Waiting Over (Waiting for Arrival #5)

Merry Christmas Eve.

I’m genuinely glad each of you is here — whether family brought you, friends tricked you into coming, or you found us online. It’s an absolute privilege that we get to celebrate the coming of Christ tonight.

But before we get to Christmas, let’s get to an engagement.

She Took Two Weeks

On September 24, 1993, my wife said yes to my proposal of marriage.

You’d be amazed how unpopular I was. Which is probably why it took her two weeks to say yes.

That’s not a joke. She genuinely took two weeks.

But it wasn’t because she had doubts about me. We were still juniors in college, so we were young, and she was questioning the timing. She just needed those two weeks to process it. We had a lot of conversation during that stretch — and those two weeks were really awkward.

Then, two weeks after I’d proposed, we were sitting behind the dorms at the top of a hundred stairs on the campus of John Brown University, on these concrete benches. And she looked over at me and said, “Ask me.”

And in my head I’m thinking: Ask you what? Why won’t you commit? What’s wrong with me? What is going on?

Thankfully I was calm enough to simply say, “Ask you what?”

And she said, “Ask me again.”

So I repeated the exact same words from two weeks earlier. And this time she said yes.

My waiting was over.

Except it wasn’t.

Waiting Just Shifts

Have you ever noticed that when you think your waiting is finished, what’s actually happened is that you’ve shifted into a new season of waiting?

Think about the doctor’s office. You’re sitting in the waiting room, someone comes out and calls your name, and you think, finally, my wait is over — only to get into the exam room and wait just as long for the doctor to actually show up.

It happens at the airport. At the dentist. At the DMV. It happens everywhere. You think you’re done waiting, and all that’s happened is you’ve moved into a new season of waiting.

Tonight we’re going to see how the arrival of Christ meant the waiting was over — the season of Advent is done. And we’re also going to see how all that’s really happened is that we’ve shifted into a new season of waiting. And we need to talk about what God wants to accomplish during this new season, because it might make all the difference for you.

Heavenly Father, we say thank you. We are so grateful for the indescribable gift of Jesus — how You, Jesus, willingly came to this earth, taking on human flesh, even being born as a baby, because You loved us. You knew we needed rescuing from our sin, and You delighted to come and do what only You could do, bringing us out of our sin and into a relationship with our Heavenly Father. That’s why we say thank you tonight, and why we worship You.

But Father, some of us here need to hear from You. Because while we know this Christmas story, some of us have had a hard year and are looking into a difficult one ahead. Some of us tonight lack peace and need You to reassure us and remind us of Your presence, Your power, and Your plan. So I pray tonight would not be about what I’ve prepared to say, but about what You need and want to say to these people who’ve come. No matter where they are on their spiritual journey, say exactly what You need to say. Let them know You called them here tonight, that You are leading them and loving them and will work in them. Help us hear from You this evening. In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.

The Announcement

All across the world tonight, churches are reading from Luke 2. So let’s be a little conformist and do the same.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:8–14)

This past month, during Advent, we’ve been seeing how the ancient Jewish people were awaiting a Messiah. They were looking for a prophet in the likeness of Moses. A priest in the order of Melchizedek. A king from the line of David.

But what we saw last week is that what they needed, deep down, wasn’t merely a prophet or a priest or a king. What they truly needed was God Himself.

And all of it came together in the person of Jesus.

So when the Son of God took on human flesh and was born of the virgin Mary, the waiting was over.

The angels announced to ordinary shepherds that the great Shepherd had arrived. That the prophet they’d been longing for had come. Born to a poor couple in a place of no glory — yet the priest they longed for had shown up, wrapped in swaddling cloths. And the king they desperately needed was now set upon His manger throne.

God showed up, taking on human flesh. And He was about to turn the world upside down.

“And on Earth Peace”

Listen again to the angels’ proclamation in verse 14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

So kids — notice that God gets the glory. And what do people get?

Peace.

Something you’re probably not going to let your mom and dad have tomorrow. I’m teasing. I’m teasing.

But it makes sense, doesn’t it? The Messiah is the Prince of Peace, as Isaiah 9 tells us. So of course, when the Prince of Peace is born, the angels announce that the very embodiment of peace is now on the earth. Peace to those with whom God is well pleased.

And yet when you look around this world…

I see Russia and Ukraine still fighting ten months after it began — today marks exactly ten months. I see nations in unrest over head scarves, over education, over pandemic policy. I see our own nation as divided over politics as ever. I see a country still struggling with violent crime, where it feels like every other week we read about someone somewhere being killed.

I see churches divided. Marriages failing. Friendships fractured because the people in them are in turmoil themselves.

I see a world lacking peace.

So what gives?

Were the angels wrong? Was the peace only for that one night, and then everything reverted to its normal chaotic self? Or did Luke simply write a very good piece of fiction — a wonderful mythology we now use as an excuse to eat a lot of food, gather as family, and indulge our materialism?

I don’t believe this is fiction. I believe these things actually happened. And I believe the angels were not wrong.

Why We Misread It

The reason we might misinterpret this is because of how we view the world.

You and I tend to see things in the natural realm — what we physically see, what’s happening around us. And we come at it self-referentially. Not necessarily in a sinful way; it’s simply our world, and it’s how we interpret everything: our relationships, our schedule, our to-do list.

But what we have to remember is that God is spirit, and God is far more concerned with your spiritual life than with your outward life.

Now don’t misunderstand me. God is deeply concerned with your outward life. He loves you and all of it matters to Him. It’s simply not His first concern.

The Man Lowered Through the Roof

This explains Mark 2. Jesus is inside a house teaching a crowd when some friends show up carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They can’t get to Jesus, so they find a way onto the roof, tear a hole through it, and lower their friend down to be healed.

And as evidence that Jesus cares about the outward life, He does tell the man to take up his mat and walk.

But that’s not the first thing He says.

The text says that when Jesus saw their faith — the faith of the friends and of the man — He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Because it would have done nothing for that man eternally if Jesus had healed his legs but left his sinful state untouched. What he needed first and foremost was forgiveness. The healing of his legs was a wonderful bonus.

Why Jesus Didn’t Overthrow Rome

It also explains why Jesus, when He came, didn’t spend His time and energy overthrowing the Roman Empire.

Because He knew Rome would eventually fade. Rome would be no more.

What had been reigning since the very beginning was sin. So what He needed to do was deal with the spiritual empire of sin — defeat it — so that people could come out from under its slavery and into relationship with God.

God is far more concerned with your spiritual life than merely your outward life.

Which is why, when the angels sing about peace, I think they were singing about far more than the cessation of wars and the mending of friendships.

What Broke in the Garden

Years ago I did a study in Genesis 3 — the account of Adam and Eve’s sin, when they ate the forbidden fruit and sin came crashing into God’s order.

And as I studied it, I had to notice everything that broke.

Their relationship with each other was fractured. Their relationship with their own bodies was broken — for Eve, childbirth would now be painful. Their relationship with the world was broken — for Adam, work and labor would now be genuinely difficult.

So many things broke.

But the most important one is that their relationship with God broke. And when their relationship with the One who breathed life into them broke, they became spiritually dead.

And when they became spiritually dead, they lacked peace.

So when the angels announce there is now peace between God and man, they aren’t only talking about the world around us. They’re talking about a peace within.

If You’ve Lacked Peace This Year

Some of you have lacked peace this year. You’ve been wondering whether God is real, whether God is for you.

Tonight you’re being reminded: there is peace. And the peace came in a baby.

When you put your faith in that baby — tying the Christmas story to the Easter story, realizing that baby grew into a man who lived a sinless life and then died in the sinner’s place on a cross — you can have inner peace.

And your waiting is over.

And yet you shift into a new season. Your sins are forgiven and will not be held against you any longer — and God is still at work.

Some of you are saying, “I did that. I put my faith in Jesus. And I still lack peace.”

Your peace is found in Christ — and you need to come to Him continually, over and over. Because as you do, you mature. You become more like Christ, learning to live like Jesus lived and love like Jesus loved. And as that develops in you, you develop what Philippians 4:7 calls the peace that surpasses understanding.

So that when things start happening around you and to you, and you somehow have peace in the middle of it, other people look at that and can’t explain it. If that were my life, I’d be in chaos. They must just have a better personality. They must be wired differently.

No. It’s because you trust God through all of it.

Following Christ doesn’t mean everything suddenly becomes easy. It means you now have the forgiveness of your sins, and He’s inviting you into a relationship marked by His presence, His power, and His peace.

Let Tonight Be Your Spiritual Birthday

If you’re here tonight and you’ve never fully put your faith in Christ, I invite you to let tonight become your spiritual birthday.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I would love to also celebrate a birth in you — that the spiritual self which is dead in your sins would tonight come alive, and you’d begin a brand new journey. And your waiting would be over.

Salvation Is a Flexible Word

But here’s something to understand about salvation. It’s a remarkably flexible word in the Bible.

Not flexible the way we’ve made the word “love” flexible — we abuse that one. We love tacos, our spouse, our dog, our football team.

With salvation it’s different. When you put your faith in Christ, there’s a past tense: your sins are forgiven. You are saved. You have peace. Your waiting is over.

And yet Scripture also teaches that you are in the process of being saved. The fancy word is sanctification — an ongoing, present-tense reality.

And Scripture also speaks of how you will be saved. A future thing.

That’s the new season we’re in. When you put your faith in Christ, it’s done. It’s over. And you enter a new season where you now await the return of Christ.

We are in a new season of Advent. When He comes, our peace will be complete and fully fulfilled.

And yet God offers it to you now.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for this evening. We are thankful for Jesus. Thank You that He came for us. Thank You that You loved us enough to send Him.

Father, I pray right now for the person who has not put their faith in You, and who tonight senses You saying: become my child, follow me, I love you, and I want to fill you with my peace. I pray they would humbly come to You right now — confessing their sin, admitting they’ve tried to do it on their own, and surrendering it to say they want to follow You. Jesus, You went to a cross and gave it all for them. Help them now begin the process of giving it all to You.

And Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ who know this story and have done this before, but whose year has been hard. As they pray, would You surround them? Would Your Holy Spirit take over, so they have a sense of You and Your love? Remind them tonight that they can have a peace that surpasses understanding — and that it doesn’t come through their own strength or willpower. It comes in Christ.

So just as those who are putting their faith in You for the first time tonight, I pray these people would put their faith in You yet again. Trust Him — because He loves you, He is for you, He is with you, and He wants to use you. Father, help them realize they are not void of peace, but can be filled with it.

Thank You for tonight. Thank You for Your Son. Thank You for Your Spirit, whom You give to us. Help us walk in that peace, enjoy it, live it out, and share it with others. And just as You, the Prince of Peace, came down for us, help us go now as ministers of peace into a world that needs You. Amen.

Go and Be Light

Christ came to us. The Light came. And yet the light is meant to be spread.

That’s what the candles are — a visual image of what God calls us to do. One flame, lit from the Christ candle, passed to every person in the room.

So go now and worship God in spirit and in truth, assured by His help, comforted by His peace, filled with His joy, and safely secured in His love — because of the incarnation of God’s own Son, Jesus the Christ.

Merry Christmas.