No More Waiting!
We’ve just come through the annual turn from waiting to celebrating: Last night marked the end of Advent, the season of anticipation and waiting–and this morning we awoke to Christmas! What a wonderful day it has been for us–different, to be sure, but still wonderful. We “made merry” in honor of the birth of Jesus with various family members and exchanged greetings with many friends near and far throughout the day.
Just as Advent is much longer–four weeks–than Christmas’s single day (or 12 if you follow one particular tradition), so it was historically. The people of God waited centuries, through all sorts of twists and turns of events, longing for Messiah even as hints and prophecies about him slowly accumulated. And then, on one special day, he came. Nothing would ever be the same throughout the world. Human history is still divided between the time before he came and the years since!
In the same way, our anticipation of his return (or second advent), has continued for two millennia. As a kid before Christmas, December always seemed to drag on forever. I think we Christians can feel the same about waiting for Jesus to return. I longed for presents and being out of school when I was a kid looking to Christmas. As believers, we long for the gift of his presence and the multi-faceted joys of seeing sin defeated and all of the terrible stuff going on now brought to a blessed conclusion.
Once again, Christmas has come. Anticipation came to an end. And even if the Lord chooses not to return this Christmas for the second time, the assurance that he came the first time after such a long wait should help us realize that one day our hopes will be fulfilled. So let the end of Advent be an encouragement to remember that all of our waiting will also come to an end, and for the believer, it will be infinitely more glorious than the best Christmas we could experience. Unlike Christmas celebrations that come to an end, the second advent will be a never-ending celebration with the Savior. For someone who loves Christmas (and don’t we all?), that is incredibly good news.
Merry Christmas!
