Sermon Waiting for God
Gracious God:
Grant that we might hear what you would have us hear, grant that we might see what
you would have us see, and grant that we might do what you would have us do. Amen.
I would like to focus this morning on those times when we must wait for God -- those
times when God seems removed form us -- when we have needs and he has not yet
answered those needs.
This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of Christ into Heaven. Actually Ascension Day
was last Thursday – forty days after Easter – and ten days before Pentecost – which we
celebrate next Sunday. And, of course on Pentecost we celebrate the out pouring and
indwelling of the Holy Spirit – the act by which God empowered the church for its mission
in the world.
In contrast, our Scripture lesson this morning involves a period of waiting -- It is a short
and unusual time for the fledgling Christian community: Christ has ascended into heaven
– His earthly ministry has been completed. But the Holy Spirit has not yet descended
upon the church to empower it and inspire it to its mission.
The fledgling Christian community is not yet the church in a real sense – that will not
happen until Pentecost. Instead – we see a small group of believers waiting for God –
waiting for help and his instruction about what to do next in life. I think we have all been
in a situation like that..
In First Century Jerusalem a whirlwind of events has occurred in such a short time:
• Jesus had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover.
• He had been betrayed by Judas
• He had been arrested.
• He had been abandoned and denied by Peter.
• He had been tried before the Sanhedrin.
• He had been condemned by Pilate to crucifixion.
• He had died a horrible death on the cross.
• He had risen from the dead.
• He had appeared in Jerusalem – along the road to Emmaus – at the Sea of Galilee
and upon a mountain.
• He appeared to the disciples a final time – on the Mount of Olives – about 3/4 of
a mile outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
In this final encounter with the Risen Christ – the disciples ate with him. As they dine,
He instructs them to go into a period of waiting –
Christ says to the disciples that they must wait for a few days – that they will be baptized
by the Holy Spirit. The disciples want to know when it will be – and Christ tells them:
It is not for you to know the times and dates the Father has set by his own authority.
And then Christ gives them a promise and a mission:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
With that – Christ departs from this earth. He is taken up to heaven in a cloud of glory.
The flurry of activity – all of the excitement – all of the emotions – all of the confusion
about what it all means -- it all comes to an end. A hush falls over the disciples. They are
alone. Christ is gone – The Holy Spirit has not arrived –
The great events of the life and ministry – the death and resurrection – of Jesus are over.
The great mission of the church has not yet begun.
The disciples are left in a waiting period. We are told by the book of Acts that there
were only about 120 people who believed in the resurrection of Christ – a small number
when compared to the thousands who had flocked to Him during his time on earth.
This small group will become the core of the church -- they will soon burst forth in a new
flurry of activity -- the church soon will explode across the Roman world -- but for now
there is a small group of people – most likely a group of exhausted and confused
individuals -- waiting for what comes next –
What do you do when you are waiting on God like that?
We have all had times when we are waiting for God. This time of year when students
are graduating – there are those who have a firm sense of direction and purpose – They
have a goal for the future -- something they want to accomplish.
But there are others -- those who are at a loss -- those who do not have a clear vision of
the future -- those who are waiting for God to act -- those who are waiting for a sense
of direction.
Or you might think of someone in the middle of life. Suddenly the plant closes – his job
is eliminated. What to do now?
What do you do when you are waiting for God to speak?
There are people who are waiting for God to bring healing. In some physical or
psychological way they are suffering. And they are waiting for God to come alleviate the
pain.
Think of the person cast into the depth of depression – and now life has no purpose – no
meaning – no joy. Think of the Gospels as they speak about people possessed of demons
– life is out of control. And the person is waiting for God to restore calm – to restore
order – to restore purpose and joy.
What do you do when you are waiting for God to act?
There are people who are waiting for God to restore relationships.
There are people who are waiting for God to provide the gift of forgiveness – And think
about it – Have you ever been in a situation where you want the forgiveness of someone
you have hurt – you do every thing you can to say I am sorry and to make things right and
that person simply will not forgive– And you are left waiting for God to soften that
person’s heart.
Or perhaps you have had the situation where you carry some terrible grudge
– You know – as you reflect upon it – that living in anger is like living with a
cancer – You know that the anger eats away at the soul – just like the cancer
eats away at the body.
But you just cannot get over it. You cannot bring yourself to say the simple words: I
forgive you. You are waiting on God to equip you with the serenity and the strength to
say those simple words – and really to mean what you say.
What do you do when you are waiting on God like that?
There are people who are waiting for God to provide the sign – the signal – that gives
birth to faith. We hear in our reading from Luke’s gospel that even after all of the
resurrection appearances there were still some of the disciples who did not believe. The
Risen Christ appeared – and they were afraid – for they thought he was a ghost.
And I have known people who are waiting for faith. They truly want to believe – and yet
something is standing in the way. It might be an old person who is afraid to die –
someone who has heard the promise of the resurrection and life everlasting with the Lord
– but somehow this person is still afraid – still separated from true belief. So the person
is on his death-bed – terrified – literally shaking for fear about what comes next.
That person is waiting for God for a sign to build true faith – And what do you do when
you are waiting for God like that?
Or perhaps it is the middle aged person in the midst of career and family life – wanting
the faith to believe that God calls us to acts of generosity and compassion. And yet all
this person sees in the world around is the lust for money and material goods.
The person is waiting for God to provide a demonstration that will build faith that the
love of neighbor really counts for something. What do you do when you are waiting for
faith like that?
Or perhaps it is the teenager waiting for God to build a sense of values and morals in a
culture that is far too often filled with vulgarity, crudeness and disrespect. The teenager
is waiting on God to provide the courage to reject all of the pressures that come from
peers and from the media.
What does the teenager do when he is waiting on God like that?
Or perhaps you are waiting for God to provide justice. You can think of the experience
of the Afro-American community in the 19th and 20th Centuries. All of the promises of
equality before the law – equality of opportunity – equality of education – equality in the
recognition of basic human dignity –
What do you do when you live in a land of liberty – and you are still waiting -- after more
than a century -- for God to grant you the blessings of liberty?
And again – there are those who are waiting for peace. Psalm 122 commends us to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem. That Psalm was composed 2500 years ago – and we are still
waiting for God to bring the blessing of peace to that holy – but troubled – city.
What do we do when we are waiting for God to bring peace to this troubled world?
There are those people who wait more desperately than any of us. There are people in
our own country who are homeless and hungry. There are people around the globe in
desperate struggles to feed their children.
In some African villages there are children who are engaged in the desperate struggle to
survive – because the adults have died of AIDS – the orphanages are over crowded and ill
equipped – and there is no were to go and no one to take care of them.
What do you do when you are waiting for God like that?
First -- hold onto the promises of the Scripture: God will act in His time.
Jesus told the disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or the dates that the Father
has set by his own authority.”
It is hard to wait.
We do not want to wait. We want to speak with God on our time – not on his. We want
him to act – Now!!!
We want God to act on our time – not on His.
God will act – He always does – In his way – In his time – In His wisdom. Isaiah the
Prophet reminds us:
My thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without
watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
And you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.
Isaiah reminds us that the Lord has his time. The Lord will act in his time. The Lord will
restore all things in his time.
Second -- Waiting for God should be a time of practical activity
The Book of Acts tells us that the disciples took care of some practical business. After
Christ had ascended, Peter tells the disciples that they needed to replace Judas – to
appoint a new disciple. So, they went about in a business like fashion – They set they
created a job description:
• The new disciple was to be a witness to the resurrection of the Christ.
• They specified the qualifications: The new disciple had to be a person who had
been with them from the beginning.
• The disciples then looked at the candidates: There were two who fit the bill.
• Finally, the disciples took the practical step of invoking God in their decision
making process: By casting lots they allowed God to chose between the two
qualified candidates.
Our own times of waiting for God should also be a very practical time.
If we are waiting for God to solve the problem of starvation in Africa – we can also be
doing something practical:
We can give what we are able – we can support those who are there in Africa to bring
relief. We can pray like the disciples. All of those things are very practical.
If we are waiting for God to provide direction in our life activities – we can do something
very practical while we wait – We can investigate our options – we can get the proper
training – we can talk to other people – listening to their suggestions – We can pray for
guidance. All of those things are very practical.
While we are waiting for God to establish peace – we can become peace-makers. And we
can pray about peace. Again – things that are very practical.
Third -- the time of waiting should be a time of reflection.
I imagine that the disciples used the ten day period from the Ascension to Pentecost for
reflection on all of the events they had witnessed and experienced.
Imagine for a moment that you are Peter.
I imagine Peter during this time of waiting like this:
God has promised that there will be great things in the future. But for now Peter is
waiting for the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps Peter thought back on his time with Jesus. Three years ago – Peter was an
ordinary man then. He has a small fishing business on Lake Galilee. He was so poor he
did not even own his own boat. He struggled to get by – paying his taxes to Rome and to
the Temple. He was educated – but not well educated. His Greek was rough.
Like the rest of Jewish society he had been waiting for God – looking for the Messiah. And
then the most extraordinary thing had happened. An itinerant Rabbi had said to him and
to his brother Andrew, “Come, follow me and I will make you a fishers of men.”
For three extraordinary years – Peter had given up on the fishing business. He had
followed Jesus all over the Jewish world – and far beyond it. He had traveled through
Samaria – and all the way to Tyre in Syria. He had traveled with Jesus in the Trans-
Jordanian provinces of the Roman Empire – hearing Jesus preach among the gentiles.
He had seen miracles including the healing of his own mother in law – He had witnessed
the Transfiguration – He had heard the words of the Master -- wonderful words of wisdom
and compassion and forgiveness. He had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah.
Jesus had called him the Rock upon which the church would be built. But he had
betrayed his Lord – Not once but three times. And the Risen Christ had reinstated him –
not once – but three times.
Time and again, the Gospels tell us that along the way there was so much that Peter did
not understand. Peter made mistakes -- he was confused. And yet for all of the mistakes
that Peter made – Christ still trusted him – Christ was still determined to use him.
So, Peter had so much to contemplate. It was necessary for Peter to have that time of
reflection before he went on to the next big set of assignments that God had in mind for
him – leading the Jerusalem church – converting Gentiles – traveling to Rome to lead the
church there – and to become the first bishop of Rome – going to a martyr’s death.
The waiting time provides such a wonderful opportunity to stop – to reflect –
to gain some perspective on what has happened in life.
To go on to the future that God has in store for us – We need to understand and become
reconciled with the past. The waiting time is such a wonderful time for that type of
reflection.
Life is so hurried that we lose sight of the need for measured reflection. For me the
school year is like a marathon – except I’m running the whole 26 miles at a sprinter’s
pace. So when the summer comes it is a special time.
I can meditate and reflect a bit over the summer.
When ever it is – how ever it is – we all need that special time to contemplate – to
meditate – to reflect on our lives.
God paces us. He gives us those waiting times – because we need them.
We wait for God to restore relationships – to lead us – and to lead others to forgiveness.
The waiting time – if we use it well – prepares us. We reflect backward so that we can
live for a better future.
We wait for God to restore us to serenity and joy. The waiting time – if we use it well –
will be a time of reflection and remembrance – on the ways others have given us joy –
and the ways we – in turn – have offered joy to the world around us.
We wait for God to give us the strength to make good choices and to live with pure and
charitable values. While we wait – if we do it well – we meditate on the types of choices
we can make – and those we have made.
We wait for justice in the world. We need the waiting time to reflect backward on the
forms of injustice that the world has know. And then as God empowers us– we can live
for a better future.
We wait for God’s sense of direction in our lives – What should we do and how should we
do it? We need the waiting time to reflect backward on what has happened in our lives
– on the talents God has given and the skills we have acquired – so that we can live for
a future where we use those talents and skills for the glory of God.
Fourth – The time of waiting can be a time to deepen our faith. That gets us to the
final example set for us by Peter and the other apostles.
God helps us build faith in many ways -- but one way is in our communion with the Lord
and with each other. As they began their period of waiting – the days between Ascension
and Pentecost – they ate with our Lord. They heard our Lord and were built up in their
faith in this communal experience.
And in the same way – faith is built in us in the sacrament of communion. As we wait for
the Lord to act within our lives – Let us wait with him and with the Body of Christ – as we
come to the Lord’s table.
This is a sacred meal of which we now partake. In the sacrament of communion we dine
with the Lord as surely as did the disciples. Our faith is built in these holy moments.
Let us join now in faith as we pray:
Almighty God unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and form whom no
secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, Through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Forgive our sins – making us pure in heart and generous in deed – lead us on the paths of
righteousness – so that we might give glory to your name and honor to your son – our
Savior Jesus Christ – In whose name we pray – Amen.
