‘Waiting’ is an interesting word.
I was struck by it recently as we sang carols in our house church fellowship. It is in the last 2 lines of ‘Once in royal David’s city’ where the hymn writer is describing heaven:
‘When like stars, his children crowned
All in white shall wait around.’
I must confess that for me this conjured up a picture of heaven where people were just hanging around – an eternal bus queue of people dressed in white. Not a particularly attractive prospect!
Maybe as Western people in particular waiting is not attractive to us.
We live in the age of the instant – instant tea/coffee/fast food/purchasing with plastic.
But many are rediscovering the pleasure of waiting – the ritual of making tea properly; the wonderful aroma of grinding coffee beans and slowly percolating it; the joy of cooking a meal with fresh ingredients; the mounting expectation as the fund set aside to purchase something gets closer and closer to the goal.
Even in the mundane waiting can be a positive thing.
The dictionary definition of the word captures this more positive element:
‘1. Defer action or departure for specified time or until some expected event occurs, be expectant or on the watch…
2. ‘…defer until another’s arrival…
3. ‘act as waiter or as servant with similar functions; act as attendant …’
When Joseph and Mary took Jesus to be presented to the Lord in the temple when he was around 2/3 months old they found people there who had been waiting for them. This is the way Luke describes what happened:
LK 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ [Messiah]. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel…”
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
As godly people – with other godly people – Simeon and Anna knew what it meant to wait upon God.
1. They were expectant – on the watch for God to come
2. They knew that things would change when God came
3. So they served God – attended on him in expectation of his coming
God has come to us in Jesus [our Immanuel]; God continues to come to us in the power of the Spirit and in events that are part of our everyday experience; God will come when Jesus returns in glory to judge all human beings and establish the new heaven and earth. Is that what we are waiting for?
We know that when God comes things happen – that things change for the better. Is that what we are waiting for?
We also know that however tough it is we are privileged to serve God – to offer our lives and all we have and are to him – as we wait for his coming. Is that how we are waiting?
One key way in which we show that we are a waiting people is our commitment to prayer. Let’s end this year as a waiting people – and continue into 2011 as a waiting people – and, maybe, we will see the Lord coming to do marvelous things among us.