Christmas 1: Waiting for The Word

0:00 Now, kids' video was great, wasn't it? And just how they articulated so enthusiastically how much they hate waiting. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, and so on. And as they were doing that, it reminded me of that sense of just, especially at this time of year, that sense of deep impatience that I had growing up as a child. And I'm sure a lot of you can empathize. This time of year, certainly in our house, I knew that the big present had been chosen, generally out of the Argos catalogue. The big present most likely at this time of year had been surreptitiously purchased at some stage when you weren't there, and it had been secreted somewhere in the house. And the impatience built and built and built until the day that you were left behind.

0:55 I must have been a good bit older than the kids here, or else my parents are in trouble. but until you were left behind when they went to do the big shop in Stewart's at Northcott on a Saturday afternoon, and you would start to look. And your impatience would get too much for you. And sadly for my parents, they had no imagination whatsoever. So you looked in the same place as last year, and it was generally there. They had these cupboards, you know, in their bedroom, the wardrobes that went out the outside and the cupboards that sort of overlapped the bed. And generally it was in one of those high ones as if they thought we couldn't reach or couldn't find anything. And of course the challenge was memorizing how something looked before you took everything apart and then had to put it back together again perfectly.

1:42 I would imagine kids these days are able to take a pre-photo with their phones and then just set it all up and adjust it as is. But I didn't have that luxury. My impatience was so strong and the inability to wait was so strong. And the reality, I think, for all of us, especially in this age that we live in, this Amazon Prime, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Netflix instant streaming time that we live in, we are more programmed than ever to find waiting a struggle. We are more formed than ever to find it one of the most difficult things that there are to do. But as we move towards sharing bread and wine together later, which is, of course, an act of remembrance, but it's also, and we don't necessarily think this one to the same extent, it is also an act of waiting. Jesus says when he talks about this, about proclaiming the Lord's death until I return, as we await his future return. And this is the call of Advent in a sense, this waiting on the Lord.

3:01 To put ourselves, first of all, in the shoes of those who 2,000 odd years ago were waiting in the darkness for the Messiah to come. But also then to sit for a while in our own waiting in the darkness as we anticipate and as we prepare ourselves for his future and promised return. And we look out, don't we? We look out and we lament the darkness of the world. We see so much evil and injustice. We see so much hatred and polarization and fragmentation. We see so much sadness and confusion and fear and anxiety. But then we too look at and we lament the circumstances of so many people in this church and the darkness of those.

4:07 Just this morning as I was walking into first service, I had two people share with me just more news of really dark and difficult situations. And like I've said over weeks before, that's the reality of a church family of our size, hearing those and knowing so much that is going on. And stories of loss, of mental and emotional anguish, of physical illness and pain, stories of relational breakdown and people carrying so much confusion and disappointment and fear. And many of those people questioning, where is God? Is he deaf? Is he powerless? Or is it that he just doesn't care?

5:05 And not only do we lament the darkness of the world, the darkness of circumstances of people here, we lament the darkness, too, that we see still inside ourselves. our selfishness, our greed, our envy, our rebelliousness, our malice. And the question is then, whatever darkness we are in, whether it be global, whether it be personal, whether it be internal, or whether it's all of the above that we are facing, where do we look as we wait? That's the question we ask at this time of year. And to lead us into communion, I want to take us, as we think about that question, I want to take us to words we know very well, words that will be read definitely again in this place over the Christmas period. From Isaiah 9, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. But I also want us to look as well at their less well-known but crucial context.

6:11 Where do we find these words of prophecy? What's the story that we find them in? And the story that we find them in is actually found in Isaiah chapter 7 tonight. And I'm just going to give us a little high level of that. I can't go into all the detail, of course, this morning. I'd encourage you to read those chapters for yourself. But at a high level, this is what is going on. Isaiah has been called to be God's prophet to Judah, the two southern tribes of Israel's 12 after the nation has divided after the death of Solomon.

6:46 And Judah's king at that time was called Ahaz. And Ahaz is facing the threat of an attack from a military alliance from the north, from Israel and Syria. Israel and Syria getting together and Judah are under threat of attack. And Ahaz and the people are deeply fearful. Isaiah describes it like this. So the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. I wonder how many of us here this morning know that sort of feeling.

7:27 but then God speaks to Ahaz through Isaiah and here's what he tells him be careful keep calm and don't be afraid do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood these nations are nothing to the living God and what God is really telling Ahaz is wait on me trust in me but there's also a warning if you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand at all and the Lord actually then encourages Ahaz to ask for a sign to reassure him but Ahaz in this sort of full piety says oh no I'll not put the Lord God to the test even though God himself has invited him to do it because the reality is this. Ahaz has chosen in his heart not to wait on the Lord. He doesn't want to wait on him. He doesn't want to trust him. He wants to take matters into his own hands. He looks at the military power surrounding him, and he thinks it's better to trust in the greatest military power.

8:46 So what he does is, instead of trusting God, he seeks to an alliance with the Assyrians. And that's the way he goes rather than wait for and trust in God. And then what happens is this. In response to Ahaz's sinful response to him, God says, do you know what? I'm still going to give you a sign. But it's not going to be a sign of reassurance. It's going to be a sign of judgment.

9:19 And the sign one that we hear still a lot about at Christmas. Here are the words, you'll recognize them well. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel. And this sign, of course, for us, these words are words that promise grace and promise deliverance through a child. As they eventually point to another son conceived by a virgin who would be called Emmanuel. But the immediate outworking of this prophecy was the birth of Isaiah's own son as a sign that Assyria would, with the help of Egypt, conquer, defeat Israel and Syria. And as they did that,

10:12 that Judah too would be overwhelmed in the process. Isaiah talks about them being up to their necks in the floodwaters of the Euphrates, this metaphor for the catastrophic consequences of Ahaz's choice not to wait on the Lord, of his refusal to trust in God and in his promises. In the middle of all this, Isaiah himself declares, I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. But sadly, Isaiah stands in stark contrast to Ahaz. He stands in stark contrast to the people of Judah who in the midst of the darkest darkness of being overwhelmed by the most terrifying nation in the world, they still have the opportunity to join Isaiah's declaration, yet, tragically, they turn elsewhere.

11:15 We pick up the narrative in verse 19 of chapter 8. And here's what Isaiah says. When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God's instruction and the testimony of warning. if anyone does not speak according to this word they have no light of dawn distressed and hungry they will roam through the land when they are famished they will become enraged and looking upward will curse their king and their god the god who they have turned their backs on and then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom and they will be thrust into utter darkness. We see here the people of Judah in their fear,

12:20 but also in their rebellion, scrambling for alternative light options, doing what the other nations around them did, looking towards the things of the earth, looking down for light where everyone else was looking for it, looking for immediate relief from this darkness wherever they could find it, but ultimately finding, and this is a cautionary tale, of course, ultimately finding that searching anywhere else but the Lord's instruction, but the Lord's testimony, but the Lord's word only ends up thrusting them deeper into darkness and distress and fearful gloom. The message of this cautionary tale of Isaiah 7 and 8 is that there is no true light to be found outside of waiting on God's light. No true light to be found outside of his sovereign power, his goodness, his trustworthiness, his grace, his promises, all other potential options. However seemingly shiny, however apparently dazzling at the time as they are right in front of you, where they involve rejecting or turning our backs on God will only lead into even deeper darkness than we were in before. That's the picture that is being painted here by Isaiah in these verses. And so chapter 8 ends in the darkest of darkest places. The most hopeless of hopeless places.

14:04 The very last flicker of light seems like it has been extinguished forever. But it is in to that darkest of darkness. that God speaks. God speaks, and he begins with the word nevertheless. Here's what he says. We know them well. Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, here's what is coming according to the promises in the word of God, he will honor Galilee of the nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan.

14:58 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. Darkness will give way to the first rays of light on the horizon. You've enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. This light will bring joy, joy, joy, joy. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. This light will bring an end to all oppression and injustice.

15:49 every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning will be fuel for the fire this light will bring an end to all war and will usher in eternal peace but how will God do it? how is he going to do it? Is it going to be a mighty warrior, rescuer? Well, here's what Isaiah says. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. The true light that gives light to everyone. Remember John 1 was coming into the world.

16:38 And the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Gloom to glory, darkness to dawn, accomplished by the zeal of the Lord Almighty in a child born, in a son given. And these words then echo down through the years and we fast forward 700 years or so. And in Luke 2, we meet an old man who takes a six-week-old baby in his arms. And this old man, Simeon, an auntie, a has, if you like, in terms of his faithfulness to waiting on God.

17:54 And here's what he says, or here's what Luke says about him. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting. He'd been waiting his whole life for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. And moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

18:38 For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Here was the faith of a man who looked darkness in the eye and still waited on God, waited and trusted, did not give up hope, did not lose patience, did not look for alternative sources of light, but kept persevering with his eyes on the horizon, watching for the break of dawn. And God came through as he said he would. The word did become flesh. the sun was given. The true light did come into the world. And Simeon was able to say, as you have promised, so it has taken place. So we've got Ahaz.

19:49 And the people of Judah, we've got Simeon. What about us? On this Advent Sunday, Wherever we are today, whatever darkness it is we are facing, we are invited into this waiting on the Lord. But we wait in a very different place than these characters. We wait in a different place than Isaiah and the people of Judah who were waiting in the deepest of darkness. we also wait in a different place than simeon he waited and but and he got to see that first ray of light on the horizon but that is all that he saw and then he departed in peace but we are people who have seen god keep his promise of sending his son the word the light that shines in the darkness. This true light that gives light to everyone.

20:56 We are people who know the light of his salvation through the cross. We are people who know the light of his resurrection from the tomb, his defeat over death. And we are people who know the light of the spirit within us. Guaranteeing the future inheritance, guaranteeing the future promise. We are people too, of course, who know our own identity as children of light. And so, yes, we still see and know and experience and struggle with so much darkness, but we do it in the knowledge that that darkness is on its way out. It is simply a matter of time until Christ returns and that darkness is dispelled forever. Dawn has already broken.

22:05 And perhaps today, as I mentioned at the start, you're here today and you are waiting in your own personal darkness. And if you're being honest, you would say, I have just had enough. And I don't know whether I can keep waiting in whatever situation or circumstance I'm in. and on a human level I probably don't have an awful lot to say to you because I know the stuff that a lot of people here are dealing with and waiting on but as we come towards sharing bread and wine

23:04 I want to point you to there and what that bread and wine represents. That firstly, that God has entered your waiting with you. That's what the cross tells us. God has entered your waiting with you. He has presence himself with you. He has entered your struggles and your sufferings with you.

23:33 He is not distant. He is not deaf. He is not aloof. The cross is proof of that. But this bread and wine is also a reminder to us that he is a God who does keep his promises. He promised the child in the past and Simeon got to celebrate that promise. He promises Christ's return in the future. And so what he might be doing this morning with you is inviting you into trusting once again him with your future.

24:28 Inviting you into that place where in the future, like Simeon, you will be able to say, as you have promised, so it has taken place. There might be people here this morning, though, who have already given up waiting in their hearts. You might be here at church because this is what you do, but your heart's a long way away. And again, this bread and wine that we're about to take might be inviting you back. And just thinking of that word, in the darkest of the darkness, and that word, nevertheless. God, through Christ, continues to invite you back into a new place of waiting on him, of trusting in him. It is not too late.

25:32 You're not too far away. And he is the only true light that you're going to find. Or perhaps you're here and you are waiting, but you are, like Isaiah, settled in your waiting. You're able to say, like him, I will wait for the Lord. I will put my trust in him. But if you're being honest, you do sometimes wonder what God is doing. You wonder what his plans are. You wrestle with what his purposes are.

26:17 And if that's you, I was thinking about this and thinking about what we've been talking about in our prayer series as well. and as you wait perhaps perhaps God is wanting to work in you in the waiting he's not passive but he wants to be on the move in you to change you to turn your heart more fully to him to desire him to desire his presence in much greater ways and in a much greater way than you desire the things that he can give you. Perhaps in Paul's words in Philippians 2, he wants to work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure, not your own. Or in the words of Colossians 3, that you might be in the waiting more and more, setting your heart and your mind on things above. not on the earthly things as much. That in the waiting, he wants to work in you to cast off those things of the old self and put on those things of the new self. God wants to be at work in you in the waiting,

27:49 letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart more, letting the word of Christ dwell in you more richly. And so perhaps you're waiting today and the question from you to God might be, Father, what do you want to do with me or in me in my waiting? How might my heart need to prepare room? for the light of the world and his return. Waiting is hard. And I know I don't know the half of it in terms of some people's situations and circumstances, but all I can offer you in the midst of that is this truth. The word has become flesh.

28:47 the word has become flesh light has dawned the wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace son of god is on the move and so yes we wait in darkness but we wait knowing that the darkness is in borrowed time our God keeps his promises and so we wait but we wait with hope let's pray together as the band come back out Father this is our prayer that you would that you would work hope into our hearts that you would remind us that you are a God who keeps his promises and that by your spirit you would write this truth on our hearts and print this truth on our hearts as we struggle as we weep in the waiting. thank you that we can look to the fulfilled promise of a child born a son given a light dawning and so we know that it is only a matter of time before darkness is dispelled at the return of Christ

30:33 help us to hold on to this truth in our waiting. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on the horizon like Simeon did in our waiting. Help us to trust in the one and only true light of the world. And we ask this in his name. Amen.