Living Attentively in the Gap

While some of us are patient people, we live in a society that expects immediate gratification. Even in the midst of the immediacy of society, there are many things for which we wait. Pastor Barbara Moyer Lehman wonders if or how we are waiting for the return of Christ. Matthew 24:36-44 calls us to be ready; to be alert. What does that mean for us today, as we live in this extended gap between Jesus' first coming and his second? Paul, in Romans calls the church in Rome to live in light. As we examine our life in the gap, are we attentive and alert to God: Are we behaving decently? Are we walking in the light, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Pastor Barbara encouraged us to look for what is darkness in our lives. What challenges us and keeps us from living in the light? In a practical turn, how do we push back the darkness of materialism that surrounds Christmas?  As Pastor Barbara said, "As people of faith, let us live with a sense of anticipation of Christ's return".