Skip to main content

Day 3, Week 1 - "Waiting to See"

 Among one of my favorite Advent memories happened at Ohare Airport’s International Terminal waiting area. It came to my mind today as I read a couple of Scripture readings.

Isaiah 11:1-3
 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear…

Then in the Gospels…

Luke 10:21-24
 In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Think about this for a brief minute.  The “stump” of Jesus has a “branch” that grows out his roots – this is Jesus, a descendant of Jesse, who was the father of David.  Isaiah prophesies of Jesus who comes from a stump of what is left of Israel.  Filled with the Spirit for wisdom, understanding (i.e., discernment), counsel, knowledge, and the “first place” of the Lord in all areas of life.  The Messiah to come “sees” – not just what the eyes see, but what God reveals.

Skip forward 700 years, and Jesus speaks to the Father, giving him thanks that what is hidden to most, the disciples “see”.  He speaks to them saying “blessed are the eyes that see what you see!”

Advent invites us to “see” what is hidden to most others.  Advent is not the same as preparing for Christmas day.  Christmas is the end of Advent, and the beginning of Immanuel, God is with us.  Up until Christmas, we are invited to “watch”… “look”… “see” what God is revealing.

At Ohare airport several years ago, I saw God revealing.  I was waiting (the other side of watching) for my daughter and her family to arrive from England.  As I waited at the exit doors a Woman and her two children came near to where I stood.  As you probably know, there’s a security barrier set up between the exit doors and the waiting people.  There are all sorts of people waiting – family, friends, colleagues, and the individuals with signs with a name on it. 

The little boy was not just waiting, he was watching… to see his Father come through the doors.  He said out loud for many of us who stood nearby – “Dad, we’re here…we’re waiting Dad”.  He didn’t stay silent long and he said again, “Dad, where are you Dad?  We’re waiting Dad?”  His words kept coming out a couple of times a minute… “Dad, we’re waiting”.  Ten minutes, twenty minutes, and even though various people emerged, my daughter and family, and this little boy’s Dad hadn’t emerged.  I stood quietly – I’m an adult.  He kept saying, “Dad, we’re waiting Dad, where are you?”

It struck me… this is Advent.  Waiting…to see…because the one you want to see is one you love.  This little boy’s waiting was expectant, confident, full of hope.  He didn’t know it, but he had a greater sense of Advent as a child than I did as an adult.

Jesus said… “Blessed are the eyes that see”!  Watching, waiting for the one we love with a child-like expectancy.  “Lord, help me to be childlike in my expectations of seeing you”.

Oh yes.  The Dad came through the doors and the little boy, forgetting anything having to do with security barriers, ran to his Dad and jump up into his arms, yelling “Daaaaaad, you’re here”.  I smiled with tears on my face.

Peace.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....

Wondering Out Under the Stars

A Reading: Colossians 1:9-20 (NIV) 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether th...