Dreaming With a Broken Heart

Message Transcription

So what is the hardest thing for you to wait on? Maybe it's a green light. That light never seems to change. Have you ever noticed the inverse property? The bigger hurry you're in, the longer the red lights are? It's like they time it up with your your impatience. Maybe it's at that express line in the grocery store. Maybe it's that person that it just takes them forever to get ready because you want to get to church on time so you can get your place and hear that sermon from your favorite preacher. You know, those kinds of waiting can be most difficult for some of us. Maybe for some of us it's waiting in that waiting room for those test results. Or in that doctor's office for for the outcome. I've spent my fair share of time in hospitals this year. In fact, much more than I care to ever spend again. And in fact, I've waited in a place called the Waiting Room. Which it really needs to be called something else, though. That's really all that you can do in the waiting room. Hurry up and wait. Waiting is difficult, especially when it's something or someone that you care about, isn't it? The more we care, the more our hearts are invested. The more engaged we are, the harder it is to be patient and to wait. As we think about this season of Advent, it's a season of waiting. It came that first time that first Advent came in the midst of a season, a period of time of waiting.

Israel had been waiting for hundreds of years for the promise to come true, and they cared deeply about it. Every year. The church remembers the coming of Christ at this time of years, not only as a little child, but anticipating that he will come again, that he will set all things right, that he will make all things new. It's a season where we celebrate what God has done and what he will one day do fully. But in between those two days, those two advents that first one and the last one that will come one day. We wait. We have to wait. So I wanted us to spend some time together this Advent season thinking about what was a mean to weight. How do we weight? Well. And I want to let you know, I'm preaching this series first and foremost for me. Of learning how to wait. To be patient and trust in the promises that I am hoping in. And I'm trusting and believing in to be true. And we're going to consider the story of three characters that we meet in the Gospels as they encounter this idea of waiting and struggling with their own fear and disappointment and and wrestling with God and the midst of waiting that through Simeon and Elizabeth and Mary, I'm hoping that we'll get a chance to get a window into What does it mean to wait? What does that look like? How do we do that? Well.

See nothing like having someone not around that you really wish were around to get you thinking about these advent promises and waiting. I recognize some of you have been feeling this intensity for a while now, some for many years, and some haven't quite felt it in this way before. But one day you will. So perhaps a scripture. I'm hoping as we get a chance to dive into it these next few weeks will will bring some measure of encouragement and hope as to together we remember this season of Advent. If you have your Bible, invite you to turn over to Isaiah chapter 40. It's the passage that we all read together just a moment ago. I want us to look at some of these words, these first words of waiting as the people of God, Israel, are in captivity. They've been carried off into Babylonian exile as a result of their sin and their disobedience. In fact, the first part of Isaiah, it outlines all that went wrong, all the ways that the the car has wound up in the ditch, how the train has gotten off its track. And by the time we get to chapter 40, we're needing some hope, we're needing some reminder of is it ever going to get any better? Will things ever change? Will things ever go differently? And here in chapter 40, Israel receives that hope through the Prophet Isaiah from the Lord. He gives them these words of comfort and his presence.

In fact, I'll start in verse 28. Have you not known have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth? He does not faint, nor is he weary. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives power to the faint and to those who have no might. He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail and fall. But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So he got through. His prophet Isaiah reminds his people that hope is coming, Hope is alive. The God, the creator, the sustainer of the universe. He never gets tired and he never faints. He never grows weary. His wisdom, Isaiah says, is inscrutable. There's nothing beyond him. For those who wait upon him, he says their strength will be renewed. And here this idea is for a strength that has weakened or has failed will be exchanged for a strength that will never fail. For a strength that's gotten weary, it will be renewed or replaced with a new energy. It's like when your football team drives the ball all the way down to the one yard line and they just can't cross until they bring in number 95. And he has a renewed energy and he's able to plunge across the goal line and score, right. Isaiah says that hope number 95.

He's coming. Hold on. Hold on. For those who are willing to wait on the Lord, even in the midst of hard things and uncertain circumstances and consequences even of their own bad decisions, there is hope. There's hope for those who wait in the Lord. He will increase your strength. He will renew it, He will replace it. He will exchange it. He will strengthen your weary arms. They'll be able to keep moving. He uses this beautiful image of an eagle soaring on the wind that God provides to walk and run in a strength they know is not their own because it doesn't come as a result of being young and energetic. I love this picture. Even you get tired. The thing that we say, Oh, if I just were a few years younger and the old saying youth is wasted on the young, right, that energy we recognize, we just don't have it like we used to. God says, I will supply what you need. But it's interesting to me that waiting is an intentional practice. It's actually a learned habit. It's not something that comes naturally to us. As I said before, all you have to do is be around a child to see that it doesn't come naturally. Kids don't quietly sit in the corner and go, Oh, are you finished visiting now with your friends? Oh, really? You don't need any more time. Okay, well, let's go. That's not how it goes, right? At least not in my family, not in my experience.

It just doesn't come naturally. It's a practice. It's something we have to learn. We have to try out. And for some of us, myself included, I need to remind myself that this is a learned behavior. So often. I wish it wasn't. I have to practice it. You see, one of the things I've learned about my impatience and my inability to wait is it exposes my hope that often my my inability to wait exposes what I've really put my hope in. And so recently, I've returned to some practices that I had before and had gotten away from, But just repeating some of these promises that God has given to me. That he'd never forsake me. And he's trustworthy. I've learned this to to wait patiently on the Lord. I have to intentionally practice. Practice waiting. Practice having patients. One of the ways I've learned it most recently was just watching my parents navigate this season of of cancer. They had this mantra that I've picked up and have tried to let repeat in my mind each day. That every morning when I was around my mom and dad, they would begin their day with a prayer. And they often ended it with this. I don't know what the day holds. But I know who holds the day. I don't know what the day holds, but I know who holds the day. And that became a mantra for them as they would navigate the highs and the lows of facing an uncertain and unwelcome diagnosis of cancer.

They didn't know exactly how each day, each moment, each appointment would go, but they knew who held them and who held the day. That faith, that trust that didn't come naturally because there are so many ups and downs and twists and turns in life that it can be easy to forget. And if you leave your hope, as too often I do, up to how I'm feeling in the moment, what I'll find is it's like riding an emotional roller coaster, never having the same day twice. In fact, often in this midst of the same day, feeling incredible highs and terrible lows. What I found is my strength begins to fade. That my young. Ish legs grow weary. That I need someone to replace and exchange my strength for a new one. Perhaps that's why the story of Simeon has resonated with me in this time and in this season, because it's another story of waiting. Here's a portrait that Rembrandt painted, this image of Simeon waiting at the temple. In fact, we'll read some of the scriptures, but in between that this portrait is just going to be up there for you to think about and and imagine what it must be like to put yourself in that same position. But the story of Simeon, Luke tells us, is an incredible story of waiting. Verse 25 now, Luke, chapter two, verse 25. If you want to follow along, you can do that on the slides or turn there in your Bible.

We're told now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Well, the first things we're told about Simeon is he's waiting for the constellation of Israel. Only this version of consolation in waiting was a little different from the days of Isaiah the Prophet. It wasn't Babylon, it was Rome. But Rome had come in and taken control. And so Israel's will still waiting. When will Rome be pushed out? And Israel restored. Renewed. Simeon was waiting for the day. That the consolation of Israel would occur. Only swimming, we're told, was a little different spot than Israel. Luke tells us he was a righteous man, that he was devout, and that the Holy Spirit was upon him. I think this is a significant detail that if we're not careful, we're just going to read right over. Over the next two verses, two more times, Luke is going to tell us that Simeon was following the advice of Isaiah and waiting and hoping in the Lord. And verse 26, it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that He would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ, led by the Spirit. He came into the temple. At three times. Luke mentions Simeon's connection with the Holy Spirit. That Simeon was filled with the spirit, that he listened to the Spirit and that he followed the direction of the Spirit.

And perhaps that's where God's inviting you this Advent season. To remember, to anticipate and to wait upon the Lord. It's by reconnecting or opening yourself up once again, or learning to follow the Holy Spirit. Maybe the word for you is to lean again into His Spirit. Would you be willing to open yourself up this season to the Spirit's role in your life? For some of us that may begin with something as simple as this little prayer I've been praying during my gratitude challenge. It's Lord, I can't. But you can. I think I'll let you. Lord, I can't. But you can. I think I'll let you. Perhaps for you that may mean slowing down a bit and re-engaging with some daily Bible reading. Allowing God's Word as Spirit to work its way into your heart that you become so busy with so many other things that perhaps the invitation to reconnect with the Holy Spirit and an invitation for you to stop and to jump back into God's Word again. Or maybe for you it's reconnecting with a small group and allowing some trusted friends to to be able to speak some truth into your life, to help you notice the ways that God is at work and the ways that you're quenching his spirit in your life. Maybe for you, it's reconnecting in community. Or maybe for some of us, and this has been particularly true of me, it's it's learning to be still and quiet and listen again.

Maybe he's trying to find a moment of of space in your day where you can just pause in silence and in solitude. And just listen for whatever it is the Lord wants to tell you. Or maybe for you, it's praying for the courage to take advantage of those opportunities that the Lord brings to your doorstep. Those moments when you're in the office and that coworker says that thing and you know, you could ask another question, but that might unlock another stage of the conversation. And I just don't know that I have the time. And maybe you might have the courage to ask that question to lean in and wait. Maybe it's an invitation for you to start practicing waiting on the Holy Spirit once again to actively put your hope in God. You see, Simeon was open to the Holy Spirit. That he listened to the spirit and he followed the leading of the spirit. And because of that, he has been waiting faithfully so much so that Luke says he was a devout man. He understood God is at work. And so Luke tells us this is what happens. Led by the Spirit, He came into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, according to the custom of the law, he received him in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart and peace according to your Word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people.

A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people. Israel. Joseph and his mother were amazed at those things which were being spoken about him. Then Simeon blessed them and he said to Mary, his mother, Listen. This child is destined to cause the fall and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign which will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And a sword will pierce through your own soul. Also. Now. There's so much here. I wish we had time to explore all of it, but we certainly don't. So instead I just want to focus on a couple more things Invite you to consider. As we finish. First Simeon's prophecy itself. It's a statement of a mature faith, of a faith that's learned to wait on the Lord. He takes Jesus in his arms and it says He blessed. God. Simon says I can depart. I can depart in peace for you, Lord have promised. My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared. In the midst of a long and tedious and difficult time of waiting. Simeon's practice of continuing to listen to God's spirit. To hunger for it to to respond to it when it prompts has led him to this moment to say, Now I can see Lord. Now I can see. And there's this significant equation in this remark. Simeon understood that the see Jesus was more than simply seeing a child, but was seeing salvation.

He doesn't just say, Now I've seen the Messiah, I've seen your child, he says, I have seen salvation. To see Jesus is to see salvation. Simon experiences this reality that there is joy even in the midst of hard things when one has seen the source of life. Perhaps your invitation is to see the same salvation promise in Jesus that Simeon saw. Perhaps this advent is an opportunity for you have eyes to see all that God is doing and has done and will do in and through Jesus and your life and your family. And your workplace and your neighborhood. In your church. See, Simeon says Jesus, when seen properly for who he is, is more than just a great teacher or communicator. More than just a nice religious guy. He was the cause of a lot of rising and falling in Israel, Simeon will say. And he still is today. Church. Jesus is the light that invites people to step out of darkness and into the great light of God's love. That he shines not only into all people and to all corners of the world, but he shines it as well in his great story that's been unfolding for centuries. Simon's been waiting a long, long time. Perhaps his whole life for this moment, for the promise of God to be revealed. He wasn't sure when it was going to happen. All he knew is that it would. One of the things that impressed me most about having a few conversations at the end of my mom's life.

Well, she'd been waiting for a long time to see this same Advent promise come true. And she didn't know when it was going to come. She knew it would one day. And we finally got the diagnosis that things were not going to get better, that things were not going to change, that this was going to be terminal. My mom's great fear was not. Where am I going to go? What's going to happen to me? She knew that, in fact, her great fear was what's going to happen to you. I mean, he lives that way. Only someone who has found that promised hope. Only someone who knows death is not the end of the story. Only someone who is holding on patiently every single day, praying, God, I don't know what today will bring, but I know you hold this day. You see, if you come this morning, church and you're tired and you're weary and you're burdened, you're in good company. And if you come today and you're just holding on by a thread, you're in good company. If you come today and your cup is just running over, you're so blessed and full of life. You're in good company because this is the place for God's people. This is a place where we meet, where we gather as his family. We remind each other stories. Not over yet. That this season, especially this season, is a reminder that hope has come. And will come again.