Embracing the Spiritual Discipline of Waiting
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Waiting involves two dynamics. One of them is when you're waiting, you're waiting for something that you want that you do not yet have, but you want to have it, or you're waiting for something to go away, a headache that won't go away. And so waiting always involves a kind of frustrated wanting." [01:45]
"The Bible is in many ways a book about waiting. In the beginning, there is no waiting in the first chapter before the fall. God speaks, and it is so, and God sees it's good. God lives in eternity, and we don't know what all that means, but part of what it means is God knows no frustration and no waiting." [02:26]
"Meanwhile, people have to wait all through the Bible. God comes to Abraham, 'You're going to be the father of great nations,' but get away several decades. Isaac has to wait 20 years before he has a child. Joseph has to wait in slavery and then wait in prison. Israel has to wait 400 years in Egypt." [03:30]
"Peter is writing, and he talks about how the heavens will disappear, the elements will be destroyed by fire, the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." [04:37]
"Part of what waiting teaches me is that I'm not in control, and every parent understands. If you ever wonder why is it that waiting is so important, waiting, learning to wait, being forced to wait is an indispensable part of character formation." [06:01]
"In waiting, I come to learn that my desires are not the center of the universe. A friend of mine used to say what happens to us while we wait is often more important than what it is that we think that we are waiting for. And so we wait, and we trust God." [06:29]
"We wait because we are not able to set right what needs to be set right. There's an essay as Lance Morrow, and he writes about the difference between the word wrong and the word evil. When we talk about wrongs, the implication for that often is that we live in a world where there are rights and there are wrongs." [07:07]
"Peter says you wait, but also he says you speed its day, you hasten it. In other words, we all wonder when's God going to come back, when is he going to make his world right, when is he going to destroy what needs to be destroyed and renew what can be renewed." [08:28]
"As we become the kinds of people that God wants us to do and become agents of his kingdom, we're actually speeding that day. It's apparently on a variable schedule, and it might be changed. And Fleming Rutledge writes a wonderful story about how do we hasten its day." [08:48]
"There was a neighborhood in Philadelphia where most of the people who lived there, most of the families were Gentiles. One of the family was Jewish, and then an act of vandalism, somebody smashed the window. They had a menorah inside their house, and vandals smashed the window, took the menorah out, and threw it away." [09:13]
"Every time we love somebody, every time we serve, every time we stand beside, every time we give, every time we encourage, every time we forgive, we are in some way that we do not understand hastening the day. So do that today. Ask God how can I hasten that day." [10:18]
"Radically accept waiting doesn't mean apathy, doesn't mean passivity because we also speed the day, and we wait for you." [11:35]
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"The Bible is in many ways a book about waiting. In the beginning, there is no waiting in the first chapter before the fall. God speaks, and it is so, and God sees it's good. God lives in eternity, and we don't know what all that means, but part of what it means is God knows no frustration and no waiting." [02:26]
"Meanwhile, people have to wait all through the Bible. God comes to Abraham, 'You're going to be the father of great nations,' but get away several decades. Isaac has to wait 20 years before he has a child. Joseph has to wait in slavery and then wait in prison. Israel has to wait 400 years in Egypt." [03:30]
"Peter is writing, and he talks about how the heavens will disappear, the elements will be destroyed by fire, the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." [04:37]
"Part of what waiting teaches me is that I'm not in control, and every parent understands. If you ever wonder why is it that waiting is so important, waiting, learning to wait, being forced to wait is an indispensable part of character formation." [06:01]
"In waiting, I come to learn that my desires are not the center of the universe. A friend of mine used to say what happens to us while we wait is often more important than what it is that we think that we are waiting for. And so we wait, and we trust God." [06:29]
"We wait because we are not able to set right what needs to be set right. There's an essay as Lance Morrow, and he writes about the difference between the word wrong and the word evil. When we talk about wrongs, the implication for that often is that we live in a world where there are rights and there are wrongs." [07:07]
"Peter says you wait, but also he says you speed its day, you hasten it. In other words, we all wonder when's God going to come back, when is he going to make his world right, when is he going to destroy what needs to be destroyed and renew what can be renewed." [08:28]
"As we become the kinds of people that God wants us to do and become agents of his kingdom, we're actually speeding that day. It's apparently on a variable schedule, and it might be changed. And Fleming Rutledge writes a wonderful story about how do we hasten its day." [08:48]
"There was a neighborhood in Philadelphia where most of the people who lived there, most of the families were Gentiles. One of the family was Jewish, and then an act of vandalism, somebody smashed the window. They had a menorah inside their house, and vandals smashed the window, took the menorah out, and threw it away." [09:13]
"Every time we love somebody, every time we serve, every time we stand beside, every time we give, every time we encourage, every time we forgive, we are in some way that we do not understand hastening the day. So do that today. Ask God how can I hasten that day." [10:18]
"Radically accept waiting doesn't mean apathy, doesn't mean passivity because we also speed the day, and we wait for you." [11:35]
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