December 7, 2023
Dear Central Church,
I’m old enough to remember when going to the Department of Motor Vehicles was an all day affair: you took off work, made a sack lunch, took a number, and settled in for a full day of…waiting. This is no exaggeration: I once spent 4 hours at a DMV in Alabama trying to register my car. After three hours of waiting, I began wondering what level of Dante’s inferno I had descended to.
Like most things, technology has helped us on this front. I recently registered my car in the great state of Kansas. After making an appointment online, I arrived at the Motor Vehicle office, presented my paperwork, and completed the process in 13 minutes flat. It felt more like a NASCAR pit stop than the bureaucratic pit of despair I had experienced in Alabama.
The efficiency of the Sunflower state is impressive, but I left feeling like I had missed out on a rite of passage for new residents. Nonetheless, I don’t know anyone that would willingly choose a 4-hour DMV experience over a 13-minute one. We hate to wait.
Advent is a season that teaches how to do this thing we hate to do. It reminds us that we are called to eagerly await the return of Christ. Rather than passively waiting on someone to call your number, we are called to a life of hope-filled anticipation as we join with God in his mission to redeem the world.
What are you waiting for? Is there something heavy on your heart that you are asking God to do? I remember my Mom eagerly praying for her father. He wasn’t a Christian, but she consistently prayed to the Lord for his salvation. She didn’t pray like someone stuck at the DMV. Her prayers were bold and hopeful.
About 3 years before his death, he decided to follow Jesus. The promise she claimed over his life was 2 Peter 3:8-9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise…He is not willing that any should perish, but all to come to repentance.”
This is the text we’ll explore together this Sunday as we begin this second week of Advent. I hope you’ll join us at 9 or 10:30am as we learn together how to wait and pray expectantly.
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark