Monday, December
4, 2017
Then I saw in heaven
another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last
plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion. I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea
mixed with fire. And on it stood all the
people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number
representing his name. They were all
holding harps that God had given them. And
they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the
Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O
King of the nations. Who will not fear
you, Lord, and glorify your name? For
you alone are holy. All nations will
come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”
Then I looked and
saw that the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was thrown wide open. The seven angels who were holding the seven
plagues came out of the Temple. They
were clothed in spotless white linen with gold sashes across their chests. Then one of the four living beings handed
each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives
forever and ever. The Temple was filled
with smoke from God’s glory and power. No
one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the
seven plagues. Revelation 15:1-8(NLT)
The waiting game in Advent
can seem rather pointless, particularly if you’re bent towards cynicism. Even if you’re well-balanced and reasonably
optimistic, life in the culture of the 21st century can bend you
that way. As children we wait in the
back seat of a car, wait for a diaper to be changed, wait to be liberated from
the high chair so we can go out and play, and we even wait endlessly for teeth
to come in so we can finally chew our big brother’s homework papers to
shreds. Then as we mature there are
lines in school cafeterias, PE class, and graduations. We wait in lines at the Motor Vehicle
Department, Social Security, Army Induction Center; we wait for job interviews and
for a marriage license. Last week some
of you waited in lines at ungodly hours for Black Friday deals. Some of us wait in church for the Pastor’s sermon
to finally be over.
We wait!
And so the yawn
comes as no surprise when waiting becomes the main theme of Advent. We are asked, by virtue of the last great
event (Jesus’ first
advent) to think about, anticipate, prepare for, and meditate on the next great
event, His next (and final)
advent…the Second Coming. We yawn (and
sometimes dread) shopping again
for the endless list of Christmas presents.
We yawn (and always dread) putting up the same tree lights and pumping-up
Frosty for the front yard. We yawn over
the endless cycle of it all, and wonder if the real thing will ever get
here. Once again we become 5 years old
in the back seat of Dad’s Plymouth whining…are we THERE yet?
Guilty as charged…that’s me. I can
be Scrooge and the Grinch all in one delightful package at least somewhere in
this season.
But I’m working on it.
And I need passages like John the Revelator’s heavenly scenes of God’s
final act in human history. I need to
entertain the wonderful glory of his mighty and righteous acts. My soul craves the setting at right that
which has been wrong.
And so I need the endless waiting of Advent…because it isn’t endless at
all. In at least one very important
sense, every time I allow myself to let go of the dread of the waiting game and
actually enter into its fullness, I experience Christ’s presence.
And isn’t that the whole point?
The waiting really makes my heart grow fonder towards He who is our true
North!
For You
Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
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