Advent: “For Jesus I wait”-Psalm 25:1-10
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a Christian season of waiting and anticipation that takes place on the four Sundays and weekdays leading up to Christmas. This time of year is a wonderful time to attend church and corporate worship, because there are several things Christians are waiting for in the time of Advent. Christians are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, anticipating the second coming of Jesus, preparing our hearts for the joy of Christmas, and renewing our desire for Christ are among the reasons why we observe Advent. All of these events are rooted in waiting on Jesus, which is the theme of our text today. The Psalm tells us that “Those who wait on the Lord will never be put to shame”-Psalm 25:3. What are the benefits of waiting on Jesus? Do we do a good job of waiting on Him? These are some of the questions we will explore today.
But first, I have some numbers for you. Last week, it was estimated over 80 million people traveled during the week of Thanksgiving. In one story I read, a survey was conducted that stated more people are turning to shopping online rather than combating the crowds at the malls to shop for the Holidays. Over 1.23 trillion dollars will be spent by the American people during the holiday season. 75 percent of those surveyed said they would shop in some format on their phone. 70% of online shoppers foresee making purchases on their phones, 31% on tablets, 55% on desktops, and 8% using voice assistant devices. 86% of shoppers will holiday shop on Amazon, 60% on Walmart.com, and 47% on Target. Roughly 57% of U.S. consumers plan to shop online during the holiday season. More than 80% of shoppers 40 and under will use their phones to find gifts, as will 66% of those over 40. 34% of consumers buying gifts this year plan to spend more money online, and 24% are hoping to spend less money online. The survey shows society’s tendency to rush and commercialize the season, and serves as a teaching tool for us that begs the question, what are we rushing for? Some of us join in the mad shopping spree because we don’t want to disappoint family. Some of us join in the season of shopping because we are competing. I remember telling my parents in Lubbock Texas “Well, Nathan has these cool shoes, can I have them?” As a teacher for 11 years, I can tell you that is more commonplace in families year by year. If you were to ask any typical member of society “How about you wait on shopping?”, they would look at you and say you are crazy! No one likes to wait, especially this time of year. Friends, I am going to enjoy the season and celebrate it. But, I can tell you, I get tired just reading these stats. Is this kind of rushing through the season healthy for you and me? Is it even sustainable? Thanks be to God, the Psalms counsel hope for those who wait for the Lord.
Let’s talk about the references and biblical benefits of waiting on the Lord. Depending on the word used (i.e. waiting, wait, patience, etc), the term is used between 116 times and 158 times in the Bible. Psalm 27:14 connects waiting on the Lord with courage “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”- Psalms 27:14 . Romans 5:3-5 offers interesting insight that waiting through tribulation produces Godly character, perseverance, and hope through the power of the Holy Spirit given to the heart of the believer. Our text today offers relentless hope that “those who wait on the Lord will not be put to shame.”-Psalm 25:3. What follows is a list of blessings and teachings for those who wait on the Lord. Which begs the question: What if we choose to wait on the Lord this Holiday season? What if we lived into the definition of Advent, to wait and anticipate the birth and coming of Christ? The Bible gives some clues to an answer. Glory be to God: Those who wait upon the Lord grow a holy perspective: “Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.”-Psalm 25:6. The Psalmist can wait for the Lord because he knows that any blessing, love, or mercy from the Lord because all 3 blessings are not the Psalmist own doing anyway. Friends, this is not just a lesson for the Holiday season, it's year-round. We love to assume that what we want, what we have, etc, WE are responsible for. When I was a teacher at Elkhart Middle School, our Principal Ron Mays authorized secular Christmas music to be played over the PA system during the passing period. When the kids were griping about the music, our staff made the case that too much joy is never something you want to take for granted. Teachers were allowed to wear jeans for the month, Christmas sweaters were worn, and Christmas drinks and snacks were available in the lounge, it was a happy time. Now friends, why do you think Ron and his staff planned that? Because he went to school and learned it? Because he had smart people around him? The Psalmist reminds us, that anything we have or enjoy is because the Lord was merciful enough to allow it to happen. What if instead of praying for my family to have a good Christmas, I prayed “Lord, if you will it, I would love for my family to have something specific for Christmas?” That is also the letter of the Apostle James which reads “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”- James 4:13-15. Those who wait on the Lord grow a holy perspective. God may grant what you want, He might not! Christians who wait are increasingly ok with that. Another benefit of waiting on the Lord is probably harder for most of us. Those who wait upon the Lord are ok with not getting their way: “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”-Psalm 25:9-10. Friends, If only our Bibles could talk! How many times year-round, much less Advent and Christmas, do we get frustrated with not getting our way? Plans don’t go well, families don’t get along, and health declines. Being taught the way of the Lord is a choice in humility that, if we are honest, are ok with, until we have to do it. Which isn’t easy! Even the Psalmist, later in Psalm 42 expresses frustration how life is not good right now, it isn’t working! “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”-Psalm 42:3. Can I encourage you today? The waiting is hard if we don’t have relief coming. Yet thanks be to God! Help is on the way for those who wait and follow His way! “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.”-Psalms 25:10. The older I get, the longer I wait, the more desperate I am for the Lord. The promise of those who obey and wait is a faithful God who knows their need, and in the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:20-21, always delivers in ways better “than what we ask our think!” We may not like waiting, we may dread it, but hear the good news! The Lord is always faithful!!
A surefire sign of the faithfulness of the Lord as we wait, and grow in our perspective that all things belong to the Lord is Communion. Jesus saw our sin, and didn’t wait! He came, for you and me. Scripture says he loved us and “despised the shame” so we might have life. This Advent, wait on Jesus, no matter how long it takes! Don’t grow weary, the time of rejoicing is coming. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.