Hope in the Waiting

Introduction:

*Open your Bibles with me to Luke 2:

While you are finding your place, let me ask you a question:

How are you with waiting?

Today, as Advent begins, we enter into a season of waiting

And as a culture, as a people, we are not good at waiting

We don’t like to wait in line

Disney makes a lot of money from people willing to pay to skip the line

We don’t like to wait to eat

When I waited tables, it was amazing how little people were willing to wait for a table on busy nights

We don’t like to wait in traffic

Road Rage is a real thing!

We HATE waiting on the phone

Google has now developed a tool on their phones, just so that you don’t have to sit on hold anymore

But all of these things are short term waits. There are harder things to wait for

Waiting for Christmas to come

Waiting for the chance to enjoy visitors coming soon

Waiting for those test results we’re afraid might hold bad news

Waiting for that person we love to finally take those steps towards meaningful life change

Waiting for the world to turn to Jesus

Waiting for that day when He returns to bring us into His eternal Kingdom

And sometimes, when we’re waiting, it feels like the moment we’re waiting for will never come

The line never seems to move

People who come after you get a table first

The moments and hours to our guests’ arrival tick slower…and slower......by

The call never comes

Our loved ones fall again

And we wake up again tomorrow in this world filled with sin and death

But this morning, and this season, you and I are called into a different kind of waiting

What is the hardest part of waiting?

Is it the unknown and the uncertainty it brings?

Is it our impatience, the need to live in the present as we are drawn towards what is coming?

Maybe it’s the perseverance it takes as time goes slowly by

or the agony and ache of the empty we long to fill

It could be one of these things, or maybe something else, but waiting is really, really hard

This Advent, what if our waiting on Christmas could be different

What if our waiting was a time of excitement and anticipation

What if it was a season, not of anxiety, but of hope and peace

What if we allowed the entirety of our holiday season was a launchpad for a lifetime of enjoyment?

*LISTENING GUIDES OUT- we’re not going to stand this morning.

We’re going to focus on one primary text, but we’re also going to jump around some

You can follow along, we’ll start in Luke 2:22, but I’m not going to read it directly to you

I will tell you the story, and then we will come back to a few points

This morning, we are going to spend our time together focused on what makes our waiting different as followers of Jesus

Not just now, at Christmas, but all the year long.

And as we get started this morning in Luke 2, let me say to you that...

That first Christmas, almost no one was waiting for Jesus

Jesus had been promised to the people of God long ago

All through the Old Testament, from that day when man sinned in the garden, God’s people had been promised a Savior

Some of my favorite of these promises come out of Isaiah

Isaiah 9:2 NASB95

The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

Isaiah 9:6–7 NASB95

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

The people of God knew that Jesus was promised, but most people weren’t waiting for Him

They knew that He would be King of Kings and Lord of Lords

They knew He would come with a message of peace with God

They knew He would be born in Bethlehem

They knew that He was coming to save them from their sins

They even knew that He would be born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

“God with us” was coming

God placed a star in the sky

He sent angelic messengers

He did everything exactly as He said that He would, and nearly no one noticed

But a few people were waiting, and in Luke 2, we meet a couple of them

In Luke 22:21, we learn that when He was 8 days old, before He was circumcised, his parents named Him Jesus

This was the name that the angel told them to name Him before He was conceived

So, they named Him Jesus

When the days had passed for Mary to be purified, as was required by the law of Moses...

Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem

They were required to present Him to the Lord, and to make an offering for Him, as He was their first-born and the firstborn belong to the Lord

They had to bring either two pigeons or two turtledoves

As they came into the Temple of the Lord, they encountered a man named Simeon

Simeon was a righteous and devout man

He was a man of prayer that was always looking for God to bring comfort and hope to Israel

The Holy Spirit was with Him, and had revealed to Him that He would not die until He had seen the promised Messiah of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

That day, the Holy Spirit drew Simeon to God’s Temple to worship

And when Simeon saw Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the Temple, Simeon rejoiced in the Spirit!

He took Jesus in His arms, and began to praise the Lord:

Luke 2:29–32 NASB95

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

As you can imagine, this was surprising to Mary and Joseph

Even after all the things that they had seen, they were amazed at what they were hearing

Simeon blessed Mary and Joseph, and he told Mary, the mother of Jesus, that

Luke 2:34–35 NASB95

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Mary and Joseph were amazed by these things, and just as they were recovering from this encounter, along came another person

She was a prophetess named Anna

Anna was the daughter of a man named Phanuel, and her family was part of the Israeli tribe called Asher

Anna had married, and had lived happily with her husband for 7 years. But he died, making her a widow

She was now an old woman, 84 years old!

But she spent all of her time at God’s Temple. She served however she could, both day and night

She never left the Temple, and she fasted and prayed constantly

Luke 2:38 NASB95

At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Let’s Pray

What makes waiting different for us as believers?

It is that our waiting is a hopeful wait

there are three things that I want you to focus on this morning as we enter into this season of waiting

A season, that I believe can become a joy and a blessing to us if we let it, and the first is this:

Waiting on Jesus is hopeful because His promises are certain

Waiting is usually difficult because of the uncertainty of what will happen

We cannot see the future, and so as we wait, we hope for the best, but must be prepared for the worst

The truth is that you can never let your guard down when you don’t know what is going to happen

But with God, we know what is going to happen because His promises are certain

Look no further than Christmas. Look no further than the coming Christ, the promised Savior

God promised He was coming

He told them what signs they would see

AND TO THOSE THAT WERE WAITING, God did not disappoint them

Simeon rejoiced in the promises of God as He saw them come to sight

Anna rejoiced in the promises of God in the Word made flesh

And in these two saints of God, this morning we see the key to embracing God’s certain promises: faith

Hebrews 11:1 NASB95

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Simeon and Anna had not seen the Savior until they entered the Temple that day

But they were pursuing His promises in faith

They were living with their eyes wide open

Working for God’s Kingdom purposes

Praying for God’s Kingdom purposes,

believing God was going to do what He said

The world around them was not hopeful, but they were

This Advent, as we are waiting on the Christ of Christmas, let us do the same

Let us live as those who work for God’s Kingdom purposes

Let us pray together that the lost would be saved, that the broken would find healing, and that lives would be changed through this Jesus that is coming

Let us believe that God will do what He said, namely that Jesus who came will come again!

Be filled with hope this Christmas, because the things that God promises are certain, and secondly, know that:

Waiting on Jesus is hopeful, because the things that God does are amazing

Not only are the things that God promises certain, but the things that He does are amazing

It never ceases to amaze me that Mary and Joseph

had seen angelic messengers

had just witnessed and been the recipients of the virgin birth of the Son of God

Had been greeted by shepherds

Had heard the prophecy spoken by Rebecca, and seen the mute tongue of Zechariah burst forth in praise

AND YET, they are still amazed by the words of these prophets at the sight of Jesus

Mary and Joseph were amazed, friends, because God does amazing things!

Why does Simeon cry out in joy?

Why does Anna shout in praise?

Why do the Angels cry out “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, among those in His favor?”

Why do you and I raise our voices with the multitudes of generations this morning Crying out Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel?

We cry out because God does amazing things

He wraps His infinite power and glory into a cuddly infant ball of finite human flesh

He comes as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world

He lives the perfect life that I could never live so that when He dies for me the death that I deserve, His death can pay for my sins.

We cry out because God does amazing things

He does what no one else can do

And He will come again in glory that will outshine everything else

This Advent, be filled with hope as you wait on Jesus

As you work hopefully in His Kingdom, expect Him to do what no man can do

Let us come to Jesus as wide-eyed children do, giving Him our full attention

knowing that what’s coming will be amazing! And as we do so, let us remember this last point I have for you this morning, that:

Waiting on Jesus is hopeful because of the change that He’s bringing

You cannot encounter the Lord Jesus Christ and be the same that you were before

Simeon tells Mary this very thing

Jesus is the rise and fall of many, based on what they believe

For some hearts, He is the piercing sword that drives to the heart of the person, and not their sinful symptom

This is why you can’t treat sin with a medication-the sin is a sign of a wrong heart that Christ can change

For others, Jesus becomes a force to oppose. They refuse His joy, and so they don’t want anyone else to have it either

Jesus draws every heart to a decision, and your life will be changed base on the decision you make

INVITATION:

This Advent, won’t you let your waiting be a season of hope?

Hope in the certain, amazing, life changing promises of God brought to life in the Christ of Christmas

Wait on Someone who will never disappoint you, abandon you, or let you down

Joy to the World, for the hope of all nations has come, and is coming again.

This Advent, won’t you find your hope in the only hope worth having.

For those who will enter His waiting, I’ll be waiting right down front to pray with you this morning

PRAY

Luke 2:21–38 NASB95

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking 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 carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end 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 and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.