Waiting with Anticipation
Luke 1:46-55
What are we waiting for?
Everyone is waiting for something to happen. Some are waiting for the Lotto.
Some are waiting for vacation. Some are waiting for a salary raise.
What are we waiting for as
Christians?
We are waiting for the
fulfillment of the prophecies. Yes, you heard in the Armenian sermon how many
prophecies became realities.
In John 19:24,28,36,37 the
Apostle talks about the casting of the lots for the clothes of Jesus, his
thirst on the cross, his bones not being broken, and his pierced side. All of
these are there in the Old Testament (Psalm 22:18, 22:15, 34:20, and Zachariah
12:10).
His death, resurrection and
ascension are all in the Old Testament.
(Isaiah 53:7, Deut. 21:33,
Psalm 18, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Hosea 6:2)
More you can find in the
letters which we call Epistles. They quote the Old Testament prophecies 33
times referring to Jesus and His Church.
I am pointing all these not
for a proof. God does not need our proof. God can express himself the way He
wants.
Yet, I am illustrating to you
all these verses so that we see that we are not alone in waiting. The Old Testament
was waiting. Prophecies were waiting. Wise men were waiting. Shepherds heard
about it and started to look and waited in ANTICIPATION. Who is this NEWBORN?
Abraham waited for a promised
son. Joseph waited for a meaning in his terrible condition. Moses waited for
the Promised Land. Jews waited for the Messiah. And they are still waiting.
What are you waiting for?
Two examples from the Bible,
Mary, mother of Jesus and the John, the beloved disciple:
I like to approach Mary’s
song and understand what she is waiting for.
Her song is written in the
gospel of Luke. It is called the Magnificat. J.S.
Bach has a wonderful cantata about this song. Armenian sharagan
composers have wonderful songs with her words.
Today what can we learn
from this song?
Mary, as I mentioned two
weeks ago, was confused and frightened. She did not understand many things, yet
she obeyed to God. And now she is waiting with praise and joy.
“My Soul glorifies the
Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior..”
She is praising before Jesus was
born. She is praising without having the gift. She is full of praise about what
will be in future, rather what is there with her now.
Remember she was very young
and probably poor. In her condition she learned to praise God, not because she
is poor. No, she is praising with anticipation of what will come:
“..He has lift up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things… (1:52,53). Hear Luther’s comment:
“We are to remember
that God cannot fill us before we are hungry. We have to experience
hunger and want in order to know that only God can help us. How can God fill
until he makes hungry? How can he exalt before he makes low?”
Do you feel Hungry to see
Jesus? What are you waiting for?
Well, Mary did learn to be
hungry for God. She learned to rejoice in her difficult position. She learned
to praise and glorify God, with the anticipation of
what is coming. That is faith. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
So what is Mary waiting for?
She is waiting the promised Messiah
with praise and adoration; the one who is coming to lift us up from our OLD
LIFE.
2. We look at Gospel of
John. What is John waiting for?
“ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”
(1:14)
He is waiting for the Word
to become flesh.
You see this was a bad idea
for the Greeks. They thought that the flesh was bad and the body was
evil. So, why would God like to become flesh?
Paul too writes about our
human nature and its weakness and sin.
In Romans 3 he writes that we
all sinned and have fallen (3:23)
So, if someone wants to be
incarnated, he will enter the world of desires and temptations. Who wants a God
in this condition?
You see, this is what is so wonderful
in God’s approach to us. He became like us, so that we understand him. Yet, the
Word is God and God can not sin. So he is fully human and fully God. He did not
change his nature, yet he is in the form of a human being.
“It's not the first time God's
presence was made known, and it won't be the last. God is always looking for a
place to dwell. God is present in the words of scripture, in the beauty of a
painting, in majestic architecture, and in the stirring drama of great
literature. God was present at the Red Sea, and at
This is wonderful. God wants
to become like us. This is what we are waiting for. If people want to know
where to look for God, one of the places is us.
More people are attracted
to God because someone was living the Christian life. People will know more about God from God’s
people.
These days more people are
going to churches where they are welcomed by warm Christian brothers and
sisters. People are not interested in traditional denominations anymore. They
are looking for love.
This does not mean we all are
perfect, we can not be. But we should take seriously that our bodies are temples
of God and God’s Spirit dwells in us (I Corinthians 3:16).
Therefore, we are waiting
with anticipation for the Word of God to become flesh. We will be God’s image
in this broken world.
Let me tell you a story.
There was a woman who once wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart,
but she was very frustrated.
She goes shopping. There, in
one of the stores, she finds Jesus behind the counter. She knows Jesus from the
pictures she has seen in the movies and the Sunday School.
She asks:
"Excuse me, but are you
Jesus?"
"I am."
"Do you work here?"
"In a way; I own the
store."
"Oh, what do you sell
here?"
"Just about
everything," Jesus replied. "Feel free to walk up and down the
aisles, make a list, see what it is you want, and then come back and I'll see
what I can do for you."
She walks around and finds
peace on earth, peace in families, no more drugs, no more killing, salvation. She writes a long list.
Jesus looks at the list and smiles.
Then he goes back and brings some packets.
The Woman asks, “What are those?”
"Seed packets,"
Jesus answers. "This is a catalog store."
"You mean I don't get
the finished product?"
"No, this is a place of
dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. You go
home and plant the seeds. You water them and nurture them and help them to
grow, and someday someone else reaps the benefits."
"Oh,"
she said. "And she left the store without buying anything."2
You
see the Church is a catalog store. While we are waiting with anticipation we
need to allow God to work through us in this Advent season.
Prophecies
became reality and still are
in the process of fulfillment.
Mary did learn to Praise God and Glorify His holy
name, when she was poor and worried. She did not have everything, yet she
approached by faith.
John taught us that the Word became Flesh. This
is a wonderful challenge for the church because we, as church, are holding the
responsibility of spreading this picture to the world who
is in the darkness.
Let
us wait with ANTICIPATION. Jesus is coming.
1. William
B. Kincaid, III
2. eSeroms.com illustrations