146,000 silent nights.

Advent.

As much as I may want to try to convince myself that things are simple, they're not. I am complex. You are complex. Our hearts are complex. Culture is complex. Language is complex. The world is complex. The universe is complex.....because God is complex. He is. He just is. It's part of the richness. I am so drawn, and at times driven, to want to explain, manipulate and control. It's too big. He's too big. His bigness and richness always breaks out from my ability to control and explain it. If I'm given a can of peaches having never seen it before, but no can opener, in some ways that seems kind of cruel. Bible book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verse 11. God has stamped eternity in the hearts of men, but we are not fully able to fathom it. I receive the can opener of the kindness of God that He tells us that we can't fully take it in. I believe that part of the beautiful complexity that I am occasionally constantly aware of is eternity being deposited into my life. When I write, "There's more", this is literally where I think it comes from. I feel like I could write, "There's more" right here and be done now, but I'll press on a bit more.

There is an invitation to watch and wait in Advent. An invitation to pay attention. When we're waiting for something, especially when we can't "fully fathom" what it is that we are waiting on, it's hard. It's hard to pay attention. When facing the unpredictable, it's easier to dull, numb and run at times, probably all the time.

I believe that those who lived before Jesus was born get this. Think of a few specific examples from the Old Testament love letters.

*Bible book of Psalm, chapter 130. A few lines from there. "Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord...hear my voice...I wait for the Lord, my soul waits...O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins." These words are so stirring as I read them. But think about the original hearers. As they read, "with Him is full redemption...He Himself will redeem them from all their sins", they don't fully know how. They don't really know how this will happen. They don't really know what will happen. Jesus hasn't arrived yet. How will He do this? So, they wait. And they watch. And they seek to pay attention. And they face the pull to dull, numb and run.

*Bible book of Isaiah, chapter 9. A few lines from there. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned...for to us a child is born, to us a son is given...He will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God...". They don't really know how this will happen. Jesus hasn't arrived yet. How will He do this? So, they wait. And they watch. And they seek to pay attention. And they face the pull to dull, numb and run.

*Bible book of Malachi, chapter 4. A few lines from there. Closing words of the Old Testament. "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes...He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers...or else I will come and strike the land with a curse". The vision of restored, right relationships and the vision of curse closes the Old Testament love letters. They don't really know how this will happen. What is this really? Jesus hasn't arrived yet. How will He do this? So, they wait. And they watch. And they seek to pay attention. And they face the pull to dull, numb and run.

And then...

400 years of silence.

146,000 silent nights.

Watching. Waiting. Seeking to pay attention. There is an invitation to watch and wait in Advent. An invitation to pay attention. When we're waiting for something, especially when we can't "fully fathom" what it is that we are waiting on, it's hard. It's hard to pay attention. When facing the unpredictable, it's easier to dull, numb and run at times, probably all the time.

There is potentially just as much unpredictability in your heart as you wait for Jesus today as there was for these prior to His birth. Because, really, we're still waiting for Jesus. That's why we practice waiting again and again in Advent, because we ARE waiting, this time for His return. Or, perhaps you're waiting for His birth for the first time, in you. Maybe today, you're not aware that you're waiting for Jesus, maybe not even aware that you're waiting period. The original hearers of Psalm 130, Isaiah 9 and Malachi 4 didn't really know how it would happen, these words they received. These hearers today either. It's complex. God is ok with complex.

The last word of the Old Testament is "curse".

Then 146,000 silent nights.

The last words of the New Testament are, "He who testifies to these things says, 'yes I am coming soon'. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen."

Something happens from the closing of the Old Testament to the closing of the New Testament.

"The Lord Jesus. "

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

There's more.