Monday, December 3, 2018

Art of Piddling


The Gospel according to Rock Legend Tom Petty tells us that “the waiting is the hardest part.” If we think about it, we spend most of our lives waiting on something. We wait in the carpool line, the Starbucks’ Drive-thru line. We wait for the test results to come back from the doctor’s office, for our spouse to finish getting ready for dinner. 
We wait for an important phone call or letter or email or text. We get put on hold and have to wait for someone else to talk to. I like it when they can tell me how long I can expect to stay on hold. Children spend December waiting for Santa Claus to slide down the chimney to drop off presents. We can’t stand to wait!
            In Pastoral Care 101, they tell you not to pray for patience because what you are really asking is for God to help you learn how to wait some more. A colleague once told me to pray for peace instead of patience. Patience is circumstantial and depends on factors outside our control. However, finding peace is about being content no matter the circumstances. So, pray for peace if you find yourself growing impatient.
            Today is the 1stSunday of Advent. The first Sunday of the church calendar. Historically, Advent is the season of waiting. Naturally, we think about waiting for Christmas to get here. We think about waiting for the birth of Jesus. Unless you weren’t paying attention to the gospel lesson, it is obvious that the lectionary writers want us to think about waiting in a more cosmic sense on the first Sunday of Advent.
            After the disciples ask Jesus to predict the destruction of the Temple, Jesus begins dialogue about interpreting the signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. He tells his followers to be alert, to be on guard so they aren’t caught off guard when the new age breaks into the present age. He also says this generation will not pass away before these calamities take place. Basically, he tells them to expect it to happen at an unexpected time.
            Waiting for Jesus isn’t like waiting on hold to speak to the next customer service representative. First of all, Jesus doesn’t exactly give us an expected waiting time (he is pretty vague). Secondly, waiting for Jesus is not idle waiting. It doesn’t look like counting how many times you can wrap the telephone cord around your finger (does anyone still have a phone with a cord?).
            Rather, waiting for Jesus is active. It means preparing our heart, body, and soul to be ready when God breaks into our lives. It looks like discernment of God’s will and purpose. In particular, it looks like being open to the unexpected. And if we aren’t paying attention to the unexpected, God breaking into our lives might startle us. God breaking into our lives might cause fear and foreboding because any change – no matter how good – is disruptive. 
            Our preacher for the Celebration of New Ministry, Henry Hudson, taught me a valuable lesson about waiting. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a hard time sitting still. I feel the need to always be doing something. It is hard for me to turn off. He told me, “you need to learn the art of piddling.”
            At first, I thought that was pretty lame advice, but the more I listened the more I understood. For Henry, the art of piddling means doing what you enjoy doing without expecting a particular result (in case you are wondering, the art of piddling is really hard to do as a golfer). Piddling means doing what you like to do and rejoicing in whatever experience is in store for that day (even if that means playing terrible golf). Or like Jane said a few weeks ago, the art of piddling is not about the destination but the journey. 
            Like the disciples, we, as individuals and institutions, like to focus on the destination as opposed to the journey. We want instant gratification. We want to see the results now. We want to check the next box off the list and move. In a results oriented world, there is no room for piddling. 
However, we are following the One who is the destination. Jesus is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. In his presence, the wait is over. In him, we have arrived because he is arrived! But there is no denying we still live in a world ruled by impatience and anxiety and fear. Sin and death still have power over us and cause us to forget that God has drawn near in Jesus Christ. Sin and death still have the power to tell us to seek our own destination rather than God’s destination in Christ. 
As you will often hear in theological circles, we exist in the already and not yet. The time between Christ is Risen and Christ will come again. We are waiting for the hope that is and was and is to come. We live between the present age – one ruled by sin and death and the age to come – the one ruled by Jesus and his love.
So, what do we as Christians do with all this waiting? Jesus calls us to be aware, be alert. Jesus calls us to be attentive to how the not yet is breaking into the present age. Jesus calls us to piddle and expect God’s kingdom to break into our lives at unexpected times – especially during the worst of times. After all, the story of Jesus’ birth is all about God breaking into this world at an unexpected time, in an unexpected place, through unexpected people.
And we aren’t simply called to notice these breakthroughs but also tell others about them. Like Mary, we are called to carry the stories of God’s unexpected breakthroughs in our lives and sing about them – to sustain this often dark and chaotic world with a word of hope and encouragement. 
During this Annual Giving campaign, you have been sharing these stories of God's unexpected breakthrough through Church of the Ascension. You were looking for a church home and almost gave up but as you were walking out the door someone greeted you cheerfully. Now you are involved in leadership. 
You came because you wanted your kids to experience church but now you are the one who can’t wait to get back each Sunday. You heard about Ascension at a car dealership when you sold a car to Mike Sparks – talk about unexpected! 
At the Vestry Retreat and Parish Retreat, we are going to take a look at all the many ways God’s kingdom is breaking through into our life together at Church of the Ascension. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure we are going to have enough time to do this but that is good news because we can keep on doing it. 
We can keep on waiting actively, piddling, keeping our eyes open to how God is reminding us that we have arrived in Jesus. When things get difficult, we can stand together, raise our heads in hope, and expect the unexpected – the Son of Man descending from heaven to make things right again. And the more we do this the more stories we will have to tell to keep hope alive. 
I can’t help you when it comes to waiting for your spouse to get ready or for the customer service representative to take you off hold. But I do want to help you wait for God to break into your life in unexpected ways. My door is open for this ongoing conversation. 
During this Advent season, I pray your waiting on God to arrive changes your posture from the hardest part to the most joyful part, from a posture of impatience to one of peace, from a posture of worry to one of expectation. I hope the mystery of our faith – the one we proclaim every Sunday – Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again – becomes a promise that you can learn to trust and count on especially during the hard times, the impatient times, the anxious times. Friends in Christ, cling to the promises of God at all times – Christ will come again. Amen. 

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