME O COME EMMANUEL!!!!" the King arrived.

Generation after generation pleaded, cried, and prayed that their darkness would collide with the light.  Children were born waiting, lived waiting, and died waiting.  Their grandchildren and great grandchildren prayed they would know an end to the wait.

They were READY to praise and worship the King.  Ready to welcome him and honor him.  They were SICK AND TIRED OF WAITING.

They couldn't find the answer to what plagued them.  There was no answer, and they were beginning to believe there would never be an answer.  Ever since that first husband and wife ate from the tree, things were in disarray.

The world was falling apart: Disease, sickness, strife, and war defined the human race.  No matter what amount of good was done, it could never totally fix things.  Families were pulled apart, relationships were broken, lives were being taken.

They were told of a coming King that would BE the answer. 
He would be the Counselor to bring wisdom.
He would be the Prince that reigned in peace.
He would be the Mighty God that would defeat enemies.
He would be the Father that would never disappoint.

And still...more waiting. Would this King EVER COME?

It's hard to feel the weight of the wait.  All I know of waiting is the agony until the host exclaims "Jones PARTY OF THREE!" and I'm able to breathe again, because I know I'll finally get to eat my steak.

Waiting for a lifetime? What does that even mean? Waiting for LIFE, in a hopeless circle that only leads to death?  How agonizing it must have been to be born into hopelessness and die still waiting...

Romans 5 says "death reigned from Adam to Moses" and continued to reign through the story of the Old Testament.  Death REIGNED...it RULED...it COMMANDED the way the human race operated for generation after generation

WAIT.

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be God With Us." (Isaiah 7:14)

WAIT.

"But you, Bethlehem...who are too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me who is to be ruler in Israel..." (Micah 5:2)

WAIT.

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders..." (Isaiah 9:6)

WAIT.
WAIT.
WAIT.
WAIT.
ANTICIPATE.
GROAN.
WAIT.
PRAY.
PLEAD.
O COME O COME EMMANUEL.
WAIT.

"And in the same regions, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of GREAT JOY that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:8-12)

WAI...WHAT?!

Just ordinary, blue collar workmen.  Going to work on a Thursday (or Tuesday or Friday or whenever) night, like they had hundreds of nights before.  They woke up in waiting, figured they would go to bed waiting.

BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL.  God brings an end to the waiting.  God BROUGHT an end to the waiting! O to be one of those men, one of the first to understand that the first Advent was finally over! To hear the angels say "SHEPHERDS, party of three, your wait is over!"

Praise the Lord for the Gospel of GREAT JOY! Not joy that is cool to hear...GREAT JOY! There was no greater joy than that night when the first Advent concluded, and Christ the King was born.

So here we are, celebrating and remembering that first Advent.
Overcome with joy not just with the birth of our Savior, but the work of our Savior. 
The work that completed what you or I could never do.
The work that addressed the reign of death and said NO MORE.
The work that introduced hope to a broken world, life to a lifeless people.
The work that tells us in our brokenness we are loved and wanted.
 The work that makes us a people again.
 And now, the Lord says...WAIT.

But now, we can wait in Hope.  We wait in joy, peace, and assurance that just like with the first Advent, this one too will have an end.   Because Christ is coming again.  He will return, and make all creation His again.  The moon and stars will stop groaning, and the mountains will bow down because their Creator has returned.

So I wait.  I wait knowing that my wait will come to an end, whether it be when I die and see the face of Jesus, or if He first comes to claim His own, there's an end.

Because there's an end, there's also weight.

So many are still waiting for the First Advent.  Waiting for an answer to their loneliness, brokenness, and emptiness.  Waiting to understand their purpose, or the meaning of all of this.  Waiting for God, or a god, or something to interact with creation and make it all right again.

Church, it's our job to bring the GOSPEL of Great Joy to a waiting world.  It's our job to bring hope into lives desperate for an answer.  The answer is here.  The (first) wait is over and the second wait is worth more than the biggest gift under the biggest tree in the biggest house. 

Bring joy this Advent.  Because no one needs to bear the weight of the wait any longer.

JESUS IS BETTER.

We Know That You Are God and You Are Good

It seems like over the last seven days, this world has been bombarded and attacked by evil that is almost unimaginable.  Almost. 

As I'm writing this, here are the current headlines on CNN.com:

7 suspects arrested, 2 killed, including 1 who blew herself up
6 dead in campsite murder spree
New clues: Dead girls in barrels
Bombing makes them Stronger
Ringleader: Was he killed?

Some of those headlines are stories covering the recent attacks in Paris, while others are stories that have nothing to with Paris, but everything to do with evil. Evil is abounding in this world, and it is heartbreaking.  It hurts to think about, brings questions from our children that we struggle to answer, and causes adults all over the world to wonder why.  Even Christians, who have an unwavering faith in Christ, are pleading for His intervention.

NEWSFLASH: Christ HAS intervened.  Christ HAS stepped in to a broken, depraved, hopeless generation.  He offered peace, hope, healing, and life to a people that did not and do not deserve it.

The effect of sin on this world breaks the heart of our God.  In Scripture, He openly weeps (John 11) and groans (Mark 7) when He witnesses his people devastated from the brokenness of this world.  It wasn't supposed to be this way!

When Jesus looks upon the city of Paris, he doesn't do so from a distance, or as a Creator disinterested in the life of His creation.

When Jesus looks upon a horrendous scene at a campsite, he doesn't turn his back and move on, or shrug and begin work on the next disaster.

When a miscarriage occurs, or the death of a child from a horrible cancer, or the senseless murder of a gang member in the inner city, Jesus is not absent.  He has not removed Himself from that situation or abandoned those families that are now suffering an unimaginable loss.

He is weeping for the only part of His creation that he deemed "very good."  

So he intervened.  He intervened in a way that IS unimaginable.  He willingly subjected Himself to the same evil that is ravaging the world today.  He was willingly tortured, beaten, spit upon, and murdered.

He intervened so that our battle with this evil would only be temporary.  He intervened so that one day these headlines will cease and only HIS name will remain.  He intervened so that the same people committing these horrendous acts would have an opportunity to know their Creator.

He intervened so that the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament, a murderer, persecutor, and hater of all people different than him, would have the opportunity for life.

Jesus willingly subjected himself to the evil of the world so that Paul, a man who could be equated with the same terrorists who devastated Paris,  could receive LIFE.

"For I am the LEAST of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the GRACE OF GOD I am what I am." (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)

By the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, Paul knew who he was: A terrorist who was given life by Jesus when he least deserved it.

By the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, I know who I am: A wretched man who was given life by Jesus when I least deserved it.

And, with the intervention of the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, we should pray the people behind the attacks in Paris, and those behind every act of horrendous evil, come to know who they are: Wretched, broken people offered life by Jesus when they least deserve it.

I believe the role of the Christian in a time like this is simple: We don't pray or plead or argue for their death.  We pray and plead with the Lord in Heaven for their life.  Not because they deserve it, but because we didn't deserve it either. 

We pray and plead for his intervention in this broken generation.  We pray, like Paul, for his quickened return because then we will be made entirely whole again.  But, like Paul, until that day, we must recognize that there is work to be done. 

Work that we should want to be a part of. 
To love people, forgotten by their own nation, even if we're unsure about our safety. 
To pray not for death, but for life. 
To pray not only for safety, but also for opportunity.
And to pray for God's glory, not for our vengeance.

We already own the promise that death has no hold over us.  We should want that same promise for every person of whom God spoke when he said, "it is very good."

"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall it come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  BUT THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.   Therefore, beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)

Lord, may we not be a people that believe only we are deserving of the grace you've given.  AMEN.

Jesus is Better

"A satisfying reality is not to be found in things or thrills, but in a Person--Jesus Christ." -Warren Wiersbe


In the midst of one of the most difficult seasons in my life, this quote is TRUTH.  Things or thrills, comfort or security, victory or defeat: Jesus is better.  It's the deepest truth that I believe, it's the core of my worldview,  but it's also a daily decision to choose it.

In a season of questioning and wondering, it is something I must believe every day.  I know what the Bible says, and the promises Jesus makes.  In John 10, he tells us that the life He offers is greater than life anywhere else.  He says in John 6 that when we come to Him and choose Him, we will never be hungry for anything or anyone else again.  And I know that when I chose Jesus, I was free from proving myself righteous, or earning my reward.  Jesus IS my reward!

And to daily believe that can only happen one way. 

In his letter 1 John, the apostle John is trying to convey this exact point.  You know Jesus is better, you've believed Jesus is better, so DAILY choose to believe He is better. 

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His names sake.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:12-14)

His message is simple: REMEMBER THE GOSPEL! You know it and you believed it, so remember it this day! Remember how the Gospel made you alive, and who you once were.  Remember the hold sin had on your life, and the freedom brought by the Gospel! Remember it, and cling to it!

This is my daily hope, remembering the Gospel.  Understanding each day the work that Christ did for me and in me, to bring me that life He teaches about. The moment I allow my heart to stray from what the Gospel has done in my life, the "things and thrills" of this world become more appealing.

This is what John writes next:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.  For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of the God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

Remember the Gospel.  Cling to the Gospel.  Because remember what it was like chasing the "things and thrills" of this world.  They disappear and leave you empty.  They take you to places you don't want to be. 

As a follower of Christ, I must daily be confronted with the truth of the Gospel and the life that it brings, because only the beauty of the Gospel will make the pursuits of this world seem worthless.  If I allow my eyes and heart to forget for even one day the Gospel in my life, then Satan wins that day.

Jesus is better.  I believe it, and daily I must choose it.

When I want so desperately to be satisfied in Christ alone, and yet I'm overwhelmed when I wake up in the mornings with the need to provide for my family and pay the bills and buy food for my son that I fail to recognize my blessing in this season of unemployment!

I wake up every morning and can have coffee with my wife instead of rushing out the door.
I wake up and am able to change my sons diaper, laughing with him the whole time because of the "blessing" he's given me.
I wake up and am able to passionately dive into His Scripture and understand Him more.

Jesus is better than our sorrow AND our victory.
Jesus is better than our employment AND our unemployment.
Jesus is better than the things and thrills.

Jesus is just BETTER.