“PREPARATION III - CULTIVATING PATIENCE WHILE WAITING”
Text:
December 2007
On this fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we’re going to jump a little beyond the birth of
Jesus – around forty days – to the event of mother Mary’s purification, and baby Jesus’ dedication
at the temple in Jerusalem. The Law of Moses required of Mary a sacrificial offering as part of a
ritual of cleansing; something required of all Jewish women following birth of children. The Law
also prescribed a redemption or buying back of the firstborn male child, who at birth was
consecrated to the Lord. These are the circumstances which bring Joseph, Mary and the child to
the temple, and into the presence of one who had been waiting a long time to see the child who
was to be the “consolation of Israel” – the promised deliverer – the Messiah of God.
(Read
Luke 2:22-26)
We don’t know much about this man Simeon. The scripture only tells us that he was an
upright and God-fearing man who had been looking forward to the deliverance of Israel from its
bondage. Biblical historian Ronald Brownrigg suggests that Simeon was a temple priest who, due
to his advanced age, was no longer active in the day-to-day duties of the office. Yet he sort of
hung around the temple, perhaps waiting to see the fulfillment of a promise he had received: that
“He would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.”
On this
particular day, a little voice inside Simeon said, “Your long wait is
over. Go into the
temple.” Luke, as he’s recorded this event, understood that it was the Holy Spirit of God who had
inspired Simeon to be where he was when he was. And as Simeon entered the temple, his eyes fell
upon the child, and he knew without a doubt that this was the moment his entire life had been
leading up to.
(Read
Luke 2:27-35, 39)
In a charming little booklet entitled Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman tells of his being led
in a dream into God’s treasure houses, and among many wonders revealed to him was the Delayed
Blessings Office where God safely kept certain things prayed for until the right time came to send the
answer. Here’s a very short excerpt from that
booklet: “It takes a long time for some petitioners to
learn
that delays are not necessarily denials.
There are secrets of love, and wisdom, and disclosure in
the
Delayed Blessings Department which are little dreamed of, and nary imagined.”
On that day in Jerusalem, Simeon was
finally led by the Holy Spirit to the door of the Delayed
Blessings Office where the long-anticipated and imagined answer to his prayer was revealed; the
child Simeon had dreamed of and waited his whole life to see; the One who would be salvation, a
glory to the nation of Israel, and “a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” As the angels had announced
to
shepherds in the fields just six weeks earlier: “I bring you good news of a
great joy which will
come to all the people, for to you is born this day..... a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Simeon
gazed upon the child - I imagine his heart beating a hundred times a minute - as upon a brilliant star,
who would not only bring salvation, but would also bring judgement; this cornerstone for some who
would be the stumbling stone for others. And confrontation with this child would expose the innermost
thoughts
of many lives. Finally, Simeon has a troubling
word for Mary: “...and a sword will pierce
your
own soul also” — ‘You, dear mother, will share in the pain of the
rejection of your beloved son.
As blessed as you are to
have been chosen to mother this child, by this child, your heart will be broken.’
Thirty-three years later, that prophecy of Simeon would come to pass as Mary’s soul would be pierced
as she witnessed her firstborn unjustly put to death in the most awful way. But this day in the temple, a
look
probably leapt between Mary and Joseph which asked, “What is this old
man talking about?”
It seems to me that the power in the story of Simeon encountering the Christ Child in the temple is
less about the words of this man, and more about this man behind the words. For as little as we know
about Simeon, we find in him a lesson in expectant waiting tempered with patience, and the joy of the
waiting’s end. And therein may lie a lesson for us on this “last leg” of our Advent preparation; a
lesson about cultivating patience.
How long had Simeon been waiting for the “consolation of Israel” to be revealed? Ten years?
Twenty years? Fifty years? Even longer? We can only venture a largely uninformed guess. But we
can rest assured that his patience was cultivated and matured over time. When the Holy Spirit first
revealed to Simeon that his life would not end until he had seen the Christ with his very own eyes, he
was probably on edge; restless and sleepless nights; daily visits to the temple, whether on duty as
priest or not, because this might be the day; prayers to God: ‘Okay Lord. You’ve promised. Now, let’s
see it!” Have you ever prayed like that? But as the months, and years, and possibly decades wore on,
Simeon had no choice but to grow in his capacity to wait – not with any less expectation, but with more
composure, calmness, restraint, in short............ patience.
How many of us can say that we are in the process of cultivating patience in our lives? Not a very
fair question two days before Christmas I suppose. Can we claim that we’ve gotten better at handling
‘waiting’ than we handled it, say, twenty years ago, or ten years ago, or even one year ago? Has our
capacity to wait patiently grown? For myself, I think “Yes!”........that is until I’m waiting in line at Wal
Mart for twenty minutes. Then my blood pressure starts to climb as I begin to think nasty thoughts
about that inept cashier who’s moving at a snail’s pace, or that woman who’s writing out her check a
dot at a time just to frustrate me. For some reason, this is not the easiest time of year to cultivate our
patience in waiting. We find ourselves waiting for our meal at overcrowded restaurants; waiting for an
open pump to get that _______ / gallon gasoline; waiting in traffic trying to exit back onto 77 from
North Canton; waiting in line for stamps at the post office; waiting to get that Christmas bonus check;
waiting for the turkey or the ham to finish cooking; waiting to see the look on our children’s and grand-
children’s faces as they open that special gift, waiting for the pastor to close the sermon.....
Yet even now, especially now, Advent and stories like that of Simeon challenge us to wait
expectantly, yes, but to do it with composure, calmness, restraint, maybe even to savor the wait, and
prepare to enjoy the reward of our waiting all the more. As we prepare to receive the peace --- the deep
inner peace, the genuine peace, the peace which goes beyond human understanding, that peace of our
Lord Jesus Christ — cultivating patience in waiting is a key element of that preparation.
What might we be waiting on today which has us all tied up in knots? What are we feeling
impatient about today? Our health? Our finances? Our family situations? Our holiday plans coming
off just right? Our studies? Our jobs and careers? Even though we know that whatever it is is not
going to come any faster or sooner by our being anxious, we tend to be edgy, restless, losing sleep,
pacing the floor, perhaps like Simeon may have been in the earliest days of his awaiting. Have we been
praying to God for something for the longest time, and God’s just not coming through? Are we
interpreting God’s delay as a denial? Well, we all face waiting for one thing or another, just as Mary
faced a nine month wait for the birth of her son; just as Simeon faced the wait for the fulfillment of
God’s promise to him. But we can learn to face the waiting times
with patience. Briefly, three
suggestions to aid in cultivating patience and its attendant peace in the face of waiting.
First, try to focus on the here and now rather than on the there and then. Make the best of the
situation as it presently stands. This doesn’t mean abandoning aspirations or goals or hopes for better
down the line, but instead to keep perspective that today has its own gifts to offer, and its own
challenges to be met. As we had talked about around Thanksgiving time, when Jesus grew up, He once
instructed us not to fret over tomorrow as there is plenty enough to deal with today. So it’s fine to keep
an expectant eye toward tomorrow, especially where God’s promises are concerned. But live this day
for everything it’s worth.
Second, spend time each day talking to God about your impatience if patience is a fruit of the Spirit
which you don’t bear much of. My guess is that good ole Simeon did plenty of that. Ask God to grant
you contentment and inner-peace; contentment with today’s circumstances, even if today isn’t every-
thing you’d like it to be; inner-peace that God is in the process of working out what is best for you, in
God’s time. Paul writes to the church in Philippi: “Let all people know your forbearance - your
patience in waiting - The Lord
is at hand. Have no anxiety about
anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Be
expectant, but temper it with
patience. Ask God to remind you that
there is a Delayed Blessings Office
from which God will send answers to our long-awaited desires, hopes, dreams, and prayers. George
Mullins writes that “If you patiently wait, expectantly
wait, you will find that the waiting is not in vain,
and the Lord will prove Himself a counsellor, both wise and good.” In short, patience inevitably grows
out of a trusting relationship with God. Speak to God about that today.
Finally, understand that patience in waiting doesn’t happen overnight. We’re not born with it, as
any parent will readily testify. Cultivation of patience by its very nature is a process of maturation.
Norman Vincent Peale once wrote in an article entitled “Life’s
Waiting Stages”: “A child must
wait
until she is old enough
to have a bicycle, the young teen until he is old enough to drive a car, the
medical student must wait
for her diploma, the husband for his promotion, the young couple for savings
to buy a new home. The art of waiting is not learned at once any
more than life is lived at once.”
I tend to think that for Simeon, he grew and matured through his long wait to see with his own eyes
the “consolation of Israel.” When we think about it, he had, and we have no choice, unless we want
to fritter our lives away biting our nails and perched on the edge of our seats. We are well-advised to
learn the art of patience in the face of waiting, and to accept the fact that it involves a lifelong
curriculum.
So let’s make a part of our eleventh hour preparation for the coming of Christ an intentional effort
to cultivate patience in these lives of ours which are filled with constant waiting. Let’s keep our eyes
on tomorrow and God’s promises not yet fulfilled, while at the same time living today to its fullest,
luxuriating in God’s promises already fulfilled. Let’s ask God to send a spirit of peace,
perspective, and forbearance into our lives so we can set out upon a lifelong journey of growing and
maturing into more patient people. Then let us continue to wait expectantly as we live joyfully!