Waiting Is Not My Spiritual Gift

I don’t like to wait. Traffic lights don’t turn green fast. Golfers ahead of me don’t play fast enough. Checkout lines don’t move along fast enough. And commercials don’t end soon enough.

I really don’t like to wait. It’s not my spiritual gift!

Yesterday I waited ten minutes at our bank’s drive-through. Only one other car was there at the time, and my transaction was so simple a caveman could handle it.

My next stop was the barbershop. The barber cut my hair in eight minutes. Maybe he should get a job at the bank. He beat the drive-through teller’s time by two minutes.

My sermon this morning is titled, ”The Royal Road to Calvary.” As you might guess, it focuses on Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of what has been called Holy Week. A multitude welcomed Him with shouts of “Hosanna,” meaning “Save now.” It must have been quite a sight. As Jesus rode a donkey into the city, the crowd spread clothing and tree branches in front of Him. Hope must have been running high that day—hope that Jesus would cast off Roman oppression and restore the kingdom to Israel.

But wait! Jesus had come to redeem, not reign. He had come to die on a cross, not to don a crown. In a few days, the crowd that called out “Hosanna” would cry out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Jesus embraced the cross, where He purchased our redemption with His blood. Three days later, He arose from the dead, and 40 days later He ascended to Heaven, where He is seated at the Father’s right hand.

But wait! Someday, Jesus will restore the kingdom to Israel. He will return to Earth. When He returns, He will be wearing many crowns on His head. He will ride, not on a donkey but on a white horse. He will triumph over His enemies and lead a procession of armies from heaven. On His robe and thigh, He will bear a name, “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

I can hardly wait for that stellar event.