We tend to do a lot of waiting this time of year. Waiting often seems to be a waste of our valuable time. Whether it is standing behind a line of people at the checkout lane, being stuck in traffic or anticipating test results, waiting is not a very appealing activity, and certainly not productive. I know several people who can’t stand to be early because that means they would have to wait.

But Advent is a time of watchful waiting. Why?

Last week, I shared the graphic to the left as a way to describe the relationship between God and humanity (vertical relationship), and between people (horizontal relationship). This week, we focus on the downward arrows of the vertical relationship. These represent God’s movement toward us. God initiates, God extends grace, God moves toward us. We see God coming toward us through the miracle of the Incarnation (Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1-18), in the extension of God’s message to the Gentiles, and as God worked through the lives of people like Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

As God moves toward us, He comes to us because of who He is. But God is a god of freedom and not compulsion. So, He does not impose Himself on us, but gives us the freedom to respond. We grow in faith as we become more attuned to His voice and His leading. We grow in faith as we respond.

The following sentences from the God Pause devotion from Luther Seminary says it well:

There’s a story about a group of Jewish students who were diligently preparing to become rabbis. Day after day they read and studied the Scriptures, pored over various interpretations of the law and prayed regularly together and on their own. One day their teacher told them, “Full experiences of God can never be planned or achieved. They are spontaneous moments of grace, almost accidental.” His students couldn’t believe what they were hearing. One of the students asked, “Rabbi, if experiencing God is just accidental, why do we work so hard doing all these spiritual practices?” The Rabbi replied, “So that we may be as accident-prone as possible.”

Through worship and prayer that accompany the season of Advent, we are making ourselves as accident-prone as possible to the coming of God in our midst.

This week, pray about your relationship with God. Each day take notice of where God may be trying to get your attention.

Resources

Sermon 12/8/2013 @ 8:00am Advent 2 B

Sermon 12/8/2013 @ 11:00am Advent 2 B