waiting, waiting, waiting... ad infinitum

if you're younger than about 8 years old, you may not even remember much before this most recent christmas. as soon as the calendar page flips, it is no longer "after christmas," but "before christmas" once again. there is no looking back; it's all looking forward again.they can't wait to gaze at their pile of presents while the parents holler at them to get away from the tree, "why do you look?!? why do you always have to look?!?"  "i don't know- i can't help it, alright? i'm sorry!"

most adults remember. "i was there..." they say.. they remember the travel, the long lines in stores, parking lots, highways, airports, bathrooms and restaurants. they remember the sore backs, sore memories, sore arguments, strained relationships, strained budgets, strained voices. everything stretched too thin, like butter over too much bread. the vows to skip the next family reunion. the latest drama. the black sheep who did skip and is noticeably absent. but yes, also (hopefully) some good food, and just enough joy at catching up with awkward relatives that (hopefully) makes it worthwhile.

not sure why, but the second big people flip their calendar pages, we change, too. no more christmas spirit!  no more patience! no more big tips for the server! no more smiling away exasperation at the 9th spilled cup of juicy juice! no more using blinkers when changing lanes, and heaven help whoever makes me miss that left turn light! we go right back to the sort of person we were before we took our last dose of christmas spirit.

during the majority of the advent season, my devotional time revolved around what i had been studying for classes and a couple new testament books i've been working on memorizing the past year or two. once i graduated and christmas left and my calendar page flipped, i went back to where i had been slowly plodding through a year before- jeremiah.  (the prophet, not the bullfrog.)

it struck me that just as people around the world pushed "reset" and began another year of waiting for that brief christmas/advent season, the israelites i was reading about were about to enter their own advent season. during jeremiah's prophetic career, israel has already been conquered by the assyrians, and judah's grace period was coming to a cataclysmic finale.  jeremiah himself winds up captive to those who refuse to believe truth, and he witnesses his own prophecies coming to pass.  jerusalem is sacked, the walls utterly destroyed, the people starved to the point of literal cannibalism. the Temple- the House of Yahweh Himself- is bowled over like a preschooler's block tower and the gems and precious metals picked out, melted down, and carted off to Babylon. trailing behind judah's treasures are chain-linked prisoners- any judean who showed any potential, leaving behind the old, the sick, and the despicably poor and outcasts.

about 70 years later, after the persians defeat the babylonians, king cyrus is led to allow the captives to return. they rebuild jerusalem's wall and a new Temple.

and then they wait.

they read the Law, Prophets and Writings, and wait.

they die, and their children read the Law, Prophets and Writings… and wait.

for 400 years.

you think making your kids wait 1 year for christmas is bad? try telling them there's no christmas until their great-great-great-great-great grandkids come along!

our advent season is the time we remember the waiting of our faith's ancestors. for centuries, they held on to the hope that grew ever dimmer. "history became legend; legend became myth…" who believes a promise that is still unfulfilled after 397 years? that's right: no one. we know the christmas story too well if we condemn the ancient Jews for doubting the rumor of a kid sleeping in a manger becoming their long-awaited Messiah. they'd been hearing boys cry "wolf!" for centuries; only a complete fool would believe this one.

the amazing, blessed, and exhilarating fact is that what the smelly shepherds said was indeed true. that kid sleeping in a manger became their long-awaited Messiah. most of the jews missed it, even to this day. a tiny segment of that once-respected population is still waiting for a Messiah spoken of by jeremiah, isaiah and others 2500 years ago.

our advent season has a two-fold purpose, however. not only do we remember the waiting israel endured for its Anointed One, but we also acknowledge the prophecies that even now in this new decade 2020 are yet to come to pass. Jesus came, yes, just as the prophets foretold. but Jesus will come again, just as He Himself foretold.

the Savior came once to take away the guilt of sin and to inaugurate His Kingdom.

the return of the King will establish that Kingdom that will never end, and welcome in all who have yielded to His sovereignty.

a key difference between the first arrival and the second is that no human being will "miss" His return. not even the dead ones. 

another key difference is that while this second advent season persists, the hopeful followers do not just wait. yes, we read the Law, Prophets, Writings and the New Testament, but we also have a task to do. because when the waiting stops, so does everything else. no more chances for those who don't know that the time of salvation is here and now, not there and tomorrow or next year. for centuries, israel had failed to be the light to the nations it was supposed to be. now it is our job to be that light, from now until the last christmas lightbulb burns out. 

before your calendar flips one more page, why don't you go ahead and write your goals for this waiting period- on every page? don't forget once february comes. that person you were going to invite to a Bible study or coffee date or movie? make a date- write it on the calendar. that memory passage you were going to memorize? make a deadline- a verse a week. get a friend involved to keep you accountable.  make each of those calendar pages count for something eternal. what will King Jesus find you doing when He suddenly returns? wasting time gazing at a dying christmas tree, or waiting expectantly and working enthusiastically for Him?