When Waiting

Luke 24:36–53 ESV

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them. 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” 50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Most Hated Places

From my experience in life, I’ve narrowed down the following places that I hate to be in. See if you agree with them:

DMV — I say this loosely, but thank God for COVID which forced DMV to provide online registrations.

Airports — I have the worst of luck when I travel. It’s always my flight that gets delayed or something technical goes wrong with the plane and I’m stuck in the seat an extra hour before takeoff. Something always goes wrong.

Emergency Room

Amusement Parks

What do these places have in common that makes it the most hated place? What do you think it is? — It’s the waiting.

We hate the waiting, don’t we?

Walking to Church Alone

When I was 6-7 years old, living in Korea, I would often come home after school to an empty home — My dad was working and my mom would be at church.

This just didn’t happen once or twice, but it was a common occurence.

Then one day, I hated the fact that I had to sit at home alone and wait so much, I decided to walk from my house to the church. I can’t tell you how far the distance was, but it was almost a 30 min walk.

Picture a small kid (around the age of Jack) walking alone and crossing the streets! This would never happen today!

By the grace of God I made it to church safely. And I still remember the surprised look on my mother’s face. She looked like she saw a ghost.

When she asked, “Why are you here?!” I remember replying, “I didn’t want to wait anymore!”

Seven year old Joe didn’t like waiting then, 37 year old Joe doesn’t like waiting now.

God in the Waiting

But listen, there’s something in the waiting that we cannot bypass/ignore — God is in the waiting. Listen to these examples shown in the Bible:

Noah — From the moment God called him to built an ark, he waited. He waited for the rain, he waited for the sunshine, he waited for dry land, he waited for the birds to return.

Jacob — The deal was for him to serve 7 years for Rachel, but it ended up becoming 14 years.

Israelites — What was only a 2 week journey became a 40 year expedition in the wilderness.

As you can see God has an MO. He keeps His people in the waiting. You ever wonder why? Honestly, I believe it’s because He is in the waiting and that’s where we meet.

And that’s what we find in our text today.

Wait for His Promise

Luke 24:49 ESV

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

These followers of Jesus, all they have done is waited and now Jesus is telling them to wait again. Consider what they’ve gone through:

They waited generations for this Messiah. And finally He came humbly through Mary.

And when they finally met Him, it didn’t last long as He was crucified. So the waiting happened again.

Then on the third day, He rose from the grave, He walked among them for 40 days before telling everyone what we just read — He tells them to wait, again.

We will soon find out what this waiting leads to, and can I tell you, it’s glorious. There is a payoff to the waiting that will make every feeling and experience of discomfort worth the wait. We will go into that next week as we officially begin the book of Acts.

But, for now, there are lessons in the waiting that we must learn. Our passage reveals just how difficult and hard it is to wait. And it’s in that we find God.

Waiting is Hard Because of the Doubts

Luke 24:38–40 ESV

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

Here’s the first lesson of waiting — Waiting is hard because of the doubts.

Waiting is that period where our thoughts begin to wander. It takes a stroll down all possibilities and creates the worst conceivable scenarios in our minds.

How many of us ever waited for a package and thought — “I bet the delivery guy stole it.” Then we start doubting on the purchase and how we wasted so much money, etc.

Doubt creates anxiety.

Doubt forms the deadly “What if” questions.

The followers of Jesus began to have doubts in their waiting. Their minds wandered into dangerous territories — Despite all that they witnessed (e.g. miracles, signs, wonders, resurrection) they doubted His deity.

Hence, Jesus comes to them and says, “See my hands and feet...” “Touch me, and see...”

In the waiting is where God works out our doubts.

Urgency vs. Patience (personal example)

In ministry, there is a struggle between urgency and patience. Allow me to draw you a picture of what this looks like:

Pastors are often figuring out how to handle the sheep that goes astray.

When a member leaves the church or when a member goes in the deep end of the world, the wrestling of (1) does the pastor take every measure to bring him/her back or (2) does the pastor patiently wait and give it time?

The eternity of the person is at stake. God forbid, but what if something happens to them? Could a phone call, a text message, a cup of coffee together have made a difference?

On the flip side, it feels so desperate (in all the wrong ways).

Then if the pastor gives them time and waits patiently, it could also feel negligent. Why isn’t the pastor caring? Why isn’t the pastor doing his job?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve experienced this and thought, “Maybe I’m just not meant for this. I can’t decide what to do!” Doubt is overwhelming.

I doubted my calling, I doubted my wisdom, I doubted my abilities, and everything else.

But here’s what I’ve learned and figured out (thus far):

I’d rather wait and give God the credit than rush and feel good about myself (this is not to say God can’t get the credit had I rushed).

And every time I wait is when God pulls through. This is how I meet God in the waiting. He is faithful, He is trustworthy, He keeps His promise.

Waiting is Hard because of the Unknown

Luke 24:44–45 ESV

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

And here is the second lesson — Waiting is hard because of the unknown.

We will never fully understand His faithfulness, His trustworthiness, or His promises if we don’t know what’s written in the Bible.

Past week, the A/G Superintendent, Doug Clay spoke to 200+ pastors during its District Council.

Sitting in the room are pastors, pastor’s wives, and missionaries whom carry with them vast amount of experience.

And the message Doug spoke on was this: Preach the Bible, know the Bible, immerse in the Bible.

Had the followers of Jesus paid attention, retained His words, and remained in the scriptures, they wouldn’t be in the dark.

Their waiting wouldn’t be filled with the “what if’s”, there wouldn’t be any anxiety or fear; if anything, their wait would be joyous for they know what is to come.

Joy in the Knowing

Here is Jesus giving us the very secret to having a joyous life. And notice He’s not offering fleeting joy, but a sustainable joy. A joy that can only come from knowing an infinite God.

The unknown drives fear in us, don’t it? It makes us irrational and forces us to make mistakes.

The unknown creates panic in us. We begin to lose control of ourselves and the world around us. We feel helpless and hopeless.

The unknown saps every joy in our lives — The person I married, does he/she really love me? The children we’ve raised, will they have a good life? The work we’ve invested, the time and effort spent, any of this worth it?

The unknown will eventually kill us if we let it run amok.

Therefore, we must find our footing on the scriptures that’s unchanging and forevermore. From it we will know what was, what is, and what’s to come. From it we know who was, who is, and who’s to come.

That’s where we find joy. Joy comes from knowing.

Waiting is Hard because of the Knowing

Luke 24:46–48 ESV

46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

And the third and final lesson — Waiting is hard because of the knowing.

It’s in the waiting that we come to know who God is, who Jesus is, and what the gospel means. And knowing this ought to lead us to repentance.

Waiting is an opportunity.

It’s an opportunity to encounter God.

It’s an opportunity to overcome our doubts, fears, and anxiety.

It’s an opportunity to repent.

The hardship in all of this is the battle of our internal resistance to repent. It’s common that we don’t want to admit wrong. It’s natural for us to resist. But when we come to know God, Jesus, and the gospel, repentance is a must.

Missional Living

Last week, as we read the passage from the Gospel of Matthew about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we learned missional living. This is going to be the key thread that’ll run across the entire book of Acts.

And this passage is the prequel of book of Acts. It begins with the waiting. Because that’s where we begin to meet God.

It’s my prayer today that you will learn to seek God in the waiting. This week, as you read the book of Acts (I highly encourage it), sit and wait to hear from Him, wait to receive from Him, wait to be part of His work.

I am unsure how long the 28 chapters of Acts will take us, but it’s my hope that through it, you’ll become a radical follower of Jesus.

Let’s