…waiting 
…longing
The 1st Sunday of Advent is 3 December 2017.
Advent is about waiting.
It’s a bit of an odd thing,
since we know that Jesus has already come.
As John 1:14 MSG records
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”
And we also know that while Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10 NLV
“Father… may your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
But we know that God’s Kingdom has not yet come in its fullness Romans 8:22-25 MSG
“All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.”
Paul points us forward in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And so we wait, we long, we hope, we work, we serve, we proclaim, we live faithfully, now, while we wait.
Announcing by our presence and our words and our actions that the good news of Jesus has come and in coming.