Waiting for Advent Micah 5:1-5, Romans 8:18-25 Justin Deeter December 20, 2015 Introduction When you think back to your time as a kid, is there anything more exciting than waiting for Christmas morning? The whole month of December you are bubbling with anticipation. You long for Christmas morning to arrive, to exit your bedroom, and to see the many presents wrapped under the tree. But waiting is hard. Anticipation is a wonderful thing, but it can drive you a little batty. But anticipation only increases the joy. When that which we wait for comes to pass then we exhale in satisfaction. Finally, that which I long for has come. Whether you are anticipating getting that diploma after years of hard work, or whether you re a bride waiting for her wedding day, or whether you re a kid on Christmas morning. Anticipation increase joy and deepens the satisfaction. During this advent season (advent refers to the coming of Christ) we spend a great deal in anticipation. We think about the anticipation of the Messiah, prophesied in the Old Testament. We anticipate the birth of the Lord Jesus. Yet, also this season is also a reminder that we too are waiting for the return of Christ. There are two advents. The first one came about in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem so many years ago. The second advent has yet to come, and will come about when Christ returns for his church. So I want to help us think through advent by looking to the first advent and the arrival of the babe Jesus. Then I want to turn our attention to the second advent, which we are still anticipating, and I want to encourage you in your hope for Christ s return. Waiting for the First Advent: Micah 5:1-5 As we think about waiting for the first advent of Christ, let s turn our attention to Micah 5:1-5. Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from 1
ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. (Micah 5:1 5, ESV) The historical backdrop of Micah enters us into a frightening world. A global empire named Assyria ascends to dominance. They were a people enraged by blood-lust and barbarism, known for their dehumanizing brutality. Their empire spread across the known world, conquering even the northern kingdom of Israel. All that remained of God s people was the southern kingdom of Judah. This frightening global reality filled God s people with great fear. As a Jew living in Jerusalem, you were not sure if you would wake up to find the army of Assyria standing outside the city gates. Every day was filled with fright of potential terror. Each generation of Christians tends to have a martyrdom complex. We tend to think that the world today is more violent, deadly, and terrifying than any other day before ours. No doubt there is great evil and barbarity that still exist in the world today. There are many places in the world that are filled with corrupted regimes of power and incredible violence. Yet, we would be foolish to think that this all the sudden starting happening today. In many ways, ancient Israel lived in a much more violent and frightful world than ours. It is hard for us to imagine a world in which penicillin does not exist. Or a world where mother s lost half of their children in infancy to disease. It is hard for us to imagine a world where famine and hunger plagues everyone with fear, or to imagine a world where a tyrannical superpower could unexpectedly send an army to destroy your home and kill your family. Yet, this was the world of ancient Israel. It was a world filled with uncertainty and anxiety. Security, safety, and peace were treasures that no one possessed. Yet, this is the situation in which Micah, and many of the prophet s prophecy. They speak God s word to a people on the precipice of destruction. The prophets proclaimed messages of judgment but also messages of hope. It was during these moments of crisis, that the prophets gave a word about the coming of a new king, a messiah. In our passage from Micah 5:1-5, we read one of those grand prophesies that describe the coming of the Messiah. It is a warm and tender word that fills the people with hopeful anticipation, that God will save the day through his 2
king. In verse 1, we see the political turmoil on display as the people of God are under siege. They come with a rod to punish Israel and strike them down. In such anxiety, suffering, and horror what hope does Micah the prophet give the people? God gives Micah a prophecy of the coming of his shepherd king who will protect the people. Micah tells us to look to Bethlehem, this small, tiny little town who wouldn t even show up on a map. It seems even to small to be among the clans of Judah. This little town of Bethlehem will be the place where the ruler of Israel will come forth. His coming is of old, from ancient of days. In verse 3, we are told that when he is born, the people of God will be gathered. The remnant of God s people will come together. He will unify them under his banner as the one true king. The king from Bethlehem will be a shepherd-king. He will be a good king, who will shepherd the flock of God with the strength of God. As he leads the people as the shepherd king, the people will dwell secure and have peace. The security and safety the people long for will come under the good rule of the shepherd-king from Bethlehem. The name of this King will will be great to the very ends of the earth. He will bring peace to a war-ravaged world. The King will come. The prophets anticipated it, and the people yearned for it. How they wanted a king to bring peace and security! So Judah s heart was filled with groaning and longing for the arrival of the messiah. In the JRR Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings the main plot centers on the destruction of the one ring of power as Frodo and Samwise Gamgee travel to Mount Doom to destroy it. Yet, underneath the main plot is a subplot involving Aragorn the dejected King of Gondor. Aragorn is the rightful heir to the throne, and in Tolkien s final book, The Return of the King, we see Aragorn ascend to his rightful place as the King. Tolkien, who was a Christian, no doubt created Aragorn as a Messianic type figure. Within the novels, Bilbo Baggins constructed a prophetic poem concerning Aragorn, All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, 3
The crownless again shall be king. One of the tensions throughout the series is when will Aragorn become the rightful king? The book anticipates his kingship. The same is here in Micah, the prophets anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, this shepherd king who leads the people of God to peace. So the people anticipated the fulfillment of this prophecy for centuries. Year after year, conflict after conflict, generation after generation, the Messiah had yet to arrive. Eventually the prophets stopped showing up. It seemed as if God had gone silent, as if God had forgotten about his promises. Four hundred years went by of deafening silence from God. The anticipation that had once had filled their hearts began to drain into a disillusioned disappointment. Yet, God keeps his promises. The anticipation that had once filled their hearts found its resolution on that first Christmas morning, the first advent of the Christ. The deliverer arrived on that first Christmas evening in the little town of Bethlehem, just as God promised would happen. The shepherdking was born on the cold, filthy floors of a stable. God broke his silence through the shriek of mother s labor groans on that cold Bethlehem night. You see, this little baby Jesus was the promised one, the good shepherd who brings peace for God s people. He brings peace for a broken world, ravaged by war, famine, and death. He brings peace from judgment of sin. The warrior king took the role of the suffering servant. The shepherd king brought peace through a crucified death. It was there prince of Peace bought peace through his violent, bloody death on the cross. As we think about Christmas, and this advent season, we remember the great anticipation that comes with waiting for Christ to come. Yet, we have something in common with Israel, we too are waiting on advent. We are waiting for the coming of Christ, the returning of the king. Just as Israel waited in anticipation for the first coming of Christ, now we the church wait in anticipation for his second coming. Waiting for the Second Advent: Romans 8:18-25 To think about that, I d like to turn our attention to Romans 8:18-25. Let s read it together. 4
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:18 25, ESV) This wonderful passage from Romans describes the tension and anticipation we currently feel as we wait for the second Christmas, the second advent, the return of Christ. Paul tells us that we suffer now, in this present time, but there is a glory that is coming, yet to be revealed. We too feel the effects of the sufferings of the world around us, and the brokenness of the world. Indeed, it is not only us, but the creation itself who feels it. Creation too is waiting for the return of its king, as it is in bondage to the corruption of sin. All of creation is in labor pains, groaning in the pain of childbirth. Creation waits for its full redemption and restoration to God s perfect order before sin corrupted it. But, not only does creation itself groan in pain, but we join in with it. We groan inwardly. Why do we groan? Paul gives us two reasons why. First, we groan because we wait eagerly for adoption as sons. In Christ, God has purchased us as his children. He has lovingly adopted us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The children of God trust in Christ and have received salvation and redemption through him. Through Christ we are brought into God s family and are called his sons and daughters. Yet, though we are already sons and daughters of God in Christ, we are waiting to come into our full inheritance as his children. In a sense, God has legally adopted us in Christ, but our Father has yet to pick us up from the orphanage. He s coming, we know he is! He has already signed the paper work in the blood of his only-begotten son, yet we are waiting for him to return and bring us unto himself. 5
Second, we groan because we wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies. Some of us know this all to well. Our bodies are dying and wasting away. From the moment of our birth we begin the lifelong process of dying. With each passing day we grow older. Our bodies ache. We are ravaged by disease. Our bones become brittle. Our organs shut down. As we age we walk slower, hear worse, and remember less. One of the toughest places for me to go visit are Alzheimer units in nursing homes. My grandfather was in one for quite some time, and visiting him there was incredibly painful. As you walk in you see many people whose body not only are wasting away, but even their own minds. They are bound in wheel chairs, confused and hurting, alive but unable to speak. If you ever look into the eyes of someone with Alzheimer s, you can almost feel their groaning. Though they cannot communicate and they cannot get a coherent thought to come across their lips, you can look into their eyes and sense the groaning. As I visit such places, my mind goes to this passage, We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. These truths without hope lead only to nihilism: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. To face the reality of this cold, broken world without hope leads to purposeless and meaninglessness. But yet, Paul says that the Christian has a unique hope in a groaning world. We hope for the return of king Jesus. We hope that his kingdom is coming. We hope that, From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. You see our hope in the present groaning lies in the surety of a future glory. We hope in the cosmos-shattering good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in this hope that we are saved, and it is in this hope that helps us wait patiently for his return. This hope is unseen, for who hopes in what he sees? But we hope for what we do not see, and we wait for it in patience. Patience is hard, just ask any kid waiting for Christmas morning. But yet, as we celebrate the first advent we are awaiting the second advent. We are waiting for the return of this king, and we are filled with great hope that the shepherd king will return to his people and establish his kingdom. We hope that our adoption will be fully realized and our ailing bodies redeemed. Our hope was christened in the crimson blood of Christ culminating in the new reality brought about by the resurrected Christ. 6
Church, there is a glory to be revealed and a joy to be had. Though we groan, we wait for Christ. He will come again, and the joy we will experience on that day will make the joy of a child on Christmas day look miniscule. Final Thoughts This Christmas, celebrate the 1st coming of Christ, but do not lose hope in his second coming. Jesus came the first time as a humble baby born in Bethlehem; he will come again as the conquering King. Remember, anticipation increases the joy of consummation. The greater our groaning today, the greater our rejoicing at Christ s return. The greater our afflictions today, the greater the eternal weight of glory that will be revealed. So, though today we groan, one day we will sing. Though today we suffer, we hope in the glory to be revealed. We hope in that which is unseen, it is by this hope we were saved, and we wait for it with patience. Redemption has come and is coming. The King has come and will come again. The King has arrived and he will return. So then, wait eagerly for the return of the King. May your anticipation of Christ s return ever increase knowing that so too will your joy. 2015 Forest Hills Baptist Church 7