Monday, December 1, 2008

Waiting in Advent

The advent of a new church year finds us in the Chicago area, where we have needed to be as family support for our hospitalized granddaughter, Kajsa Grace, and her family.The saga of her life over six brief years--which so many have followed regularly in manifold prayer and practical support--is indeed remarkable. Born with half a normal heart, having endured four major surgeries to enable survival and maintain it, she now is receiving further intensive care for chest infections in most of the resulting sutures.

Time and again her father and mother, Paul and Krisitn, have acknowleged how meaninful at every critical juncture the prayers and support of God's people have proved in the healing process, both for Kajsa and for their family.

Yesterday at their church in Libertyville, Illinois, Pastor Dwight Nelson wove beautifully together from Psalm 80 and Isaiah 64 the twin biblical themes of lament and restoration so central to observing Advent as a season of hope. He reminded us all that "while [we] are not lacking any spiritual gift as [we] wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:1-9), the healing offered by God over time requires the constant facing of our desperate need for him as well as sincere repentance for our sins. Christian hope is not an easy fix to troubling circumstances in life as we experience it, the snapping of a finger to make things well. It is a life-long precess of learning both to repent of our waywardness and trust in the forgiveness and restoration he alone can supply.

Passing by many homes already respendent with Christmas lights and decorations on our way to and from Children's Memorial Hospital 40 miles away, and listening to so much chatter over the air waves that is mindless of Christ's coming and all he offers, I have found myself wondering if we in America lament enough over what is happening within us as we seek to deal with all that is going on around us worldwide. Good seed is not likely to survive in untended and unprepared soil.

Don't pass Advent by on the way to Christmas. Waiting and watching for God--with all that entails--is always the key to being blessed by him, restored at his coming, and made whole.