Daily Lectionary Readings for November 19, 2010
Psalm 147
Malachi 3:1-12
James 5:7-12
Luke 18:1-8
James 5:7-12
"Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord."(v.7)
James urges the followers of Christ to be patient in their waiting for his return. This is an interesting passage to come across with the beginning of the liturgical season of Advent a week and a day away. Advent has become the preamble to the celebration of Christmas and when we think of the Advent of Christ it seems most often to be the coming (or Advent) of the Christ child that is in our minds. Of course Advent points not only to remembering the Advent of the Christ child, but ahead, to the future, to the coming of Christ. I wonder how many of us actually have the sense of urgency and anticipation about Christ's coming that would ever lead us to feel impatient. The people James is speaking to our impatient for the Lord's return. Two thousand years later we've become accustomed to waiting. Used to it. Yet God's time is God's time and we are reminded by this passage perhaps that Christ's return can be anytime - our call is not to live with a sense of panic or impatience, but to live for certain with expectation that Christ who came will come again.
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