Is it Christmas yet?

Is it Christmas yet?

Christmas is the season of waiting. You wait for the day, Christmas, to come. You wait in long lines to buy gifts. And if you shop online, you wait each day for the UPS driver to drop something at the front door, all the while trying intercepting it before someone sees the box. And this is just for the gifts you bought for yourself. I think I might be talking about myself here. Needless to say, I hate to wait!

Life often involves waiting, even waiting on God. The practice of prayer often requires a fair amount waiting and patience. Come to think about it, Advent is all about waiting with expectation and hope. The Christmas season turns out to be a wonderful time in fact to explore what it means to wait, because we find ourselves in a posture of waiting as Christmas draws near. 

Often times the practice of prayer and the expectation of Advent get lost in all the trappings of the Christmas season: selecting that perfect gift, giving that gift they never expected, parties, more parties, family gatherings whether you like them or not. Did I mention how I hate to wait?

There are many people waiting in the narratives written about Jesus’ birth in the Bible: Mary and Joseph are the most obvious two, then the shepherd’s, and the Magi last. That’s the end of the story isn’t it? It’s only then, when one reads a bit farther we’re blessed by two obscure figures in Luke’s gospel named Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38 CEB). Luke talks about how Simeon was “righteous and devout… eagerly anticipat[ing] the restoration of Israel” (25). Anna is described as “never [having] left the temple, but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day” (37).

Theirs was a spirit of prayerfully waiting patiently. I’m not talking about waiting in a checkout line on Black Friday, but faithfully, over a long period of time, waiting for God to fulfill his promise of sending a Messiah that would redeem Israel—Jesus Christ. God’s plan moves at its own pace and Simeon and Anna exemplify the disciple of prayer.

It’s easy to get frustrated with waiting and give up by doubting God and his goodness. It takes being committed to God’s promise no matter how long the wait. Heidelberg Q&A 117 says it best. “We must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what God promises us in his Word.”

God honors persistent prayer and when God is ready to act those who stay in prayer will be the first to recognize and receive his amazing gift.

Think about this:

Imagine what it must have been like for Simeon and Anna to meet Jesus?

What are some situations you are prayerfully waiting for?          

The dark side and Sabbath rest

I wonder why it almost always takes a crisis situation to push us back on our heals , reminding us we are not the all powerful beings we think we are? One of two things can happen in these situations: first, we can recognize them for what they are and learn from them; second, we can let them run rough shod over us and crush us from within.

In these times when our leadership is tested, our dark side tendencies can be our ally. I had to remember this recently, when I was removed from the teaching team at church. My first reaction was wanting to get mad at those that made the decision, to get even, then the blame game starts, then the self-doubt creeps in. It’s never ending cycle if we let it perpetuate.

Well a little over a year ago, I let myself go down that road—letting my dark side take over. No, I didn’t turn into Darth Vader, but it turned out to be just as big a disaster and almost took me out of ministry. I had another situation happen more recently. This time things played out a bit differently. I learned from the previous time that I can’t do all things on my own. I went back to a book I read a long time ago, Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership. In it I had marked a section called God’s Power in Our Weakness. It talked about how our dark side has a way of identifying our weakness and highlighting how we find our strength in his (God’s) all-sufficient grace.

This is where our dark side can be a blessing and put into focus our great need and reliance on him.

9 He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. 10 Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I’m weak, then I’m strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Common English Bible (CEB)

This is not always so easily remembered things are going south, quick, fast, and in a hurry. This is also a fascinating connection point with Sabbath rest and the need to place regularly scheduled spiritual practices into our lives so we can head off those disasters before they bring us over to the dark side. Sabbath can help us in that area and keep us centered on God.

 

Whenever I think of Sabbath, I’m reminded of a quote by Abraham Heschel in his book The Sabbath. He writes, “The words: ‘On the seventh day God finished His work’ (Genesis 2:2), seem to be a puzzle. Is it not said: ‘He rested on the seventh day’? ‘In six days the Lord made heaven and earth’ (Exodus 20:11)? We would surely expect the Bible to tell us that on the sixth day God finished His work. Obviously, the ancient rabbis concluded, there was an act of creation on the seventh day. Just as heaven and earth were created in six days, menuha [rest] was created on the Sabbath. After the six days of creation-what did the universe still lack? Menuha [rest]. Came the Sabbath, came menuha, and the universe was complete” (22).

I strongly feel a more regular focus on Sabbath rest might alleviate some of those dark side moments that consume us so readily. We need to rest in him—all we are is in him.

3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation. Genesis 2:3

Common English Bible (CEB)

During my Sabbath time this week, I focused on some of the words that embody Sabbath: letting go, rest, ceasing, creating space holy. Out of the word Sabbath and the descriptive words I identified, I drew a picture. I will attach it somehow so you can see it.

It's not quite done, but I thought I better post it before I forgot.