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.
