Waiting, Hoping, Expecting

Sermon Text for Dec. 3: Jeremiah 33 and Luke 21

A Palestinian mother was deep in prayer when she was jarred by the staccato sounds of gunfire. Fear gripped her heart as she looked around the room wondering where her two teenage sons were. In a panic, she ran outside the modest home she shared with her family, and looked up and down the street hoping to see her sons. And in an instant she knew. Her children had defied her orders and gone to the freedom rally. The sounds of gunfire and the smell of tear gas filled the air as the defeated mother went back inside to wait for her sons’ return.

She waited with a mixture of hopeful expectation and dread. Too many of her friends had lost their children in the latest outbreak of hostilities. She sat on a mat with her eyes fixed on the door, waiting, watching and hoping. She longed to see her children come home safely.

We know about waiting. We wait in lines. We wait for the lights to change. We wait for children to grow up. We wait for an important anniversary or graduation. We wait in hospital rooms for a doctor to give us needed information.

We know about waiting and that’s why we know about Advent. During the Advent season we wait with our eyes on the door for Christmas to come in. We wait for God to make the world right; we wait for the Christ to be born within us anew.

The scripture lessons we read this morning are all about waiting. In our Old Testament lesson we find an imprisoned Jeremiah. He is being punished for preaching an unpatriotic message. The sounds and smell of war are all around, as a marauding army from the North threatens to breach the wall around the city. Mothers feared for the safety of their children and hoped for the best while preparing for the worst. They waited in the hope that God would not allow the heathens to sack the Holy City. They waited in hope that God would spare the Chosen People.

From his prison cell Jeremiah looked beyond the siege, and he heard God’s promise that one day order will be restored and Jerusalem will be saved. The Savior was to be a descendant of David who will reign with justice and mercy and be the instrument of peace.

Imagine how difficult it must have been for Jeremiah to wait faithfully for the promise to be fulfilled. Already the armies were coming. Those who could flee were evacuating the City. But Jeremiah could not run away. From his cell he could only listen to the fearful voices and wait for the drama to unfold. While others panicked, Jeremiah watched and waited steadfastly for deliverance from God.

Jesus speaks about the importance of waiting expectantly for the Son of God to come again. His prophetic word reminds us of the last days of Jerusalem before the Babylonians defeated Israel. Jesus speaks of distress among the nations, and of people fainting from fear. But unlike the days of Jeremiah, the distress that Jesus described was actually good news, because it signals the day when Jesus will return to the earth and salvation will be near. In those days Jesus cautions us to look up, raise our heads, and watch and wait for the coming of the King.

We know about the mood of Advent because we know about waiting with expectation. Sometimes we wait with joy and other times with sorrow. But always our deepest hope is for the coming of the Lord Jesus into our lives. So our Advent prayer is, “Come O long expected Jesus.” Come!

Copyright © 2006 by Dwight R. Blackstock