Malachi, we're going to finish with him. We're
going to finish this journey in Chesed, God's
enduring, everlasting love for us. We are finishing
a sermon series, and again, I love when we finish
one because we get to look back on where God
has been with us over the last seven weeks and
where God is going to take us, especially entering
the season of Lent. So let's dive in. The intro
for this is kind of this understanding of when
faithfulness feels heavy. And again, I wrote
this more in the beginning of the week before
all of the events have kind of transpired. But
faith can feel heavy at times. I don't know about
you, but I'm sitting in that right now. That
faithfulness is feeling heavy with the weight
of decisions, conversations, disappointments,
excitements, D all of the above. But there can
be a heaviness to that. And for a lot of us,
when it gets heavy, we just don't want to deal
with it. If we're being honest, we just don't
like to deal with it. Because that heaviness
can mean a lot of things. More times than not,
that heaviness has to do with us. Either we're
holding on to something, we're not giving it
away to God, we're not forgiving, there's something
looking inward. When we point the finger at other
people, what do they say? That it's three fingers,
or unless you have a weird thumb, pointing back
at you, it might be four. But understanding that
when faithfulness feels heavy, we probably have
a lot to do with that. And it got me thinking
about the differences between joining a church
and staying in a church. Those aren't the same,
right? It's much like a relationship, right?
When you have a relationship or maybe newly married,
you go through what kind of period? The honeymoon
phase, right? We're just going to leave that
there. I'm not going to ask any questions about
that. But you can have that when joining a church
too. You can. You can't. And there's excitement,
there's something new, getting involved in all
of the things. Whether that takes a week, a year,
ten years to finish. I'm at seven and a half
years in some ways. I feel like I'm still in
the honeymoon phase. In a lot of ways, I know
I'm not. And that is okay, even pastor to church.
But staying in a church is different. Joining
is exciting. Vision, energy, new faces, fresh
ideas. Babies being born, new families walking
through the doors, but staying is different.
And a couple, what I'm going to put, stamps of
things you go through when you stay in a church
is forgiving people when they disappoint you.
Not if, when. Serving when no one thanks you.
We do our best to try to never do that. We always
try to thank. Giving when budgets feel tight
or decisions are made that you don't like. Worshiping
when your heart feels distracted. Believing when
the next step isn't totally clear. Insert Jim
there. I feel that a lot right now. And sometimes,
when we're honest, faithfulness feels like fire,
or less like fire and more like weight. And think
about a church that is 156 years old. I look
around and go, none of us were there when it
started. 156 years. Pastors have come and gone.
Elders have prayed through hard decisions. Families
have buried loved ones. Babies have been baptized.
Buildings have been built. Debts have been paid.
Ministries have shifted, started, ended. Communities
have changed. And through it all, someone kept
showing up. Someone filled the pulpit. Someone
kept giving. Someone kept seeing. Someone kept
believing. We stand here today because generation
after generation after generation chose faithfulness
even when it was difficult. Even, I look at that
timeline, even when the fight of the day. You
talk about church wars, and unfortunately that's
a thing. Biggest church war in this church's
history was what? Who's brave enough to say it?
Are you serious? Someone said pews? Someone said
it over here. Well, you got the assist. You didn't
get the score. Someone said it over here. Language,
right? Language. Who said that? Evan? You're
pointing to Kennedy? Well, you're going to be
married soon. Two become one. So understand,
it was when the main service, the morning service,
went from Dutch to English. Think about that.
How do I know? How do we know that that was a
big deal? No other church was started because
of the Pew War. No church was started because
of the Oregon to Contemporary Worship War. No
church was started when they decided to lower
the height of the stage. Two churches started
because of this church's desire to remain in
Dutch. First Highland, now Faith Highland. First
Lansing, now New Hope. Two churches started because
of that war in the church. The English service
that was happening, it was just done at like
2 o 'clock. But it wasn't in the prime time.
Faithfulness can feel heavy. But generation after
generation after generation of this church, there
has been... faithful people. How do we know it's
still going? You still have a church, and quite
frankly, I still have a job. That's how we know
faithfulness has happened, even when it wasn't
flashy. One of the things, and I've said this
before, one of the things I love about this church's
history, on the day that the final ember was
put out from this church burning to the ground
in 1952, was by the end of that day, the next
six months of services were figured out at other
churches. Some, not even Reformed churches. St.
Paul Lutheran reached out. said, hey, come have
services there. The relationship Munster had
with the other churches and the churches with
Munster was a strong, tight -knit thing. Sometimes
you have to stand on the faithfulness of others
to get through those heavy seasons. That's why
I have elders. That's why I have deacons. That's
why elders and deacons have pastors. We can stand
on each other's faithfulness and time. And now
we're here. The end of this sermon series, looking
at Malachi, talking about potential new buildings,
renewed vision and mission, expanding ministries,
growing families, making a bigger connection
with the community. There's excitement. There's
momentum. There's hope. But there's also weight.
There's weight about staffing. There's weight
about this building. There's weight about enduring
what comes next. And if we're honest, Sometimes
even in a healthy church, which I do believe
we are, we quietly wonder, is steady obedience
still worth it? Is it worth it to remain faithful
here? Or I could just probably go to another
church and get that honeymoon feeling all over
again. The idea of being a church jumper is a
thing. You may know somebody like that. You may
be like that. Or maybe you used to be. But sometimes
it's easy to go. Oh man, staying in this church,
it's so heavy. I could just go to another church,
be an unknown, and get that feeling all over
again. That's exactly what Malachi is speaking
into. This isn't about rebellion this time, guys.
It's not about a collapse, but a faithfulness
that feels heavy. And a God begins with, the
Yahweh, the God of gods, Lord of lords, begins
with these four words. I have loved you. I guarantee
you it's something that Barb would have whispered
to George if she knew Wednesday was going to
be the day he was called home. I have loved you.
Malachi is written to a people who have not walked
away from God. They still gather. They still
worship. They still offer sacrifices. They still
claim the covenant. But something shifted. This
is what makes this one different than the last
six. It's not rebellion this time. It's fatigue.
It's not defiance. It's disillusionment. They're
just looking at this relationship going, is this
all that it is? They're not dealing with idolatry.
They're just dealing with a wariness. This faith
thing stinks sometimes. Malachi speaks to a people
who are asking a very quiet question. And maybe,
just maybe, you're here and you're asking that
question today. Maybe it's a season you've been
asking that question. Maybe for years. Or maybe
this is a question you've never asked. Praise
the Lord. Write a book. I'll read it. Is faithfulness
still worth it? And that question comes only
after a long journey. You rarely get this question
from a new believer. They're excited. They are
saved. My name is in the book of life. Now I'm
not living for the junk of this world. I'm living
for glory. All those new realities takes time
to work through. Insert honeymoon period here.
It's another reason why Paul says don't put those
folks in leadership. They're not ready for it.
To be a leader in a church, you want a weathered,
tested faith. Because sometimes that excitement
can wear off. It's exactly where... We are as
a congregation at times. And that is exactly
where we walk through the chesed of the Lord.
This final look at chesed. Because chesed is
not most tested in moments of crisis. It's tested
in the seasons of long obedience. Talk to anybody
on our call committee right now. They're going
through that season of long obedience. And it's
not always easy. So let's break it down. Let's
jump into Malachi chapter 1. God opens with a
covenant reality, not emotion. I wrote this.
You may think about it as a shot. And if you
do, you're probably a high emotional person.
Calm down. But God is entering with a covenant
promise saying, seek the things that are above,
as Colossians says, not on the things of earth.
Colossians 3. Set your mind on things above,
not on earthly things. This isn't a Colossians
sermon series. Evan and I will write that one
later. But understand that this is a promise
of the covenant from the Old Testament. Malachi
1, starting with verse 2. I have loved you, says
the Lord. But you say, how have you loved us?
Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord?
Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.
I have laid waste his hill country and left his
heritage to jackals of the desert. If Edom says
we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins,
the Lord of hosts says they may build, but I
will tear it down. And they will be called the
wicked country and the people with whom the Lord
is angry forever. God's first words are not a
command, but a declaration. I have loved you.
The people respond, how have you loved us? This
is not curiosity. They're not wondering in a
curious kind of way. This is pressure talking.
This is them feeling a little bit of a bind.
They are back from exile, but the nation are
still strong. The nations are still strong. The
glory seems to be muted. The promises feel delayed.
God answers with election, not experience. And
that's huge. A lot of us, we want that call to
action because we want to do it or we want God
to do it to us. He's not going to enter that
space. He's going to enter with election. Yet
I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. Friends,
this is covenant language. This is at times God
sitting us down, quite frankly, shutting us up
and reminding us of who he is in our lives. We
love to tell God what we mean to him. We love
you. We honor you. We praise you. We do all these
things. I'm at church seven days a week, right?
I do all that. Sometimes God says, time out.
Sit. And let me declare over you who I am. That's
Grace 101. Chesed love is covenant love from
the Canons of Dort. 1 -7. God's love is rooted
in his sovereign choosing, not in the human response.
Right? It's why there is a little bit of a theological
tension. I make this joke every time I go and
preach at Mid -America Reform Seminary. Why didn't
we sing the song, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus?
Because half those guys don't get it, and that's
okay. It's a terrible joke. That's like a Malachi
joke. Never mind. Don't worry about it. God proves
his love by keeping covenant, not by removing
hardship. Leave this one up here, Claire. That's
an important point. Because even the most mature
believer forgets that last piece. God proves
his chesed for us. By keeping his chesed covenant,
not by making our lives easier. Sit with that
for a couple seconds. If your response to God,
your love response to God, your action response
to God, the head, heart, hands, as Evan and the
worship team led us into this morning, if that
is conditional on God moving the hard things
from your life, Pastor Oli, I'm going to lovingly
say, take a time out and think about your relationship
with God, but more so God's relationship to you.
Because if I'm in the mode where I'm really only
wanting God when he's moving the way I want him
to, you don't want God. You don't want a sovereign
Lord. You don't want a Chesed giver. You want
a genie in a bottle. You want a spiritual ATM.
Malachi established something essential here
about Chesed. Chesed is not God sparing his people
from difficulty. Chesed is God binding himself
to his people despite difficulty. Jesus says
it in a beautiful way. In this world you will
have troubles, but take heart, I have overcome.
We'll get there at the end of Lent. Too many
of us have this transactional relationship with
God. God, I love you when you bless me. You bless
me, I'll love you. That is not covenant language.
That is actually something the canon was refuting,
speaking against, denouncing. That if I can do
these things, God's going to love me. I go to
church enough, God's going to do this. I put
enough offering plate, God's going to do this.
I'm going to cover that $400 ,000 gap, so they're
going to put up a statue. Nope. That's never
it. It's never that kind of transaction. It's
covenant. language. And in our humanness, we
get weary. Then our worship gets weary. Our church
attendance gets weary. We get kind of indifferent
to our relationship with church. But that's when
Chesed is treated as common. Malachi 1, 6 through
14. A lot of slides here, okay? Six slides. Let's
go. A son honors his father and a servant his
master. If then I am a father, where is my honor?
And if I am a master, where is my fear? Says
the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise
my name. But you say, how have you despised your
name? By offering polluted food upon my altar.
But you say, how have we polluted you? By saying
that the Lord's table may be despised. When you
offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not
evil? And when you offer those who are lame or
sick, is that not evil? Present that to your
governor. Will he accept you or show you favor,
says the Lord of hosts? And now entreat the favor
of God that he may be gracious to us with such
a gift from your hand. Will he show favor to
any of you, says the Lord of hosts? Oh, that
there will be... Oh, that there were one among
you who would shut the doors, that you might
not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no
pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and
I will not accept an offering from your hand.
For from the rising of the sun to its setting,
my name will be great among the nations. And
in every place, incense will be offered to my
name and a pure offering. For my name will be
great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
But you profane it when you say that the Lord's
table is polluted and its fruit, that is, its
food, may be despised. But you say, what a weariness
this is. And you snort at it, says the Lord of
hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence
or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your
offering? Shall I accept that from your hand,
says the Lord? Cursed be the cheat who has a
male in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices
to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great
king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will
be feared among the nations. It's a lot there.
There's a lot of heaviness there. There's a lot
of animal talk. But God's word next is directed
to the priests. So he's talking to the pastors,
talking to the Levitical line first. What are
they offering? Blind animals, lame sacrifices,
or to use a common phrase, leftovers. God's question
cuts through the pretense, cuts through all the
junk. Try offering that to your governor, the
Lord of hosts says. This is not about sacrifice
quantity. This is about worth. This is about
what Yahweh deserves in those sacrifices. Now,
we may be feeling a little confused because we
don't necessarily do that, right? That Jesus
fulfilled the sacrificial system. But even more
so, this is what happens when you offer Jesus
your leftovers. The leftovers of your heart.
The leftovers of your mind. The leftovers of
your love for him. The priests haven't stopped
believing. They've stopped trembling. They've
stopped fearing Yahweh. They've stopped understanding
his greatness. And that's why there should be
renewal, and that's where grace comes in. Grace
201. Canons 3, 4, 9. Outward religion without
renewed hearts remains hollow. We've talked about
that. Two different weeks. This has been a similar
theme in these minor prophets. Casual worship
flows from casual... theology. Think about that.
Casual worship flows from a casual theology.
It's one of the things I love about our worship
committee. They take time to discern the words.
What is this song saying? Is this song me focused?
Jim focused? Are you focused? Or is it God focused?
Evan, how many worship songs are there in the
world? Just take a guess. A few billion. I don't
know if that's right, but okay, whatever. The
point holds true. More than we can probably count
per se, maybe without the use of AI, but understanding
there are tons. Yet some of the things I hear
is, why do we sing the same song three times
in one year? Who cares? We're singing it because
it means something. There's theology there, right?
We love singing certain songs. How do I know?
I sit in the front and you're all singing to
the bald spot in the back of my head. I hear
when you guys know and understand the songs.
I hear when you're feeling the songs. I also
hear when you don't. And I hear when certain
people are sitting in the front or the back.
No names. But understand, worship is meant to
focus on three pretty big things. And none of
them are us. None of them is this building. None
of this is the name on the sign. It's God's love
for us. It's Christ coming for us. It's his sacrifice
so we could have eternal life. That's what worship
is. When we get casual about that, when we can
just say in the same breath, man, I hope the
Bears win or go at least to the Super Bowl next
year and Jesus died for my sins. When we can
say it in the same breath like that, that's a
problem, friends. When our salvation becomes
casual, all is... Not right. This is one of Malachi's
sharpest warnings. Chesed assumed too long becomes
chesed ignored. What does that look like today?
When your love for your spouse is just, all right,
babe, I love you. I really love our new car,
but I love you. When it becomes ho -hum, right?
When your spouse becomes kind of a backseat affection
in your life, Not only do they feel it, but you
should feel that too. Something's up. Well, Pastor,
we've been together for 50 years, and I just
don't know how to show love for 51 in the same
way I did at one or two. Ask the Lord to help
you with that. That's your spouse. Through the
highs and the lows, the thicks and the thins,
that is your spouse. Your kids, if they become
indifferent to your love, that's not the kid's
problem, that's yours. Same thing comes with
our love to God. Faithfulness under pressure
can drift into minimalism. Good enough obedience.
I'll be just good enough so I'm not going to
hell. Whoa. There's a problem. There's a hard
issue there. What I call functional indifference.
I'll go to church, but I hate everything about
it. I'll be involved unless we build that building,
and I'm against it, so I'm out. That's us making
church about us, not about what it needs to be
made about. Dutiful religion without reverence?
When we come and think we can just give God our
leftovers on a Sunday morning? I guarantee you,
everybody that's up here singing with us and
leading us in that, they're not doing it as an
afterthought. They do it because they love it.
They do it because the Lord's called them to
it. They're passionate about it. You can see
it in their faces when they talk about it, when
they plan on it. I wish I could play the organ
like Joe does. It's really hard. But when you
watch her play, now everyone's going to watch
you for the next couple Sundays when you play
it. I apologize. We'll just put a covering over
that. Don't look at her while she's playing it.
But she does it because she loves it, not just
because she's the only one here that can do it.
And that's a beautiful thing. When we use our
gifts and we step into the calling God has for
us, that is supposed to aid our relationship
with Jesus and grow it. That's supposed to get
us excited and fervor for the Lord. Because the
Lord then comes to refine us. He will reach down
in those weary moments and lift us up and say,
let me refine, let me readjust, let me recalibrate
your life to focus more on me. Malachi 3, starting
with verse 1. Behold, I send my messenger, and
he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord
whom you seek will suddenly come to this temple
and the messenger of the covenant in whom you
delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord
of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears? For he is
like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver.
And he will purify the sons of Levi and refine
them like gold and silver. And they will bring
offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then
the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing
to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former
years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment.
I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
against the adulterers, against those who swear
falsely, against those who oppress the hired
worker in his wage, the widow and the fatherless,
against those who thrust aside the sojourner.
And do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts, for
I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore you, O
children of Jacob, are not consumed. This is
Jesus. This is the Messiah in Malachi. The Lord
whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple,
but immediately follows a warning. Who can endure
the day of his coming? He's coming. Who can stand?
Who can endure? This is not comfort language.
This is refining language. And how do things
get refined? By the fire. By the testing. Not
by, you're great. Just keep doing what you're
doing. No, that is not what the Messiah comes
to do. The Messiah comes to refine. He will sit
as a refiner and a purifier. Refining assumes
a couple things. Heat, pressure, endurance, removal
of impurities. This is grace. Grace 301. That
grace is concrete and pastoral. That grace should
be a big part of my job and our job one to another.
Canons head five, five through seven. Believers
are preserved through discipline, not spared
from it. God's covenant love purifies what it
preserves. God's not looking for you to have
a participation trophy. God is refining what
is impure in you. Well, pastor, I don't like
that. Well, congregation, tough. I don't get
a say in that. That's what the purifier and the
refiner is doing. Why? Because what has the call
always been? For lunch and a conversation with
Pastor Jim, what has the call always been from
the beginning? Abby will set it up. Be holy as
I am holy. Not perfect. Not 100 % attendance
in Lighthouse. Not Bible study. All good things.
And those bring us along in our faith. Be holy
as I am holy. This is what Malachi is teaching
us. Chesed does not relax holiness. Chesed sustains
holiness under pressure. How are you going to
be more holy than you are today? In the thick
of it, sit in the hesed of God and watch him
work. Well, he's not doing what I want him to
do. Reset. Different perspective. It's not about
you. It never has been. It never will be. You
don't want it about you. Why? Because that was
our cross. And it's not anymore because of the
love of Jesus. While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. So where's the encouragement? All
right. Jim, it's the end of the series. We know
you add a lot onto it. You're beating us up.
Well, we have Lent to look forward to. All the
things. It's easy to become cynical, but I don't
want you to get there. Why? Because there's a
quiet, faithful remnant here. Malachi 3, 16 through
18. Then those who feared the Lord spoke with
one another. The Lord paid attention and heard
them, and a book of remembrances was written
before them of those who feared the Lord and
esteemed his name. They shall be mine, says the
Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasure
possessions, and I will spare them as a man spares
his son who serves him. Then once more you shall
see the distinction between the righteous and
the wicked, between the one who serves God. and
the one who does not serve him. In this heaviness,
friends, we can become cynical. How do I know?
I know 90 % of you. We have cynical folks. I
can be super cynical about a lot of things. I
draw it back from my sarcasm. Though I sometimes
think it a spiritual gift, it's not. Right? But
that cynicism, when life's just not going well,
when it's just, again, the things, me, usually,
me, why do I keep doing this? There can be just
a cynicism. Maybe I'm not saved. Maybe it doesn't
matter. But not everyone. There's a remnant.
Even in this time, there's a remnant. And how
do I know there's a remnant here? Because there's...
Some of you will randomly then, I'll get the
text, I'll get the email to stop by, and whether
you know it or not, you put me right in front
of the cross. And we need to do that one for
another, not in a judgment way. Please don't
think that's your only call in the faith is to
call other people out. Those who feared the Lord
spoke with one another. No rebellion, no reform
movement, just steady faith. And what does God
do? God listens. He listens. A book of remembrances
was written before him. This is one of my favorite
aspects of the canons of Dort or the tulip, the
P or the faith, as we talked about a couple years
ago, the H, held by God. Perseverance of the
saints. God knows his own and preserves him.
Perseverance is not dramatic faith. It is held
faith. When life gets real bad, you're held by
God. When life is real good, remember, you're
held by God. That's deeply personal. That's deeply
pastoral. God records what others overlook. God
sees faithfulness when it feels unseen. God remembers
what feels forgotten. And here's where Malachi
lands a final word, right? Final word, Malachi
4. For behold, the day is coming, burning like
an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers
will be stubble. The day that is coming shall
set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that
it will leave them neither root nor branch, but
for who? But for you who fear my name, the son
of the righteous shall rise with healing in its
wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from
the stall and you shall tread down the wicked
for they will be ashes under the soles of your
feet on the day when I will act, says the Lord
of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses,
the statues and rules that I commanded him at
Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome
day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts
of fathers to their children and the hearts of
the children to their fathers, lest I come and
strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
Malachi closes the entire Old Testament with
tension. Wouldn't it be great if he just landed
it with Malachi's final thought and then just
kind of plays off into the sunset? Yeah, it would,
but that's not where they were. They're going
to go to centuries of silence, judgment, healing,
refining, restoration, warning, promise. But
first comes waiting. I don't know about you,
but if I knew a bunch of people were getting
weary and heavy in their faith, I don't know
if I'd be like, let's make them wait a little
more. Because I know I would hate that. Waiting
on the Lord is one of the hardest things for
me to do. Waiting. Silence. Expectation. Booming.
But zero explanation. This is how the prophets
end. Not with a resolution, but hope. Hope anchored
in God's character. Hope is found in God's hesed.
And this is it in full circle. The full circle
Chesed reflection. Here we go. Before we look
forward, we must look back. Over these weeks,
we have watched Chesed tested in every direction.
And we may find ourselves that we've been tested
in a lot, if not all of these. Hosea, Chesed
when God's people are unfaithful. Joel, Chesed
after devastation. Amos, Chesed confronting hypocrisy.
Obadiah, hesed, defending the wounded. Micah,
hesed, forming humble obedience. Nahum, hesed,
standing against oppression. Malachi, hesed,
enduring when faithfulness grows heavy. But here's
what we learned. And take this with you. Hesed
is not reactive. Hesed is not fragile. Though
we are, hesed is not. Chesed does not burn out.
But what does Chesed do? Receive this today,
Munster Church. Chesed pursues, restores, confronts,
defends, humbles, judges evil, and endures. And
now Malachi leaves us with one final truth. Chesed
lasts longer than human faithfulness. Chesed
always has been. All the way since Genesis chapter
3. All the way to the end of Revelation. Chesed
never fails. Malachi ends in waiting. And this
is what Lent becomes. A time of waiting. And
that waiting leads us not immediately to triumph.
Ash Wednesday is not Easter Sunday. But it's
a time of preparation. A time for pressure to
start to rise. Because when the Messiah finally
comes, he does not remove pressure. Jesus enters
the pressure. Temptation, rejection, obedience
under strain, faithfulness tested in the wilderness.
The prophets end by teaching us how to wait under
pressure. But what comes next, starting Wednesday,
shows us how Jesus bears the pressure for us.
Go back to Malachi's first set of words. The
Lord does not change. Friends, that's Chesed.
Unmoved by circumstance, unaffected by fatigue,
unbroken by delay, faithful yesterday, today,
under pressure until the end. Do you believe
that, Munster Church? What do you need to do?
To push the distraction of your life to enter
that space. Because that's when God, who knows
all, leads us forward with these final words.
The prophets teach us how to live under the weight
of waiting. But the gospel will now show us how
Christ carried that weight for us. Let's pray.