It is Advent season once again. Our theme for Advent this year will be, “How will we know?”. This year we are aware about what was happening in the world around us, and to how our world today both differs from and mirrors the social and political climate of first-century Palestine. What questions do you have as you read about the coming Jesus and what was going on during that time? As we read the Bible, what do we do with our questions? The authors of this year’s Advent material have observed that too often, questions in the church are cast aside, and those who ask them are left feeling alone and lonely. But Advent is a time to lean into our questions. To wonder and wander and wait together for the Messiah, the Christ child, the Light.
Let’s journey together this Advent season and ask our questions along the way.
This Sunday, the Advent question we are being invited to ponder is, How will we know . . . how long?
The scriptures that are associated with this question are…
Isaiah 64:1–9
Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19
1 Corinthians 1:3–9
Mark 13:24–37
In our Scriptures, we hear the stories of those who have been waiting, waiting, waiting to hear from God, who have felt the silence of God as they long for restoration, for vindication, for hope. We, too, have been those who wait. When we watch the news, when we hear of wars and rumors of war, when children don’t have enough to eat, when cancers and illnesses impact lives, we cry out with our spiritual ancestors, “How long, O Lord?” How long must we wait?
We may not always get the answer to our questions, yet we know… God is with us in the waiting.
What questions do you have this Advent season while you wait?
Is it hard for you to wait?
Do you think it was harder for the people of the Old Testament to wait for the coming of Jesus or harder for us to wait for the second coming of Jesus?
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
