A Time of Anticipation

Whenever any of our kids are coming to visit for a few days, Kim and I find ourselves filled with anticipation. For days, Kim and I are thinking about the beds that need to be prepared, what meals we will cook, and what we will do in our time together. As the hour of their arrival draws closer, I find myself looking out the window to see whether or not I can see their car coming down the street or pulling into the driveway. It is a time that for us, is filled with anticipation.

As you well know, the Christmas season is filled with all kinds of anticipation as we look forward to the day of our Christmas celebrations. Especially for the children, the anticipation of what will take place on Christmas morning gets their hearts pumping, their minds spinning, and their bodies tossing in bed as the anticipation of it all gets the best of them! Even as adults, we look forward with anticipation to the dinners, gatherings with friends and family, special church services, and even the gifts to be shared with one another. 

Some might think we make too much of the season. If you think about it, however, that first Christmas was filled with all kinds of anticipation as the people of God looked forward to the coming of their messiah. Oh, there were so many things about his coming that they didn’t—and maybe couldn’t—understand, yet for many there was a longing in their hearts for the day of his arrival; we might say, an anticipation that was building as the years went by. 

A good example of that anticipation is found in a man named Simeon whom we read about in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2. Luke wrote, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” (Luke 2:25-26 – NIV) Can you catch a sense of the anticipation with which Simeon lived? And in fact, when he finally saw the one for whom he had been waiting and anticipating, the baby Jesus, Simeon cried out, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (vss. 29-32) 

Christmas, advent (which means “the arrival”), is all about anticipation. As we anticipate the day on which we remember and celebrate the incarnation of our Lord Jesus, we get a small taste of the anticipation the people of God lived with for so many years, even centuries as they looked forward to his coming. And, we remind ourselves of the anticipation with which we live today as we await his return. 

“O come, o come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel…Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”  

Let’s allow the anticipation of Christmas to fill our hearts.  

Have a great day!

- Pastor Tim Harris