It’s beginning to look like Christmas at the Wilks home. Earlier this week, we trimmed this year’s tree with ornaments collected for our children and family over the years. Our hedges are decked with lights, two small lit trees welcome guests on our front porch, and a wreath is shining on our door. The enthusiasm of our three children has been palpable from the moment the music came on (after Thanksgiving dinner of course), to the process of decorating our home. There is greater-than-usual excitement, as the promise of Christmas morning stares them in eye each day, and yet, we wait.
Waiting is hard. We live in an instant society in which we can communicate instantaneously with people across the world, order a product online and have it delivered the same day, consume news (real and imagined) as it happens in real-time, and cook a full meal in a couple of minutes in the microwave. We have nearly eradicated the need for post-postponing gratification, yet some waiting is inescapable, and we must learn to live in the tension of the wait.
Advent season is a time of waiting. Even as our trees go up and stores are filled with holiday décor and songs, we wait for Christmas morning, when we gather to give and receive gifts that remind us of the greatest gift the world has ever known. Throughout the Old Testament, people waited for God to make good on His promise to give the world a Savior and King who would set right all that has gone wrong, bringing justice, rescue, redemption, and comfort to a world in waiting. Even now, we wait for God to fulfill his promise through Jesus to return to make all things new.
Throughout this Advent season, our church will join in waiting with the women of the genealogy of Jesus, looking forward to that day when we might behold and treasure Him, who is more than worth the wait! God chose to work through each of these women, who were insignificant and despised according to the world’s standards, to keep His promised to save the world in the coming of Christ. With Tamar, we wait for justice to be revealed. With Rahab, we wait for the rescue of God to be enacted. With Ruth, we wait for redemption to set us free. With Bathsheba we wait for comfort to envelope our broken hearts. And with Mary, we have the privilege of treasuring Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and Amen!
Join us at 10:30 AM each Sunday in December and at 7 PM on Christmas Eve, as we Wait for Jesus together!
December 2: Waiting for Justice with Tamar
December 9: Waiting for Rescue with Rahab
December 16: Waiting for Redemption with Ruth
December 23: Waiting for Comfort Bathsheba
December 24: Treasuring Jesus with Mary (at Capital Oaks)