Isaiah 9:1-7; Matthew 1:18-23 November 29, 2009
The First Sunday of Advent
“Waiting with Hope”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Have you ever wondered if God is really with us? Have you ever doubted whether what I’ve been teaching you and you’ve been believing is even true?
It’s okay to say ‘yes’ to those questions. It is okay to question sometimes why you’re here on a Sunday morning. It is okay to doubt if God is real, and if God is real, to wonder from time to time if God is really with us. It’s okay, as long as we don’t allow the doubts to overwhelm us, and start living out of faith instead of in faith. God gave us minds to think and hearts to ponder. I think that as long as our doubts and our questions don’t become our all-in-all, but become a catalyst to searching for more of God, than we should welcome them as part of what it means to be a Christ-follower in a sinful world.
Do you wonder, like I do, what painful event started the all-consuming crusade of a man who seems to live out of a need to erase all evidences of faith in Jesus Christ from towns and cities in America? In case you didn’t hear, the crèche was ordered to be removed from the square in Chambersburg this past week in response to a request to post a sign from a group of atheists. The Chambersburg Borough Council decided to allow nothing except flags and wreaths, instead of allowing everything – and ordered the removal of the crèche. The man who brought the request for the sign is the same man, according to the P.O. who in 1998 successfully got the crosses taken down at Caledonia’s State Park Chapel; got the Gideons to drop plans to give New Testaments to Waynesboro elementary students; got a suit filed against the Hagerstown Suns because they had a special discount rate given on Easter Sunday if you brought your church bulletin with you; and who knows how many other non-publicized attempts and successes he has had to remove visible evidences of faith in Jesus Christ from our towns and cities. One man, who seems to have found his answers in everything but God.
Let me repeat: It is okay to question the ways of God. It is okay to doubt God’s existence from time to time. It doesn’t make you more sinful than you already are – it just confirms our humanity. If we’re honest, I think everyone wonders from time to time if God is really with us, because, well – just look around at the world. People are hungry and oppressed, wars still rage on, crime seems to be getting more and more commonplace, and certainly more violent, people seem angrier, meaner, and certainly less concerned about sexual purity than ever before. Is God really with us in the midst of the mess we seem intent on creating?
Nearly 750 years before Christ was born, there were people of God who were wondering the same thing. After the nation of Israel finally made it into the land of Canaan after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they ended up dividing into two separate kingdoms – the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom was called Judah, or Judea. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Assyria invaded the northern kingdom in 743 B.C. and conquered several cities (2 Kings 15:29). As a result, the people were carried off, captive to Assyria. Israel then became a vassal state, meaning that Israel became subordinate to Assyrian rule. It would be like another country coming and taking over the United States, and then we would have to do whatever the leader of the conquering country told us to do! Talk about wondering where God was! The Israelite people were definitely having a crisis of faith – doubting God’s goodness and God’s power to save. Some wondered if God’s people would ever find peace and unity again.
But there were some who believed. Some believed that one day God would restore their nation under the leadership of a new ruler, a ruler who would be a descendant of King David. There were some who believed that even though the symbols of their faith were no longer in the public square, God was still with them. God was still working His plan out. All they had to do was keep the faith that had been given to them.
Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah – a confession of faith in God and the future of God’s people: (Isaiah 9:1-7)
“But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali [those are two of the areas conquered by the Assyrians], but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness [that’s the way they felt in their captivity], [now, notice the tense of the verbs coming up] have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. [Notice that Isaiah is not writing in the future tense, even though what he is proclaiming has not yet happened ‘in time.’]
You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
The phrase that describes their experience as “deep darkness” is the same phrase that is used in the 23rd Psalm – the shadow of death. That’s how dark things were – like the darkness of the anguish of death.
Many of us have experienced dark times. We haven’t been carted off to another country, and our own country still has its freedom – but we have had times when we didn’t feel like going on. We have had times when everything around us seemed so wrong that trying to smile through it seemed like one big farce. We have experienced pain, loss, loneliness, rejection, deep darkness.
And then God sends a message. A messenger. A little light. And that kernel of hope within us begins to move.
Isaiah spoke of a time when a son would be born. Now, some thought that he was speaking about a new king – probably Hezekiah – who ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. The scriptures tell us in 2 Kings 18 that Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. He held fast to the Lord. And in v. 7, we read, “The Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.”
Some thought that surely Isaiah was writing about Hezekiah: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders . . . “ But even Hezekiah couldn’t fulfill the titles prophesied: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. No human king could ever attain these ideals. Isaiah must be talking about the promised Messiah – the King of kings, for no human king could bring about endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.
Isaiah spoke these words 750 years before Christ was born. For 750 more years, the people walked from the darkness to light, from the light to darkness, from good times into bad times, from strong trust to doubt and back again. Is God really with us? Is the light really coming? They watched. They waited. They searched for signs. For 750 years. Entire generations lived and died without seeing God’s promise of a new king fulfilled.
How did they keep on walking in faith? How do we? It has been 2000 years. 2000. Not 750 years. 2000. Do you wonder sometimes, “How long, O Lord?” “Are you still with us, Emmanuel?”
And then, Advent arrives – a time we focus on the “wait.” Not the weight. The wait. W.A.I.T. It’s a time we say to one another, “Yes. It is hard waiting, isn’t it?” Advent is a time we acknowledge the reality of Christ’s birth, and the delay of his return. We begin the season of Advent today. And so, the question is this one: Are you waiting for Him in deep darkness, or are you waiting in the light? The message has been given to us. We have the history right here in the Bible, and we have some faith within us. The messenger [John the Baptist] called out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” And he came - the King of kings arrived – the hope of Israel – the desire of all nations – Jesus was born and Jesus will return one day to claim his people for endless peace.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the writer gives Jesus’ earthly genealogy, demonstrating Jesus’ right to reign according to the prophesies. It was from Abraham that Israel learned their chosen destiny. The promise was made to Abraham by God that ultimately a descendant would come from him through whom all the peoples of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12; 15; and 17). Matthew’s gospel begins, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” He wants to make sure that those who have waited in faith, have the facts to assure them that the one for whom they wait, has come.
Following the genealogy, we read the details: “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus is the great light for all who walk in darkness. He can be your wonderful counselor in times of confusion, the mighty God to help you overcome your fears and turn back your enemies, the Everlasting Father who will never, ever abandon his children, and the Prince of Peace in spite of wars and rumors of wars.
I want to finish this morning by sharing a little about a popular Christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman. Steven and his wife experienced a tragedy in May of 2008, not unlike some tragedies some of you have endured. Steven and Mary Beth Chapman have 3 biological children, and also 3 adopted little girls from China. In May of 2008, the littlest girl, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident. I want to read some of the news account:
He stood there at the hospital, not as a Christian music singer comforting a little child, but as a father praying for a miracle.
Steven Curtis Chapman held onto his wife that night 18 months ago and prayed for their 5-year-old Maria, their youngest adopted daughter, who had been accidentally struck in the family's driveway by one of her brothers returning home in his truck. Chapman had tried CPR at his house. The paramedics had tried to revive her but she had been pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Now he asked God's help to bring her back. Chapman's wife, Mary Beth, told him they had to accept her destiny. "It was after a few minutes that my wife, with her hand on my shoulder, said, 'I really think we are supposed to let her go for now.’ “
Chapman, who has been singing Christian music for more than 20 years, was now faced with a God he had not known before. Everything he thought about God was different, he said, and he began to wrestle with his beliefs. His new album, his 19th, entitled "Beauty Will Rise," is his personal testament to Maria's life and the overwhelming belief that they will be together again one day.
Maria had been playing behind the family's home in Franklin, Tennessee, on May 21, 2008, when her brother Will came around the driveway in an SUV. While no one is sure exactly what happened, Maria, who wanted someone to lift her on the monkey bars, ran towards her brother's truck and was struck. In the days after Maria's death, the whole family -- Chapman, his wife, their two sons, their daughter and two other adopted daughters -- grieved together, went everywhere together, did everything together, even sleeping all in one room. Chapman said he felt like he was in a black hole. "I just felt myself being pulled down into this place of despair," he said. [Deep darkness.]
Chapman and Maria had a special connection. He met her in her native China while she was an infant. He and his wife had already adopted two children from there, and weren't looking for another. But Maria "touched a special place in my heart," and he called his wife just to tell her about the baby girl. "I can't put it into words, but I've picked up a lot of little orphan boys and girls over the years," he said. "I've never had anything happen to my heart like what happened when I held this little girl in my arms for a few minutes." It was almost impossible to imagine her not bouncing through the house, not dancing along as he sung to her, he recalled. And it was equally as difficult to think about singing again after she died.
Her passing was an emotional earthquake and in the immediate aftermath Chapman doubted he would want to write and sing again. He cringed at the suggestion that he write songs about Maria. Her death was such a deeper level of sadness than he had felt before that he thought he would never be able to share that pain through music, he said. But as the dust settled and life went back to its new normal, Chapman began to think about putting his fears and hopes into music. He still didn't plan on doing an album, but songwriting was helping him heal. "Songs are really cathartic for me," he said, "because they force me to put my feelings and thoughts into a capsule and say, 'There it is.' " The first song he wrote, "Just Have to Wait," was an example of the raw emotion Chapman hoped to share. Chapman said he wrote it sitting alone in the darkness, just aiming to share with his family the faith he has that each one of them will join her in heaven. "It's the day-to-day pain, just walking the journey."
Advent is that time when we tell God (even in the midst of our doubts and questions), “Life is hard.” “Oh God, sometimes it just all feels overwhelming.” “Come, Lord Jesus. Come.” And then a message – a messenger comes – to remind you and me that living hopefully in faith, is far better than living out of faith. Even in the midst of tragedies, God is the ruler yet. Immanuel has come. He is God with Us.
“Just Have to Wait”
Steven Curtis Chapman
Well, I can't wait to see your smile again,
The one when your eyes disappear
along with all my troubles
And I can't wait to hear you sing a song
Maybe Jesus Loves Me
or a song you learned up there
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
I can't wait to hear your mama laugh
The way that only you can make her laugh when you get silly
And I can't wait to see you in her arms
I know the wound so deep inside her heart
is healed for good
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
And I can't wait to dance with you again
Knowing that this time we dance,
we'll never have to end
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
And I can't wait to see your sisters play
The way they do when all of you
are playing all together
I can't wait to watch your brother's face
When he can finally see with his own eyes
Everything's okay
And I just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
And I just have to wait
Let us wait with hope. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. Nothing. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. May hope be born or reborn in us today as we gather around this Table and commune with Him and with one another. Amen.
The First Sunday of Advent
“Waiting with Hope”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Have you ever wondered if God is really with us? Have you ever doubted whether what I’ve been teaching you and you’ve been believing is even true?
It’s okay to say ‘yes’ to those questions. It is okay to question sometimes why you’re here on a Sunday morning. It is okay to doubt if God is real, and if God is real, to wonder from time to time if God is really with us. It’s okay, as long as we don’t allow the doubts to overwhelm us, and start living out of faith instead of in faith. God gave us minds to think and hearts to ponder. I think that as long as our doubts and our questions don’t become our all-in-all, but become a catalyst to searching for more of God, than we should welcome them as part of what it means to be a Christ-follower in a sinful world.
Do you wonder, like I do, what painful event started the all-consuming crusade of a man who seems to live out of a need to erase all evidences of faith in Jesus Christ from towns and cities in America? In case you didn’t hear, the crèche was ordered to be removed from the square in Chambersburg this past week in response to a request to post a sign from a group of atheists. The Chambersburg Borough Council decided to allow nothing except flags and wreaths, instead of allowing everything – and ordered the removal of the crèche. The man who brought the request for the sign is the same man, according to the P.O. who in 1998 successfully got the crosses taken down at Caledonia’s State Park Chapel; got the Gideons to drop plans to give New Testaments to Waynesboro elementary students; got a suit filed against the Hagerstown Suns because they had a special discount rate given on Easter Sunday if you brought your church bulletin with you; and who knows how many other non-publicized attempts and successes he has had to remove visible evidences of faith in Jesus Christ from our towns and cities. One man, who seems to have found his answers in everything but God.
Let me repeat: It is okay to question the ways of God. It is okay to doubt God’s existence from time to time. It doesn’t make you more sinful than you already are – it just confirms our humanity. If we’re honest, I think everyone wonders from time to time if God is really with us, because, well – just look around at the world. People are hungry and oppressed, wars still rage on, crime seems to be getting more and more commonplace, and certainly more violent, people seem angrier, meaner, and certainly less concerned about sexual purity than ever before. Is God really with us in the midst of the mess we seem intent on creating?
Nearly 750 years before Christ was born, there were people of God who were wondering the same thing. After the nation of Israel finally made it into the land of Canaan after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they ended up dividing into two separate kingdoms – the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom was called Judah, or Judea. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Assyria invaded the northern kingdom in 743 B.C. and conquered several cities (2 Kings 15:29). As a result, the people were carried off, captive to Assyria. Israel then became a vassal state, meaning that Israel became subordinate to Assyrian rule. It would be like another country coming and taking over the United States, and then we would have to do whatever the leader of the conquering country told us to do! Talk about wondering where God was! The Israelite people were definitely having a crisis of faith – doubting God’s goodness and God’s power to save. Some wondered if God’s people would ever find peace and unity again.
But there were some who believed. Some believed that one day God would restore their nation under the leadership of a new ruler, a ruler who would be a descendant of King David. There were some who believed that even though the symbols of their faith were no longer in the public square, God was still with them. God was still working His plan out. All they had to do was keep the faith that had been given to them.
Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah – a confession of faith in God and the future of God’s people: (Isaiah 9:1-7)
“But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali [those are two of the areas conquered by the Assyrians], but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness [that’s the way they felt in their captivity], [now, notice the tense of the verbs coming up] have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. [Notice that Isaiah is not writing in the future tense, even though what he is proclaiming has not yet happened ‘in time.’]
You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
The phrase that describes their experience as “deep darkness” is the same phrase that is used in the 23rd Psalm – the shadow of death. That’s how dark things were – like the darkness of the anguish of death.
Many of us have experienced dark times. We haven’t been carted off to another country, and our own country still has its freedom – but we have had times when we didn’t feel like going on. We have had times when everything around us seemed so wrong that trying to smile through it seemed like one big farce. We have experienced pain, loss, loneliness, rejection, deep darkness.
And then God sends a message. A messenger. A little light. And that kernel of hope within us begins to move.
Isaiah spoke of a time when a son would be born. Now, some thought that he was speaking about a new king – probably Hezekiah – who ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. The scriptures tell us in 2 Kings 18 that Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. He held fast to the Lord. And in v. 7, we read, “The Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.”
Some thought that surely Isaiah was writing about Hezekiah: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders . . . “ But even Hezekiah couldn’t fulfill the titles prophesied: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. No human king could ever attain these ideals. Isaiah must be talking about the promised Messiah – the King of kings, for no human king could bring about endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.
Isaiah spoke these words 750 years before Christ was born. For 750 more years, the people walked from the darkness to light, from the light to darkness, from good times into bad times, from strong trust to doubt and back again. Is God really with us? Is the light really coming? They watched. They waited. They searched for signs. For 750 years. Entire generations lived and died without seeing God’s promise of a new king fulfilled.
How did they keep on walking in faith? How do we? It has been 2000 years. 2000. Not 750 years. 2000. Do you wonder sometimes, “How long, O Lord?” “Are you still with us, Emmanuel?”
And then, Advent arrives – a time we focus on the “wait.” Not the weight. The wait. W.A.I.T. It’s a time we say to one another, “Yes. It is hard waiting, isn’t it?” Advent is a time we acknowledge the reality of Christ’s birth, and the delay of his return. We begin the season of Advent today. And so, the question is this one: Are you waiting for Him in deep darkness, or are you waiting in the light? The message has been given to us. We have the history right here in the Bible, and we have some faith within us. The messenger [John the Baptist] called out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” And he came - the King of kings arrived – the hope of Israel – the desire of all nations – Jesus was born and Jesus will return one day to claim his people for endless peace.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the writer gives Jesus’ earthly genealogy, demonstrating Jesus’ right to reign according to the prophesies. It was from Abraham that Israel learned their chosen destiny. The promise was made to Abraham by God that ultimately a descendant would come from him through whom all the peoples of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12; 15; and 17). Matthew’s gospel begins, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” He wants to make sure that those who have waited in faith, have the facts to assure them that the one for whom they wait, has come.
Following the genealogy, we read the details: “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus is the great light for all who walk in darkness. He can be your wonderful counselor in times of confusion, the mighty God to help you overcome your fears and turn back your enemies, the Everlasting Father who will never, ever abandon his children, and the Prince of Peace in spite of wars and rumors of wars.
I want to finish this morning by sharing a little about a popular Christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman. Steven and his wife experienced a tragedy in May of 2008, not unlike some tragedies some of you have endured. Steven and Mary Beth Chapman have 3 biological children, and also 3 adopted little girls from China. In May of 2008, the littlest girl, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident. I want to read some of the news account:
He stood there at the hospital, not as a Christian music singer comforting a little child, but as a father praying for a miracle.
Steven Curtis Chapman held onto his wife that night 18 months ago and prayed for their 5-year-old Maria, their youngest adopted daughter, who had been accidentally struck in the family's driveway by one of her brothers returning home in his truck. Chapman had tried CPR at his house. The paramedics had tried to revive her but she had been pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Now he asked God's help to bring her back. Chapman's wife, Mary Beth, told him they had to accept her destiny. "It was after a few minutes that my wife, with her hand on my shoulder, said, 'I really think we are supposed to let her go for now.’ “
Chapman, who has been singing Christian music for more than 20 years, was now faced with a God he had not known before. Everything he thought about God was different, he said, and he began to wrestle with his beliefs. His new album, his 19th, entitled "Beauty Will Rise," is his personal testament to Maria's life and the overwhelming belief that they will be together again one day.
Maria had been playing behind the family's home in Franklin, Tennessee, on May 21, 2008, when her brother Will came around the driveway in an SUV. While no one is sure exactly what happened, Maria, who wanted someone to lift her on the monkey bars, ran towards her brother's truck and was struck. In the days after Maria's death, the whole family -- Chapman, his wife, their two sons, their daughter and two other adopted daughters -- grieved together, went everywhere together, did everything together, even sleeping all in one room. Chapman said he felt like he was in a black hole. "I just felt myself being pulled down into this place of despair," he said. [Deep darkness.]
Chapman and Maria had a special connection. He met her in her native China while she was an infant. He and his wife had already adopted two children from there, and weren't looking for another. But Maria "touched a special place in my heart," and he called his wife just to tell her about the baby girl. "I can't put it into words, but I've picked up a lot of little orphan boys and girls over the years," he said. "I've never had anything happen to my heart like what happened when I held this little girl in my arms for a few minutes." It was almost impossible to imagine her not bouncing through the house, not dancing along as he sung to her, he recalled. And it was equally as difficult to think about singing again after she died.
Her passing was an emotional earthquake and in the immediate aftermath Chapman doubted he would want to write and sing again. He cringed at the suggestion that he write songs about Maria. Her death was such a deeper level of sadness than he had felt before that he thought he would never be able to share that pain through music, he said. But as the dust settled and life went back to its new normal, Chapman began to think about putting his fears and hopes into music. He still didn't plan on doing an album, but songwriting was helping him heal. "Songs are really cathartic for me," he said, "because they force me to put my feelings and thoughts into a capsule and say, 'There it is.' " The first song he wrote, "Just Have to Wait," was an example of the raw emotion Chapman hoped to share. Chapman said he wrote it sitting alone in the darkness, just aiming to share with his family the faith he has that each one of them will join her in heaven. "It's the day-to-day pain, just walking the journey."
Advent is that time when we tell God (even in the midst of our doubts and questions), “Life is hard.” “Oh God, sometimes it just all feels overwhelming.” “Come, Lord Jesus. Come.” And then a message – a messenger comes – to remind you and me that living hopefully in faith, is far better than living out of faith. Even in the midst of tragedies, God is the ruler yet. Immanuel has come. He is God with Us.
“Just Have to Wait”
Steven Curtis Chapman
Well, I can't wait to see your smile again,
The one when your eyes disappear
along with all my troubles
And I can't wait to hear you sing a song
Maybe Jesus Loves Me
or a song you learned up there
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
I can't wait to hear your mama laugh
The way that only you can make her laugh when you get silly
And I can't wait to see you in her arms
I know the wound so deep inside her heart
is healed for good
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
And I can't wait to dance with you again
Knowing that this time we dance,
we'll never have to end
But I, oh I'll just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
So I, oh I'll just have to wait
And I can't wait to see your sisters play
The way they do when all of you
are playing all together
I can't wait to watch your brother's face
When he can finally see with his own eyes
Everything's okay
And I just have to wait
'Cause I know that day is coming
And I just have to wait
Let us wait with hope. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. Nothing. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. May hope be born or reborn in us today as we gather around this Table and commune with Him and with one another. Amen.
