- How are you at waiting?
- They say that patience is a virtue. I know a lot of people that are not very virtuous then. I am one of
them.
- I do not like to wait one iota
- However, I am working on it. I’m starting a group called Impatient Anonymous. THE MEETING IS
BEGINNING RIGHT NOW!
- Waiting, it’s something that we’ve all had to do.
- This time of year it’s especially apropos to talk about waiting with all the lines, traffic, waiting to speak at family functions or parties.
– All of us having waiting issues
- Can you think of a time when you had to wait for something
- Turn to the person near you and share your story – what helped you get through the waiting
- Anyone care to share one of your stories?
- Have you ever just hung out in a public place for an extended period of time waiting for someone? Did you notice how people react to you while you wait? Maybe it’s just me but people start to wonder what you’re up to if you stand in one place for too long. Depending on the people that work where you are, they may ask you what you need. I like it better when they don’t but they just keep looking over at you wondering what’s up – casing the place, etc.
- I love Gospel lesson for today
- The picture just sticks in my head - Simeon and Anna just hanging out in the temple waiting, as the people around them stare at them, thinking of them something of religious nut jobs
- Imagine if you did what they did today.
- What if you showed up at chapel everyday and you just sat in a pew.
- When someone from the chapel staff asked you what you were doing – you simply said “waiting”
- They’d probably ask for what or whom. If you said the Messiah. It wouldn’t be long before they’d call Security Forces to come get you. {PAUSE}
- Waiting really is a lost art? Everyone has their own coping strategies
- pass the time talking with family members or friends
- nervous habit like chewing your nails or tapping your foot
- complaining
- I actually opt for the option of amusing myself by listening in on the conversations of those who are complaining
- We feel like we have to do something to pass the time
- We don’t always understand that waiting is not the same as idleness
- 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-10 – “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
- Jesus, during His earthly ministry, talked all the time about waiting, watchfulness and preparedness
- During His final full day before His crucifixion, Jesus encouraged His disciples to watch and pray with Him.
- But they were tired and it was so easy to fall asleep
- In Ranger school one of the greatest enemy is boredom but when you combine that with a lack of sleep it is hard to stay awake.
- So what are we waiting for?
- Why are we still here?
- What are we to do? Romans 13:11, Paul writes, “And do this, understanding the present time.”
- If we jump back to the preceding verses, we get the answer to the question, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
- Peter also gives us an answer to what to do with ourselves while we wait in his first epistle.
- He writes in 1 Peter 3:15 – “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
- Build relationships – love people
- Observe
- Pray
- Bible study
- Be available
- Busyness can also be an adversary in our war of time.
- We can get so busy that you don’t see the struggles of the people we see everyday
- One of the greatest examples is Acts 17:16-34.
– Paul was waiting in Athens for Timothy and Silas.
- He saw that the city was full of idols so he started to go about and share the gospel of Jesus.
- He begins to build relationships with the people of the city both Jews and Greeks and is invited to speak to a group of philosophers at the Areopagus. He uses one of the temples to an idol to share the message of Jesus.
- So what did Paul do?
- He built relationships, he observed the culture around him, he studied and taught the bible, he made himself availability
- That is what God asks us to do with our time here on earth
