"Waiting For the Light"

When I was a young pastor in Springfield, Missouri one Christmas I thought I would try my hand at choir directing. With a background in music I thought – why not? We picked a musical entitled, “Waiting for the Light,” and went to work – recruiting, rehearsing, laughing, rehearsing some more. And when the day arrived, it actually sounded pretty good! To this day, members of my extended family who participated in that event still remember the songs and the lines from the cantata. In the words of my daughter, we were “waitingly patiently for the Lord.” In fact, all these years later my experience has taught me that the vast majority of our faith journey involves waiting, and not always patiently, for the Lord.

Our faith journey involves a series of “faith mountain peaks,” of prophetic moments, when we hear the voice of God calling us, and we have the opportunity to respond with obedience (or disobedience). There is really no other way for our faith to grow. Remember what Paul taught the Roman believers: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 NAS). Faith is our response to God’s initiative. Faith requires an object: ultimately God himself (“faith in God”) and then faith in God’s word. When we hear God, when we experience “the word of Christ,” the response of our heart is “faith.” As our sensitivity to God’s voice increases, so does our faith. On several occasions Jesus declared, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear” (see Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; etc.). Having a “hearing ear” is a matter of the heart and involves a soft, submitted, responsive heart toward God and his word. On the other hand, some people’s hearts have become hard and unresponsive. “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” (Matthew 13:15; see Isaiah 6:9-10).

God never speaks unnecessarily, and God always speaks at the precise moment he chooses to speak. For that reason, we “hear” a fair amount of silence, and it is in the silence that we learn how to “wait” for and listen to the Lord. The grace to be silent and listen is considered a mark of wisdom. “Be silent, Israel, and listen” (Deuteronomy 27:9).  “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues” (Proverbs 17:28). The psalmist considered silence to be a sign of growing faith and spiritual maturity. “Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent” (Psalm 4:4). “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret” (Psalm 37:7). Even the Lord said, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).

Experiencing the silences of God, learning how to wait and listen, can be a very positive and powerful thing. When the prophet Elijah met with God on the mountain he expected to hear God’s voice as a great wind, an earthquake or a fire (see 1 Kings 19:11-12). Instead, God’s voice was experienced as a “gentle whisper” (NIV), or a “sound of sheer silence” (NRSV). We want God to speak plainly so we can more easily hear and determine our response. Instead, God wants us to hear his breath, to hear his heartbeat. God values our personal relationship and wants us to learn how to draw near, stay close, lean heavily, and wait for him with hope in our hearts.

The silence of God is a time of preparation, an opportunity to be alert and ready for the time when God’s word will surely come. There’s an interesting and strange verse in the book of Revelation: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them” (8:1-2). This is a key moment at the end of the age, begun with “silence.” Commentators refer to this moment as a “dramatic pause.” It is a moment of expectation, an opportunity to pause and get ready for the trumpets that were about to sound. If you are experiencing a time of silence in your life, get ready! The trumpet is about to sound! This is your opportunity to prepare!

Today begins the first week in Advent. The first Sunday is usually commemorated by lighting the first candle, a light that begins to shine in our darkness. A light that symbolizes our longing, our desire, our hope. We remember the time almost 2,000 years ago when there was silence and darkness in Palestine. And then God sent his Light into the world, and everything changed. “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). During the Advent season we reflect on the first and the final coming of Jesus, and we prepare our hearts to see him and to hear his voice. The first week in Advent is focused on the prophecies in the Old Testament that promised the coming of the Lord, prophecies that brought hope and expectation to a people living in darkness and silence, waiting for the Lord. This year more than ever, we look for his coming into our lives in a new way.