Hi, I’m Ruthie Seiders and I’m coming to you from our back yard here in Billerica under a beautiful blue sky watching the sun descend beyond out house. I’ve been waiting to record this video for about 2 hours now because for some reason all of our neighbors decided that this afternoon was the perfect time to mow their lawns! And I’m not all that good at waiting!

Waiting. When I think of waiting, I have this image of training a dog to stay. You tell the dog to sit. He is so obedient. He sits. He is looking at you with longing eyes as you begin to walk away. Stay. You take a few more steps away. Stay. A little further. Stay. You can see it in his eyes. He can’t stand it. He wants to move. The second you say, “Come!” he lunges forward, tail wagging as fast as possible as he leaps to your side. Waiting is so hard for a dog.  But let’s be honest, not many of us are good at waiting.. 

I was thinking about this idea of waiting as I was thinking about the fact that this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and if you know me you know I love Pentecost. About 10 days before Pentecost, Jesus was saying some last words to his disciples right before he ascended into heaven to return to the Father. He told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.  Luke records Jesus’ words in the first chapter of the Book of Acts. Jesus said, “This is what you have heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Wait.  Probably not what the disciples wanted to hear.  Jesus has been teaching them about the kingdom of God, something they were hoping was going to come momentarily.  How long would they have to wait? Would it be a day, two days? It was for an undetermined amount of time. If you have never thought much about waiting or the significance of the timing in life, listen to these words:

To realize the value of ten years: Ask a 55 year old subject of corporate downsizing.

To realize the value of four years: Ask a graduate.

To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize the value of nine months: Ask a mother who gave birth to a still born.

To realize the value of one month: Ask a father sitting in the NICU with his premature baby.

To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour: Ask the parents who are waiting for their son or daughter to emerge from baggage claim after returning home from deployment.

To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the bus, or plane, or train (and I have a story for you about that one for another time!).

To realize the value of one-second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

The disciples are waiting, together. They had time to think upon all that Jesus had taught them. To think about his last words. Wait. Wait there for the promise of the Father. In a way, they still did not completely understand all that Jesus has been trying to teach them. Isn’t that comforting? To know that even those who walked with Jesus daily, who were eye-witnesses to his death and resurrection, still did not understand everything?  Although, eventually they did, and what made the difference?  The coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father Jesus spoke about.. 

We are in a season of waiting. And it’s hard. We are waiting for good health reports, for the COVID numbers to go down, for a vaccine to be created, tested, proven, and distributed. We are waiting to get back together with friends and family, with small groups and in-person worship services. We are waiting to return to offices, workplace, and schools. And some of you are waiting for jobs to be reinstated, hours to be brought back, or even looking for a new job. We are waiting to see what summer vacation will look like, what will we be able to do, what will need to be postponed to another time? Here’s the thing, whatever it is for which you are waiting, you do so as one who lives on this side of Pentecost. And even though, like the disciples, we do not completely understand what the Lord is doing, unlike the disciples we can take great comfort in knowing that we have the Holy Spirit available right now to continue to fill us with his power, strength, and comfort. And we who are filled with the Holy Spirit are able to display the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22 and they are – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So, this Pentecost weekend, invite the Holy Spirit to refresh those fruit in your life so you can stay the course. Allow those fruit to be evident in your life as you participate in the This is Grace or other community needs, with your friends and family. And let’s trust that in our waiting, the Lord is not sitting idly by, he is not waiting. God is working and moving and preparing something new for us on the other side of all of this  And that will be worth waiting for!

Have a great day.