Getting Ready while we wait

INTRODUCTION: Open your Bibles to Isaiah 40

Today is the second Sunday of Advent

We have entered into the great season of waiting

In fact, our Advent series this year is titled for exactly what Advent is:

Waiting on Jesus

Last week, we talked about the fact that as Christians our waiting is different

As we wait for Christmas, for the celebration of our Savior’s Birth

we are also reminded of our wait for His return

Our wait for Christ is filled with hope because

God’s promises are certain

because we know that our God does amazing things

And because what God is leading us to will be life changing

And the hope that fills us in Christ should spur us into faithful obedience

And this is the focus of our time together this morning

As we journey through this Advent season, let me ask you: WHAT DO YOU DO WHILE YOU WAIT?

What does it look like in your life, as you wait for Jesus?

I was in the mall recently, shopping for gifts

I saw a man sitting on a bench in a dazed stare.

He wasn’t drooling, but it was getting close

A little further down from him were some teenagers, glued to their phones

And it struck me that both the man and these teens were completely unaware of what was going on around them.

And I had the thought: I wonder if that isn’t how most of us are waiting for Jesus

We’re here, but we have happily found a seat on the bench

We are unengaged and uninterested in what’s going on around us.

We know that Jesus is coming, and so, we’re happy to just check out and wait

And maybe, just maybe, if we keep our heads down, we won’t have to do anything

Is that how we’re waiting? I’m afraid that it might be. Maybe, sometimes more than we’d like to admit

I saw another person at the mall that day

She had bags from several stores and two kids in tow

Her kids were complaining about needing food or wanting stuff

We were in a long line for checking out that wasn’t moving

But this woman had a smile on here face, and a voice full of laughter

She was patient with her kids and gentle in her responses

And when she got to the counter, the woman behind the counter teased her

“I see we’ve been busy today!”

And the woman with the bags and kids laughed

“You know it girl! Christmas is coming, and I’m getting ready”

Something echoed in this woman. In her attitude and in her answer

Christmas is coming. Jesus is coming

He will be here before we know it

Perhaps He will come even before His birthday party!

Jesus is coming soon, and right now we’re waiting.

What do you do when you are waiting for Jesus?

In the book of Isaiah, God gave us a clear directive for our waiting on Jesus

John the Baptist quoted it to us ahead of Christ’s earthly ministry

This morning, let me share it with you as well

Isaiah 40:3–5 NASB95

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Pray, Invite the church to be seated

*LISTENING GUIDES OUT

What do you do while you are waiting for Jesus?

He is coming quickly. He is coming soon

What do you do while you wait for Him?

For thousands of years, the people of God waited for Jesus to come

Some were found ready

Most, though, were found dazed and asleep

How do you wait for the Savior?

For thousands of years, we have waited for Christ to return

But as we wait, we cannot afford to be among the sleeping saints on the bench of ministry

This prophecy about the coming of Christ promises that we will see His glory

It promises that He is coming for all the nations to see

But it also commands us to get ready!

Now, in this time of waiting, you and I need to get ready

Christmas is such a tremendous celebration! It is good for us to enjoy the hustle and bustle,

the festivities and joys of the season giving, receiving, visiting, sharing, singing, gathering and celebrating

But just like Christmas, Jesus is coming soon, and in this season of Advent, we need to get ready

In some ways, we remain in Advent each and every day, waiting for Christ to come

This morning, I want to take you to three different parables of Christ that point us to how we can be ready when He comes again. Here is how to get ready while we wait

Turn with me to Matthew 25

I’m not going to read this word for word, but you can follow along as I tell the story

There were ten virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom to arrive so that they could enter into the wedding feast

5 of the virgins were wise. They didn’t know how long they might have to wait

So, these 5 wise women brought their lamps, but they also brought extra oil for their lamps, so that they would have everything that they needed

The other 5 virgins were foolish. They looked at their lamps and the oil that was in them

They said to themselves, “that’s good enough”, and they came with just their lamps

Well, the night drug on, and they all fell asleep-but at midnight, there was a cry

“He’s here! He’s Here! The bridegroom is coming!

The virgins got up and trimmed their lamps

But the foolish 5 were running out of oil!

They begged the other 5, “please give us some oil”

but the women with extra oil said “NO WAY! We only brought enough for our lamps.”

“If we give it to you, we’ll run out”

So, the 5 that were short on oil went running off to but more

And while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived

He took those that were ready into the wedding feast, and the doors were locked

And in the middle of the party, the other 5 women showed up

They pounded on the doors of the house

They begged and pleaded to come in

But the bride groom said

Matthew 25:12–13 NASB95

“But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

In this parable from Matthew 25, we see the first piece of getting ready is that

Getting ready while we wait will take active and intentional holy living

All of these ladies knew that the bridegroom was coming

They knew that they were waiting

No one knew when He was coming

The difference between those who entered His feast and who did not was their intentional living

They planned ahead

Planning takes forethought and intentionality

You know that the way we express our love to God is our obedience to Him

But obedience takes intentionality

It takes active, engaged effort and planning

There is an old quote from Einstein:

“If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got”

What you did before you knew Christ got you death and judgment

It makes sense then, that continuing to do those things will lead you to death again

To live as a maturing follower of Jesus Christ takes the daily decision to live for Him

It takes active pursuit of the Holy Spirit, that you might be filled with Him

It takes diligent study of His Word, and obedience to the change it leads you to

It takes active engagement in the body of Christ in serving others, growing and being grown

And it takes constant sharing of the Gospel with others as you seek to be a disciple and to make disciples of others

This leads me to our next parable Jesus told us about getting ready, which starts in Matthew 25:14

There was a rich man who owned three slaves

The man decided to go on a long journey, and so He called his three slaves before him.

The rich man assigned each man a portion of his wealth to manage while he was gone

Now, a talent was worth about 20 years of a day-workers wages, so about 400,000 dollars

The first slave was given five talents, or 2 million dollars to manage

The second slave was given two talents, or 800,000 dollars to manage

The third slave was given 1 talent, or 400,000 dollars to manage

Then the master went away, leaving the slaves to do His bidding

The first slave invested his master’s money, and he turned 2 million into 4 million

The second slave also invested his master’s money, turning 800,000 into 1.6 million

The third slave, however, took the 400,000, put it in a pickle jar, and buried it in the yard

And after a long time, when they least expected He was coming, the master returned

When the master came, the first slave said, “Master, you gave me 2 million dollars to manage, and I doubled your money”

To this, the master said “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will make you in charge of much more! Enter into your master’s joy.”

The second slave followed the first, saying, “Master, you gave me 800,000 dollars to manage, and I doubled your money”

To this, the master said, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will make you in charge of much more! Enter into your master’s joy.”

Finally, the third slave came before his master, and said, “Master, I was afraid of you. You expect to gain a profit without an investment, much less when you do put money in. I didn’t want to lose any of your money, so I hid what you gave me in the ground and waited for you to return. Here it is.”

And when he said this, the master got angry with him. He said, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew that I expect profit without investment, then you should have at least put my money in the bank. At the very least, I would have interest to go with my money.”

“Therefore, take away his 400,000 and give it to the one with 4 million.

Matthew 25:29–30 NASB95

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And so, In this second parable from Matthew 25, we see the second piece of getting ready is that

Getting ready while we wait will take reckless investing of our lives for Kingdom growth

Our Master and Savior has gone on a long journey

He has gone to prepare a place for us

And our Master owns everything that is-He owns everything that you have, even the air in your lungs!

AND IN HIS ABSENCE, HE HAS GIVEN EACH OF US SOME OF HIS THINGS TO MANAGE

Your money, Your time, Your talent, Your life-none of it is really yours

All of it belongs to JESUS!

Whether you have a lot or a little, what you have is His

And what He has given you, He has given you to invest in His KINGDOM

And make no mistake-there will be an accounting of how you use what He gives you!

I can’t speak for you, but when Jesus comes back, I don’t want to be the guy who didn’t use what God gave me to grow His Kingdom

I would rather hear “poorly done, faithful servant” than “throw him out into the outer darkness”

In our waiting, we must be all in for the Kingdom of God

Nothing that you do for your kingdom on earth will remain

The only things you can take with you are those things you invested in the Kingdom of God!

We don’t know when Christ is coming, so we’d better get busy investing what He has entrusted us with

This leads me to our last parable of the morning that instructs on on getting ready while we wait

This story comes from Luke chapter 12:42-48,

Jesus says that a faithful and wise servant is trusted by his master to care for and manage the other servants while he was away

The servant was in charge of all his affairs, of all of the other servants, even of feeding and caring for them

IF the servant remains faithful and does what he is commanded to,

he will be found doing his Master’s will when the Master returns

And when the Master sees his faithful service, he will reward him by putting him in charge of all that He owns

IF the servant decides his master will be gone a long time,

Abusing the other slaves and beating them

stealing their rations to get fat and drunk

His Master will return, when he least expects it

He will cut that wicked servant to pieces

and assign him a place among the unbelieving

For the servant that doesn’t know he is breaking the rules will receive a lesser beating

But the servant that knows his Master’s will, and does wrong anyway, he will receive many lashes

Luke 12:48b NASB95

but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

This final parable from Luke 12 gives us the last piece of getting ready, that

Getting ready while we wait will take faithful, radical and expectant obedience

When the cat is away, the mice will play

If you don’t believe that Christ will return today, you won’t live like He will

And one day, He will! He will come back when you least expect it

We must expect that Jesus is returning soon-and that it could be today

And when we live in this type expectation, it will change everything

When you faithfully expect that Jesus is coming soon, it gets easier to be faithful in obedience

What seems radical in giving, and loving, and sacrifice, and service now would seem like small and easy steps if you knew that Christ was coming back

If you knew that Christ was coming tomorrow, wouldn’t you give everything you could possibly give today?

Wouldn’t you give Him your treasure?

Wouldn’t your schedule empty of everything but service to Him

Wouldn’t everything else fail to matter to you anymore?

Christ is coming soon-maybe even today

And if we wish to be ready when He comes, we need to radically live expecting that He is.

We are in a season, friends, of waiting for Jesus

I wonder, what are you doing while you wait?

PRAY