Advent I: Some Thoughts on Waiting

Waiting.  It seems this time of year is filled with it.  We wait in longer than normal lines at stores, at stoplights, gas pumps, and movie theatres.  Some wait to hear about jobs, other about tests (both academic and medical). We anxiously await seeing friends and family over the holidays.  Children and adults wait, patiently and some impatiently for their presents. 

But we are also entering Advent; the first season of the liturgical year.  A season designed specifically for waiting and anticipation.  We wait for the comings of God.   Yes…plural “comings.”  We are certainly well acquainted with celebrating the historical birth of Jesus.  And rightly so, but the biblical readings of Advent, point us beyond the historical story, toward the future return of our Savior as well.  As the first week’s reading from Luke 21 reminds us, “the day of redemption is drawing near.” Our longing and waiting to celebrate the birth of Christ needs also be the hope filled celebration of a promised particular future.  In the meantime of anxiousness and waiting, we pray, “Come Lord Jesus.”