"Wait"

 

Jeremiah 33:14-16

 

      Our Sunday School class is just about to finish the book If You Want to Walk On Water,You've Got to Get Out of the Boat.  The next to the last chapter is titled Learning to Wait.  One of the interesting parts of the chapter is the marshmallow test which has to do with the ability to delay gratification and not live at the mercy of impulse. 

 

       A four year-old is in a room with some marshmallows and told that the experimenter has to run an errand.  If the four-year-old can wait till the experimenter returns, he can have two marshmallows.  If he wants to eat right now, he can-but he only gets one. 

 

       Kids develop all kinds of strategies to enable them to wait-sing songs, tell themselves stories, play with their fingers.   The strategies the kids used are similar to what we do in church as we wait on the Lord.  We sing songs, we tell stories, we draw on our bulletins. 

 

       During the study they discovered that the four-year olds who were able to wait grew up to be more socially competent, better able to cope with stress, less likely to give up under pressure than those who could not wait. 

 

        It made me wonder of the same is true of Christians.  Are those who wait on the Lord more effective in their service, are they better able to cope with difficult situations, are they more likely to remain faithful when the going gets tough.

 

        Of course effective waiting is not what saves us.  As we wait to be fed from the Lord's table this morning and as we wait for Christmas day and the birth of the Christ child, we acknowledge there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  Part of waiting is saying, Come and save us, Lord Jesus. 

 

       Of course what we are waiting for now is the time when Jesus comes again in all his power and his glory.  What we would like to know is what we can do in the meantime.  How can we effectively wait?  How can our waiting make a difference?

 

       In reality we are waiting all of the time, but on different things.  Some are waiting for medical test results. Others are waiting to hear whether or not they will be accepted at the college of their choice.  Some are waiting for the church to get an elevator while others are waiting for family to come home for Christmas.

 

       But today we are talking specifically about waiting on the Lord.  It seems to me that at the very least we can say it is not being passive but is an active waiting.  It is not doing nothing but doing something, something that we believe God is leading us to do.  It involves trust, patience and hope.  We trust that God will keep God's promises, we are willing to let God work in God's own good time, and we continue to hope that the darkness will be overcome by the light and that death will be overcome by life.

 

        When we were in South Bend we had what was called Christmas in April.  Notre Dame students and community churches got together and helped fix up the homes of people who could not afford it.  Work was done both inside and outside, painting, cleaning, putting on siding, gardening. 

 

         A lot of planning went into the event.  Someone had to do an on site inspection to see what would be needed, materials had to be ordered, work crews had to be assigned specific houses.  It was amazing what was accomplished on those Saturdays.  Houses and neighborhoods were transformed.  It didn't just magically happen.  It took a lot of preparation.  I think waiting for the Lord is similar to that.  We pray, we read scripture, we light the advent candles, we actively wait for the Lord to call us to get out of the boat.  And when the Lord calls, if we actively wait, we will be ready. 

 

        We should not expect it to magically happen.  If we do not to our part to prepare, we will not be ready when the Lord calls.    

 

         Lord, come save us.  Help us prepare for the time when you come again.  We can't do it alone, but we are willing to wait actively so that when you call we will be ready to serve.