Hurry Up and Wait

Message Transcription

If you have your Bible with you today, I invite you to turn over to Luke chapter one. We're going to be there in our time together this morning as you make your way there. Let me just remind us, we're in a series called In Good Company, and we're talking about waiting. So I just invite you to think about what are you waiting on these days? What are you waiting for? A good friend of mine, his house burned down about three and a half months ago, and he's been working with the insurance company time and time again to get things ready. He's telling me this past week about recently he's been waiting for those cabinets to come in and the way that this house was built, he didn't build it. He bought it from someone else who had it built. But regular cabinets just don't fit. And so when he put the when the insurance folks came by and they did all the measurements and they took all the the fittings, they they went to hire and get a couple of bids out. And the bid just came back. And it was more than what the insurance company was willing to pay. And so now he's got to wait. Only he was working feverishly to get ready for that moment when those cabinets would be built and would arrive only to find out he's got to hurry up and wait. How many of us have been a situation maybe not the same exact one, but some situation in our life where we're hurrying up to wait only to find out there's there's more waiting involved. We're thinking about this season of Advent, which is a season of Jesus coming.

But we're also waiting. We're waiting, anticipating that day, that time when we get together with our family and celebrate. We're also waiting for that day when Jesus will come again, when all will be made new and all the wrong will be made right. This is a season of waiting. It can be really hard to wait, especially when it's something you care deeply about. And so we've been thinking together through the Christmas story, how we can learn from some of the examples of of waiting. We looked first at that passage from Isaiah chapter 40. A reminder to us, a story of God's people, because of sin and disobedience, have been carried off into Babylonian captivity. And many were wondering, is this is this the end of our story? Is there opportunity for us? Will God redeem us? Will he reconcile us? Will will he bring us out of this brokenness? And along about chapter 40, we get this word of hope that God sends through the Prophet Isaiah to remind the people that 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 be faint. This word of reminder that those who wait upon the Lord will have their strength renewed. We talk some about how that renewing is not something that we do. It's not that we manufacture more strength and more energy by our own sheer willpower, but rather it's the work of God's spirit in us, reminding us, building in us a strength that we cannot have on our own. Hope is on the way, Isaiah tells the people for those who wait on the Lord.

This kind of of hope. It only comes from the spirit at work in us. So we looked some last week about what it means to be waiting. Waiting often exposes our hope, doesn't it? It exposes where we put our trust, where we've settled our lives upon. This season of waiting has been challenging for me. It's exposing what I've really been trusting and hoping in. And so I'm trying to be more intentional about thinking of the stories like Simeon. As we looked at in Luke chapter two, a man who told he has been waiting on the consolation of Israel. A man had been spent most of his life waiting, trusting, hoping. Believing that God was still going to work. We saw the evidence of that by his by the presence of the spirit in his life. We're told that that Simeon was waiting on the spirit. He was filled with the spirit. When the spirit would speak, he would respond. We see this life of cultivating God's presence, even doing the simple, mundane, everyday, ordinary things. Simeon was faithful to that. And so we tried to to listen for what does it mean for us to be faithful to the mundane, the regular? And maybe that's what inspired me about our story today in Luke chapter one, a chapter beforehand, the story of of Zechariah and Elizabeth Luke tells us this in verse five. There was there was in the days of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zachariah of the Division of A, and his wife was the daughter of Aaron. Her name was.

Elizabeth.

They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless only we're given this little detail at first. Luke often will do this, that it's in the days of King Herod, an important, powerful person in that day. And yet he's not the center of this story. In fact, he's not even the most important character in this story. The only significance that he has is that it was during his reign. After that, he kind of fades into the dark of the story as these two regular average priestly folks show up on the scene. This couple, older couple were told. That they're faithful. They're faithful to the work, the ordinances and the commandments of the Lord. They're blameless in that. They're righteous before God. I think it's important to to keep thinking about that, to keep holding that in mind as we look at these average, ordinary, everyday people who are called into waiting. One of the things we see consistently in their life is this continued pursuit of God. They continue to listen for his voice. They continue to pray. Yeah. Sometimes it's interesting to me when I think of growing up of these model Christians, these model people that I should model my life on, I would think, well, if they're a good Christian, then life isn't quite as hard for them as it is for other people like God. Here's their prayers because they're kind of extra faithful. What we see in these stories is that just because we're faithful to what God's called us to do doesn't mean our life is going to be easier.

We're not exempt from struggles. We're not exempt. What we see here this morning from waiting, from having to wait upon some really important things, even things that we want. God answers prayer, but often not in the way that we ask or expect. But God answers our prayers. We're told. Zakaria and Elizabeth are are facing a challenge, a challenge that some of us in this room have faced before, some of us who have extended family or friends, people that we care about know have faced, or seven we're told they had no child because Elizabeth was barren. And they were both now well advanced in years. I think my doctor used that same description when he asked me how old I was. And it sounds like you're well advanced in years. That's a nice way of saying they were old. They were older rather than younger. And Elizabeth can't have children. She's barren. Now, some of you, again, have known the pain of this struggle. And Elizabeth have lived with this struggle and this pain, most, if not all, of their adult married life. The challenge and the desire to be a parent. And certainly we know the the implications of that to some extent in our day, in our age. But in. Zakaria in Elizabeth's day, this was more than just an individual struggle that they were trying to navigate, but it was actually a communal struggle because having a child was seen as a blessing directly from God.

It was your participation in the ongoing covenant between God and his people. This next generation would come. It was also seen as essential to carrying on that family name, to passing on the name to the next generation, perpetuating this covenant. But also it was your way of ensuring care in your older age when you were no longer able to work or take care of yourself, you would be taken care of by your children. And here we have this couple, ZAKARIA And Elizabeth, who are well advanced in years. They were older and they had not had a child. They had no one to care for them in their aging days. Barrenness was regarded as a tragedy disgrace. To some, even a sign that God was against you. We stop and think about these faithful people that Luke tells us they were they were faithful to all that God had given to them. They were faithful in prayer. They were faithful in taking care of the duties of of a priest and priestly family. And yet here God is against them. God is not for them or wrestling with this challenge of Is that really true? Is that what this could possibly mean? Not only had they been dealing with it, they've been dealing with it for a while. What do you do in a season of your life when you feel like you've been crying out to God and not only has God not listening to you that He's against you? How do you respond? What do we do? What does waiting look like in that season? I think to me it's inspiring that Zachariah and Elizabeth keep pursuing God.

They keep being faithful to what God has given them to do. They don't quit. Though I'm sure there were times, many times, many days when it would have been easy to do so. Instead. Instead of allowing what they don't know to get them off track. They remain faithful to what they already know to be true. They stay faithful to their calling. They don't settle for simple answers. They don't phone it in. They just stay faithful. Luke tells us they were righteous. I mean, they took very seriously the commitments that they had made to God and God's call upon their life. They were faithful. They were righteous. They held on to what little faith they had. And they kept following where God was leading to the temple. To perform those everyday, ordinary priestly tasks. Even in the face of uncertainty and heartbreak, even in the face of shame and stigma, they just kept staying faithful. Again, I hear those words of Isaiah 40 ringing out again. They shall walk and not be faint. What allows you to stay faithful in the midst of heartache and heartbreak and uncertainty? Well, it can only be a power that doesn't come from your own willpower, your own heart, but rather there was the spirit at work in their lives.

How do we know they were doing this? Well, Gabriel kind of gives us that hint, doesn't he? When Zachariah goes into the holy of holies, this special place, this place of honor, he goes in and he meets an angel. The angel says, Do not fear Zechariah. For your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth will hear will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. It's a picture, a painting that William Blake painted a number of years ago depicting this image of Zachariah in the temple encountering the Angel Gabriel. I think it's interesting that Gabriel tells them your prayer has been heard. Zakariya is well advanced in years, and yet he's still praying. He's still praying that God might deliver a child. He's still praying for his wife, Elizabeth, for their marriage, for their life together. Perhaps he was even praying that prayer as he walked into the holy of holies that day to burn that incense with all those who were outside waiting. We don't know. We don't know that he and Elizabeth were. All we do know is that they were righteous, that he continued to pray, which means they weren't weren't one hit wonders. And certainly Zechariah was not in his prayer life. He was praying. I think what changed, though, were his expectations. He was praying, but he wasn't really expecting his prayers to be answered. How many of us can identify with that? Have you ever prayed for something and just kind of.

Thought, I don't know if this can happen.

I was listening to someone talk this week about how you wrestle some with this idea. How do we pray for something not knowing if God's going to give us that prayer and not being selfish, but at the same time wanting to do God's will that sometimes he says we fall on one of these ends where we just keep praying whether it's our will or God's will or not. We're going to keep asking or or we're just going to stop asking. We're just going to pray that God's will be done in our life. I don't know where Zachariah was and his prayer life. All I know is he just kept praying. He just kept praying. But over time, those expectations had begun to diminish some. I mean, think about this for a moment. Where is Zachariah?

He's in the holy of holies.

I place so special and unique. You couldn't just walk in. When a priest would go into this place. They would tie a rope around their waist and it would stay out into the back because of something happened. If he did it wrong and God struck him dead, you couldn't go in and pick them up and bring them out. They would have to pull him out. This was a sacred, holy space. And here's Zachariah is burning incense. This symbol of God's peoples, their prayers rising up right this sacred, holy moment. And it's there.

He's surprised to meet an angel.

Let me think about that for a moment. Of all the places to meet an angel. Might it be in the holy of holies where only angelic beings could survive? And yet here's Zacharias. Like, what are you doing here? Have you ever found yourself in a position where you come to church and you walk into the sanctuary? And you're praying the prayers and you're singing the songs and you're gathering around the table, consuming the elements, the body and the blood, and you're listening to these deep, powerful, moving.

Life changing.

Sermons every Sunday.

But you don't really expect much to happen. Not really expecting to encounter God.

Not really expecting him to. To hear my heart's cry. And maybe for some of us like Zacharias, because we've been praying that prayer for so many years.

So many years. That our hope is waning.

We're going to be faithful to it. But man, our expectations. They've just diminished some. Maybe for you it's a relationship. It's a person that you want to reconnect with. It's that person you want to define their way back home. Or maybe it's a circumstance in your life that you're facing a challenging work situation. Or maybe you feel God's call to you in some way and you just can't quite figure out how it's all going to work out. Now, perhaps there's a wake up call in here for us as it was that day for Zakaria. You've got to steal at work. Got a still moving. Perhaps God is inviting you to renew your hope and expectation that He will do. He will answer. Just maybe not on your timetable. It certainly wasn't on Zacarias. I love his question. His response would have been in mine. Gabriel I'm well advanced in years, bro. How do I know this is going to happen? How do how can I trust that this is so? It's a question that resonates with me. I don't know about you. Is this really.

Going to happen? I need a sign. You going to have to show me something, man?

My. My wife is. Well-advanced in years, shall we say? Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this from an old man? And my wife is well advanced in years. The angel answered him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. And I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things happen. Because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their season. I love the Zacharias in the holy of holies. And he's talking to an angel. And it's still not enough.

I need a sign. In the holy of holies talking to an angel.

You need a sign.

Right?

Yeah, he needed a sign. And if I'm honest with you.

Me, too. Sometimes I need a sign. And so he gets one.

If Zakaria wants certainty and friends, that resonates with me. I like being certain. I want to know. But you know what's interesting? God's not all that interested in certainty. And he wants faithful hearts. He wants folks to respond to him in obedience. He wants loving people. He's not all that interested in making it real certain for us. So the sign that Zakaria is given is he's not going to speak for nine months, not until all this takes place in that baby is born. Now studying this week, most commentaries and even in my past and studying for this passage, all the commentaries almost unanimously say this is a punishment. I we read Gabriel's words as a punishment. You didn't believe, therefore you're not going to talk. And maybe it is. Maybe, maybe that's maybe that's the correct reading.

But maybe it was a gift.

Just think about this for a moment. Maybe it was a gift. Maybe Zakaria needed a little silence in his life.

Maybe you needed to be quiet for a little while and ponder.

To wonder again, to allow his soul to stretch, to allow those expectations to begin growing back. To re encounter God in a way that would bring him life again. Church. Maybe in this season of Advent. Silence might be a gift.

That you need.

A gif that you need to re encounter the living God. Living God who chooses to work in a story not through King Herod, who was the most important, most substantial person of his day. Instead, he chooses this well.

Advanced in years couple.

Who are just quietly being faithful. Even though they're experiencing tremendous shame in their life. I can't help but wonder if there were times when they were asking, What.

Did we do wrong? Why haven't you answered this prayer?

Instead, God chooses to work in this older couple, which says, I hope a number of things to us this morning, but certainly the first thing, it's.

Never too late.

You're never too old for God to work in your life. There's not an age where God says. Expiration date has passed. Couldn't do anything here. God works in the most unlikely place. Just this average ordinary couple who are continuing to fight and hold on to whatever little flicker of faith is still burning. They were faithful to what God had given them to do. God reminds us, You're never too old to be used.

By God in a powerful way.

Never to you too old for God to work in an unexpected way. It will be open. If we'll be looking, it will be anticipating if we'll allow those moments to keep coming. It's a story that reminds me that God is still choosing to work in the life of ordinary people. As Isaiah's words continue to echo those who wait upon the Lord.

Those who wait upon the Lord. Church. Are you waiting upon the Lord these days?

You know, maybe like Simeon's Case, we got to lean back into God's Word again, leaning back into his community again, leaning back into listening and obeying what God has called us to do. Or maybe like Zachariah and Elizabeth, it's it's leaning back into being obedient to those things. We already know to be true that even in the midst of uncertainty, we don't have to stay. In the same spot. We can.

Continue following.

It's a story that during waiting time that hurry up and wait. Maybe it's an invitation for us to be silent for a little while. And just listen. To wonder at the work that God is doing. To be in awe once again of how he might answer our prayer. Maybe not in the time and maybe not in the way that we expect, but knowing that our God hears, He doesn't forget. That the struggles and the suffering. Of this waiting time is not wasted.

Although it feels that way sometimes.

Again, I can't imagine what it must have been like for Zachariah and Elizabeth to keep praying that same prayer. I imagine there were times where they kind of look at each other.

Are we doing this? Yeah, we're doing this.

You a significance of of being a part of a.

Family who say we're going to be that for each other.

We're going to encourage one another to keep being faithful to what we already know to be true. We're going to keep waiting on the Lord because those who wait on the Lord will have the strength renewed. That they're going to soar on a wind like an eagles wings. But that wind is not provided by.

You or me.

They're going to keep running or they're going to just keep walking. Step by step, powered by strength.

That's not their own. We'd be faithful. To what we already know to be true.

And when we can't be certain. Can we be faithful? Got to pray this morning for our church as we consider the waiting that Zachariah and Elizabeth did that Simeon did that so many have done. This waiting in patient hope. That you will do what you said you would do and you will make all things new. The God. One day the world will be set right again. That there will come a time where there is no more death. There is no more pain. There are no more broken relationships. There are no more wounded hearts. But instead, Father. You will wipe away every tear. And we will find ourselves caught up in wonder, love and praise together. The gap between that day and this, we are holding.

On to hope.

We're trusting that as your servant, Paul said in Romans eight. That your spirit is interceding for us. With groans and words that just they're not even words. The God. We're praying prayerfully. Trying to be faithful and diligent, just like Zakariya and Elizabeth. Who came even in the midst of hard things, a hard season. Challenging circumstances, uncertainty.

Shame stigma.

We continue to be faithful.

Would you help us? To follow in those steps.

Father. Thank you. That you are a God who.

Continues to choose over and over again to work in the lives of ordinary people. Thank you for being a god. Who believes in us. Who continues to send his spirit to fill us, to encourage us.

And God, would you help us to be a church that encourages one another, that rallies around one another, that encourages and builds up one another, reminding.

Each other.

That you are.

Faithful.

You're faithful to your promises.

And that we can trust you.

And so God, in the next couple of weeks, I pray that. That our hope. And our trust in you would be inspiring to the.

People that you bring us into contact with.

May be inspiring to those fellow students of ours who are struggling. Who are wondering. Who are looking for.

An answer that just seems to keep escaping.

God, would you help us to love our friends.

In such a way that they see a difference? Yeah. Would you help that same hope and love to impact where we work? The people that we engage with every day. May they see in us.

Not a bitter, angry.

Resentment. But this patient, faithful, rugged, determined, sometimes flickering. Faith. Knowing and trusting that you are a god. The never sleeps. It never gives up. So, Father, help us not to. Lord, thank you for the story that we get to be a part of.

That you loved us so much, you were not willing to just sit on the sidelines and watch, but you sent your son into the world to create a way for us.

To come back to you. God, would you help us to come back to you?

Lord, we anticipate that day when you will come again. But between that day and this. Give us the courage, Father. Renew our strength. We knew our courage.

We knew our hope. Help us to be faithful to what we already know, to be true. We pray all this. God it in Jesus. Holy name. Amen