Expectant Waiting

My wife and I are parents to two now young adults.  Both are living away from home at school.  It was quiet at first, but we soon adjusted to life with just the two of us.  With today’s technology – cell phones and texting – we hear rather regularly from our children.  Well, at least my wife does.  I think our daughter texts her almost daily.  I am messaged about once a month.  The last one was to ask about upgrading the cell phone.  All in all, I’ve grown accustomed to life in the house without the children.

This past week was, of course, Thanksgiving.  Both of our children were home.  I really enjoyed having them home.  One has already returned to school and the other will be going back this afternoon – right after eating another homemade meal.  I am looking forward to their return.

One of the things we talked about a fair amount over those couple of days was the Holidays.  We were reminiscing about what Thanksgiving was like over the years and how it has changed.  And we were looking ahead to Christmas.  There was a question asked, “Where will Christmas be this year?”

On my side of the family, Christmas was always celebrated on Christmas day at the home of my parents - my home since I was 7.  We would gather for a meal, then there was time for games and hanging out.  We would move to a time where we opened gifts.  It was always a time filed with laughter and warmth.

We had an adjustment 8 years ago when my dad passed away from cancer.  He was definitely missed, yet the rhythm was really quite the same.  We continued to meet in the same house with the same decorations.  We followed the pattern of eating, games, presents, and laughing a lot.  Grandma loved having everyone over, and we all loved knowing the pattern (including who would arrive late).

Last year, my mother moved to a senior living facility.  The house was too big for her to take care of and she was having a harder time getting around, especially as her Alzheimer’s started to show up more.  She made the move quite well and especially enjoyed all the people.

The harder part of the transition came around Christmas.  And it wasn’t with my mom.  It was with the grandkids.  All they ever knew was going to Grandma’s on Christmas.  Was it ever going to be the same?

Sorry for all the family history.  Maybe you can relate.  The holidays, and Christmas more particularly, are times that are filled with thoughts and feelings.  For many, they are thoughts and feelings that have us longing for home.  They are thoughts and feelings filled with expectation.

We find that expectation in our readings from Isaiah and Matthew.

Isaiah 2:1–5 NIV

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Matthew 24:36–44 NIV

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?  I suppose it is a question that has been asked many times.  Sometimes it is used in a way that goads one to take some action.  “What are you waiting for?  Go apply for that job.”  It is also used as a conversation starter.  When there is someone standing around, or sitting in a particular place, the question could be asked, “What are you waiting for?”  “I’m waiting for a bus.”  Or, “I’m waiting for my parent to come out.  They always take so long.”

We ask the question as we begin Advent.  “What are you waiting for?”  Some will answer, “Christmas day so I can open presents.”  Some will say, “Our family gathering.”  Other responses might include, “Christmas so I can celebrate the arrival of Jesus, my Savior.”  Or, “I am waiting for Jesus to come again.”

Advent is a unique season in the life of the church.  It is a time of preparation.  We prepare to greet the Christ Child, to celebrate again the great gift God gave us.  It is a time of waiting.  We already named some things for which people are waiting.  In the things we listed, not only is there waiting, there is also expectation.  We expect that it will happen.  We expect that there will be a present to open.  We expect that we will get to gather with family or friends.

We are in a time of expectant waiting

We are in a time of expectant waiting.  Our text from Matthew captures that expectation.  Maybe it feels a bit odd to have a text about the time Jesus will return when we are preparing to celebrate his arrival.  However, it is a very appropriate text for Advent.

For many years, the people of God were waiting for the Messiah to come and to be revealed.  As the prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah and relayed God’s promise to the people, I’m fairly certain that they expected the Messiah to come quickly – perhaps even in their lifetimes.  It must have seemed like Messiah would never come after Malachi made his prophecy.  There was a period of 400 years where there was silence.  God didn’t send a prophet between Malachi and John the Baptist.

I wonder what that must have been like?  Did the people begin to doubt God’s promise and doubt God’s word?  I wonder if it was that much different than today?  We have been waiting, after all.

We are in a time of expectant waiting

Here in Matthew 24, much of what is recorded deals with the end times.  What we read this morning started in verse 36. Back at the start of the chapter, Jesus and the disciples are leaving the temple.  The disciples marvel at the architecture, really.  It was a magnificent building with great stones forming some of the foundation and the walls.  Jesus says, “All these stones will be thrown down.”  The disciples wonder about that.  They come to Jesus and ask him, “When will this be?  And what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?”

Jesus tells them that there will be false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes.  There will be persecutions, a great tribulation, and false prophets.  After the suffering, the Son of Man will come riding on the clouds.  The disciples want to know when this will happen.

Our text tells us that the day and the hour are known only to the Father.  The emphasis of the story is to be ready.  Waiting is involved.

We are in a time of expectant waiting

I am reminded of times growing up.  There were times when I was younger and my mom would have us kids getting ready because we had to go somewhere in the evening.  We would leave when dad was home from work.  As a young child, there wasn’t a concept of time.  It was, “We leave when dad gets home.”  So we were ready, expectantly waiting.  Even when we were older, there were times when we had to be ready to go.  My brother and I were waiting for the rest of the family.  Yes, there was a time given, but things never go according to plan.  So we were ready, just waiting for the arrival of everyone else.

We began this morning with a reading from Isaiah. There is expectation.  The second verse starts, “In the last days.” Another way to translate it is, “In days to come.” 

Isaiah 2:2 NRSV

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.

“In days to come, the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains.”  One of the things a mountain represents in the mind of an ancient is a place where the divine realm intersected the earth.  Here we find that the Lord’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains.  There is nothing and no one greater than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is revealed in the Bible.  It will be a kingdom of peace, of God’s shalom.  Isaiah says,

Isaiah 2:5 NIV

Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

“Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”  It is eager expectation.

We are in a time of expectant waiting

We have this passage from Isaiah in Advent because it points to the Messiah, the Christ child.  He has come to us.  He is also coming again.  It is then that the kingdom of God will fully be established.  We wait expectantly.  Another word we can use is hope.  We wait with hope.

We wait with hope

Do you know what hope is? It’s not a wish. As we encounter hope in the Bible, it rests on the trustworthiness of God to keep his promises. Because God has been faithful in keeping His word - particularly in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - we can be confident that God will fulfill all the promises he has made.

In Romans 13:11, the Apostle Paul writes,

Romans 13:11 NIV

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

“Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.  For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first became believers.”  There is expectation. 

Jesus is coming.  The time of his coming we may not know, yet we know that it draws closer every moment.

Get ready.  Be ready.  Have hope.  Wait expectantly.