Red Light - Green Light

Scripture: Psalm 25:1-10 (cf. verses 4-5); Mark 1:9-15

Title: Red Light - Green Light

Actively Waiting on God

King David shares with us what to do while we wait on God

I. Waiting can lead us to some great Revelations - verse 4

II. Waiting can lead us to some Great Growth in God - verses 4 - 5

III. Waiting can lead Us to Practice Active Followship - verse 5

INTRO:

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

One of the strangest things I think any human being is asked to do is to wait at a stop light when there is no one else on the highway. Most of us have been in that situation. It's late at night or very early in the morning. We come up to a stop light and its glowing red. We obediently come to a stop. It is what we have been taught to do. We sit and wait. We begin to wonder how long it's going to be before the light turns green. We know that research says that the average length of stay at a red light is less than two minutes but hasn't it already been at least two or three minutes? It sure feels like it's been like four or five minutes.

Those two minutes can seem like eternity. We begin to look around and wonder what harm would it do if we just drove on? I mean there is no one around for hundreds or even thousands of feet. Would the world come to an end if we just drove through the red light? Would the sun stand still and the moon turn to red? Would God call out from Heaven telling us to stop?

We all understand the reason for a red light when there is a great deal of traffic. It is still aggravating, but, we know that is one of the best ways to make sure traffic flows evenly. But it just seems foolish to be sitting there wasting time and gasoline when there no one else around. I mean shouldn't there be a way for the traffic light to adjust to the flow of traffic? Shouldn't there be a way for the traffic light to sense that we are the only one around and just give us the green light? Perhaps in the future there will be smart lights like there are smart phones, smart thermostats and such.

According to the British newspaper the Telegraph, the average driver in the urban areas of the UK spend 20% of their driving time waiting for the lights to change. That means on the average around 12 minutes a day if a person drives 30 minutes to work and 30 minutes back home. That adds up to about an hour a week just waiting for the light to change.

It's great when you are driving through a town and hit the sweet spot. You know, those times when you hit every green light down the road. You think that you are in heaven. You don't have to slow down, you don't have to put on the brakes, you can just enjoy motoring down the roadway. But then there are those other times that seem more like Hades on Earth. Those are the times that it seems like every 10 feet you hit a red light. You go, you stop, you go, you stop, you go and you stop. It seems like it takes forever to get anywhere.

Wouldn't it be fun at times to have a little light that we could flash and suddenly the light turns green for us? But then again if we were able to get one of those lights pretty soon everyone would have one and it would be more of a mess than ever. The truth is we already live in a world that is at times very confusing, chaotic and difficult enough. At times it is even dangerous.

Our Psalmist this morning wants us to help us learn some lessons in the art of waiting. Not passive waiting where we are just stopped but what I believe he would call ACTIVE WAITING. Waiting that can help us learn how to live a better life. Waiting that can make a positive difference in our lives and in the lives of others.

Now, of course our psalm writer didn't have to wait on red lights or people in front of him at the grocery store. He didn't have to wait for service at the DMV or in the line at a fast food restaurant during peak time.

But he did live in world very much like our own. He lived in a world that was under the curse of sin. He did live in a world that was out of balance, that was at times very confusing, chaotic and dangerous. In fact, the rabbis tell us that Psalm 25 is a psalm written by King David during the time of his son Absalom's rebellion.