While We Wait…
By: Joash Thomas
Tags: Jesus, Christmas, Advent, 2020, Suffering

Now that’s an R rated Christmas we don’t talk about at all! It has blood, violence, evil and chaos. This stuff isn’t “safe for the whole family”. Engage at your own risk! Even the three wise men knew this. As a Quentin Tarantino movie-lover — now THAT is the kind of real, raw and authentic Christmas I’m intrigued by.

In the midst of all the “Christmas cheer”, we often forget that Jesus entered the world in a very dark, evil and chaotic period of history when even the most religious people believed that God had abandoned them. Does that seem familiar?

We who find ourselves alive at the end of 2020 have a LOT to be thankful for. But we’re probably running low on this thing called Hope. The only Hope many of us have is for 2021…as if somehow things will get better on January 1, 2021 or January 20, 2021— like in a Disney movie.

So what Hope do we then have in this brutally chaotic Christmas season? The Apostle Paul, in the Book of Romans writes something that I believe beautifully captures the mood of Christmas 2020:

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.” Romans 8:22 CSB

What if instead of just the past few weeks, all of 2020 has been a season of Advent? What if your whole life of pain, suffering and anguish has been a season of Advent for the divine Hope that the Bible promises?

As Christians, we don’t just put our Hope in the coming of our Savior 2000+ years ago; we also put our Hope in the coming of our Savior’s return! As Christians, we don’t just celebrate the First Advent; we also long for Christ’s Second Advent.

If biblical prophecies about the Second Advent are to be believed (as they should given that the biblical prophecies of the First Advent did come to pass!), the Second Advent will be much more noticeable than the First. The First Advent was marked by a subtle star; the Second Advent will be marked with a loud trumpet call (accompanied by the resurrection of the dead in Christ).

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

So yeah…that’s going to be hard to miss! Revelation 21 gives us a few more mind-blowing details:

“Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21:3–4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Revelation 21 goes on to teach us that God will then restore, redeem & rule the world by punishing the wicked, rescuing the oppressed and making all things new. I don’t know about you but after a year like 2020, I find myself longing for a just AND loving ruler like that!

By their own admissions, both Republicans and Democrats are engaged in a battle to “save America”. As Christians, we need to constantly remind ourselves that our Savior won’t come from the Left or the Right but from Above. Make no mistake — if we get caught up looking for the promised Savior from the Left or the Right, we will miss out on anticipating the Savior from Above — coming from heaven and riding on a white horse!

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19:11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

So while we wait, may we be faithful in great anticipation of the Second Advent — by doing the things he commanded us to do in his First Advent: Loving God & Loving Our Neighbor.

And while we wait, may we also invite others into anticipating the Second Advent with us — by preaching & proclaiming the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ — both in word and in deed!