Newsletter December 2014

I recently decided to read Karl Ove Knausgaard’s trilogy “My Struggle” this winter.  It was wildly popular in Scandinavia recently, and the English translation has been moderately popular in America.  So I stopped at several book stores this fall looking for all three volumes.  Volume three is not yet out in paperback, so that will have to wait.  Volume two was immediately available in every large book store.  But nobody had a copy of volume one on hand.  Being impatient, I began to read volume two, which is set in Sweden, but soon realized that I wanted to start with volume one which is set in Norway.  The only way to do this was to order a copy on-line.  Normally, books ordered on-line arrive promptly, but day after day passed with no book in the mail.  Again being impatient, I told the clerk at the post office that I was looking for this book to arrive, and she assured me that normally books ordered on-line arrive in a day or two.  Finally, when I thought they had lost my order, the book arrived from an obscure (to me) publisher in New Jersey.  Finally, I could begin at the beginning.

Patience is one of the themes of Advent when we have to wait to begin at the beginning of the story of Jesus’ life.  Advent is centered on the coming of Jesus.  First of all, we prepare to celebrate his coming into this world as the child of Bethlehem after Israel had waited long centuries for the promised Messiah.  The scripture says, “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law….” (Galatians 4:4)

In Advent we also read the scriptures that speak of his coming again in power and glory to judge the nations, and again there is the issue of patient waiting until the right time shall come.  At the ascension of Jesus the disciples were promised he would come again (Acts 1:11) but were also told it is not for them to know the time of his coming (Acts 1:7).  So, his followers are to wait patiently for the day when he will come again to judge the world and set all things right – and there are plenty of things that need setting right in this world.  We try to wait patiently even as we pray “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)

But thanks be to God, the third coming of Jesus is into the lives of believers by Word and Sacrament.  For that, no one has to wait, for the Word of God is proclaimed continually and the Sacraments are administered regularly among us.  There is no waiting line for them.

Patience is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, but patience in everyday life seems to be in short supply today.  As I write this in the days before Thanksgiving, the airwaves are filled with ads and reports about early shopping on Thanksgiving Day so people can get a good deal and get ahead on their shopping.  Last year there were news reports of people knocked to the floor as shoppers rushed to be the first to get into the store.  Can we not let one holiday be fully and properly celebrated before beginning on the next?  Does this not call to mind the harsh words of the prophet Amos to Israel for “saying, when will the new moon be over that we may sell grain?  And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances?” (Amos 8:5)

As one of the fruits of the spirit is patience, so one of the virtues of Christian living is patience.  God has his own timetable for his work, and he will not be hurried, any  more than I could hurry my book through the mail by fretting about it or pestering the postal clerk.  With regard to things happening out in the world Psalm 37:7 says, “be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  Do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.”  With regard to things happening in our own lives Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord.  He inclined to me and heard me.”

This Advent season, let us practice the virtue of patience.  Let us see if we can be patient with one another, especially when it comes to one another’s shortcomings and failings.  Let us see if we can find some time in this busy month to be still, as Psalm 37 advocates, and wait patiently for the Lord.  Let us see if we can resist the temptation to be first in line, fastest on the road, and the first to get something done.  Let us pace ourselves through this month knowing that Christmas will come on December 25 no matter what we do or fail to do, and let this be a lesson in life knowing that God will accomplish his will in his time according to his timetable.  May you be filled with the fruit of the Spirit this holiday season, filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)