How do we wait?

 

I confess that I'm not the best when it comes to waiting, but then again, I'm not sure any of us really are.  Waiting is hard.  And we do a lot of it. Even in our so-called instant society, we spend a great deal of our time waiting.

 

We wait for our computer files to load.

 

We wait for the doctor's office to tell us test results.

 

We wait for the days to get longer again and the promise of Spring and new life.

 

We wait for a loved one. For a phone call. For a text message. For a word.

 

We wait for school to be over. We wait for a job, for a promotion, or for retirement.

 

We wait for our order at the drive-through (I thought this was supposed to be "fast food"!)

 

We wait for the harried Mom in line in front of us struggles to get her W.I.C. coupons in order as also she juggles her fussy baby.

 

We wait.

 

Waiting forces us to stop, to slow down.  How we respond to interruption is the key. I am often an impatient waiter, more than eager to get on with my tasks and my agenda. I confess that I don't take the time to wait to full advantage, to allow my insides to slow down as my outside is forced to stop my planned momentum.

 

Advent invites us to wait. Advent calls us to stop, to slow down, to listen.  There is enough business, enough agendas, enough noise and distraction to go around. But there is not enough waiting. True waiting. The waiting that anticipates. The waiting on tip toes, eager to see and hear and feel what is about to come.

 

Advent invites us to that sort of waiting, a type of waiting that eagerly expects that God's promised presence is indeed about to happen again in our midst, each new day, each new season.  The Advent of God in Jesus Christ at Christmas - that is our touchstone of waiting.  God among us. God with us. God for us.  It is a promise so vast that it didn't just come once, long ago and far away but is a promise that is, ever-offered, ever-renewed, ever-present. In all my busy, agenda-making, hectic pace, however, I may miss the promise altogether. I may forget how essential that promise is to who I am and who's I am.

 

We forget. And so, we are asked to wait. We are called to stop and see what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of others. We are invited to relish the new pace, the renewed remembrance, the refreshed awareness of God's gracious love.

 

Enjoy the wait.

 

Pastor Martin

- Intern Pastor Kate Drefke
 

Intern Office Hours

Intern Pastor Kate will be at Joy Lutheran Wednesdays and Thursdays each week, as well as alternating 2 Sundays here, then 2 Sundays at Lutheran Church of Hope.  She will start holding "office hours" at Jitters on Thursday afternoons from 2:00-5:00PM.  

Join her for conversation about whatever is going on with you, "help" on your homework, or to help her with her sermon writing (or to go over how you thought the last one went).  

Don't be fooled by her introvert shield (computer), she does want you to sit and talk!  Stop in and say 'Hi!'

We will continue our tradition of Midweek Soup Supper and Advent Worship beginning this Wednesday.  Soup Suppers begin at 6:15. Worship begins at 7:00 and will last about 30 minutes, although the "Longest Night" worship on the 20th will likely last a bit longer.

Dec.  6     Waiting and Watching for Hope 

Dec. 13    Waiting and Watching for Direction

Dec. 20    "The Longest Night" Service: Waiting and Watching

               for the Light

Coming Week's Calendar