Good morning Highland Park family! It’s good to be with you today, even if it’s virtually. My name is Aiden, and I serve on our Small Group Leadership Council. For today’s communion meditation, I want to talk about waiting.
It seems like we spend a lot of our lives waiting, doesn’t it? When we’re young, we wait until we can drive. When we’re working adults, we wait for retirement. Right now, we’re waiting for this pandemic to be controlled well enough for things to go back to normal! Waiting can seem like a passive activity, just sitting idly by as time passes. But there’s an active kind of waiting, too! A waiting that anticipates what’s to come.
To give you an example of anticipatory waiting (that isn’t pandemic related), I want to share a story with you. Last Christmas, my husband Corey and I were with his family in OKC to celebrate the holiday. After dinner, Corey’s younger brother announced that he was leaving to meet his girlfriend and some friends up in Tulsa; his plan was to propose to his girlfriend under the Christmas lights (spoiler alert: she said yes). The rest of the evening, our family was breathless with anticipation! We knew it wouldn’t be immediate – they had to drive to Tulsa, and then he had to find the right moment to propose, and then he would contact us to share the news. The excitement was palpable. We all had our phones right beside us, jumping at every notification to see if the time had come. However, we weren’t idle while waiting. We continued snacking, playing games, and generally enjoying one another’s company. Yes, we were waiting for the big news, but we weren’t sure exactly when or how it would come.
This anticipatory kind of waiting is what we as Christians do, too. We know that Jesus will return. We know it will be soon, but we don’t know the exact day. All we can do is wait. But we shouldn’t be idle while waiting. It’s an active kind of waiting, full of expectation, excitement, and hope. Expectation that Jesus will come take us home because He is faithful to his promises. Excitement to see His face. And hope that the world will be restored under His reign.
1 Corinthians 11:
“…The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Did you catch that? “…[P]roclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Communion is a time of remembrance for Jesus’ sacrifice, absolutely. It also reminds us that our Savior is coming again. We don’t know when, or what exactly it will look like, but we can be confident that it will happen. We shouldn’t be idle though, passively waiting for the time to come; we can and should actively prepare our hearts for His return. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank you today for the technology that allows us to meet safely and virtually during this pandemic. We pray that we will not become idle in our faith during this time. We ask that Your Holy Spirit will grow our dependence on You and guide our next steps. We also ask for your peace and comfort during this time of uncertainty. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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