Anticipation

As seen in the HEARTbeat and Village voice

Anticipation

                In 1971, Carly Simon released a song titled, “Anticipation.”  It peaked as high as number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles 100 in that year.  It helped boost Simon to a very successful music career in the 1970’s.

             The song was used in many different advertisements, but none more famous than the Heinz catsup commercials in 1977 and again in 1978, with the late Casey Kasem doing the voice at the end of the commercial saying, “The taste that’s worth the wait.”  The commercial boasted Heinz as the richest, thickest, and best tasting catsup on the market.  People waited patiently and with great anticipation as they watched the rich condiment slowly ooze out of the bottle.

             I found the lyrics to Ms. Simon’s hit on the internet.  The first stanza goes like this: “We can never know about the days to come but we think about them anyway and I wonder if I'm really with you now or just chasin' after some finer day.”  The writer of the lyrics reminds us the future is something we cannot see, but we dream about it nonetheless.  Of course, the song is about thinking of the future with someone else, maybe a partner or just a close friend, and how she longed for the coming days.

Do you think there are “anticipation” moments in the Bible?  Sure there are.  Imagine the eleven apostles standing on top of the Mount of Olives with Jesus just outside of Jerusalem.  They listened intently to His words and then watched Him ascend into the heavens.  Two angels asked them, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

           The apostles believed Jesus was with them to set up His earthly kingdom.  Even though He told them that was not His purpose, they still had a hard time understanding.  But they went into Jerusalem, just as Jesus had told them, and they waited.  What were they waiting on?  Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.”  They would wait for ten days patiently, praying together, and looking forward to the gift Jehovah God had for them, the Holy Spirit.

           Has the church lost its sense of anticipation?  Are we just going through the motions or are we truly looking to the future and what God has for us?  We have the same gift God sent to the apostles, that being the Holy Spirit in us.  We, as a church, need to take a deep breath and remember God’s promise.  His church is on the move, but it needs people to believe in the words of the Apostle Paul: “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”  Our strength is insufficient, but Christ’s strength is everlasting.

           Think about the bright future God has for us, and let holy anticipation grow in your heart!