The Tension of Waiting

We’ve had the celebrations at Christmas. We’ve had the nativity service, we’ve had the carol service, we’ve had the family service. We’ve had the Christmas day service - we’ve finished advent when everything focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ and what that means.

Some of us may have already taken down our trees and decorations. The house is back to normal, and we’re getting ready for the new year - 2019.

2018 is almost over, and for some of us here that’s a good thing…because for some of us, 2018 was a year to forget. Some have experienced bereavement and despair. Some have experienced job losses or financial difficulties. Some have had an awful time at work, or whatever…But for many people 2018 has been particularly hard.

Of course, for others 2018 has been a great year. People have got married, engaged, had babies and so on.

But regardless, we are in that place of limbo - where Christmas is over and the new year hasn’t yet started.

So we’re kinda looking forward to 2019, wondering what it will bring.

Some are expecting or hoping that 2019 will be a better year than 2018. Some don’t want a repeat of 2018.

Some are expecting 2019 to be an awful year. Perhaps there are some who have had bad news and 2019 might be their last year. Let’s face it - it could be anyone’s last year.

And so we are looking to 2019 with apprehension and fear, but also maybe joy and anticipation - There are possibly SO many different emotions that are simmering below the surface when we think about 2019.

We are in that place where Christmas is over and the new year hasn’t yet started.

We are in the tension between the now and the not yet.

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And that’s what the earth felt at Christmas time around 2000 years ago.

The promised Messiah had come to earth in a spectacular way. Angels were seen on multiple occasions. A bright light had guided Magi from the East to worship the new King of the Jews. The world was waiting in anticipation.

Here is the new Messiah - the one we’ve been waiting for - the promised one from God…He’s here. He’s with us. Immanuel.

But he’s a baby.

And we kinda forget that 30 years pass between the Christmas story and the start of Jesus’ ministry on earth. 30 years!

So between Matthew 2:23 and Matthew 3:1 over a generation has passed. But we read from one verse to the next as if it was instantaneous.

But it wasn’t. The saviour of the world had come into the earth, but his work wasn’t instantaneous. It took 30 years before Jesus started to minister to the world - that’s a long time of waiting.

Did people even remember what happened on the first Christmas? When Jesus was in his teens, what was he doing? When he was in his 20s what was he doing?

30 years of nothing except for a small piece written about what happened when he was 12.

Can you feel the tension there?

The saviour of the world is here on earth. God himself has come down to earth in a physical way, as a human...

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...and nothing happens for 30 years.

The world were in the tension of the now and the not yet. Jesus was here - right now…but his ministry hadn’t started yet.

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It’s a bit like when you buy tickets for something - like a football match or a concert. I’ve never bought tickets for a football match but I can imagine that when you buy the tickets, there’s a sense of excitement. You’ve got your tickets, but now you have to wait months for the match to come. And after a while the excitement starts to fade a bit (especially if you’re a Liverpool fan and you watch your team move from top of the league to somewhere in the middle during that time)…but the initial excitement when you bought the tickets fades until the day draws near when you get excited again. Same with a concert.

OR when you book a holiday - you’ve paid for it. You’ve got confirmation that you’re going - you have your tickets NOW... They are in your hand, but the holiday is not yet. It’s maybe a few months or a year away. So you’re excited when you book your tickets, but as time goes on you kinda forget about the holiday until the day draws near - then you start to get excited again.

Jesus was born with bright lights and angels and choirs and an amazing extravaganza…such excitement…and then comes the waiting.

Now we can’t be sure, but I wonder did that excitement fade over the years. Did people forget about the first Christmas?

Or where they looking forward to what this Messiah would bring or do?

Is God going to do what was promised?

There was quite possibly a tension between the now and the not yet.

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Then when Jesus’ ministry starts, he gathers his 12 disciples around him, he teaches, he heals, he performs miracles - he demonstrates his power for all to see, and he preaches a gospel of repentance - a turning away from the old way of life and a turning toward a new way of life in the kingdom of God.

And he gets the Pharisee’s backs up. He annoys them - he exposes them for who they are - people who are out for themselves, exploiting the poor for their own greed, what with the temple taxes and so on…people who are hindering access to the temple and who are enforcing a burdensome way of living ‘for GOD’.

And Jesus flies in their face by offering a much easier way of living in the kingdom of God - a way of grace…a way of living that is not about rules and regulations, but about accepting help and depending on God for forgiveness of sins and for life.

And as a result of this, he is killed on a cross, and put in a tomb.

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Right there, between verse John 19:42 and 20:1 we have another tension - another waiting - another in-between time.

Jesus had died, but he had promised that he would rise again 3 days later…and so the waiting begins.

Day 1…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

But there would have been some who doubted what Jesus said. They may have been some who didn’t believe him. Is Jesus going to do what was promised?

Day 2…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

But there may have been some who maybe thought Jesus didn’t mean 3 literal days.

Day 3…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

Then on the first day of the week, the tomb is open, Jesus’ body is not there and he is seen by many many people alive and risen from the dead.

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Then, after Jesus is with his disciples for 40 days, he’s taken away - and the tension begins again...

Jesus is gone. The disciples’ friend has gone. They thought he was dead, but he defeated death and came back to them. And now he’s gone again, but he’s gone so that the Holy Spirit can come and be with them...but when? When with the Holy Spirit come?

And the tension arises. There’s the promise, and the fulfilment of the promise - the now and the not yet...

Is the Holy Spirit going to do what was promised?

And then 10 days later the apostles are in a room praying together when the Holy Spirit comes in a mighty way and manifests himself to them all.

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See, God always keeps his promises. The problem is that we often don’t know when that will be, or we forget that he keeps his promises…or we forget what the promises are.

But in the waiting God is always working away in the background without us realising it.

About 3 years ago I changed my computer from PC to a Mac…thanks to my parents for funding that for me, because I was in college at the time. And what I noticed since I converted is how smoothly a mac runs. It’s seamless. Everything just works. There’s no slowing down. You can have multiple things open at once. You don’t even need to turn it off - you just close down the screen and when you open it up again it’s as fast as it was before.

Now, for some people here that means nothing - for me it means hours saved.

Because when I had my PC there were many many times when things just stopped. And the hard drive is clicking away frantically and there’s a spinning wheel on the screen. And I’m waiting, and waiting and waiting, for something to happen.

And I’m getting frustrated and more and more frustrated. I’m about to pick the thing up and throw it out the window.

Once again, I’m in tension - most of that is hypertension to be fair - but it’s tension between the computer being on and the programme up and running and the fact that nothing is happening.

It’s tension between the now and the not yet. Or between the now and the nothing’s happening yet.

But that wheel spinning around in the screen tells me that the computer is working away in the background. SOMETHING is happening. I don’t know what, but SOMETHING is going on, and if I’m patient enough the programme will start to work and I’ll be able to do some work.

Now, it’s not like that with the mac - that’s never happened with the mac.

But the PC taught me something. The PC taught me to be patient and wait until the computer finished doing what it was doing. To be fair, I didn’t have a choice at the time.

But here’s the thing - neither do we. Do we have a choice about what will happen in 2019? Not really.

Sure, we can make plans and decisions, and we have some general say about the future, but God has the ultimate say. Remember Isaiah 55:8?

Isaiah 55:8 NIV

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

So whatever we think might happen in 2019, whatever THOUGHTS we might have about 2019, ultimately we have no idea what will happen.

But we’ve got to trust that God DOES.

And we’ve got to remember that God is working away in the background - while we don’t necessarily know it or see it, God is always working away in the background and he always keeps his promises.

So for those 30 years when Jesus was growing up - God was working away in the background until the right time for Jesus to start his ministry.

For those 3 days when Jesus was dead, God was working away in the background - Jesus was experiencing our punishment for us - until the time came for him to be raised.

And for those 10 days when the disciples were without their best friend, God was working away in the background until the right time for the Holy Spirit to come, which happened to be Pentecost.

And right at the start of the bible, when Adam and Eve sinned, God was working away in the background, setting a plan in motion to redeem the world through his Son, until the right time came for Jesus to come to earth.

And so while it seems that nothing is happening once more - when there appears to be little activity of God in the world, first of all we need to open our eyes and see that souls are being saved every day and lives are being changed through God’s Spirit moving through his church.

But at the same time, we’ve got to remember that God is still working away in the background until the right time for Jesus to come back again and take HIS PEOPLE to be with him.

HIS PEOPLE.

That day could be a day in 2019 - and the BIG question - the BIGGEST question perhaps of this year is this - will you be one of those people for whom Jesus returns to take to himself?

If Jesus returns in 2019 can you honestly say that you believe in him and follow him and have put your faith and trust in him that you will be one of those people who he takes to be with himself?

God is working away in the background until the time is right. He has always kept his promises so this time IS coming…we just don’t know when.

We are living in the tension between the now and the not yet.

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But for us here, living in the tension between the now and the not yet - when God’s Spirit is with us but Jesus hasn’t returned, let the imminent return of Jesus Christ shape how you view 2019 and how you will act in 2019.

Let the knowledge that Jesus COULD return at any time shape how you live your life. Let it shape how you interact with others, how you forgive or don’t forgive others.

For example, Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us how the imminent return if Jesus should shape us as a church...

Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Doing good works, spur one another on towards love and good deeds…and also, look at verse 25…NOT giving up meeting together.

Did you see how many people came to the service last Sunday? The place was bunged…and then through the year the numbers drop. Let’s NOT give up meeting together as a church.

Often times we make new years resolutions to go to church more, or to study our bibles more and so on.

Let the imminent return of Jesus Christ help you to actually stick to these resolutions…get involved with small groups - they are a great way to learn more about Jesus and also to get to know others in the church and have a support network and prayer network.

Encourage each other as you see the return of Jesus approaching...

...

And let the imminent return of Jesus Christ help you to place your trust in him in all aspects of your life. Because, don’t forget, God is working away in the background and he keeps his promises. So remember the words from God himself, when it says that...

All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes.

Let that promise help you to rest in the fact that God is working away in the background FOR YOUR GOOD.

...

And most of all, let it shape your decision to follow Jesus. Because when he returns, if you’re not trusting in him then the waiting is over and you’ve no more chance to get right with God. You have a chance today. Jesus hasn’t returned yet, and if he doesn’t return in the next 2 minutes you have a chance - right here, right now to get right with God. But the chances are limited. You may NEVER get another chance.

But when Jesus returns, if we ARE trusting in him for our salvation then the wait is over for us too, and we will enjoy paradise with him and a future of bliss in the presence of God.

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But while we wait, let’s do what we can to tell others or show others the hope that we have in Jesus Christ - who wasn’t just for Christmas.

Funny, I’ve heard of people praying to baby Jesus - as if Jesus stayed as a baby at Christmas. There would be no hope in that. Instead, Jesus DID grow up, and for 30 years was working away in the background until the time was right for him to start his ministry.

And he DID die on the cross to take the punishment ONLY for those who would trust in him.

And he DID rise again defeating death.

And he DID return to the Father.

And he DID leave his Spirit with us to help us in our walk with him until he returns again.

And he WILL return.

We are in the tension between the now and the not yet…not just between Christmas 2018 and Jan 2019 - but there is a bigger tension…actually 2 bigger tensions...

There is the tension between accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour and him returning to take you home.

And there is the tension between NOT accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour and him returning to reject you and send you to hell.

Which is your tension?

Let’s pray.

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