Worth the Wait

Waiting on the Lord does not disappoint

We do not wait well.

That’s not a hypothesis, that’s a fact.

Back in December of 2022, I stepped on the scales and found 240 reasons proving I didn’t wait well.

Even after the Lord led me to Intermittent Fasting, waiting isn’t something I do well.

I’ve lost 23 of those reasons but according to the mirror, I could stand to lose 23 more reasons.

But I don’t wait well.

I suspect if you’ll look at your credit cards, your loans and mortgages, you’ll find a number of reasons proving you don’t wait well.

Waiting is not a virtue in our society.

Why wait when you can have it now?

Volkswagen is having their annual “sign and drive event.”

Right this moment, we can go to the Volkswagen dealership and get 0 down, 0 security deposit, 0 first month’s lease payment and 0 due at signing.

Simply sign your name and you can drive off with a brand spanking new car.

For a minute it will feel like you didn’t even spend any money.

For a minute.

We do not wait well.

Now I do have a hypothesis about this.

I believe we do not wait well because if we wait, we’re afraid we’ll never get it.

Again, losing weight.

How many diets have you tried and failed?

I’ve confessed to you before, I suspect I’ve lost over 1,000 pounds in my life while never weighing more than 243 pounds at my heaviest.

You think I’d have bigger muscles from putting that weight down and picking it up so many times.

But I couldn’t wait.

That piece of Fried Chicken might not be there tomorrow.

Same with a new car, new boat, bigger house - you name it.

If we wait, we are going to miss out on something.

And if we do wait, when we get it, well, we will be too old to enjoy it

By then, we’ll no longer need the prestige - the illusion we are keeping up with all the other “successful” people.

I suspect that’s the same reason we have trouble waiting on the Lord.

The Lord is just slow, right?

And He probably won’t give us what we want anyway.

We anticipate that He will not deliver - because in our minds - you know I’m right

In our minds He hasn’t delivered.

And yet, 33 times in the Bible, we are specifically told to “wait on the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14 says it twice.

Psalm 27:14 ESV

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

I stink at waiting.

I suspect most of us stink at waiting.

How do we learn to wait?

Our text today is Luke 2:22-28 and our advent theme is anticipation.

Anticipation of course implies waiting on something and normally our text would be about waiting on the birth of Jesus.

But in what we are reading today, Jesus is already born and is about 6 weeks old.

But there were other people waiting for something, and they waited well.

What we want to see from this text is, what does it look like to wait well?

While we look up the text, kids, Christmas is 24 days away.

In our family when my kids were young like you, we’d buy these things where everyday you’d open a numbered door and get a piece of chocolate.

That really helped the waiting.

But, every day you could only have one

So every day after you had the piece of chocolate for that day, you anticipated, you had to wait for the next day.

There will be a lot of times in your lives where waiting will be the best choice you can make.

Your three words to look for on your worship guide are wait, Jesus and Spirit.

Hear now the Word of the Lord from Luke 2:22-38

Luke 2:22–38 ESV

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Please join me in asking the Lord to open our eyes.

Dear Holy Spirit,

As surely as you delivered on the promise that Simeon would see the Messiah

Lord please, cause us to see Him too.

Make Jesus come alive in our hearts so we will give our hearts totally to Him

So we can live with anticipation of seeing His hand direct our lives.

We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

We stink at waiting.

How should we wait?

While you wait, simply live your life righteously

There are five characters in this story - verse 22 introduces the first three.

Luke 2:22 “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”

Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for one reason.

The Bible told them too.

We just studied this - isn’t this a hoot, how much Exodus shows up everywhere else?

Exodus 13 tells parents exactly what they are supposed to do in order to consecrate

We would use the word “dedicate” their first born child to the Lord.

Mary and Joseph weren’t doing anything special.

They weren’t going above and beyond the spiritual call of duty.

They were simply doing the right thing.

It’s amazing what the Lord can do when we simply do the right thing.

Character number 4 is Simeon - verses 25 & 26 - Luke 2:25–26 “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

He was righteous - in their world that mean he treated everyone well - he was a good, moral man.

And he was devout - that means he worked as hard as he could to do what the Lord wanted him to do.

And somewhere in his life, it seems like it may have been a long time ago, he was told by the Lord that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

The Messiah we had been waiting for since Adam and Eve

Been waiting for 1,000’s of years

And for some reason, this dude is convinced that he will not die before the Messiah comes.

So he’s waiting expectantly on the Lord to deliver on his promise.

And we have no idea how long he waited.

If ever there was a dream that someone would call a pipe dream, this is it.

Why would he believe this - and he did believe it - it wasn’t a hope or a wish - he was convinced.

Why?

The Holy Spirit had revealed it to him.

So he waited, and he waited well.

Patiently, every time he came to the temple, he watched expected the Lord to deliver.

This probably won’t overwhelm you, but it makes my heart sing.

There’s always something lost in translation when you go from one language to another.

The translation here is fine but what gets lost is the storytelling.

You see in verse 25 where the text says, “Now there was a man.”

The way Luke says it is, “And look, a man....”

It wasn’t just that a man happened along.

It happened that a specific man was already there.

Simply living his life like he did every day of every week of every year.

Until this day.

A man called to be at this place at this exact moment in time

So he could see, not only the Lord Jesus,

But so he could also see that the Lord delivers on His promises.

Now, I can hear us say, if I had the Holy Spirit deliver a promise directly to me like He did to Simeon, I could wait.

I want you to turn with me this time - hold your finger in Luke 2 and turn to 2 Corinthians 5.

When you get to 2 Corinthians 5 look at verse 17.

When you get there look up.

Let’s all read it together.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Who in here feels so broken, that their heart can never be fixed?

Just as surely as Simeon heard from the Holy Spirit that he would meet Jesus before he died.

The Holy Spirit just spoke a promise to you.

The Bible is God’s Holy Word, written to us but specifically written to you.

This is the Lord’s promise to you.

You are a new creation.

I know you don’t feel new - because you have to wait to see the promises of God to be fulfilled

But as you see the Lord working, then you’ll start to feel.

Let the Lord tell you some of His promises

Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”

Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, the Lord is concerned with you.

Psalm 37:34 “Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.”

Don’t fret over what you do not have, the Lord will give you the inheritance of a child of the king.

Psalm 38:15 “But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”

You may feel like the Lord doesn’t hear but He does.

He will answer and you will see Him answer.

Isaiah 40:31 “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

This is you.

Your strength that is failing will be renewed

You’ll see a day when you will feel strong and ready to take on the world.

Because the Lord will deliver you into that.

How can I be so sure He will act this way?

He promised, Lamentations 3:25 “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

I know you are saying, “I wish I could believe this,” but I’m telling you, I will believe this for you.

Because as assuredly the Lord promised Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he died

And Simeon lived his life the best he could for the Lord everyday

And you are doing that - you are living your life the best you know how for the Lord every day that comes

I promise you, He never fails.

Zephaniah 3:5 “The Lord within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail....”

He did not fail Mary and Joseph.

He did not fail Simeon.

And He didn’t fail this little old woman named Anna.

Back to Luke 2:36–38 “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

OK, who is this little old woman?

Why does Luke mention she’s from the tribe of Asher?

Why would it matter who her daddy was?

Well, she’s not from the tribe of Levi - only a Levite male could be a priest and she wasn’t either of those.

She’s from Asher which was considered to be one of the least of the tribes.

They weren’t notable like Judah.

Luke is telling us that she is simply an ordinary Israelite who had had a very hard life.

She got married.

Seven years later her husband died.

Her family, if she had a family, wasn’t anything that Luke thought important enough to mention.

All he says is that she was dedicated to the Lord.

She came to church every time the doors were open.

She fasted and she prayed.

She did the ordinary, non-exceptionally things we are called on to do to follow the Lord.

And she waited to see what He would do.

But, she is called one notable thing.

Anna is a prophetess.

The last prophet in Israel was Malachi 400 years earlier.

The next active prophet mentioned in the Bible is a woman.

Anna.

And as the Holy Spirit would have it, she was near Simeon.

She heard his words.

She saw the baby and the Holy Spirit moved her to start telling everyone

Now listen - not everyone

She only told those who were waiting - “waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”

Everyone who was waiting for the Messiah.

Everyone who was expecting that Yahweh would do what He promised

She told them that He did.

She declared to everyone who cared that the Lord’s Messiah had come.

She did that, because for at least most of her 84 years, she had waited on the Lord

Convinced that He would do what He had promised He would do.

We don’t wait well.

Waiting is hard.

To do the right thing every day is hard.

To live a Godly life is hard.

I know that there are those who would say, “well, if’ll just study your Bible and pray,” it won’t be hard.

Maybe that works for a couple of folks, although I don’t think they are telling the whole truth.

Following Jesus is hard - you have to make choices that other people don’t have to make.

And trusting Jesus is hard - because His answers often come slowly and in unexpected way.

Remember me saying I’ve lost over 1,000 pounds in my life and I never weighed more than 243 at my highest.

How many times did I fail?

How many times in my life have I failed my friends and family?

How many times did I fail Jesus?

We know how far we’ve fallen

We know what it feels like to fall in a bottomless pit.

We know what it feels like to be scared - and to pray to be rescued

And knowing what I know about me, why would the Lord do any more for me than He already has.

And I’m telling you it’s because you have been made new in Jesus.

And every promise that He’s ever made to His people, He has made to you.

And He will deliver - we have proof.

What does scare me is how many people think they’ve got all of the Jesus they need.

They aren’t concerned about any more promises

They’ve been given enough - they don’t need anything more.

Life is good - so God is good and He’s good all of the time.

To be able to wait on the Lord, which the Lord tells us to do, means we have to be hungry for the Lord.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Psalm 42:1 ESV

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

When is the last time you felt like you would die if you didn’t hear from Jesus?

You can’t conjure this up.

Really, it’s not something you can put on your to-do list and make happen.

It’s in the waiting.

Do read the scripture, at least a verse a day - start today with Luke chapter 2 verse 1 and read a verse a day

By Christmas you’ll have read the Christmas story and be hearing about Simeon.

Pray.

Pray everyday.

Ask the Lord to show you what you are missing.

But then expect something - no matter how long it takes - anticipate that the Lord will deliver on His promises.

Because He will.

He never fails.

In fact, He will give us more than we can even dream that we wanted.

And I know that’s true because

The Holy Spirit told me - Ephesians 3:20-21

Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Pray with me.