Dear God, this is the time of year when all the world remembers and thinks about that
baby that was born.
A baby that was born not just to be a baby but to live and to die for us.
Be with us as we open up your Word.
Fill us with your Spirit.
Fill us with knowledge of your grace.
In your name we pray.
Amen.
In our society today, we hate to wait.
Anybody like to wait?
When we go to the grocery store, we look for the line that is the shortest.
Nowadays we're often having to check ourselves out.
If there's several people in line, you choose the shortest line you hope, but you probably
keep your eye on that other line that you didn't get in.
And if that line gets done first, you're like, oh, I should have gotten in that line.
Or you're at the stoplight and the person in front of you, the light turns green.
Why does it take five seconds to go?
Five whole seconds.
And we get impatient sometimes.
Or maybe around here it's the traffic.
Whether it's Battlefield Parkway or the 75-24 split, whichever way we're going, it seems
like there's some kind of construction, there's some type of traffic which is often slowing
us down and we don't like to wait.
And often in our day and age now, we're a little bit spoiled because of something called
two-day shipping.
And if something's going to take a week to get here, a week, it takes a week to get something
from China.
Are you kidding me?
Why does it not only take two days?
We do not like to wait.
That is what society has taught us.
That is often our mindset and our mentality.
And yet in the Bible, that was also the cry that people often had.
We're going to start today, we're going to go to Psalm 13, the 13th Psalm.
And we're going to track through several different passages here.
And we're going to be reminded that the people of God throughout the Bible often had a similar
mindset to us.
So we're going to start in Psalm 13.
And as I said, we're going to have a text on the screen as we go through this, but I
really, really hope and encourage you to open up your Bibles and follow along with us.
So Psalm 13, we're going to start in verses one and two.
It says, what's those first two words there?
How long, does that sound a little impatient there?
How long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
So there's a group of people who are praying, who are crying out to God.
And yet in their mind, in their sense of what this reality is, they don't feel like God is listening.
God, how long do I have to pray before you will answer me?
How long before you will hear my cry?
We're going to turn over to another chapter, another verse, Habakkuk.
This might be a tougher one to find.
It's just two chapters back towards the end of the Old Testament.
I put a marker in mine so I could find it a little easier.
Just remember, you do have a table of contents in the front of your Bible.
Habakkuk chapter one, this is way down towards the end of the Old Testament.
And we see a similar cry, Habakkuk chapter one and verse two.
The prophet cries out to God, oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear?
I even cry out to you violence and you will not save.
This is a time when the kingdom of Israel is being overrun by enemies.
It's being defeated and the prophet is saying, God, we are crying out to you.
There is violence happening against your people and it seems like you won't save us.
It seems like there's a disconnect.
How long do we have to cry out and you won't listen?
How long until your promises are fulfilled?
Let's turn over way back to the beginning, to Genesis chapter three.
Genesis chapter three, because God's promises begin at the very beginning of scripture.
In the Garden of Eden, they're created in this perfect environment, this perfect place,
and by the third chapter of the book, they've already turned away.
They've already gone in a different direction.
But immediately, immediately after that sin takes place, just like we talked about to
the children there, that very first question in the Bible in Genesis chapter three, God
says, where are you?
And the rest of the story of scripture is this pursuit of God chasing after his people.
And we time and time again seem to be running in the opposite direction.
But time and time again, God chases after us.
And in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, we see a promise that God makes way back at
the very beginning of scripture.
Genesis three and verse 15.
This is God now talking to the serpent.
He's talking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
And he says, I will pit enmity.
I will pit strife or warfare, conflict.
I will pit enmity between you, snake, and the woman.
Anybody like snakes here?
I do not like snakes.
But there's going to be this conflict between Satan, that's who the snake was in the Garden
of Eden, and the woman.
That's singular.
Think back to your English days, your English class, English grammar.
That's a singular phrase.
And then it changes.
And it says between your seed and her seed, it tells us that in the Bible, there's going
to be two sides.
There's going to be a group of people that are following God.
And there's going to be a group of people who are living their life in the ways of the
serpent following the serpent.
And immediately after this in scripture, we see that coming to fruition as there's a flood
just a couple chapters later.
But then it turns back to singular again.
It says he, one of these descendants on God's side, he shall bruise your head and you snake
are going to bruise his heel.
Now which is worse, a head wound or a foot wound?
A head wound is much worse.
You can survive a foot injury.
You might have to limp a little bit, use a wheelchair, crutches, whatever.
But you've got a much better chance than if somehow you have a head injury.
And so this is a picture of some descendant on God's side, which is going to voluntarily
place their head upon the snake, recognizing that they were going to be bit by the snake
and yet taking that wound so that they could injure, wipe out, destroy the snake once and
for all.
That's the promise way back in the Garden of Eden.
And so God's people through the pages of scripture are saying, how long?
God, how long is it going to be until these promises are fulfilled?
The promises are there, but still God's people, they go through bondage in Egypt as slaves.
Moses says, after me, there's going to arise another.
They go through to the promised land, but even there there's defeat and there's exile.
Hundreds of years, thousands of years, these promises go.
Let's look at a couple more of the promises.
Isaiah seven, verse 14.
This may be one you might read next week if you volunteer to read a passage.
Isaiah seven and verse 14, some of these Old Testament prophecies looking ahead.
Isaiah seven and verse 14.
It says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name, Emmanuel.
Now what does Emmanuel mean?
God with us.
This is a verse we read during this time of year because we recognize that the creator
God came to be with us.
Emmanuel God came to be with us.
And that was a sign, a promise that God was going to be near.
And yet the people could cry out, how long?
Turn over just two chapters, a page or two to Isaiah chapter nine.
We see another promise here.
Isaiah nine and verse two.
It says the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
The people of God recognize that this was a promise of something yet to come.
And we can look at our day and say, well, it seems like there's a lot of spiritual darkness.
There's a lot of challenges in our world.
The people walking in darkness see some kind of light.
There's a shadow of death, but a light shines upon them.
And then you can look at verse six and it says for unto us, here's the hope in this.
Here's the light shining in the darkness unto us.
A child is born; unto us,
A son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called
wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.
We could do sermons, series of sermons on each one of those titles of God.
And yet that is the promise that God's people got.
And yet they cried out, how long?
Stay in Isaiah and let's go to Isaiah chapter 40.
We're just looking at different promises that the people of God had received.
Isaiah 40 and verse one, the prophet writes comfort.
Yes, comfort my people says your God.
And then we can skip down to verse three and it says the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
And verse five, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken over and over and over.
Promises were given to the people of God.
And we can read them all here, you know, in five minutes.
But as I said, this was over a vast expanse of time from Genesis to Moses to Isaiah, hundreds
and hundreds of years.
And the people can cry out, how long?
Let's go to Malachi chapter three.
Look at one more passage here in the Old Testament, Malachi chapter three, the very last book
of the Old Testament.
Malachi chapter three, and we're going to look at verse one.
It says, behold, I send my messenger.
Now the name Malachi, the word Malachi means my messenger.
So it's a little bit of a play on words here.
I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me.
The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant
in whom you delight.
Behold he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
There's a promise there.
The messenger is going to come.
He's going to show up.
He's going to show up in the temple.
He's coming.
I promise it.
Behold he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Now turn over to Malachi chapter five, Malachi chapter five.
Malachi chapter, does your Malachi chapter five look like this?
Malachi only has four chapters.
That was kind of a trick.
I apologize.
Malachi chapter five in my Bible is just a blank page.
It's between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
But that blank page represents about 400 years.
There's 400 years of silence that takes place between the Old Testament and the stories
that begin the New Testament, the gospels, the nativity story that we read at this time
of year.
400 years of silence.
400 years where the promises remain, but nothing else is happening.
You know how long 400 years is?
Now two weeks ago when I was here, we talked about the pilgrims on Thanksgiving Sabbath.
That was 400 years ago.
400 years ago was when the pilgrims were celebrating the first Thanksgiving.
That's older than our nation is.
And there was this time of silence.
But during this silence of this time in between the Testament, there was things happening
in other kingdoms, in other nations.
You can go to history and you can read about a young man who was born in Macedonia.
His father's name was Philip Alexander.
We usually have a little tag that we put at the end of his name, Alexander the Great.
So he rose to power in Greece and he conquered the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea.
He spread like a lightning bolt from Greece to Persia to the rivers of India, this whole
vast region.
He even conquered what we call the Holy Land, although it's hardly even mentioned.
But then Alexander the Great, like a lightning bolt, flashes out.
Anybody remember how old he was when he died?
He was 33.
He was so young.
He had done all this by the age of 33 and that was about 300 BC.
There were other leaders in other lands.
There was a young man named Octavius.
He was the grand nephew.
His great uncle was Julius Caesar.
And Octavius actually became the adopted heir of Julius Caesar so that when Julius Caesar
died he received that power eventually and became known as Caesar Augustus.
That's who he was known as.
He became the sole ruler of Rome.
He was called by, and apologize for my Latin, Divi Philius, which means son of God.
He was called the son of God.
And as he ruled, he brought to Rome something called the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome,
which spread throughout this vast region.
He even ruled over Judea and he shows up in the Christmas story because he's the one who
issued the census that brought Mary and Joseph.
He helped fulfill prophecy, you could say, because of that census is why Mary and Joseph
ended up in Bethlehem for Jesus to be born there.
And so there were kings and armies ruling in other countries, but for the people of
God, the promises of hope were still unfulfilled and they could still cry out, how long?
Now let's turn to Galatians chapter four, our scripture reading of the day.
Thank you for reading that.
That was well done.
Galatians chapter four, because the cry of God's people was how long, but we see that
God was right on time.
God was not delayed.
God was not hindered.
God was right on time.
So Galatians chapter four, we're going to read a couple of verses here.
It says, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of
a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive
the adoption as sons.
The NIV, if you have the NIV, it says when the set time had fully come, when the time
was perfect, when the time was right, God sent forth his son to be born of a woman,
to be born in the place at the right time.
The fullness of the time had come and Jesus was born at the right time.
He was born at the right time.
Historians look at it and say it was the perfect time socially for Jesus to be born because
of that vast area that Rome ruled.
Everybody spoke the same language.
They could communicate this message of the gospel.
Once it started to spread, it could go to that whole region because there was a common
language.
There was this great transportation that took place through that Roman empire.
They could sail ships across the Mediterranean Sea.
That piece of Rome, you could go, you didn't have to cross battlefields or into enemy
territory.
There's even a saying that we still use today.
Allll roads lead to Rome because they had such good roads, not Rome, Georgia, but there's
still roads built way back then that are still in use.
Yet we wonder how long is the interstate going to be paved before it has a pothole in it,
before they have to shut down a lane again to repair that.
Jesus was born at the right time socially, the right time politically, and the right
time prophetically.
We're not going to get into all the details, but if you read Daniel 7, 8, and 9, those
prophecies pinpoint that time when Jesus was going to be baptized and crucified.
Then it had to recognize when he was going to be born.
Now we know.
We know the answer to the question, how long?
When the people of God cry out, how long?
We can look back.
We have the benefit of hindsight.
Over the next few weeks, we'll probably recite and retell the story of the baby born in Bethlehem,
the angels singing Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
But for the people of God, for thousands of years, the story was about waiting.
But that event has taken place.
The angels sang, the angels came, the birth of Jesus has come and gone.
Jesus was born as a baby.
He lived a perfect life.
And then the reason for him coming, he died on the cross for our sins.
Salvation is one.
And yet it seems like maybe here we are again in this time of waiting.
This time of year, perhaps more than others, is about waiting.
Maybe you have something like this somewhere in your household.
Got 25 numbers.
And so each day maybe you got to move this guy because today is the ninth, right?
And you're counting down to Christmas.
Anybody have something like this somewhere in your house?
Maybe you've got the Lego version.
You open up the door and there's some Legos to build or some chocolates to put together.
We even have, let's see if I can get it out of my pocket, a little ornament.
Uh oh.
Here we go.
So you move the little thing.
Okay, the night.
And we have just reminders as we're counting down because we're waiting.
We're looking for something.
But then you know, once Christmas comes, there's going to be more waiting because one week
later now we're not counting down days so much, but we find ourselves on December 31
and we're counting down hours and minutes and then even seconds 10, 9, 8 until you know,
maybe there's fireworks or you give somebody a kiss on New Year's Eve as we switch to a
new calendar.
And then what?
There's always something else to be waiting for next year.
Is it your birthday?
Anybody graduating this year?
We start counting down to those big events, whatever they are, and we find ourselves over
and over, always waiting, always wondering what's next, always saying how long that poet
Tom Petty says the waiting is the hardest part.
And that's what we often find ourselves doing because now we are waiting for the second
coming.
We're waiting for God to work in our heart, to work in our life.
In Matthew chapter 5, it starts off that sermon on the mount with the Beatitudes.
Remember those blessed are, happy are, and it describes different people.
Blessed are those who mourn.
Happy are the poor in spirit.
Happy are those who are persecuted.
Those aren't things that people are typically happy about.
They're not happy about those things now, but they're waiting for something in the future
and they're saying, how long?
God, how long is it going to be?
And then these days, these weeks before Christmas, it's often referred to the season of Advent,
and it's about waiting.
It's about looking forward to something else.
And we see that waiting is a part of life and God allows and even welcomes those questions
of how long.
We don't always understand the timing, but we do recognize that those promises remain
and those waiting, those moments of waiting bring anticipation, just like opening the
door on the Advent calendar, just to see what little prize is going to be there for that
day because as we wait, we're looking forward to what God has in store for us.
So think about in your own life, what has your year been like?
2023.
Think back 12 months.
How has your year been?
What has happened in your year?
Perhaps there's been uncertainty, confusion.
We can never be certain of what God has in store for us until it comes to pass.
We don't always recognize that God is near.
Perhaps you've taken moments and you've read the pages of scripture, but just there's seasons
where nothing seems to connect.
Or maybe you've sung songs, but it just seems like, okay, nothing's making a difference.
Maybe you've even spent time in prayer and it seems like the prayers are just bouncing
off the ceiling and coming back and not making a difference.
But we keep at it and we can ask God as the people of God throughout time, we can say,
God, how long?
And we can give thanks for the promises that we have been given.
And as we cry out to God, as we continue to serve Him, believe it or not, sometimes God
does show up.
And maybe one day out of the blue, you're reading your Bible just because that's what
you do, even though it doesn't seem to be making any difference.
But one day something hits you and you're reading God's word and there's some tears
in your eyes.
Maybe one day you're singing in the car, your song's playing and suddenly you're singing
at the top of your lungs and you get goosebumps because that song about praising God is suddenly
becoming real in your life.
And one day maybe you're just doing your prayer, just going through the motions because that's
what we do.
But one day it hits.
One day suddenly you sense the presence of God through a peace and a still small voice
because we've been waiting and that waiting is based on faith and that waiting is based
on the hope of God's promises.
Turn back to Psalm 13.
We started there today, but I want to go back there.
Psalm 13, that 13th Psalm.
It starts off as we read earlier with that cry, how long, oh Lord, will you forget me
forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long, how long will my enemy be exalted over me?
But if we skip down, that's a cry of despair, but if we skip down to verse five, notice
what David says there.
He says, but I have trusted in your mercy.
My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Even though we don't always see God at work, we can keep singing, we can keep praising.
And even when we, we sense this passing of time, we recognize that God is with us.
Let's go over to second Peter.
This is our last verse we'll go to today.
Second Peter chapter three, because we wonder, you know, why, how long, what's going on?
Second Peter three, verse eight, it says, just remember, you know, one day with the
Lord, this is a thousand years, a thousand years, this is one day.
But then notice verse nine, it says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.
Which of God's promises is your favorite?
Is it the promise of the second coming, the promise of forgiveness, the promise of the
cross, the promise of healing, the promise of Emmanuel, God with us, which of God's promises
is your favorite?
It says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.
He's not slow as some count slackness, but he is long suffering.
He is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance.
How long?
When the fullness of the time has come, God sent forth his son.
And we have the promise, we have the assurance that when the fullness of the time comes again,
that same son who was born as a baby is going to come in the clouds of glory to take us
back to live with him forever and ever.
The Lord does not want any to perish, but wants each one of us to repent, wants each
one of us to come to him.
Jesus comes just in time.
This season teaches us to wait in anticipation, in expectation, to wait through the silence,
to wait in hope of the promise.
I recently read a book about Apollo 8, it was called Rocket Men.
Now just be aware I'm a little bit of a space junkie, so I like following NASA and all the
space stuff.
And so Apollo 8, you may remember that Apollo 11 was the first one that Neil Armstrong walked
on the moon.
And so a couple, one year before that, at the end of 1968, Apollo 8 was the first flight
to take humanity out of Earth's orbit.
There had been the ships had gone up, they had orbited Earth, but Apollo 8 was the first
one to go to the moon.
It didn't land on the moon, but it circled the moon and orbited the moon.
Now Apollo 8 was not supposed to do that.
Apollo 8 was supposed to stay in Earth's orbit, but they were very worried that the Russians
were going to launch their ship and beat them to orbit the moon.
And so they kind of skipped a few safety steps, and a couple months before they said let's
change this mission, let's send this one to the moon.
And so they didn't quite have all that they needed for safety, but they went for it anyway.
And so some of you may remember, I don't remember it, but 1968, as I've read about it in history,
was not a good year in the history of our country.
In 1968 there was a war going on in Vietnam.
There were protests about that war.
There were two assassinations that took place.
Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were both assassinated during that year.
It was not a good year in society.
But on December 21, I think that's 55 years ago if my math is correct, December 21, Apollo
8 launched.
Three astronauts, Frank Borman, James Lovell, William Anders, they launched, they circled
the Earth, they hit the button, flipped the switch, whatever they did, the rockets pushed
them further, and they left Earth's orbit, and they began to circle the moon.
Now Apollo 8 is famous for two things, besides all that that I already mentioned.
The first thing they're famous for is a picture called Earthrise.
They were there taking pictures of the moon, looking at the craters, trying to line up
where the landing site would be down the road a little bit.
But as they were taking pictures of the moon, they looked up and they saw Earthrise.
They were the first ones to see the Earth rising behind the horizon of the moon.
And so they took that picture, and that's one of the most published pictures of all
time right there.
They went to study the moon, but they learned about Earth, they learned about humanity,
they learned that we're all on this planet together, we're in the same place even though
we're different, we're still the same, we're on this planet.
The other thing they're famous for was something that took place, they launched on December
21, but on December 24, Christmas Eve, there was a plan to have a broadcast that would
be throughout the nation and perhaps even the world, a Christmas Eve broadcast from
the orbit of the moon.
People wondered, what would these three men say from the orbit of the moon?
And NASA didn't tell them what to say, they got to choose what they would say.
And I think we're going to listen to it if we've got the sound set up appropriately.
We're going to try, if not I'll read what they said, but spoiler, turn to Genesis chapter
1 and you'll see exactly what they said.
So we're going to see if this works, broadcast from the moon in 1968.
Well let me try that again, it didn't look like it played did it?
Okay I'll read what they said.
I think when I shifted it over to the Google, maybe it didn't play the video.
Okay sorry about that, we should have tested that before, that was my fault.
You've got the cheat sheet there, you can see what they did, you got the spoiler, but
let me read it for you, because they had a little preview.
If I can find it here, here we go.
We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on earth, the crew
of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
And then they begin to read from Genesis 1, in the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of
the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, let
there be light, and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.
And then the next astronaut spoke, and God called the light day and the darkness he called
night and the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide
the waters from the waters.
And God called the firmament heaven and the evening and the morning were the second day.
And the third astronaut spoke, and God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.
And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called the
seas, and God saw that it was good.
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, and Merry Christmas.
And God bless all of you, all of you on the good earth.
And so on Christmas Eve 1968, of that awful year, that was broadcast to the United States,
and that was broadcast to the world, and one billion people heard the word of God spoken.
Even in communist Russia, they heard that.
One billion people were reminded of the creative power of God throughout the world.
Now this astronaut crew, as they arrived safely back home, they got many telegrams and congratulations
and different things like that, but they got one telegram, and it said, thank you, Apollo
8, you saved 1968.
In the midst of that challenge, in the midst of that strife, in the midst of that troubled
year, when people could say, how long, what is going on in our world, there was a group
of people who used the word of God to draw people's attention to the Savior of the world.
And here we are in a world of chaos, and we can say how long, and yet we can recognize
God is at work in our life, and that God is coming again.
We're going to close in just a moment with number 204, but let's bow our heads for a
word of prayer.
Dear God, we thank you so much for all that you do, and Lord, sometimes we cry out and
wonder how long, what's going on in this world, and yet we have the promises, we have all
that you have laid out before us that we're waiting for, and we know that when the time
is right, those prophecies will be fulfilled.
In your name we pray, amen.