[OLD] FAITHFUL IN THE WAITING

INTRO

Good morning!

You know, I still remember where I was when I found that COVID was gonna be a big deal. I was in my last semester of classes at Taylor University, and I had just married my wife Joy. And there was a buzz on campus because they had announced that they were going to be moving classes online for two weeks, which was unlike anything we had seen before. People were going Christian-college crazy, which mostly meant that they were painting their chests and jumping in the lake.

But I also remember that as those two weeks came and went, things didn’t go back to normal. As the virus spread, the lockdowns began, and it just kept going. And the question we all kept asking was, how long will this go on? And in a lot of ways the message we received was, “just wait!”

And all of the sudden, we had all the time in the world! It’s funny, we complain so much about not having enough time, and yet when we were forced to wait, when we had the time we thought we needed, what did we do with it? Did we fix up the house like we always wanted to? Did we make the best sourdough bread East of the Mississippi? Did we attend at all to our walk with Christ? See, the number one reason people report for not turning to God daily is that they don’t have enough time. So, when we were forced to wait, what did we do with the time in between? I know the pandemic was a unique time, and we all had a different experience, but just as a test case: What did you do in the waiting?

Last week we began our study of the book of Acts, and Pastor Charlie helped us to see that the Gospel of Luke that we were studying as a church is all about what Jesus began to do and teach: all the miracles, all the ministry, all the inbreaking of the Kingdom—God’s Holy Spirit was poured out onto Him as the Christ, the Anointed One, to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind. To set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus Himself said to John the Baptist, look at what’s happening! The lame walk, those who have leprosy are clansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised!

And then we get into the book of Acts and we find that what Jesus began to do during His life on Earth, He would continue to do through His Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He told the disciples “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’re going to be witnesses” to tell the world of my resurrection, and of the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom.

So what Jesus was promising was nothing short of a powerful, unprecedented move of God! This was the mission! This was the moment! Jesus is promising something unlike what the world had ever seen before! And yet, just like we all found out during the lockdowns, Jesus’ first instructions on the way to turning the world upside down are: go and wait. Don’t leave Jerusalem. Stay at home. Just wait.

And as we get into our text for this morning, we’re going to ask why Jesus tells them to wait, how they responded to His instructions, and what they did with the time in between.

So if you’ve got your Bibles, go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 1, and let’s get into the text. When we pick things up, we’re going to look at again at these instructions from Jesus, we’re going to see what they did with these instructions, and we’re going to see what we can learn from it.

Jesus tells them in verse 4, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,” and now let’s pick it up in verse 12.

Acts 1:12–14 “Then the apostles [The Eleven] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city [which just means it was a short distance away]. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

You may be seated.

POINT ONE

So as we pick things up, Jesus has promising that God is going to move powerfully in them and through them to redeem their world. And yet, I want to point out that the first step in this move of God was waiting on God. For whatever reason, God's plan for the disciples in Acts involved a season of waiting.

And if we’re honest, at first glance this doesn’t make a ton of sense to us. I mean, think of all the things that we do to avoid waiting. We’re a microwave ready, fast food, EZ-pass kind of culture. I have literally seen people back up out of a toll road line and risk cutting someone else off just to avoid waiting for 10 more seconds! And yet, as I’ve studied our text for this morning, I’ve become convinced of this: If we want to see a move of God in our lives, and in our world, we have got to be willing to wait on God. We need to adress whatever it is in us that resists and avoids waiting like the plague.

See, there’s no question that God’s plan was to pour out His Spirit. The Holy Spirit had been promised for centuries. It’s talked about all the way back in Scriptures like Ezekiel 37 and Joel 2, written some 600 years before Christ! And then in Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist says just before the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, “After me comes one who is more powerful than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” And then again, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples. John 14:16–18 “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.... I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” What I want you to see here is that God had determined to send His Spirit. It had been promised. Sending the Holy Spirit was always a part of God’s plan. But THIS ALSO MEANS THAT God’s plan intentionally included times in between.

I mean think about what we’re reading. Theoretically, Jesus could have waited to ascend until the day of pentecost, five minutes before the Holy Spirit comes. And yet He chooses to ascend after forty days of appearances, and to allow 10 days to go by without event before the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2. So the waiting wasn’t an accident; the waiting was intended by God.

This stuck out to me because more often than not when we find ourselves in seasons of waiting, we think that something has gone wrong. We think we’ve done something wrong, and that the time in between is God’s punishment. But in our text today, that’s so clearly not the case! The disciples are waiting, and that’s exactly where God wanted them.

And just like God’s plan for the disciples in Acts involved a season of waiting, God’s plan for our lives involves seasons of waiting as well. Every single one of us deals with time in between. It’s simply a fact of life. And at times, it’s exactly where God wants us to be.

At one point or another, we will all find ourselves waiting for something. And since it’s Mother’s Day, I want to remind us that that includes moms!

Mom’s do a lot more than just wait in line with you at Cedar Point, although my mom certainly did her fair share of that when we were growing up.

From the beginning, moms are waiting: They’re waiting to conceive. Waiting for ultrasounds. Waiting for the gender reveal. Waiting for the due date.

Then, as the child is born, they’re waiting for each milestone: for eyes to open, for the baby to smiles and laugh, for the baby to roll over, sit up, and walk, and for the baby to sleep through the night (and if you’re like my wife, you may be still waiting…). They wait for the child to talk, to get to know them, to learn their likes and dislikes. And even for the next stage when the child is running and jumping and playing and making friends.

That’s all the stuff I know best because that’s as far as Joy and I have gotten with our kids, but I know the waiting doesn’t end there for moms! Let me read you an excerpt from an article I found called “Mothers Are Made in the Waiting.”

Motherhood makes me feel like I am always waiting.

It’s waiting for the kids to be born and then go to sleep and then wake up over and over again. It’s waiting for teeth to be brushed and shoes to be put on and homework to be finished and toys to be put away. It’s waiting in doctors’ offices and school pick up lines and Target checkouts and restaurants. It’s waiting for goodnight kisses and middle of the night wake up calls and half-hearted apologies. It’s waiting for phone calls to deliver news or for your husband to hurry up and walk through the door. It’s waiting to go on that couple’s trip or chase down your own dreams.

It’s waiting for the kids to come home from school trips and camps. It’s waiting for them to return late-night texts about boyfriends or mid-terms or job offers. It’s waiting for them to wake up in the morning so you can hear about their previous night. It’s waiting for doors to slam and cars to return to the driveway. It’s waiting for the moody phase to be over and waiting for a new relationship to begin. It’s waiting for decisions and reprimands and ceremonies and achievements. It’s waiting to let go, and then hoping they return to your arms for one last embrace.

And the waiting is often the hardest part, the time we think is wasted.

And while it’s true of moms, ultimately, we’re all in a time in between.

We’re waiting for...

jobs promotions direction graduation answers test results prognoses independence a driver’s license a spouse healing relief revival victory deliverance to see a loved one (again) to see a friend come to Christ to be in heaven to see Jesus

If nothing else, all of us are in between Christ’s resurrection and His return.

God’s plan for our lives is full of waiting. And this should prompt a question in us: “Why does God’s plan involve seasons of waiting?” If we had the ability, we would eliminate waiting from the equation of our lives; yet God has the ability, but He chooses not to. So, why would God allow things to go on like this? Why won’t God just give me what I want? Why does it seem like it’s taking so long? Why isn’t everything always up and to the right? I mean, I thought there was a mission to accomplish! Where’s the sense of urgency, Jesus? You’re the God of the Universe!! Why wait?

If you think back to our story, the disciples didn’t know how long they would be waiting for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it will be “in a few days,” but “few” is a relative term! And the closest thing we have to compare it to is probably the coming of Messiah, which had been promised for centuries, starting all the way back in Genesis 3! So “few” compared to centuries could be quite a long time. We have the benefit of looking back and knowing that it was only ten days, but they had no way of knowing it at the time. All they knew is that it hadn’t happened yet.

And yet it’s in those moments that we need to remember what Peter, who was one of these men in waiting, writes in 2 Peter 3:8–9, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Whatever else we know about the time in between, we know this: God does not carelessly delay.

And when it comes to our text this morning, this season of waiting forced the disciples to come face to face with an important reality: Apart from God, it was impossible for them to accomplish the mission that God had given. I mean, imagine if just before He ascended, Jesus had just said, “alright, you guys got this! Good luck!” The message then would have been, “it’s up to you. Try harder. Make sure you get everything right. The fate of the world hangs in the ballance, and the weight is all on your shoulders.” In that case, God’s mission would have been all about the performance of the followers of Jesus: If they do well, God’s mission and move goes well. If they do poorly, God’s mission and move go poorly. And there are times when this is exactly how we live our lives: like it’s all up to us!

And yet what Jesus says is, in effect, “I know that in yourselves you don’t have what you need; that’s alright, because it’s not about you anyway! It’s about what I am going to do in you and through you.” And see in this case, God’s mission isn’t about performance; it’s about yieldedness. It’s about surrender. It’s about trusting that God is God and I’m not, and that His ways are higher than my own. So what the early followers of Jesus needed to realize that the power that they needed to spread the Gospel could not be manufactured or cobbled together by their own effort or skill.

Way too often, we as Christians want to spring into action and jump at every idea, because we think that what the world really needs is for us to do more things. And while on the one hand God does want to continue the mission of Jesus through us, the reality is that we are not what the world needs; Jesus is what the world needs! Not our activism, but a move of God, by His Spirit, because of His grace. And that’s something we can’t fund raise toward. It’s not a program we can build. When it comes to actual fruit, and actual discipleship, it only comes from God working in us by His Spirit—and that’s why every single time someone surrenders their life to Christ, every single time someone gets baptized, every single time someone comes to me to confess sin and to pray, I get so excited—because I see that God is working, and it’s a miracle! In verse four, we read that the power that would enable the mission that was promised as a gift. The power that the Church needed then, and the power that the Church needs now can’t be bought. It can’t be earned. It was a power that had to be freely given; and it was a power that had to be received. And God wanted them to receive it through waiting, and the very same thing is true today. We can’t stand our seasons of waiting because we think that they’re so ineffective, that they have no purpose. But what I see in our Text is that Jesus wanted His disciples to wait because He wanted them to effective! Because He knew that what was needed was not for them to move, but for God to move in them.

And for those of you who have been following Jesus for some time, you know that God does some of His very best work on us in times of waiting and wilderness, because it’s in the wilderness and it’s in the waiting that God forms us, and that He teaches us to depend on Him. And this has always been the case.

It’s no wonder that Abraham, whose faith was credited to him as righteousness, is called out of his home to go to a place he didn’t know, and to spend virtually his whole life between one place and the next. It’s no wonder that Jacob, who would be the father of God’s chosen people, meets God out on a journey in the middle of nowhere while he’s fleeing for his life. It’s no wonder that Moses, who God used to lead His people out of Egypt, encounters God while he’s spending 40 years in the desert in hiding. And it’s no wonder that the nation of Israel, having been freed from Eqypt, wandered 40 years in the wilderness on their way to receive all that God had promised! As Paul David Tripp in his book, A Shelter in the Time of Storm: “Waiting isn’t just about what you are hoping for at the end of the wait, but also about what you will become as you wait.” God used these seasons of waiting to form the heroes of the faith so that He could use them to change the world.

So back in our text, God was not carelessly delaying. In the waiting, God was doing what He’s always done: teaching these men and women to yearn for Him, and to rely on Him. And that means that God had a purpose for their season of waiting.

And I believe that God has a purpose for our seasons of waiting as well. And as we think about the Church today, and about the way that God wants to act now in our world, and in our lives, we need to recognize that if God has us in a season of waiting, it’s because God wants to develop something IN us so that He can do something THROUGH us.

Application: God has a purpose for your season of waiting. So the question I want you to consider is this: Are you willing to “wait on the Lord?”

The phrase "wait on the Lord" is used in the OT to basically mean "trust in the Lord." So really this question is asking, “Are you willing to Trust in God? Because your willingness to wait reveals the level of your trust.

Can you accept that God has a purpose for your season of waiting? And, are you willing to trust Him during this time in between? Because it may just be the case that God has brought this season of waiting into your life to develop something so that He can do something through you.

And this is one of the reasons why moms have such an impact on our lives. Because they traffic so much in the waiting, and in the times in between, they are always faced with the question: Am I going to trust God in this moment? Am I going to surrender this season? Am I going to try and take the reigns, or am I willing to trust God? And so moms have the opportunity to develop this deep faith, this deep trust, this deep yieldedness to the Lord, and at the end of the day that’s exactly what their family needs. We don’t need mom to be perfect; we need mom to be yielded to God in the time in between.

It’s what we all need: To be willing to wait, to be willing to trust God.

TRANSITION: And if you are willing to trust in God, what would that look like? What does it look like to wait faithfully? And, if waiting is about something that God wants to do in us, how can we cooperate with what God is doing? Well, let’s go back to the text and look at the example of Jesus’ earliest followers. Because they were faithful! They saw God move mightily in their generation! And with the time that we have left, I want to look at what they did in this time in between. So let’s learn from their example as we answer this question: We know that we are going to wait, so how can we wait faithfully?

POINT TWO

Looking back at the text, we read in verse 12, “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem... When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.” The first detail that Luke includes that I want us to see is that the disciples did exactly what Jesus had told them to do. Remember, Jesus had given them specific instructions: Do not leave Jerusalem. Wait for the gift the Father promised. So the first thing that the disciples did with their time in between was to choose to obey what Jesus had said, so you can write down: Waiting faithfully means waiting with active obedience.

See, so often when we’re waiting, there’s a temptation to sit around and do nothing. We despise waiting because we equate waiting with inaction. And yet, the reality is that waiting is not the same thing as spectating. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to go to Jerusalem and do nothing; He told them to go and wait. And just like the disciples, there is plenty that God has already revealed to us. Times of waiting can be confusing, and it’s in those times that we need to do what Pastor Jim has talked about doing: Go back to what you know. Every one of us who is walking with Jesus has a living relationship with the Eternal God. Whether it’s been for five minutes, five days, or five years, God has revealed something of Himself and what He desires to us. When we’re not sure what’s going on, or what else to do, call those things back to mind. Remember who God is. Remember what He’s already shown you. It’s a simple lesson, but an important one: While waiting, be careful to follow what God has already said. And if you’re in a season of waiting, ask yourself: Have you been faithful with all that God has already revealed to you? If not, that’s a great place to begin!

And continuing on in our text, we read that...

“Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly… ”

The second thing I want to point out is this phrase, “they all joined together constantly.” This phrase is translated in several different ways because the words that Luke uses have a depth of meaning that goes beyond merely being with others and into being “joined together” (NIV), to be “of one accord” (ESV), “with one mind” (NET), “of one purpose” (AB), “persevering unanimously” (SLT). I love how Eugene Peterson tries to capture the depth here in The Message: “They agreed they were in this for good, completely together…” The language that Luke uses stresses their unity, and their commitment first of all to one another, so you can write down: Waiting faithfully means waiting with one another.

Seasons of waiting can be very discouraging. We can feel forgotten by God, and we can feel totally alone in our waiting. But this is why God gives us the church! So that while waiting, we can find support in the community of faith. And not only find support, but also be encouraged by the move of God in the lives of others. Because notice with me who it was that was joined together constantly. It’s the apostles (eleven in total), Mary, Jesus’ mom, some other women, and Jesus’ brothers. So by a generous estimate, it was maybe 30 people. And yet, look at Acts 1:15, “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty).” In a little over a week, they quadrupled in size! But if they would have been waiting in their own homes and in separate rooms, they would have totally missed it. God was working in their waiting, but they could only see it because they were together, gathering, committed, and united. The presence of other believers can be such a great encouragement, so if you’re waiting, follow the example of these early disciples: don’t wait alone.

But I also want to say that simply being around one another doesn’t work like magic. There will be times in the waiting when simply sitting with someone, listening to them, and empathizing with them is exactly the right thing to do. But there will be other times in waiting when the best thing to do is exactly what we see happening in our text: They did not simply get together for the fun of it. Rather…

They all joined together constantly... in prayer.

The disciples were constantly joining together, but the object, the focus of their gathering wasn’t simply one another; the focus of their gathering was prayer. This is another simple, but essential truth we learn throughout the book of Acts: Waiting faithfully means waiting with expectant prayer. After recieving their marching orders from Jesus, His followers went and prayed until God acted, or until they received further instruction. This isn’t something they did once. It’s not something they did occasionally. It was their primary occupation, their main goal: Seek God through expectant prayer.

I began this sermon talking about seeing a move of God in our generation. But throughout the generations, the great moves of God have always come on the tail end of the expectant prayers of His people. Whether we’re looking in the Scriptures at the times when God heard the cries of His people and acted to save them, or whether we’re looking at the Great Awakenings of America, God’s move has always been anticipated by fervent, yearning prayer.

Now I’ll admit, it’s unclear whether the move of God is brought on by the prayers of His people, or whether God prompted prayer because He was ready to move, but one thing is absolutely clear: The only way to be certain not to see God move in our world today is to refuse to pray in the time between. Because either God will allow the waiting to continue, or else God will act in our midst and we will miss it because we were focused on ourselves. Friends, prayer is an essential part of being a missionally driven, outwardly focused church; even and especially in the waiting. So, while waiting, keep your eyes off of yourself and look to God by crying out to God for a move of God.

And the last thing I want to point out comes later on in Acts 1:15–16, which says “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.” As they are praying, apparently, the group was still processing all that had happened with the betrayal of Judas. So often we focus on the betrayal that Christ would have felt, and we forget that the other Eleven apostles must have been deeply wounded by what went down. And as they pray, and as they process, and as they wait, they turned to God’s Word for direction. They turned to the one sure source of light, the one sure lamp to our feet, and the only unfading light to our path. And they demonstrate that waiting faithfully means waiting with God’s Word.

And not only were they turning to God’s Word, notice with me: As they were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, Peter is saying that He was listening to something that the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David. So not only are they consulting some old outdated scrolls; they understood that they were dealing with something breathed out by the Spirit and written down by men. That when they were reading the Psalms of David, they were just as much reading what God had spoken by His Spirit. This is perhaps the clearest affirmation in all Scripture that the church has always understood the Bible to be nothing less than the very Word of God. See, when we need to hear God speak, there is no better place to turn. So if you find yourself waiting, remember the line in the old Hymn, How Firm a Foundation, “What more can He say than to you He hath said?” He has written down His word in this book so it could be hidden in your heart so He can bring it to mind in moments of weakness, doubt, discouragement, and waiting. God will provide direction in His Word if only we will listen. So even in the waiting, with your Bible open, keep listening for God to speak.

CONCLUSION

So, what does it look like to wait faithfully? It looks like waiting with active obedience, with one another in the community of faith, with expectant prayer, and with God’s Word. And in all of these things, we wait on the Lord. We trust in God. Even if the tide doesn’t seem to be turning. Even if things don’t seem to be changing. Because we’re confident of this: That God is working in our waiting. And so because we trust Him, we surrender to His timing.

You see, God wants us to wait faithfully because He wants us surrendered completely.

And God’s wants us surrendered completely because, just like He did in the book of Acts, God will use surrendered, expectant people to change the world.

So, what will you do with the time you’ve been given? What will you do with the time in between? Are you willing to wait faithfully?

That’s a question that we need to be reminded of every single day. And since it’s Mother’s Day, and since mothers often find themselves in the waiting, we wanted to give you all a reminder of that question. So for all the women in the room, on your way out you’re going to receive this little keychain, and on the keychain is an hourglass, a symbol of the time in between. And whenever you see this, whenever your hand touches it, remember this question: What will you do with the time in between? Are you willing to wait faithfully?

But as we close, there’s just one more thing I want to share about waiting in our Text, and it’s this: Just like this hourglass demonstrates, no season of waiting lasts forever. As we’ll read next week, God was faithful to His promise! The waiting was not in vain. The Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in the upper room, and the church was born, and God used surrendered people to turn the world upside down! The waiting wasn’t forever. And neither is yours. Every season of waiting comes to an end. The only thing we need to do is to be faithful in the time between.

And the only reason we can be faithful in the waiting is because we serve a God who is faithful in the waiting. We wait in great expectation, and with great faith because God is faithful, and because we know that even if we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, God can. He holds us fast, and He holds our future, and so with David in Psalm 27, we can endure with our head held high, because “we remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. [So whatever else you do in this life, when you find yourself in the time between], Wait for the Lord! [In the midst of the struggle, in the midst of the doubt, in the midst of the longing, in the midst of the confusion], be strong, and take heart, and wait for the Lord” ( Psalm 27:13-14 ).

And in the end, you will find that He was worth waiting for. Because He is risen, He is reigning, and He is soon returning, and we will see the victory in Christ Jesus.

Let’s pray.