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As a parent one of the most painstaking, frustrating, patience-testing moments is getting my 5 year old son out the door on time.  He’s at the age where he can do things for himself - put on his socks, tie his shoes, zip up his jacket—he can do all these things, he just chooses not to.  He takes his sweet little time and gets caught by any distraction along the way - the sock becomes a puppet, the shoelaces become helicopters blades, the zipper drops a beat like.  Meanwhile, the clock ticks on.

My parents tell me I used to be like that.  Frustratingly slow.  I actually have memories of it.  Not so much of being slow, but how my Father responded to it all.  He had a phrase he would use; it’s burned in my mind.  

In my distracted, lethargic pace my dad would say to me: “What are you waiting for, Christmas?”  Even in the middle of July.  Perhaps you have the same memory.

What are you waiting for? Christmas?  It’s actually a profound question.  Beyond the tongue in cheek, beyond the humorous rhetoric is a deeply meaningful question.  What are you waiting for?  It is the kind of question that, if taken seriously, invokes a journey into deep recesses of the soul.  A question that sets in motion honest searching for our deepest desires.  

Interestingly, it is the first question Jesus asks in the Gospel of John.  More than that, it’s the first set of words out of his mouth. Jesus chooses slightly different words to ask the question, but it’s the question nonetheless.  He turns to Andrew, looks him straight in the eye and asks the question that reaches deep into the soul: “What do you want?”  The Son of God, God in human flesh, looking you straight in the eye, peering deep into the widow of your soul, asking: “what do you want?…What are you waiting for?” I’m not sure how I would have answered. 

What are you waiting for? In life?  A new adventure, a new love, perhaps.  Or is it a return on your investment, or your retirement.  Maybe you’re waiting for your next big break, or you’re simply waiting for any break, a break from the stress, from the kids, from the husband.

But beyond all that, what are you really waiting for?  

Could it be what you are really waiting for is Christmas after all?  The arrival of Christ.  The God who took on flesh.  Heaven’s love reaching down into your world, your life.

What are you waiting for?  It is the appropriate question for the season of advent.  It’s appropriate because it’s the kind of question that prepares our hearts for the coming of Christ.  Advent is from the Latin word for ‘an appearing’ or ‘an arrival.’  Advent is the arrival of something we’ve hoped for, something we’ve anticipated, something we are waiting for.

So, let me invite you into the advent season.  Let me invite you to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ with a simple question.

What are you waiting for?