Suggested Readings: Psalm 27; Isaiah 4:2-6; Acts 11:1-18
The arrival of the Christmas season for me often began early in the fall when the Sears Wish Book catalog would arrive in our home. In those pre-internet black and white TV days, the full color catalog of toys and games sent my imagination soaring. My brother and sister and I would dog-ear pages, make lists, and have animated conversations about everything our hearts desired. The closer we came to late December, the more intense our hopes and dreams became.
We did not know anything about Advent then even though we were very active in our local Baptist church. Apart from singing Christmas carols and getting a bag of fruit and some candy on the Sunday before Christmas, we did not associate a season of longing for Jesus with our Wish Book toy and game lists.
The Sears Wish Book was eventually replaced by the internet and my Christmas wishes moved away from toys and games. Along the way, I learned about Advent and began to appreciate how a season of waiting and expectation could be about something so much more than whatever sophisticated Christmas list I might create. I learned that the season really was about Jesus and not the list of things I hoped I would discover under a tree on Christmas morning.
Over the years, Advent has helped keep me focused on the coming Jesus during this season and, in the second week of Advent, I think a lot about a longing for peace. I have enough stuff these days, so I find my heart aching for a little more peace in my life and in this world. I keep waiting for God to show up in ways that bring a little peace into this broken world. “Amen, Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22.20).
As my life slows down a little, I have discovered the words of the psalmist to speak deeply into my heart more than any Christmas list ever could. I truly appreciate these words from our psalm for today:
13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Waiting on the “goodness of the LORD” sets high on any Christmas list I might make this year, so I am wishing for some strength and for my heart to take courage. I will keep waiting in this season of waiting, hoping, and longing for the goodness of the LORD to show up in the land of the living. Let us all wait on the LORD this Advent season!
Darrell Gwaltney
Darrell Gwaltney
