Waiting Period
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Waiting has taken on a new meaning in today’s world. Waiting before March. Let’s look back
We have been accustom to waiting for services. Take for example the medical system. We realize that going to the emergency area in the hospital there will be a waiting period. We realize we will have to wait for an appointment with a specialist. Have you ever walked into a specialist office only to find a large waiting area. Even our own doctor there is a waiting period. First to make the appointment, then to arrive in the office and sit in chairs waiting.
Not to pick on the medical field, what about service industries. We wait for our car to be serviced, tires changed, repairs. Each place of business has had chairs placed in their entry way to allow us to wait. Even when we have made a reservation at our favorite restaurant, when we arrive, we may still have to wait.
Today, waiting has meant something else. Those once beloved chairs with magazines on the table for us to wait have been taken away. The que for waiting has taken on new meaning. We all see red lines, circles with feet to stand on. We wait till the next square or circle opens us for us to move. Before if I asked you how long is 6 feet, you would have to guess, now we space ourselves naturally 6 feet apart
What was once a simple, “Can you pick up milk while you are out” has become an adventure of waiting.
In fact, who would have thought you had to wait in a waiting room in order to get into church.
This reminds me of this
A guy asks a girl to go to a dance. She agrees, and he decides to rent a suit. The rental has a long line, so he waits and waits, and finally he gets his suit.
He decides to buy flowers, so he goes to the flower shop. The flower shop has a long line, so he waits and waits, until he finally buys flowers.
He picks up the girl and they go to the dance. There is a long line into the dance, so they wait and wait.
Finally, they get into the dance, and the guy offers to get the girl a drink. She asks for punch, so he goes to the drink table, and there is no punch line.
Joke by David R., Biddeford, Maine
Pause
Waiting has taken on a different meaning today during our Pandemic
Waiting period,
Have you ever been in a waiting period in your life? Some people describe it as a transitional period. You find that you are no longer happy with your job and you begin to search for a new one. The more you search, the more it’s harder to stay at work. For some of us, its a job loss. You have become forced into a waiting period.
What about,
Waiting to get married,
to retire,
for children to come, waiting for the graduation day only to find out its been cancelled.
Waiting period.
Some waiting periods are good, others you can hope they do not last very long.
Waiting period for church to once again meet in person. I found myself the other day describing church as Physical meeting or Virtual Church.
We are right now in a waiting period ourselves. There are many variables that exist that had delayed our physical meeting of our Sunday Morning service.
Waiting Period
I was thinking this past week and looked back when we were first told we could not physically meet together, we hoped to be together for Easter. I had aimed for Today to start opening up, but complications and expectations have not permitted to begin until Mid July. Waiting
When we come together as projected in Mid July, what we have planned for today, may change for the better or worse in the next couple of weeks based on these past few weeks experience.
Waiting period.
Let’s look at this mornings text
Turn with me to 1 Sam 7 and we will begin reading at verse 2
2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
A waiting period. Twenty years.
We now find the people of God in a waiting period
What does one do in a waiting period.
During this time of Quarantine I did a quick google search of what people were doing during this waiting period. There were many lists to chose from, so I picked my top ten
1. Complete a puzzle
2. Start a journal or blog
3. If it won't bother your neighbors: Dust off that old instrument and practice.
4. Write poetry.
5. Watch all the really long movies you’ve avoided until now.
6. Meditate.
7. Look at pictures of puppies.
8. Write actual letters to family and friends.
9. Learn calligraphy. YouTube can help.
10. Put on a soap opera. Mute the sound. Create your own dialogue.
Reflection
Maybe this wasn’t your list but did you notice there was a reflective part to the list. Meditate, write.
The people of God during this time of transition began to reflect.
They began to lament.
The Hebrew word used in verse two was full of passion, expression. Na Ha
The way it has been translated is to stick to and to morn the loss of something you once had.
The people of God, as one commentator wrote
The capture of the ark had produced a general indifference either as to its loss or its recovery.
Have you ever been in a waiting period in your life. Has that waiting period given you a chance to reflect on God’s active part in your life. Does the waiting period drive you to a deeper thirst for God or an indifference for His Word?
I talked with someone this past week and in this waiting period in his life, he chose to do an online study of a Biblical book. He remarked how the instructor make the text come alive and spur him on to even take notes from the lessons.
I talked with another who, during this waiting period was bored. Chose to sit at home and watch reruns.
Both made a choice to do something during the waiting period.
The greatest thing I have learned during waiting periods is when you chose to inquire of God during these times you discover that God has been in a waiting period for you. He has been waiting for you to come to Him.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The psalmist writes,
8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
During this waiting period God is waiting for you,
Jeremiah reminds us with these words,
16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Our definition of a Disciple starts our with
One who is seeking to know God.
This is not a one time event. It is not an item on a check list that you have marked off. It’s daily, coming to God seeking to know Him
Often in the times of a waiting period, this is most acute. It draws our attention inward and if we allow it, it will draw us to Him.
The Israelites in their state of mourning. Longing. they had realized that they had lost their focus and attention upon God.
Things were on the verge of changing.
Can I take you to a moment of drawing away from the story and look back at an overview of the scripture.
The scripture is a wonderful story of God’s interaction with Man. You could say the story of God weaving in an among both His chosen people and called people.
You see in Genesis, the creation of Man, and then God walking along side them. Man decision impacted their relationship and caused a rift with the creation and the creator. A rift that continues to this day, but that didn’t stop God from longing to commune once again with His creation.
God Identifies Himself
God Identifies Himself
As we move along in the story we find God identifying Himself with a chosen people with a plan to work through those people to bring salvation or restoration to the rift between God and man.
The chosen people were given a name and a covenant from God.
The people then were given a symbol of God to tabernacle or dwell with them. To show His holiness and pureness and to set up a standard of holiness, in which upon reflection, is impossible to achieved by ourselves. We need someone to bridge the gap. A chosen sacrifice in our place.
To this day, man has set up various standards that people have put in place that must be meet in order to achieve rightness with God. They has set up rules and regulations that we must follow in order to appease God. These by themselves don’t work.
God’s Standard
God’s Standard
God choose to bring in these standards not as punishment nor an expectation that can never be met, rather to bring us to Him and putting our trust in Him. The entire story of God is focusing on Christ. The entire story in the Old Testament is pointing to a time when Christ Comes to Emmanuel, God with Us, Tabernacle with us. To dwell with us and in us.
God has created you with a void in your life that only Christ can fill.
If you are searching today, as many are, for meaning and purpose during this transition, this waiting period. There is only one thing that can fulfill this void. This can only be filled when you give your life to Christ. When you accept the free gift of salvation, reconciliation with God. The removal of the rift in your lives with your creator. The rift in our relationship with God can only be removed by God and not that of our own abilities, talents, or ambitions.
It requires a turning to God.
The Israelites were in that time. A once again turning to God.
3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
As we break out into our rooms, I want to leave you with this question to discuss.
Q: What did Samuel tell the people they must think about and what actions must they do?
and if you are willing, talk about what you have learned from God and what he has prompting you to do during this time of waiting.
Part 2
Part 2
I hope you had a good chance to talk about the people responses.
There were a couple of quick thoughts I had regarding their responses
If you are.....
If you are.....
Notice Samuel saw the people’s actions of lament and focused on their hearts.
If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart. It made me really question my attitude.
Do I come to God with my way or His. Is the road we travel on about Christ, is my heart one that is wanting to please God?
Or is my agenda, plan and purpose first and hope it lines up with God’s.
Samuel was their last judge before the concept of a king came into the people’s lives.
The judge was not one who sat around and passed judgements or ruling, rather they were the representative between God and His people. You could say he was the voice of God.
He was their leader.
Samuel noticed that the people needed to change.
The first thing he reminded the people is the condition of their heart.
All your Heart
God wanted them and God wants us to give our entire heart. Fully for God. God is waiting for us
One we decide to be fully in, the next step is to removing barriers that block God to our heart.
There are two ways to remove the barriers. The first is to remove the Idols in our lives and the second is to direct your heart to God.
When we look through the scriptures, it was quite obvious to us what “Those” people needed to do. The idols were literally standing right in front of them. They were objects that they would collect and gather to show their allegiance to the idols.
Idols
Idols
When the people of God adopted the idols from the people of the land they had a physical object to gather. To store to showcase. The only problem was the idols came from the people who did not follow God.
In the culture we live in today, they do not have specific idols or statues they hold on to, and to place on our mantel.
No, these idols come in and through the many philosophies in the world today, that sadly have made their way into the lives of the people of God.
The first one is easy to identify. The view of money. We are called by God to be good stewards of the resources and money, that God provides for us. There is good financial planning needed, faithful service and other things related to money, but I have seen many people view of money that of the world.
Me first. Reward me. My comforts are important. Success is gathered by what we can acquire.
If you listen to successful planning you may have heard of “Pay yourself First”. That is, plan to save, set aside money for the future and develop a pattern on storing up resources for a time when money is not coming in. Pay yourself first recommends that you do this before the bills. The bills will always be there but Pay yourself first is good for the long haul and will allow you to prepare for the future. It is a very sound investment strategy for this world.
The Bible states a different message. In those terms, one would say, Pay God First.
A tithe. A portion back to God
30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
The people of God were instructed to give of their firstfruits. First to God. A title was a literal 10 percent. I often get asked the question is it gross or net pay. My response is are you willing to give first to God.
First have that mindset, then the amount, God will show you what is required.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
Honor, respect, what is due to God. He doesn’t need the money as He is God, but it is an example of your heart.
It has been a delight to see this church continue in giving during this Pandemic. We have notice a change in giving pattern from weekly offering to online, mainly because of well, we aren’t meeting together.
It is good to see the people of God, giving to God’s work. Continue to honor God with your first fruits.
First fruits
First fruits
Believe me folks, following God’s standard of money can be difficult. To have, to own, to cling to, is an easy step towards making money an idol in our lives.
Seeking God’s heart and to give it to God, takes effort to remove the idol of money in our lives. And as I have worked with many people, it varies from person to person. I have seen both wealthy people and poor people view money as an idol. I have seen both wealthy and poor people give of their first-fruits. It’s a matter of the heart.
We all need to come to God and ask Him for direction on how we are to handle the resources He has entrusted us with.
Other Philosophies
Other Philosophies
The rest of the philosophies of this world comes in various forms. Some are obvious others are quite subtle.
One belief in the world is found in the phrase bluntly put,
I am who I am, I’ll be who I want to be, deal with it.
Before I answer God’s take on this, let me share this.
On Friday, I looked at the mail and there was a package for me. Address to me, I opened the package and discovered a book was given to pastors from the Canadian Bible Society as we shepherd during this pandemic.
The book is entitled A survivors Guide to the Soul.
God’s timing always amazes me.
My reading habits are one for purpose not pleasure and I found myself opening up this book.
The words in this book applied directly to what I have been reading in this passage and preparing to develop.
The author is making the point that we have two things in our lives that we must master. Our work and our relationship with God.
He moves onto the topic of spiritual disciplines and specifically meditation.
he writes,
“Sometimes we are addicted or attached to things that aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, such as exercise or work, but if we cannot say no to something then we have an addiction. The thing we're attached ourselves to has control over us in some way.
If we cannot say no to work for Twenty-four hours in order to embrace the Sabbath we are addicted to our work. We are in attache, and we've lost our freedom. An addiction disrupts and displaces the places God as the centre of our lives, and the Bible has a word for this idolatry .” Survival Guild for the Soul- p 74
What philosophy of this world has become our idol?
What thing has drawn us away from putting God at the center of our lives. What have we attached to our lives that we cannot do without?
The list could be long. My list, your list.
As I read through the pages of the book, God began to speak. What have I put in my life that has become more important than God. What can’t I do without. What do I feel I need. These are questions we must ask ourselves.
For each of us the answer is different. What may be an idol for one may not be for another. You need to examine yourself with God’s guidance and remove those things that you have attached to for survival for the day.
Notice the challenge Samuel gave to the people. The challenge we must accept in our lives.
3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Direct you heart to the God.
During this waiting period,the people of God were challenged by Samuel ways to direct themselves to God.
To go to God. Be captivated by God’s strength, His might, His power.
We too need to be going to God, seeking God, living a transformational life.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Now back to the worlds idol
I am who I am, I’ll be who I want to be, deal with it.
This is who I am, deal with it, should be replaced by this is who I was, Christ dealt with me.
We should be more like Christ than we were last year, last month, yesterday.
Samuel’s words remind us that direction is intentional. Because of sin in the world, our heart needs to have a constant direction to God.
Like a GPS would say when you encounter a change in the road. Recalculating.
When you encounter an obstacle in your life that changes your direction is your re-calculation coming from Scripture, from God, or the world’s philosophy?
When the pandemic we are facing drives you in a direction is it closer to God? Do we draw our strength from the methods taught in the world or taught in scripture.
Is scripture of first line of defense before we read all the self help or how to books.
Direct your heart to God.
Are you in a waiting period in your life? Do you find yourself asking the question, what is next God? Are you wondering what church is going to look like in the near future? Are you struggling with things in your life.
During this pandemic did you have the chance to look inward and are now in a waiting period to see How God is going to transform your life
As we examine the definition of a disciple
is one who is seeking to know God, while being transformed into the image of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit in the context of community.
This is not a one time deal. I sought God, I found him, and there I sit.
Discipleship It’s a daily, for me sometimes, hourly examination of our lives. It requires our attention.
Soon this waiting period will be over, what will life look like for us.
When we strive to, drive to, intentionally remove those things in our lives that draw us away from God and come back to Him, the words from Samuel will be true to us
He will deliver you.
In closing, I am going to play the Song I need you. It is my prayer that this is your heart.
After the song, may I encourage you to enter into your breakout room for context of community. Take time to encourage one another and If you would like prayer, ask your fellow disciples who too are striving to have the heart of God to pray for you.
Let’s sing.