(2016)
While they were there, the time came for Mary to deliver her child.
Luke 2:6
It is hard to wait, even for the birth of a child. We live in a culture of immediate gratification. We wait impatiently in traffic or grocery store lines. We multi-task, we check our phones, we pace the floor, and we complain.
This past year has been a time of waiting at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. Our call committee is patiently interviewing senior pastor candidates and we still don’t know how much longer it will take. But God is patient. God sees the big picture. God’s work asks us to wait, to be patient and to trust that God is actively moving us forward.
Advent is the liturgical season of waiting for God. We wait for Christmas and the coming of the Son. We wait for the Light to fill our darkness. In the New Testament, we read stories of Mary and Elizabeth who are waiting for new sons. Elizabeth had been waiting for years to be another. Mary is waiting to bring forth a son who will change the world. What do these women teach us about waiting?
Like Mary and Elizabeth, God is moving us forward, to possibilities we never would have imagined. As 2015 draws to a close, we look forward to 2016, to a new pastor, and to a fresh way of being God’s church.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, be with us when we wait. Give us trusting hearts in your perfect timing. Thank you, O God for sending us your Son. Amen.
Adapted from “Waiting” by Donna Mollenkopf with permission. Originally published in The Light, Ascension Lutheran Church, Towson, MD. Like Shepherd of the Valley, Ascension is in the process of calling a new senior pastor.
