Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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My friends, I greet you this morning in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our lesson is recorded in the 64th chapter of the book of Isaiah.
“No one has ever heard, no one has paid attention, and no one has seen any god except you.
You help those who wait for you.
You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways.”
You help those who wait for you.
Ah waiting.
Do you enjoy waiting?
What are you waiting for?
We wait in lines at six flags.
We wait for traffic lights.
We wait for the phone to ring.
We wait for Christmas?
If you deal with the government at all you well know the meaning of hurry up and wait.
And we’ve all heard that good things come to those who wait, but who enjoys waiting?
I sure don’t.
I want what I want right now.
And I know that I am not alone.
At the very least six year old Calvin agrees with me.
After consuming four boxes of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs breakfast cereal.
Calvin finally has obtained enough proof of purchases to send in for an Official Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs Beanie; complete with a battery-powered propeller on top and a big star on the front.
He proudly shows off his accomplishment to his best friend Hobbes.
(‰) When Hobbes informs Calvin that he will have to wait six weeks for the Beanie to arrive in the mail, Calvin laments, “I’ll be OLD then!”
Calvin waits for his beanie.
What are you waiting for?
In the breathtakingly busy hustle and bustle we find ourselves doing a lot of waiting.
And you can tell how important something is to someone by whether or not they choose to wait for it.
So what exactly does it mean when we read in our Old Testament lesson “You help those who wait for you”?
What are we waiting for from God? Keep that thought in the back of your mind.
We want to be faithful to what these verses are saying, so let’s take a moment to consider their background.
This text is very rich and extensive.
It is a prayer that is prayed in the midst of trouble and tribulation.
The last two verses of the previous chapter help to set the stage.
They read “Your holy people possessed the land for a little while.
Our enemies have trampled on your holy place.
We have become like those whom you never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.”
And then we get to the first verse of our text which perhaps should be read, “If only you had split open the heavens and come down!”
In other words, Lord, things are really bad, you could have prevented it.
Now remember we are once again talking about the exile again.
Around the year 587 B.C. The Babylonians have come in to Jerusalem.
They destroyed the temple and lead the most important people in the city away to Babylon.
This is the event that is in the mind of the author as this prayer is being prayed.
For the people of Jerusalem the exile is a defining moment in their history.
At the very least it is like the Revolutionary War for the people of the United States.
The prayer goes on.
“When you did awe-inspiring things that we didn’t expect, you came down and the mountains quaked in your presence.”
No I don’t know about you, but for me this image comes to mind.
About two months after Moses and the children of Israel had exited out of Egypt they arrived at Mt. Sinai.
You can read about it in the 19th chapter of Exodus.
Listen to verse 18. “All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had come down on it in fire.
Smoke rose from the mountain like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.”
Asking God to split open the heavens and come down is not an unreasonable request.
He has done it before and now in the 64th chapter of Isaiah he is being asked why he didn’t do it again.
These seem like some pretty bold things to be saying to God.
I mean who are we to question his ways and how he works.
And yet this prayer does just that.
It’s important to realize however that it’s not questioning God in a disrespectful way.
This is not a question that arises out of doubt.
No this question comes from faith.
You see our author knows who God is.
He knows God’s love for his people.
He knows how God has consistently acted on their behalf.
But in spite of that there is this whole exile thing.
He seems to be asking, “God, in the past you have acted toward your people one way.
Now you seem to be going in the opposite direction.
What gives?”
He doesn’t attempt to answer his own question.
Instead he goes on to say that there is no god like God.
He is faithful.
He helps those who wait for him.
He greets the one who gladly does right and remembers his ways.
Yet he was angry because of their sin.
The prayer informs us that everyone had become unclean.
Even their good works were like bloody rags.
This ruined their relationship with God and thus they were ruined by their sin.
At this point things seem pretty depressing and desperate.
However, it is at this point that we see great hope.
“But now, Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
We are the work of your hands.
Don’t be too angry, Lord.
Don’t remember our sin forever.
Now look, we are all your people.”
In the midst of trial and tribulation, in the midst of our own sinfulness there is hope in God and who he is.
What are you waiting for?
We are waiting for God.
(‰) Well this is a very appropriate theme for Advent.
After all, Advent is a season of waiting.
We are waiting for Christmas, where we celebrate Jesus coming into our world, true God and true man.
Who lived the perfect life in our place.
Suffered and died on the cross and raised to life on the third day.
Taking our dirty filthy rags and washing them, making them whiter than snow.
We are also waiting for his return when he will restore all things to himself.
Now that seems pretty simple.
What are we waiting for?
This Advent season, and all year long we are waiting for God.
Now there is something you should know about the word “waiting” in our text.
It is not the kind of waiting we might normally think of.
It is not just standing or sitting around until something happens.
Rather the Hebrew word that is used here is one that denotes an expectant and hope-filled waiting.
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