Waiting

Hopefully the words of Acts 1 have been roaming around your heart and mind over the last week. Hopefully those words have even settled in and unpacked like welcomed house guest.

Here is what I find so compelling about the beginning of Acts: the disciples have to wait. Essentially, they are ready to go. In verse 6, they question when God's kingdom, or realm, is going to be fully realized/fully present in their midst. You sense that the expectation is soon...very soon...like get out your calendars and mark the date kind of soon.

Jesus responded by essentially saying, don't worry about that. And instead told them to wait.

Now, if you are ready for something to happen, if you have your bags all packed ready to go, if you believe that any minute now there is going to be a dramatic, life-shifting kind of change in your life, being told to wait is heart breaking.

If you want proof of this, think about an airport. There is a buzz of activity and anticipation. Then, if the poor person working the desk of the airline has to say over the speaker the flight has been delayed, there is loud, audible groan. I have sat there in those moments and heard not only the groan, but it felt like the air escaped and the chatter around me turned from anticipation to frustration in a single second.

Being told to wait is challenging to us. We live our life so fast that coming to a sudden stop because of waiting is just plain jarring to us. It feels like whiplash. I look around and see so many people waiting.

I think about people who do not have a job, keep on applying for positions and are forced to wait for responses after interviews that set hopes soaring.
I think about people whose mortgage is in limbo, keep on making payments, but are waiting for something to shift in the housing market.
I think about those who have illnesses who wait for treatment options or wait for results of the latest tests.

There are many types of waiting. There is the "I am bored" kind of waiting when you are in the line at the grocery store or counting train cars going past your windshield. Then there is the kind of waiting that is hoping beyond hope, praying with sighs louder than words, that something is going to happen...soon...please God.

Most of us know the first type of waiting and experience it daily. But too many people experience the second kind of waiting alone. The second type of waiting drains us emotionally and physically and we question God's presence.

And for all the church's good intentions over the years to provide comfort in the form of words or logical explanations about why the second kind of waiting exists at all, we have failed to live into the response of the disciples in verses 12-14. They waited...together. Sure Peter gave a sermon in verse 15. (I too sometimes find it hard to wait quietly in a group). The point is they waited...together.

Go back to that airport example. One of the reasons why it is so hard to wait there, so frustrating isn't because of the food and stale air (although that doesn't help). It is so difficult to wait in that moment because we feel powerless. I can't fly an airplane, even if there is one sitting outside the window. I don't know how long the delay will really be. To make matters worse, even though I am surrounded by people in the same place, they are strangers, and I feel alone. Waiting alone wreaks havoc on us. Feeling like you are waiting alone even as you bump up against people daily doesn't help either.

Too many people today are waiting alone...and at the same time they bump up against others daily.

One way (certainly not the only way) of the church being the church today is to wait together. My hunch is that as the disciples waited they had potluck meals, prayed together, worshiped together, laughed and shared stories together.

At some point in trying to maintain buildings and run interesting programs and trying to be an institution, as a church we lost the indescribable, faithful invitation to be together. It doesn't solve everything, but for me it is better than the alternative of being alone.

The first story in Acts...which describes the church being the church...is to wait together. But, that isn't the only story in Acts...that is not the only way of the church being the church.

So, because this is so much fun, look at Chapter 2 verses 1-15

Read it aloud...I know it is still not easy
Circle words that cause you to smile
Underline words that bring a frown to your face

Feel free to ask questions.

Again, I will offer a few insights soon. But I believe that traces of God's grace come from your thoughts and from your heart. Happy reading...and may God's peace warm your life like the sun on an autumn day.

Blessings