“…they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31, ESV

On this 12^th day of Advent, we are thirteen days from our Christmas celebration of Christ’s coming. God’s own son, Immanuel – God with us – born in a humble stable in Bethlehem. December 25, is the day settled upon by Christ’s Church to mark Jesus’ arrival two-thousand years ago.

Looking up the word “wait” on the Internet yielded many meanings. This one – “wait” used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen. As a child I remember being eagerly impatient for Santa’s delivery of toys and gifts, the joy of being surrounded by discarded gift wrap all around the Christmas tree.

Zechariah waited in silence, unable to speak, after the angel announced to him that he and his wife Elizabeth in their old-age would finally conceive and bear a son – and name him, John. That John would prepare the way of the Lord. On the day of John’s birth Zechariah was asked for the child’s name. He wrote John on a tablet and immediately his voice returned. Nine months of silence, quiet contemplation, and now the fulfillment, of God’s promise through the angel.

Mary also received an angelic announcement of her pending conception of God’s own son by the Holy Spirit, and waited nine months, and then thirty years as God’s promise was fulfilled. Joseph too had to wait for the fulfillment of a dream that his betrothed was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and would give birth to God’s Son. All Israel – all the world – waited in great anticipation that God would intervene to bring his light into this dark, dark world.

This season of the Christian year has, over the years, provoked so much beautiful Christmas music that one hardly knows where to begin. Even today in 2025 the world awaits. We wait for peace in Ukraine, in Gaza, between the U.S. and Venezuela and trading partners around the world, between tribal and religious factions, even divisions in Christ’s church in Africa. And we certainly wait with great anticipation for peace and unity in our nation’s capital as well as in every state, county, city, town, and school board. Even in our own families and, yes, even in many of our churches where there is confusion, stress, tension, and conflict that rages on.

Mary cuddled and nursed her little baby, filled with love and joy, but also filled with wonder about his future, not knowing that as she hugged him he would one day hug her from a cross and save her to eternal life. Joseph, still listening and following God’s directions, given to him in dreams, provided love and care to Jesus who would one day care for him eternally.

And so, we pray, O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive ___________ that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O _____________.

Fill in the blank as you are led by the Lord to do so. Certainly, Immanuel came for you, for your family, your church, school, city, state, nation, all of humankind. We wait knowing God’s promised Messiah came two-thousand years ago. We wait having experienced his coming to us by his Spirit as we were born anew, spiritually – made alive in Christ. And we wait with the joy-filled promise that Christ will come again to make all things new.

We, who believe, do not wait without hope and joy. We wait, in the midst of the chaos of this world and all that surrounds us, with the faith-filled promise Christ comes to us by his Holy Spirit, moment by moment, day by day, to empower us and support us, to guide and direct us as citizens of his Kingdom, and as his brothers and sisters to reach out in loving care, offering Christ’s gifts – free gifts – of grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and acceptance to a world so much needing and desperately seeking the same.  

We wait. But not without the joy of God’s fulfilled and fulfilling promise of salvation. A joy we cannot hold hidden within us, but joy bubbling up and bidding us to allow it to escape our fleshly bodies to touch, heal, and embrace all with the light and love of our redeeming Lord. Go, praising and serving the Lord and one another.

This past Sunday, November 30, 2025, we began a new year in the life of the church with the season of Advent. “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” meaning “coming” or “arrival”. It is a time of waiting and preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (his first coming) and to anticipate his future return (his second coming).

We read in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1:26-38, the story of the angel Gabriel coming to Nazareth to Mary, a virgin, pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary has found favor with God and will become pregnant with God’s son – pregnant with the promise of God. After inquiring how such a thing could be, since she is a virgin, Gabriel explains “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. For no word from God will ever fail.” (emphasis added) I may be a male, but, can I not also be pregnant with the promise of God? Let us ponder that thought a bit. Like Mary, I ask, with this twist, how can this be, since I am a male.

Can I be pregnant with the promise of God? Certainly not in the same way Mary was pregnant with God’s promised Son. The word Pregnant comes from Latin, and literally means “before giving birth” — prae-, like pre- means “before” and gnasci is a root that means “be born.” Pregnant can also mean “filled with something,” like inspiration or “rich in significance or implication,” like a pregnant pause before answering a question.

In John 3 the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night – to avoid discovery by other Pharisees? – seeking answers to the mystery of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus tells him that he must be born again. As he was born of flesh he must be born of the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is the promise of God delivered at Pentecost and ever since to all whom will believe that Jesus is the promised Son of God and Savior of the world. The Spirit comes to us in faith, even as small as a mustard seed, which Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Just as God’s Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant with God’s promised Son so, each of us is born a promise of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and invited His Spirit to dwell in me and me in Him, in that moment I was justified as his son. My faith as a mustard seed began small but grew and continues to grow in sanctification and holiness as I move on to Perfection in Christ – being more and more like him, day by day, moment by moment. The promise of God in me can no longer be contained within me but continually births forth from me as God’s instrument inviting others to be born of the Spirit as well.

So, am I not pregnant with a promise? You? Have we – are we – giving birth?

Lord God, I pray your Spirit in me, and in all who claim your holy name, is pregnant with your promise and we are actively giving birth to your promised Spirit in our every action, thought, and word. Forgive us where we fail and renew in us your Spirit of faith. Come to us anew in this season of Advent in new and mighty anad powerful ways. To your glory and in your holy name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.