Waiting can be tough. It is often hard, in fact. I recently had to watch my daughter go through the anguish of waiting for word about a major fellowship for which she had applied. At first, there was the hopeful anticipation, marked by nervousness...even anxiety. Then as more and more time passed, with no word, came the sadness and finally resignation. It wasn’t going to happen this year. And then, after months of waiting, the word came...cryptically at first, with a request for a window of time, during which she could be reached.... Oh boy...what could that mean???? When the call came and she was informed that she had the award, she was deliriously happy. But the waiting....oh my, the waiting....tough indeed.
Then there is my least favorite sort of waiting. Even with an “appointment,” a DMV wait can really be frustrating. When we first moved to California and had to get our driver’s licenses and car registrations set in California, it was quite literally an all-day venture. As I sat there, I could feel myself age, as the seconds turned into minutes, hours and portions of an entire day!
Advent is a time of waiting, but its the important kind, and to it is attached a promise! In this sermon we will look at the really “weighty” sort of “wait” that we are all called upon to observe; and where it is important not to confuse the two types of “waiting.”
Pr. Luther