the Third Thursday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Psalm 80:1-7
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. 4 How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. 7 Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Hebrews 10:10-18
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
NIV
Invitation to Tension
by Greg Langman
Greg moved from Burlington, Ontario to Cochrane, Alberta with his wife Linda this past summer. They have 3 adult children and 2 sons-in-law that bring them great joy. He works for RockPointe Church in Calgary as the Pastor of Missional Discipling. He also equips church leaders and professionals through Transformational Coaching and Grip Birkman.
I have found that seasons of waiting tend to come and go in intensity and I’m coming out of one of the tougher ones for me right now. During this past June and July, the time from Monday to Friday seemed to take extra long. I was finishing up my time as an interim District Superintendent for my denomination and then my wife and I would be moving from Ontario to Alberta to begin living the next chapter of our life’s adventure.
I felt so done with the stresses of a role that wasn’t a good fit for who God created me to be, yet I needed to keep responding as well as I could to the complex situations that continued to land on my desk. I was feeling exhausted and I could hardly wait for the week of holidays we were going to take as soon as my job came to an end. Yet as nice as it would be to have a week at a friend’s cottage, it would be in the middle of the waiting to get to our new city. Then we had to wait a couple of extra weeks to get into our home. Now we live on a street with many new houses being built so we have to wait for our neighbourhood to get past the construction stage so people can move in and we can start developing relationships together. I could go on, but you get the idea.
In today’s readings, we see the amazing work of God in providing all that was necessary to allow us to become holy through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In the reading from Jeremiah, we see that God is very aware that his people have broken the covenant that he made with them and yet he does not give up on his people. God has a new covenant in mind and Jeremiah lets them know this. Then what does God do? He waits 600 years before sending Jesus to usher in this new covenant. Wow, that is a long time to wait! The people wait and God waits in this tension between the current reality of brokenness and a future restoration.
Personally, I don’t like to wait. Waiting creates tension. Have you noticed this? Think for a moment about a time when you had to wait for something? It could be as simple as waiting in line to pay for your groceries or waiting to get that item you ordered that’s been delayed. It could be something bigger like waiting for the day you find your true love.
Picture yourself waiting for something and then pay attention to your body's physical reaction as you do.
Where does the tension manifest itself?
Your head? Neck? Chest? Stomach?
As you feel that tension you are probably like most people, and you want to simply get rid of that tension as quickly as possible. I totally understand that desire. Tension is bad! Right? I used to think that but I’m learning to embrace the truth that the most transformative things in our lives happen in the midst of tension as we wait with Jesus. Inviting him into the tension with us.
Over the course of this last year my spiritual director has helped me to embrace welcoming prayer as a way to become more aware of the tension and emotions I’m experiencing and to invite Jesus to sit with me. Inviting Jesus to simply be present with me amidst the tension without trying to escape or fix it has not been easy. You see, when I’m sick I want God to miraculously heal me. When I’m lonely I want someone to come spend time with me. When I’m feeling insecure and unworthy, I want someone to text me with affirming words reminding me that I am seen and that my life is making a difference somehow.
Sometimes the miracles, the visit, or the text comes my way. Ah, the instant relief feels so good! The discomfort is gone and I can breathe easy once again. I’ve been rescued. Maybe this desire to be rescued is a youngest child thing or maybe this is just a human thing that longs to escape the pain of waiting.
In this advent season, we live with the tension that the Kingdom of God Jesus ushered in through his birth, death, and resurrection is experienced only in part. We catch glimpses of the Kingdom of God as we partner with the Spirit in the good he puts before us each day. What Jesus did allows us to be part of the transforming work he wants to do in our world and this is good. Yet, even though we have Jesus, we have to wait for the day when the kingdom of God will be fully realized with the return of Christ.
We know and feel the tension as we long to be with God in the state of holiness where we see him face to face and we fully live as the people we were created to be. We experience tension as our spirit has been made perfect and secure in Jesus, yet our body, mind, and soul still have to battle to live into our heavenly designation as his holy ones. As I read today's lectionary passages, I also noticed there is tension for God as he waits for the fulfillment of all that he’s designed to come into fruition; for the results of his sacrificial work to come to full term.
The fact that God is the source of peace and yet He allows the tension of waiting to exist for Himself as well as for us is something that makes me pause to reconsider my perspective. I choose again this day to place my hope in the One who never stumbles or gets nervous about how everything is going to work out -- or how long that will take.
Where are you waiting in tension today? What might it look like for you to wait in this tension with Jesus?
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