Waiting. . .

I love Jerry Seinfeld's joke about waiting rooms at doctors' offices -- "You're going to wait. There's no chance of you not waiting. That's why they call it a waiting room!" (he tells it a lot funnier).

Today I'm waiting on our government (or, more specifically, the contractor working for our gov't) for my passport. I'm suppose to be traveling to Barbados on Saturday morning, and though I've put in the paperwork months in advance, here I am waiting (recently I've seen some news items that tell me I'm not alone).

What adds to my frustration is that the folks I talk to don't really seem to care too much about my time line -- they're going to try the best they can; no guarantees. Every time I speak with a friendly customer representative (for the most part, they have been -- if I can get them on the phone), I've had to remind them about my time line.

So this week I've been reflecting on waiting for something you know is coming, just not when -- and certainly not according to your time line. Jesus spoke about this a few times -- the parable of the 10 maidens comes to mind immediately.

If I were to summarize what I think the Bible says about waiting, it would be this: be expectant, but not anxious.

Here's how I'm living right this moment: I'm acting as though I'm leaving on Saturday. Everything I need has been purchased, and I'll be packing tomorrow morning ready to go. What I'm not doing is pacing around the living room, calling the passport office every hour and putting my life on hold, consumed by the arrival of a little piece of paper.

I guess where I'm going with this analogy is that some get so riled up about the "end times" that it consumes them. They read all of the prophecy books, and have end-times charts memorized. They were the ones watching webcam feeds live from the Mt. of Olives on Dec 31, 1999. They would say that they're expectant -- but I would say it looks more like anxious.

The way Christ told His followers to be ready in Matthew 25 looks nothing like the ones watching for news bulletins about the births of red heifers in Israel. The 2nd parable in that chapter tells us that to be ready is to be working -- putting the blessings ("talents") of our gracious Master into use until His return. And the 3rd story (the separation of sheep and goats) reminds us that the work of the Master for those waiting for His return is caring for the poor, the hopeless, and the prisoner -- namely, to continue the work of Christ. That's the essential difference between expectant and anxious: is the waiting making you more engaged with God's work/will, or more detached?

The book of Revelation uses the term "overcome" and "overcomer" quite a lot. It is the term for those who enjoy God's triumphant, eternal victory over His enemies and all those who work contrary to His will. But it is not used for those who have everything "figured out." It's used for those who are faithful to Him until His coming.

I'm working on a chapter on what it means to "overcome" according to the book of Revelation for a work that my friend Thom Stark is putting together. I'll be posting those thoughts on this site throughout the month -- perhaps from Barbados, perhaps not. I'll just have to wait and see.