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What are we waiting for this time of year?

We are now in the middle of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting. What are we waiting for? Are we waiting? There are myths that people used to be good at waiting. Some people think that people used to be good at waiting for Christmas to sing Christmas songs, or that they used to wait till marriage to have sex. At the time of the American Revolution, three quarters of women had a baby less than 9 months after getting married. This myth about how people used to be good at waiting is just not true. People have never been good at waiting. If we are waiting, what are we waiting for?

At the time of Jesus, people were waiting for a Messiah. This is a fancy word for someone who was specially picked by God to do a special task. The people at the time of Jesus weren’t just waiting for a messiah; they were waiting for THE MESSIAH. This was the person who would save them. The question then becomes; save them from what?

At the time of Jesus, many people thought that the Messiah would save them from the Romans. They thought that the Messiah would be a political leader who would throw out their enemies. They thought that the Messiah would take on the role of a king. They thought that he would be their ruler. When Jesus is on trial before Pilate he says that his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It is not a kingdom of this world. This means that all of the people who thought that Jesus would rule an earthly kingdom were wrong.

Other people were not looking for a ruler, but for a divine vending machine. These people think that if they do the right things, then they will get what they want. This is what the followers of Ba’al thought. He was a Pagan god who people thought would give them what they wanted if they made the right sacrifices. This is not religion: it is magic. It is trying to control God, instead of trying to give up control to God. This idea was well expressed by Janice Joplin when she sang, “Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz.” Some people think that if they say the right prayers, or believe hard enough, or with Tinker Bell, if they all clapped, or with Santa if they are good boys or girls, then they would get what they want. It is not God’s job to give us what we want. God gives us what we need.

What we need is forgiveness of our sin. Why? Because we cannot stop sinning. The first and greatest commandment is to love God perfectly. We never do this, not even for a second. So, every second of every day, we are sinning by what we are failing to do. Some people say that they might sin, but their sins are not bad sins. James says that if we break one commandment, we have broken all of the commandments. What this means is that there are no big sins or little sins. All sins are equal in God’s eyes. Not only are we all sinners, we are all equally sinners. So what we need is forgiveness of our sin.

Some might say that they need to be cured of cancer, or that they need a job. When Jesus walked the Earth, he did not cure everyone who was sick. He cured some. He did not make every blind person see, only some. Yes, there are miracles, but Christ is not Santa Claus. God is not Ba’al. Christ is our Savior.

During this season of preparing for Christmas, of getting ready for the birth of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves; what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for a warlord, who will bring political rule? Are we waiting for Santa Claus, who will give us what we want? Or are we waiting for our Savior?

(“From the Pulpit” is a weekly sermon provided by the clergy members of The Weirton Ministerial Association)

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