Out of the depths I have cried to You, LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the sound of my pleadings.
If You, LORD, were to keep account of guilty deeds,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
So that You may be revered.I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And I wait for His word.
My soul waits in hope for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning.
Israel, wait for the LORD;
For with the LORD there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his guilty deeds. (Psalm 130 NASB)
Simul justus et peccator. Latin for “at the same time justified and a sinner.”
The concept is connected to the Protestant Reformation and taught by Martin Luther. It’s a statement that means Christians are both justified – bearing the imputed righteousness from Christ – and sinners – we still sin.
I saw these words tattooed on the forearm of the man sitting next to me in the airport in Atlanta during a layover.
I struck up a conversation with him, noting his unique ink.
As we chatted, I found out he is also from Michigan, like me, and that we have mutual acquaintances. I also learned he is a church-planting leader and pastor. He stated that two of his current frustrations with younger church planters are that 1) they too often hide behind their pulpits instead of physically being in the community, and 2) they are too focused on doctrinal fights.
There have always been things to lament about the church. Followers of Jesus, sad about a church still full of peccators, continue to wait for a church to reveal itself as beautifully just and holy and faithful. And yet, the body of Christ is comprised of people who are both made righteous because of Christ and also still in the process of sanctification.
We do not get to be part of a perfect church, so we must do our part to be faithful while we wait. For God to continue to move. For a time when every tear will be wiped away. For the redemption of our own bodies.
Is God working while we wait? Of course!
Is God working the way we prefer? Not necessarily.
Ours is not to grumble or complain, but to be faithful. And to wait.
Waiting on God – waiting to see what he has won for us – is about faith, trust in the character of God, and how he is working in his church. While we wait, where do our eyes turn: to all the things that are not happening well or to the ways we can still see God’s beauty in his bride?
Waiting is work.
While we wait, let us turn our eyes to the places God is working – the small places, the low places, the places where his diligent people serve with no fanfare or accolade. They are there.
While we wait, let us not dwell on the failures; they are there, too. Let us turn them over to God, the only rightful Judge.
While we wait, let us stay faithful in these times, trusting all-knowing and all-powerful God knows what he is doing.
Wayne Stapleton is the VP of Cross-Cultural Engagement and Emerging Leader Engagement for the North American Baptist Conference.