Have you done any waiting recently? Waiting for that turkey to come out of the oven on Thursday? Waiting for friends or family to arrive from a journey? Waiting for an image to load? Waiting for your favorite store to open? In 2014 one man in San Jose took Black Friday waiting to a whole new level. Miguel Anguino pitched his tent outside the Best Buy store on Almaden Expressway in San Jose on Sunday, November 16… 11 DAYS before the store opened for Black Friday sales.
The truth is, most of us don’t like to wait… at the grocery store, on hold for customer service, at the DMV, or waiting to open Christmas presents. It has been said that “Waiting unearths what is really in our heart. It exposes what happens when our expectations go unmet.”
Waiting when you expect to wait is one thing. Waiting when you are in pain, either physically or emotionally, is worse. You are in the surgery waiting room and it is hours past what the doctor said it would be. A loved one isn’t home yet and they are supposed to be. You can’t sleep at night and you are waiting for the sun to rise.
The Psalmist captured the idea like this… “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death…” Psalm 13:1,2
This Sunday we begin the celebration of Advent: the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world. The word “advent” is defined as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. The coming of the Messiah had been long awaited by the Jews, but long needed by the whole world… whether they knew it or not.
“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us…” Titus 3:4. Christ came to save us from the darkness of sin, our separation from our Creator, the meaninglessness of our existence without Him. It’s not just a nice holiday sentiment or abstract theological pontification… it’s a rescue from the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain we are in without a Savior. Christ’s coming makes a tangible, eternal difference both in life for all eternity as well as life today!
This Sunday we’ll look at five practical benefits of the ADVENT of Christ from Hebrews 13:1 to 5. We’ll also celebrate Communion – God with us!
In Christ,
Kurt
P.S. Our Global Outreach team invites you to a potluck lunch this Sunday in the Campus Center. We’ll hear from Glen and Shelly Volkhardt. Glen is CEO of Paraclete, whose senior missionaries help missionaries solve problems. Shelly trains lay counselors all over the world.