What's Taking So Long?

Isaiah 9:1–7 ESV

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Micah 5:1–4 ESV

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. 2  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

Divine Delay

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

waiting… microwave; mail;

400 year wait…..Maybe the powers of the world hold too much power for the Messiah to topple them. Maybe the powers beyond this world hold too much power. Maybe we’ve sinned too much, and we’re undeserving. Maybe too much is needed by way of miracles to pull this off.”

Because the coming of the Messiah was a long time coming, it was easy for God’s people to start to think of it as an impossibility.

transition….

· read two messages that broke the 400-year silence — the angels’ messages to Mary (Luke 1:26b-36) and Joseph (Matthew 1:18-24)

Luke 1:26–36 ESV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Notice Mary’s question-”How will this be?” Mary knows it is the impossible.

Matthew 1:18–24 ESV

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,

· set up the scene you’ll be showing from The Chosen’s “Holy Night”

· introduce Joseph and Mary, pointing out their stunning resolve

Have you seen any episodes of The Chosen? It's a television series that explores the life of Jesus. There’s a Christmas episode in there, titled “Holy Night.” We’re going to watch a few scenes from it throughout this sermon series, and for this first sermon, I want to show you a clip that finds Joseph and Mary slowly making their way to Bethlehem. They’re making their way there because of a census that is being taken by Rome. What we’re going to watch is an imagined scene — not a scriptural one — but I love how it shows Joseph and Mary relentlessly pressing on, while also showing all those questions and concerns that we know had to be plaguing them. And if you pay attention, just at the edges of the scene you can see how they were able to relentlessly press on. Let’s watch it together…

show scene video

· Introduce how Joseph and Mary were able to show such stunning resolve as you make your way out of showing the scene

It’s so subtly presented by the creators of The Chosen that it’s easy to miss the answer to the question we’ve asked.

Q.How on earth were Joseph and Mary able to relentlessly press on, believing in the work God said he was going to do?

A.Because they relentlessly remembered.

And as to what they remembered? Well, let’s start with that moment when — just after Mary has been rehearsing all the reasons Joseph could have left her — Joseph purposefully points to the heavens and simply says, “God told me to.” He relentlessly remembered there was an authority behind this — the authority — so he pressed on. And soon after, Mary mirrors this. When Joseph says with a sigh, “This all seems impossible,” she replies, “Yes, yes, but remember what the messenger said to me....” Like Joseph, Mary relentlessly pressed on because she relentlessly remembered that she’d been called by God himself via his angel, his messenger. She ever and always remembered there was an authority behind this — theauthority — so she pressed on. But this is key: their relentless remembering wasn’t limited to merely remembering the authority behind their calling; they also remembered that they were heeding the call of an accomplished authority. They were heeding the call of theGod, a God who had a proven track record of accomplishing the impossible

Divine Doing

God had already done plenty of impossible things.

The coming of the Messiah, Jesus, was never to be thought of as an impossibility, because all things had already been proven possible for God.

the entirety of Mary’s reply to Joseph. This is what she says in full just after he's confessed everything seems impossible: “Yes, yes, but remember what the messenger said to me: nothing is impossible with God.” (See Luke 1:26b-36; These words are a declaration, for sure. But hidden within the declaration is an invitation — an invitation to Mary and Joseph to consider whether or not the declaration is true.

Have some fun surveying the stories of old that might have come to mind for Mary and Joseph — stories that surely would have given them hope for their own unfolding story. (Maybe they remembered

how God had built a nation from one small family. Or

how he broke the back of Egypt, the world power in the Ancient Near East, through the ten plagues and by splitting a sea in two. Or

how he gave an entire land to his people — the richest land of lands. Or

how he slayed a giant through a shepherd boy.

Have fun with it. But here’s one story we know Mary in particular was quite keen on relentlessly remembering: the story of Abraham and Sarah. It's referenced in the climax of a song she wrote (Luke 1:46-55) just after she’d received her message from the angel.

Luke 1:46–55 ESV

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Human Impossibilities and Divine Opportunities

Jesus never saw a blind man as a problem.

The death of Lazarus- no problem.

The widow at nain’s son- can do.

The lame man at the temple gate called beautiful- no issue.

But sight for the blind, raising the dead back to life, and givine legs to the lame- those are impossibilities.

But to God, they are opportunities. How many times did Jesus say something like this: These things have happened so that the glory of God might be revealed.

And usually, when you and I are faced with the impossible and given knowledge of God’s opportunity in that impossible thing- God also offers us an invitation.... to see Him work.

When the angel spoke to Mary he ws inviting her to see the imossibility of her situation… same with Joseph- but also to see the opportunity that God was taking and how incredibly special they were that He had invited them into THIS particular opportunity of impossibility.

Advent-Divine Coming AND Return to Earth

Pause..........

Today is the beginning of Advent

(1) the word “advent” means “coming,” that

(2) the season of Advent, which leads up to Christmas Day and includes four Sundays, is a time to reflect on the coming of Jesus to begin to renew and restore a broken and pained world, and how — this is most key —

(3) it's also a time to look ahead to when Jesus will come again to finish the renewing and restorative work he started at Christmas.

how many scriptures talk about the return of Jesus to earth.

Matthew 24:29–44 ESV

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Acts 1:11 ESV

11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 MSG

13 And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. 14 Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. 15 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. 16 The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. 17 Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. 18 Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

Yet the truth is, we’ve been waiting a long time. Haven’t we?

Israel waited for hundreds of years for his first coming; we’ve been waiting thousands for his second.

Because of this:

Divine Delay Makes For Human Dismay

The Second Coming Has Been A Long Time Coming-

The Pain Of Waiting Can Make Us Believe It May Be Impossible

Hopelessness is born of the thousand year wait.

What Makes us Hopeless? What leads us to believe the Return of Jesus just may be impossible?

October 7, 2023 in Israel.

Ukraine/Russia war

Hurricane damage in the Carolinas

Tornadoes in the US between March-April created 6 billion dollars in damage.

2 assassination attempts on a presidential candidate

World Hunger

half of all the deaths of children under 5 in the world are caused by malnutrition- hunger.

Cancer.

WW1,WW2,Vietnam, Korea, .....

Waiting for the return of Jesus is painful.

And you know what?

Maybe the powers of the world hold too much power for the Messiah to topple them. Maybe the powers beyond this world hold too much power. Maybe we’ve sinned too much, and we’re undeserving. Maybe too much is needed by way of miracles to pull this off.”

BUT...

With God, All Things Are Possible

The second coming of Jesus is never to be thought of as an impossibility, because all things have already been proven possible for God.

The word to Mary was an invitation to Mary and Joseph. That word to Mary is also an invitation to us.

With God all things are possible.

Coming to earth.

Dying

Resurrection.

Today we found hope. Hope.