Rev. David Holwick Christmas Eve
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 24, 2010
Luke 2:25-32
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I. Christmas involves a lot of waiting.
A. So much to do, so little time to do it.
1) The lines at the malls get longer and the parking spaces
fewer.
2) This week I tried to mail something at the Succasunna
post office - the line snaked all over the lobby.
And it wasn't moving very fast...
3) But the worst waiting is probably experienced by kids.
a) Remember waiting for Christmas to finally arrive?
b) My parents had little calendars that we would open a
flap for each day in December.
c) And a candle with 25 hash marks on it.
1> It was torture!
B. Simeon was a man who waited.
1) He wanted to see the consolation of Israel.
a) This is what we would call the millennium, a period
when God comes down to earth to make it perfect.
b) The Jews were waiting for a perfect king, the Messiah.
c) He would produce peace and prosperity on earth.
1> The Old Testament had promised it.
2> But it never seemed to arrive.
2) Simeon was told he would see it begin before he died.
a) Then he waited. Years went by.
b) Finally, he is an old man.
II. Waiting for presents is the easy part.
A. For many things in life, we have to wait for God.
1) If God is so great, why does he take so long?
a) Age old question: "How long, O Lord?"
2) Why do we have to wait for good things?
a) We wait for answers to prayer.
b) We wait for healing.
1> Our church has been praying for a young man
who may not live to see Christmas.
B. Waiting can make you more patient - if you let it.
Andrew Murray, a great Christian devotional writer, once said:
The best place for cultivating patience is in waiting on God.
There we discover how impatient we are, and what our
impatience means.
We confess at times that we are impatient with men and
circumstances that hinder us, or with ourselves and our
slow progress in the Christian life.
If we truly set ourselves to wait upon God, we shall find that
it is with Him we are impatient, because He does not at once,
or as soon as we could wish, do our bidding.
It is in waiting upon God that our eyes are opened to believe
in His wise and sovereign will.
We also see that the sooner and the more completely we yield
absolutely to it, the more surely His blessing can come
to us.
#1380
III. Waiting develops our spiritual character.
A. Waiting makes us walk by faith.
1) We need to learn God's timing.
a) He may have reasons for delaying things that we cannot
appreciate.
b) If we received everything right away ("I Dream of
Jennie") imagine how spoiled we would be.
B. Waiting makes us seek God. Psalm 130:5-6
1) Jesus prayed during ministry, waited for God's perfect time.
2) Philip Yancey knew an alcoholic who came back to faith in
God through the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
For someone struggling with addiction, waiting is a
fine art.
Some of this man's friends have been called by him at
4:00 a.m.
They find him in all-night restaurants where he has been
sitting for hours filling a notebook with the sentence,
"God help me make it through the next five minutes."
Yancey's friend concluded:
"It's a funny thing.
What I hate most about myself, my alcoholism, was the
one thing God used to bring me back to him.
Because of it, I know I can't survive without him."
#1379
3) Old Testament prophets taught the waiting principle:
Hosea wrote: Hosea 12:6
"But you must return to your God; maintain love
and justice, and wait for your God always."
C. Simeon spent his time getting close to God.
1) He prayed devoutly.
2) He received messages from the Spirit.
3) He recognized Jesus when he came.
D. Are you seeking God now, so you'll be prepared for future
spiritual challenges?
IV. God's promises eventually come true.
A. Our basic needs will be met by God is his good time.
1) He will always give us enough to get by.
B. What we still wait for.
1) Like Simeon, we can wait for Jesus' coming.
Only this time, he is coming again:
Hebrews 9:28
"Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many
people; and he will appear a second time, not to
bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are
waiting for him."
2) Some think it is foolish because it has been so long.
V. God takes the long view.
A. He started with a baby.
1) The baby Jesus grew and developed just like we do.
a) Only later in life did he complete his divine mission.
2) Celeste and my nest is empty now, but it took a very long
time.
3) Some of my friends tell me not to hold my breath - the
kids will be back when they see how expensive rent is.
B. We might prefer something quicker, but God had his reasons.
1) Learn to wait.
2) Appreciate patience.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
Adapted from December 16, 1990, sermon.
#1379 “The Midnight Church,” by Philip Yancey, Christianity Today,
February 4, 1983, page 96.
#1380 “Waiting On God,” by Andrew Murray, Discipleship Journal, #33,
December 16, 1990, page 36.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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