Matthew 1:1-17 (please look this up in your Bible)
Where is the first hint of a Messiah found it the Bible?
Right after the first sin is committed and the Lord is pronouncing judgment on the serpent:
Genesis 3:15 NIV
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”
Our God is certainly the God of advanced notice, isn’t He?
So, let’s go ahead and read today’s Scripture – Matthew 1:1-17
Now, you might be thinking that that is certainly an unusual passage for the first Sunday of Advent.
What is Advent all about?
The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ in His First Advent.
What did all of those names in the genealogy of Jesus have in common?
If they were good Jews and know the Old Testament they were waiting for the arrival of the Messiah!
Now look again at the genealogy.
Especially think about the time of King David and King Solomon when Israel was at its pinnacle of power. Were they looking for a Messiah? Were they looking for someone to redeem Israel?
Probably not. In a time of prosperity we tend to forget about such things.
When we’re physically cared for we tend to take spirituality for granted.
Many people pray during a heart attack who seldom or never prayed before.
In Revelation 3:17 we see Jesus speaking to the church in Laodicea when He says,
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
Now, look at the kings after Josiah. Josiah was the last righteous king over any part of Israel. (Judah had been a part of Israel.)
After Josiah all of Israel is crushed in exile.
Do you wonder if Jeconiah and Shealtiel and Zerubbabel and Abihud and Eliakim and Azor and Zadok and Akim and Elihud and Eleazar and Matthan and Jacob and Joseph had all been looking for the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel to appear and rescue them? I am sure some of them were …
But He did not come. So, they waited and waited and waited …
This is what the Advent season is all about, waiting … anticipation …hope …
Psalm 27:14
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait for the LORD."
Hebrews 11:6
“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.”
Waiting and Faith Go Hand-In-Hand
We hate to wait, don’t we???
What's the longest you've had to wait for something?
I imagine almost everyone has a memory of Christmas Eve as a child; squeezing your eyes shut, trying with all your might to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. For those of you with orthodox parents, you knew that even opening one present before Christmas morning was akin to high heresy.
Our family was very different. We would open our presents on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Eve we would pile into the car and head the four or five miles to Grandma Char’s and Gramp’s house where we would open more presents.
Waiting is still difficult.
We live in a fast paced society.
If it takes more than a couple of minutes to get our burgers at McDonalds we start to get irritated.
We don’t have to wait for the post office to deliver a letter anymore, we’ve tog email and if that’s not fast enough we can text and even, horror of horrors, call someone and speak directly to them!
Yet God finds ways of making us wait.
Just like the Advent season. We await the arrival of Jesus birthday!
Waiting and faith go hand-in-hand. Waiting AND faith = anticipation!
When Pastor Karenlee was coming home from visiting her cousin in California I had faith that she would get on the plane and that the plane would arrive in Rochester so that I could go and retrieve her and bring her home.
The waiting was hard but the faith that she would arrive made the waiting bearable.
Faith without waiting would have meant many lonely days of sitting in an airport by myself.
Waiting without the faith that she would ever arrive would have led to hopelessness and depression.
Sometimes we must wait! The Lord’s timing is perfect.
Just like a pregnancy, the Lord has created in the body of a woman the correct time to deliver the baby.
Imagine a young newly married couple who find out that the wife is pregnant and she breaks the news to the husband. The husband gets so excited that he says, “OK. Start pushing! Let’s have this baby!”
That wouldn’t work too well. Faith says, “Wait. The time will come for the baby to be delivered.”
Waiting is the embodiment of faith.
Faith without waiting says, “I guess the Lord isn’t going to answer so I’m going to make some plans and get this thing done myself.”
That is always a HUGE mistake!
In Hebrews 11:13 we are reminded that faith involves trust in God's promise even if the promises of God are fulfilled long after we're gone. The writer says, "These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance ..."
Remain Faithful in Your Waiting
Advent is about faith and waiting.
Sure, we anticipate the arrival of December 25th when we celebrate the arrival of Jesus as the Son of Man, God in flesh. We anticipate the family and the food and the gifts and the day off from work but that is so much thinking on an earthly level.
As we go through this advent season, this time of faith and waiting, let’s try to put aside our desires for the things of this world and set hopes and desires on a plain that embodies the desires of Christ.
- What about your own spiritual condition? Do you feel a fervency for Jesus and His work on earth? Is your spiritual life best described as lukewarm? Do you want more of a love for Jesus and His Holy Word?
- What about the spiritual condition of your family members? Have any of them rejected Christ as their Savior? Are any of them neglecting their spiritual life because they just don’t feel the need for Him right now?
- What about the balance in your life concerning the things of this world versus the things of the Kingdom of God?
Do you know that even Jesus is waiting???
We know that Jesus waited until just the right time to come to earth as God wrapped in the body of an infant.
Galatians 4:4-5 NIV
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
That was the first Advent and that is why this period of time is set each year. But this period of time should always point us to the second advent and that is what Jesus is waiting for now.
John 14:2-3 NKJV
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Here is what we are waiting for now … the return of the Lord. And, if that is truly what we are waiting for and we are kingdom minded we will have different priorities than if we are worldly minded.
OK. At Christmas we always think about gifts. Have you ever been so excited about giving a gift that you almost jumped in and opened the gift yourself instead of waiting for the recipient to open it?
Giving gifts can be awesome!
What gift can we give to Jesus this Christmas?
As those who love Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, our desire is always to give Jesus all of ourselves, not just during the Advent season or the Lenten season but every day of our lives.
What would it be like if we as a church made this our desire during this Advent season?
Psalm 51:10 NIV
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Let's make this our focus as a gift to our Great Savior this Advent season, OK?
Closing prayer.
