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Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me,

do not turn your servant away in anger;

you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

God my Savior.

Though my father and mother forsake me,

the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, Lord;

lead me in a straight path

because of my oppressors.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

spouting malicious accusations.

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

 

Esperar -to wait, to hope, to expect host- waiter

“Hire someone to wait in line in St Louis. Skip the wait with TaskRabbit waiting service.” Did you know that you can pay someone to wait in line? Most fast service restaurants have ways to ‘order ahead’ and ‘save time’. You can ‘skip the line’ at just about any place, from the DMV to TSA to Disney.

No wonder we have such an impatient society, widespread difficulty with impulse control and an almost universal expectation for ‘immediate’ service.

Our faith story, on the other hand, seems to be exactly the opposite. Advent, waiting, is an entire season in our church year. We waited, along with Mary, for the arrival of our Savior.

The Spanish language uses the same verb, esperar, to mean to wait, to hope, to expect. To wait is an act of faith. Waiting defies despair, denies impulsiveness, challenges the value of immediacy. To wait is to remain firm, to hope for something or someone better.

Wait for the Lord, our psalmist sings.

Wait, not with passivity, not with an attitude of inevitability. But wait, with expectation, with hope.

We call upon our Lord as our host every Sunday at the Table. Jesus-as-waiter - Jesus waiting on us, for us, along with us. Jesus waits along with us, for the prodigal to return home, for the anxious to find trust, for the addicted to find health, for the rejected to find inclusion.

We wait, we hope, we expect. Amen.

God, help me to be a better wait-er. God grant me hope.

Karen Landahl

karenowllandahl@gmail.com

 

Prayer Concern: For those in a rush. For those who forget to expect great things coming through Jesus Christ.