Don't Just Wait! Be Jesus! Series

Scripture: Luke 21: 5-19; Psalm 98 and Malachi 4:1-2

Title: Don't Just Wait! Be Jesus!

Scripture: Luke 21: 5-19; Psalm 98 and Malachi 4:1-2

Title: Don't Just Wait! Be Jesus!

Jesus is coming again! What do we do while we wait? 1. We stay awake and focused on Jesus 2. We grow deeper in our spiritual walk 3. We stay engaged in serving others

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world.

Recently, I read where someone explained human life this way - Birth, School, Work, Marriage, Debt, Children, More Debt, Cake, Weight Gain, Retirement, Cancer or Heart Disease, Sorrow and Death.

I thought that was a little cynical but I guess for a great many people that could sum up their lives. One thing we do know is that whether or not all those things are going to be a part of our lives there is one thing that we know for sure that will be a part of our lives and that is "waiting".

That's right. Waiting. It's something that we all have to endure. For example here are some of the things that we know require "waiting"

+To make our grand entrance into the world we have to wait about 40 weeks

+In order to eat solid foods we have to wait another four months

+It will be another 25 months before we have the whole potty trained thing conquered

+It will be another 15 - 16 years before we can get out of the house

But even then we are not through "waiting"

+ On average it will take six years for us to get our BA or BS degree

And then life continues to require us to wait

+The average time a person has to wait to get their car back after having a car accident is around 10 days and that is after they are allowed to work on the car.

+The average time a person has to wait to see a GP is about 10 days, to see an OB/GYN about 15 days and to see a cardiologist about 20 days.

+The average time a person has to wait in an ER is around 24 minutes and that is only if they have something life threatening. Otherwise it could days hours, days, months (only kidding)

+The average time it takes to build a single family home is around 7 months

+The average time it takes to close a loan on that house is around 50 days

+The average time to actually own that home is around 30 years

Waiting is just a part of life. We wait in traffic. We wait in lines at the store. We wait, we wait and we wait some more.

Our passage in Luke 21:5-19 deals with waiting. Jesus took the opportunity while he and his disciples were walking around the Temple to share some revelations concerning the Temple, the nation of Israel and the Coming of the Son of Man.

Jesus tells his followers that there are some thing that are going to happen very soon. One of course is that the Temple which they were all looking at and admiring would soon be gone. Another is that there would be the appearance of false messiahs. Still another would be wars, international conflicts and natural disasters.

What Jesus doesn't share is a calendar of exactly when all those things are going to take place. Scholars tell us that when Jesus shared this with his disciples it would be another 35 - 40 years before Jerusalem would fall into the hands of the Roman general Titus. As to wars, international conflicts and natural disasters those have been a staple before and since the time of Jesus. Jesus used a number of parables throughout his ministry to address the time of His Second Coming - the Parable of the Fig Tree, the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents.

As you look over all of Jesus teaching on the apocalypse and end time things you quickly can surmise three main tenets:

1. No one knows or will know the exact timing. Even Jesus doesn't know the exact timing.

2. There are no specific signs that clearly mark out the time. There are many signs but for the most part they are oblique and confusing. Even after studying the Parable of the Fig Tree one is left with some confusion and wonder.

3. There is "waiting"

There it is again. Waiting. So, if we have to wait what do we do while we wait?

It is interesting to look around a car repair shop, a doctor's waiting room or while you are waiting in line at a store and observe what people do while they wait: