Sunday, December 3, 2017 Psalm 80 Isaiah 64:1-9 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Psalm 17-19
In these passages, we find God’s people crying out the question, “When?” This is the space of holy expectation. Advent is one of my favorite seasons because it is filled with holy expectation. I read the narrative of Scripture and join in the expectation of the Christ child. I see myself in the characters of Scripture and imagine what it would be like to wait on the birth of Christ. I feel hope when I immerse myself in these stories. However, when I step out of my imagination, I find myself in a world that is quickly losing hope. It is then that I find myself asking God, “When?” Recently, I have found myself longing for something new, something fresh. News cycles that never bear good news constantly bombard my day. Every day there are more murders, mass shootings, terror attacks, kidnappings, racially motivated hate crimes and sexual assault; the list could go on. When I allow myself to get caught up in the cycle of bad news, I begin to lose hope. I wonder: How much longer will this last? I long for a day when things will be made right. I sit in anticipation of the One who will bring complete restoration of all things. That day has yet to come. In the midst of my waiting, I find myself in the space between “already” and “not yet.” It is a space filled to the brim with tension. It is in this space that we long for our world to be redeemed, to be made whole. I challenge you, this Advent to ask “When?” and cultivate in your heart a space of holy longing for God to make all things new. There is an excitement in the anticipation. The waiting itself becomes a holy moment. Frederick Buechner explains this holy expectation: “The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.” I pray that this Advent season you will find a renewed hope in the “already” while waiting on the “not yet.”
Haley Alloway Associate Campus Pastor and Outreach Coordinator
6