Waiting Patiently in Hope
The Hope We've Waited For • Sermon • Submitted
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· 69 viewsAdvent is a season when we are called to focus on our waiting for the arrival of the Lord in our lives. While we wait for the ultimate arrival of Jesus—which is his second coming to us—we are invited to wait for him as he arrives in our daily lives.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction (5m)
Introduction (5m)
Are your Christmas decorations up?
Are your Christmas decorations up?
Trend since 2020 - people have gone earlier. Ours are up (sorry Steve), mainly because less pressure than once Advent starts.
But also - they give us hope, bring joy, provide light on dark mornings/evenings. Warm hearts.
Some of us are not willing/able to wait patiently for that hope!
We need hope
We need hope
You can survive 40 days without food, three days without water, and eight minutes without air. But you can’t last a single second without hope. It’s an essential part of life. When hope is gone, life is over. (Rick Warren)
Hope Santa comes because we’ve been good all year. Hope for gifts to make us feel valued. Hope for Christmas cards so we know we’re loved. Hope for family and friends around us so we don’t feel lonely.
Explanation (5m)
Explanation (5m)
In Jesus’ day, the Jews hope was for the coming Messiah
In Jesus’ day, the Jews hope was for the coming Messiah
400 years since God had last spoken of this hope - Patience!
400 years since God had last spoken of this hope - Patience!
In our Bible reading ...
Eight days later.
Then it was time.
At that time.
Eagerly waiting.
That day the Spirit led him.
As you have promised.
She was very old.
She never left the Temple.
She came along just as ...
Waiting expectantly.
All speaks of God’s precise timing and of the need for humans to wait patiently for it.
Many Jews believed that as God’s chosen people they were bound some day to become masters of the world and lords of all nations
Many Jews believed that as God’s chosen people they were bound some day to become masters of the world and lords of all nations
They believed a heavenly champion would one day descend on earth, arising from King David’s line, and all the old glories would be revived.
Simeon has been waiting patiently for Messiah promised to him
Simeon has been waiting patiently for Messiah promised to him
In contrast, there were a few Jews who had no such dreams of violence, power, armies with banners.
Instead, they lived quiet lives of constant prayer and patient waiting, watching until God decided now was the time for him to come.
Known as the Quiet in the Land.
They waited quietly and patiently on God.
At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Text suggests patient anticipation and faithful longing.
Simeon felt the pain of his people who have waited over 400 years for promise, oppressed spiritually and politically.
Longed for Messiah to come to them and offer comfort in the battle and ultimate deliverance.
And God had promised him he would not die until he had seen Messiah
And God had promised him he would not die until he had seen Messiah
Simeon - old, much to ponder. Probably had disappointments in life, as we all do, much to complain about, lots to regret. But he chooses not to dwell on this. Even in old age, Simeon looks to God’s future with brightness/hope.
Can you imagine excitement/anticipation as he awoke each day and patiently wondered if today was the day?
Where would he see Messiah? At home? In the streets? Surely, in the Temple?
Why was Simeon so willing to believe that God would fulfil his promise?
Why was Simeon so willing to believe that God would fulfil his promise?
Clue comes in language he uses: The word Simeon uses for Lord isn’t the common word found elsewhere in NT.
It is dĕspŏtēs (des-pot-ace) > English word, despot. Speaks of absolute ownership and uncontrolled power. Simeon acknowledges he is a slave of the sovereign Lord, the One who is in complete control of when Messiah will appear.
Simeon is utterly convinced that because of this, if God gives birth to hope deep in the human heart, then he will satisfy that hope in his good time. He simply has to wait patiently.
Anna was another of the Quiet in the Land, another faithful person who longed for Messiah and waited patiently for him to appear
Anna was another of the Quiet in the Land, another faithful person who longed for Messiah and waited patiently for him to appear
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.
84 years old. Widow. A prophet: lived close to God and was used by him to speak to the people. Spent her life around the Temple.
Worshipping, fasting, praying, patiently waiting.
And now, all they had been patiently waiting for, all they had been promised, was coming true
And now, all they had been patiently waiting for, all they had been promised, was coming true
This baby they meet in the Temple brings a kingdom of hope not just for Israel, but for the whole world:
I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
God has revealed himself to all nations, in the face of a child.
His light reveals God to everyone. His light makes the silence come alive. His light settles every fear. His light reveals every mystery. His light enables relationship.
Jesus, God in human flesh, the eternal light, breaks into the spiritually dark world.
What we have waited patiently for is coming true.
Application (5m)
Application (5m)
Message of Luke is that Jesus’ story can become your story too
Message of Luke is that Jesus’ story can become your story too
If old and worrying if God has anything left for you, can find hope in the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. If you’re living with secret shame and social stigma, you can find hope in the story of Mary and Joseph, a couple having a child too soon. If you feel at the end of your rope, the end of your hope, the end of your patience, you can find hope in the stories of Simeon and Anna, an old man and old woman, waiting to die but worshipping God night and day in expectant hope of the salvation of all people.
Luke for Everyone Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:21–40)
No matter who or where you are, the story of Jesus, from the feeding-trough in Bethlehem to the empty tomb and beyond, can become your story.
How you respond to J, to this story, decides everything for us. Difference between life of hope and a life of hopelessness:
Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
What a blessing! But Simeon makes it clear the decision we make about Jesus is all or nothing.
God doesn’t promise that if we follow Jesus our lives will be 17 percent. better or our happiness will see a 14 percent. increase and our marriages will be 16 percent. healthier.
It’s all or nothing. You fall into hopelessness. Or you rise in hope.
What will your story be?
My prayer this Advent, is that we will choose Jesus and choose to wait patiently for all he has in store for us
My prayer this Advent, is that we will choose Jesus and choose to wait patiently for all he has in store for us
That we will never cease to worship. That we will spend our lives in God’s house with God’s people. That we will take every opportunity this Advent to worship together - here in person, and through activities like Battle Drill devotionals, Growth Group online, WhatsApp prayer group, etc.
That we will never cease to pray. Not only together, but on our own, in private. As we spend more time with God this Advent, no matter how busy we get, we will live in unshakeable hope as we lean into his strength.
We do not like to wait but we miss God when we cannot wait patiently for him
We do not like to wait but we miss God when we cannot wait patiently for him
Our inability to be still, especially at this time of year, and to know that God is God, means we are in danger of missing him and the hope he brings altogether.
Next Steps
Next Steps
Video: The Hope of Christmas
Video: The Hope of Christmas
Video: The Hope of Christmas | 4:00
Take me back to eight years old
The little church on a dead-end road
With a candle flicker in one hand and dad's hand in the other
Take me back to Silent Night
My heart was full and the world was right
Cause right now the world looks nothing like those innocent Decembers
These days peace on earth is hard to find
And I need you to remind me one more time
You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart
Watch the snowflakes falling down
Like a blanket on this town
For a moment we can hardly see the pain this year has brought us
May the sick find healing's touch
May hatred's fight be won with love
And may every heart make room for you the One who came to save us
You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart
I bowed my head to pray tonight
Felt my little girl by my side
She slipped her tiny hand in mine
And we both talked to You
And it took me back to eight years old
My daddy's hand and a story told
About Heaven's love in a manger low
And a promise that's still true
You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart