Waiting is not a very popular thing to do these days. . .

Waiting is not a very popular thing to do these days.  Frankly, a lot of us consider waiting to be a complete waste of time.  Perhaps this is because our society has become so fascinated with things that are “instant”—instant credit, instant coffee, instant messages.  Maybe it’s because the culture is constantly telling us: “Don’t just sit there.  Get going.  Do something constructive!”  Regardless of the reason, many of us view waiting as an empty space between where we are and where we would like to be; and since most people don’t enjoy such places, we stay busy just so we can avoid the barren wilderness of having to wait.

Given that this is our attitude, it’s worth noting that almost all of the figures who appear in the opening chapters of Luke’s Gospel are pictured as waiting.  Zechariah and Elizabeth are waiting.  Mary and Joseph are waiting.  Simeon and Anna, who were at the Temple when the little baby Jesus is brought in, are waiting.

But the nature of their waiting is different than we ordinarily experience it.  All of these great models of faith—Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna—are waiting because they have been given a promise.  Zechariah is told, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.”  Mary is told, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  Simeon and Anna are told, “You will not see death until you have seen the Lord’s Messiah.”

In other words, they have received a promise that actually gives them the patience to wait.  And maybe that’s the key.  We tend to think of waiting as a passive activity, as a hopeless state brought on by things that are out of our control.  For example, the bus is late in arriving.  There’s nothing you can do about it, so you just have to sit there and wait.  This is why waiting irritates us so, because it feels as if our plans and precious schedule have been thrown out the window, and we are suddenly thrust into passivity.

However, in the Bible, waiting is not a passive activity.  It is never a movement from nothing to something.  It is always a movement from something to something more.  During the season of Advent, the church has traditionally been asked to watch and wait.  But that doesn’t mean that we just sit around twiddling our thumbs for four weeks.  Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, we, too, have received a promise—and this promise is precisely what gives us the patience to wait expectantly.

Keep in mind that patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live out our current situation in the belief that there may well be some unexpected surprise, hidden in the present moment, that will manifest itself if we are paying attention.  Impatient people are always assuming that the real action is somewhere else and therefore go chasing after it.  But patient people are bold enough to stay right where they are and be attentive to the moment at hand.

I realize that, in the hustle and bustle of this season, many of us are anxious to get to Christmas, so we can start unwrapping our gifts.  However, if we are willing to be patient, we may find that there is a glorious gift awaiting us this very day!