Use the waiting time wisely

 

Reflection Sunday 6^th December 2020 Advent 2

 

Last Sunday, I wrote about how Advent is a time of waiting, and waiting in hopefulness. This Sunday I want to explore the idea of waiting a bit further. And my Reflection mainly focuses on the reading from 2 Peter 3: 8 - 15a

Lew Bowman in the Feasting of the Word commentary for this passage notes that a frequent question of believers is “What is God doing in the world?” and a supplementary question to this is “What are the roles of human beings in this work?” They are questions that test faith. And let’s be honest, how many of us from time to time have said something along the lines of “Why doesn’t God do something about this?” which suggests we may feel (even if only in that moment) that God isn’t doing anything.

We may think this way of thinking is modern, confined to what is sometimes referred to as “a post Christian era”. But we’d be wrong, for Christians have wrestled with this for hundreds of years. In fact, Christians have been thinking this way since a generation or so after Christ’s death and resurrection.

The early church of 2 Peter was wrestling with this as they endured the scoffers who taunted them with the failure of the second coming. (2 Peter 3: 3 – 4) It is worth noting that 2 Peter was probably written in Peter’s name a generation or two after this death. It was written by a theological follower of the great apostle, using the apostle’s name to give authority to the ideas in the letter. Bearing this in mind, the subject of the letter makes sense.

The earliest followers of Christ, those who either had known him or had been in contact with the apostles, had heard Jesus’ teachings that he would come again. From their (relative) first hand experience they believed the second coming would be imminent. But by the time of the church in 2 Peter, and even more so now, this urgency, and this belief that the return is imminent, has petered out!

The author of the letter explains that if we have this sense that Christ’s return won’t happen, then we are missing the point. We are counting time in human terms whereas God measures time differently.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

The writer explains that what matters is not the way God counts but rather the way God speaks. God’s word created the cosmos; God’s word speaking through the prophets pointed ahead to the present messy days when scoffers refuse to believe God’s promises. And God’s word preserves the earth until the earth is consumed in grace and judgment – grace and judgment that will also come by God’s Word (see John 1).

There is a reason why God has delayed his final judgment. And that reason is to allow time for repentance. Therefore, what to us looks like God’s tardiness in sending his Son into the world once again is actually an act of mercy on God’s part.

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 9

And let me emphasise part of that verse; God does not want anyone to perish in the wrath that will come when Christ comes again, but God wants everyone to come to repentance. In verse 10 the writer lays out his understanding of what will happen when the day of the Lord arrives. And it doesn’t sound good! Hence why God in his love for people, even his most wayward children, wants repentance.

Of course, talk of repentance in Advent brings us to John the Baptist. The voice calling in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1: 1 – 8)

For a certain type of minister this would be a call to go out on to the streets of their local town, calling people to repent and then baptising them in the local river. And certainly, we know we are living in a world where we are surrounded by those who should repent and seek forgiveness for their sins before it is too late to do so.

But I feel first and foremost that as a minister I need to focus on the needs of those I have “pastoral charge” of. To ensure all is well with my own people before heading off to the River Avon in the centre of Chippenham and baptising those stood in the queue outside Wilco’s!

In fact this is important for the writer of 2 Peter reminds those of us who have already become followers of Christ, that as we watch and wait for his coming again, as we watch and wait for the new heaven and the new earth, we are to

make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:14

In other words, we are to look at the planks in our own eyes before looking at the specks in others’ eyes. (see Matthew 7:5)

The great Christian writer Henri Nouwen once said,

 "If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God's coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the discipline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn't, and our hearts lose their spiritual sensitivity." 

It's the hard work of acknowledging our own sin and repenting that leads us to God.

Use this time of Advent to look at your own life. Are there things that are keeping you from being closer to God? Are there things that interrupt your waiting?  If so offer them to God, seek his forgiveness and then know that in his great love for us he forgives us. Thanks be to God. Amen