Have you ever had to wait a long time for something? I’m not talking about when you were little, waiting for Christmas morning or, perhaps more recently, waiting for your favorite holiday latte an extra seven minutes. I’m talking about a really long time? Like, years. Maybe you were waiting to (finally) hear the words, “There’s no more sign of cancer,” or “The birth mother chose you,” or “It’s me. I want to come home.” When it’s you or someone you love, waiting is one of the most difficult things to do.
That kind of waiting can be an all-consuming experience that tests our confidence in God’s love for us, disturbs our peace, challenges our hope, and puts our joy at risk. It’s in those seasons where we relate most deeply to what Advent is about.
The word advent means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is celebrated over the four weeks leading up to Christmas as we await the promised coming of the Messiah, Jesus, arriving on earth in the form of a baby. God gave this promise through the prophet Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)
But do you know how much time passed between the promise and its fulfillment? Over seven hundred years! God’s people watched and waited a very, very long time. After the prophecy in Isaiah, God continued to communicate with his people for another three hundred years through multiple prophets and many promises. During that time, God’s people rejected his love and dishonored his name. And then? God’s voice was silent. No more prophets. No more promises. And he was silent for the next four hundred L-O-N-G years.
If you had been there, how well would you have waited? Sure, you know the stories of his faithfulness, the assurances of his love, and the promises you’ve memorized. But still...in the silence and the waiting, would you waver in your certainty of God’s love? How might your joy, or hope, or peace be affected?
Fortunately for us, we can read the first chapters of Luke and know God kept his promise, breaking the silence through the voice of an angel, and later, the cries of a baby.
Join us as we explore the four themes of Advent—hope, joy, love, and peace—and wait, together, for the arrival of Jesus.
