King Duncan
A little boy had been staying at his grandparents’ house for several days. Now he was waiting for his mom and dad to pick him up. The homesick boy sat in the old swivel rocker all morning, staring and staring out the picture window. From that window, he could see down the long, gravel road. He was watching for that telltale cloud of dust that would signal the approach of the family car. After a couple of hours of this, his grandfather came by and said in mock exasperation, “Doggone it, Bill, you’re gonna stare a hole right through our window!” Bill knew who was coming that morning. And he expected to see that cloud of dust and the familiar blue and white ‘54 Ford station wagon roll up at any moment. He had no desire to play outside or even move from that chair. He focused all his energies and attention on that long, empty road. (1)
Is there anything harder to do than to wait? Have you ever thought about what a big role waiting plays in Scripture? The children of Israel waiting in Egypt to be delivered from slavery. The Jewish people awaiting their Messiah. And now Jesus says to his disciples that they also are to wait.
The writer Luke is telling the story. He begins by referring to his own Gospel. “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
For forty days after his death, the risen Christ had been meeting with the disciples and instructing them concerning the kingdom of God. Now he was leaving them. But before he left, he told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. That grand event occurred a few days later on Pentecost. But, the disciples were like us. They were an impatient lot. They wanted to know about more than the coming of the Spirit. They wanted to know when Christ would restore Israel.
Christ said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority . . .” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus . . . will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
And so a much longer wait began. A wait that continues even today. Waiting for Christ’s return to establish God’s kingdom here on earth even as it is in heaven. How long must we wait? No one has any earthly idea. “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority . . .”
A few years ago, something very strange happened to Steven Mosley’s grandmother. A loud rumbling noise erupted throughout her neighborhood, and the night sky filled with a green and purple light. Steven’s grandmother was convinced that aliens were landing in her yard. And what was her first thought? That she needed to fix her hair. If she was receiving a visitation from anyone, human or alien, then she needed to look her best. But the aliens never knocked on her door. The noises and the green and purple lights came from an explosion at a nearby natural gas plant. (2)
That grandmother acted rather foolishly, but no more foolishly than many Christians have acted through the generations by their constant setting of dates for Christ’s return. The scriptures are very explicit. No one knows when that day will be. “Even the angels in heaven” do not know, according to Matthew 24:36. But people keep setting dates. But our time is not God’s time. Reason it out with me. According to scientists it was more than 4½ billion years ago when God said, “Let there be light,” and set our sun a-glowing. Four and one half billion years!
Richard Carrington in his book, A Guide to Earth History, gives us some perspective on how long ago that really was. He writes: “If we imagine the whole of earth’s history as compressed into a single year, then on this scale, the first 8 months would be completely without life. The following 2 months would be devoted to the most primitive of creatures, ranging from viruses and single-celled bacteria to jellyfish, while mammals would not really appear until the second week of December. Man as we know him would have strutted onto the stage about 11:45 p.m. on December 31. The age of written history would have occupied little more than the last 60 seconds on the clock.” (3)
All of written history in just 60 seconds! Can you see that what seems a long, long time to us would be only an insignificant flash of time to God? The Psalmist wrote, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night . . .” (Psalm 90:4) Actually, the Psalmist was probably understating the situation, but even if we take his words literally, it means that the 2,000 years we have been waiting on Christ would only be two days according to God’s clock, which means no time at all. Hurting people feel the slowness of the clock. What may seem a long time to us may seem much longer to people who are suffering. Have you ever noticed how slowly time passes when we are hurting? We have an expression for it: “Time flies when you’re having a good time.” And it does. But it crawls when you are in pain.
There was a heart-breaking story in Newsweek several years ago. It was about children in Caribbean countries who have been left behind while their parents come to this country searching for a better life. So many Caribbean children are being left behind by emigrating parents that they have acquired their own name: “barrel children.” The name comes from barrels that are sent to them by their parents in the States.
The news article told about Marsha, a teenager in Jamaica where there are tens of thousands of barrel children. A cardboard barrel has been sitting empty in Marsha’s backyard for more than a month, but Marsha hangs onto it as though it were a sacred totem. And in a way, it is. Five years after her mother immigrated to the United States, leaving Marsha and two sisters to fend for themselves in a slum in Kingston, the barrel is one of the few tangible signs of her mother’s love--and of her own frustrated desires. The barrel arrived from New York before Christmas, filled with food, photographs, clothes and the tantalizing prospect of escape. “My mother keeps promising me that I will soon be joining her,” Marsha says, as much to herself as to anybody else.
This phenomenon of barrel children can be found in almost any country with heavy emigration, from Mexico to China. Separated from their mothers and often from their siblings, barrel children feel rejected and, eventually, resentful. Few are literally abandoned. But they are often passed from aunt to cousin to second uncle once removed, sometimes ending up on their own or with virtual strangers whose main interest is the money their parents send back. These kids live in waiting--for their parents to send for them. For many, it will never happen. But dreams die hard. And so, they wait. (4)
Time moves slowly when you are hurting. You can see this in the life of the church. When the church has been persecuted, when times have been hard, the cry has gone up with fervor, Maranatha! “Come quickly Lord.” Anyone who has ever lain in a hospital bed for a long time, in pain, with little hope in sight understands. “Come quickly Lord.” But God’s timing is not our timing.
Faith is the belief that God will come, even when the clock is ticking very slowly. Unless you are going through a particularly difficult time, you are probably not too concerned when Christ will come. That sounds like heresy, but it is probably true. Perhaps someone in this service is in terrible pain and is praying, Maranatha, “Come quickly Lord.” But most of us are living quite nicely and we would not be concerned if Christ should tarry.
This is not to say that we are patient people. We are not. The average person today becomes agitated after waiting forty seconds for an elevator. And most of us are like that. It’s not that we are patient. It’s more that we are indifferent. We’re happy with our lives. If Christ should come tonight, that will be fine, but we are in no rush.
Nevertheless, we need to know that God’s kingdom is coming. We need to understand this truth so that we do not find ourselves unprepared. Most of Jesus’ teachings were about the Kingdom of God, when God will reign in every heart. We need to understand that the seeds which were planted with the coming of Jesus 2,000 years ago are growing and will one day blossom forth with justice and dignity for all people. Do not be deceived. God is at work.
Maybe you know about the century plant. The century plant is native to the desert regions. It is so named because it is a notoriously slow grower. For decades, the century plant will show no signs of growth. It will just look like a scrubby, ugly little bush. Then one day, it will suddenly start growing. It may grow half a foot per day and reach up to forty feet. And after it has reached its full growth, the century plant suddenly produces flowers. Its bright yellow blossoms last for weeks at a time. It is a spectacular sight for anyone who has the patience to watch for it. (5)
The Kingdom of God is like that, Jesus taught us. We may not even be aware of the Kingdom in our lives, but God never stops working through the lives of those God has called to be His people. And one day the risen Christ will return to reign over all.
__________________________________
1. Ron Mehl, What God Whispers in the Night, 2000.
2. Steven Mosley, Secrets of the Mustard Seed (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002), pp. 75-76.
3. Rev. Daniel Meyer, “Living in Christmas Time,” http://cc-ob.org/sermons/2003/1203c.htm.
4. “The Barrel Children,” by Brook Larmer with Knolly Moses, Newsweek, February 19, 1996, p. 45.
5. John Beukema, Stories from God’s Heart (Chicago: Moody Press, 2000), p. 31.
A little boy had been staying at his grandparents’ house for several days. Now he was waiting for his mom and dad to pick him up. The homesick boy sat in the old swivel rocker all morning, staring and staring out the picture window. From that window, he could see down the long, gravel road. He was watching for that telltale cloud of dust that would signal the approach of the family car. After a couple of hours of this, his grandfather came by and said in mock exasperation, “Doggone it, Bill, you’re gonna stare a hole right through our window!” Bill knew who was coming that morning. And he expected to see that cloud of dust and the familiar blue and white ‘54 Ford station wagon roll up at any moment. He had no desire to play outside or even move from that chair. He focused all his energies and attention on that long, empty road. (1)
Is there anything harder to do than to wait? Have you ever thought about what a big role waiting plays in Scripture? The children of Israel waiting in Egypt to be delivered from slavery. The Jewish people awaiting their Messiah. And now Jesus says to his disciples that they also are to wait.
The writer Luke is telling the story. He begins by referring to his own Gospel. “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
For forty days after his death, the risen Christ had been meeting with the disciples and instructing them concerning the kingdom of God. Now he was leaving them. But before he left, he told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. That grand event occurred a few days later on Pentecost. But, the disciples were like us. They were an impatient lot. They wanted to know about more than the coming of the Spirit. They wanted to know when Christ would restore Israel.
Christ said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority . . .” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus . . . will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
And so a much longer wait began. A wait that continues even today. Waiting for Christ’s return to establish God’s kingdom here on earth even as it is in heaven. How long must we wait? No one has any earthly idea. “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority . . .”
A few years ago, something very strange happened to Steven Mosley’s grandmother. A loud rumbling noise erupted throughout her neighborhood, and the night sky filled with a green and purple light. Steven’s grandmother was convinced that aliens were landing in her yard. And what was her first thought? That she needed to fix her hair. If she was receiving a visitation from anyone, human or alien, then she needed to look her best. But the aliens never knocked on her door. The noises and the green and purple lights came from an explosion at a nearby natural gas plant. (2)
That grandmother acted rather foolishly, but no more foolishly than many Christians have acted through the generations by their constant setting of dates for Christ’s return. The scriptures are very explicit. No one knows when that day will be. “Even the angels in heaven” do not know, according to Matthew 24:36. But people keep setting dates. But our time is not God’s time. Reason it out with me. According to scientists it was more than 4½ billion years ago when God said, “Let there be light,” and set our sun a-glowing. Four and one half billion years!
Richard Carrington in his book, A Guide to Earth History, gives us some perspective on how long ago that really was. He writes: “If we imagine the whole of earth’s history as compressed into a single year, then on this scale, the first 8 months would be completely without life. The following 2 months would be devoted to the most primitive of creatures, ranging from viruses and single-celled bacteria to jellyfish, while mammals would not really appear until the second week of December. Man as we know him would have strutted onto the stage about 11:45 p.m. on December 31. The age of written history would have occupied little more than the last 60 seconds on the clock.” (3)
All of written history in just 60 seconds! Can you see that what seems a long, long time to us would be only an insignificant flash of time to God? The Psalmist wrote, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night . . .” (Psalm 90:4) Actually, the Psalmist was probably understating the situation, but even if we take his words literally, it means that the 2,000 years we have been waiting on Christ would only be two days according to God’s clock, which means no time at all. Hurting people feel the slowness of the clock. What may seem a long time to us may seem much longer to people who are suffering. Have you ever noticed how slowly time passes when we are hurting? We have an expression for it: “Time flies when you’re having a good time.” And it does. But it crawls when you are in pain.
There was a heart-breaking story in Newsweek several years ago. It was about children in Caribbean countries who have been left behind while their parents come to this country searching for a better life. So many Caribbean children are being left behind by emigrating parents that they have acquired their own name: “barrel children.” The name comes from barrels that are sent to them by their parents in the States.
The news article told about Marsha, a teenager in Jamaica where there are tens of thousands of barrel children. A cardboard barrel has been sitting empty in Marsha’s backyard for more than a month, but Marsha hangs onto it as though it were a sacred totem. And in a way, it is. Five years after her mother immigrated to the United States, leaving Marsha and two sisters to fend for themselves in a slum in Kingston, the barrel is one of the few tangible signs of her mother’s love--and of her own frustrated desires. The barrel arrived from New York before Christmas, filled with food, photographs, clothes and the tantalizing prospect of escape. “My mother keeps promising me that I will soon be joining her,” Marsha says, as much to herself as to anybody else.
This phenomenon of barrel children can be found in almost any country with heavy emigration, from Mexico to China. Separated from their mothers and often from their siblings, barrel children feel rejected and, eventually, resentful. Few are literally abandoned. But they are often passed from aunt to cousin to second uncle once removed, sometimes ending up on their own or with virtual strangers whose main interest is the money their parents send back. These kids live in waiting--for their parents to send for them. For many, it will never happen. But dreams die hard. And so, they wait. (4)
Time moves slowly when you are hurting. You can see this in the life of the church. When the church has been persecuted, when times have been hard, the cry has gone up with fervor, Maranatha! “Come quickly Lord.” Anyone who has ever lain in a hospital bed for a long time, in pain, with little hope in sight understands. “Come quickly Lord.” But God’s timing is not our timing.
Faith is the belief that God will come, even when the clock is ticking very slowly. Unless you are going through a particularly difficult time, you are probably not too concerned when Christ will come. That sounds like heresy, but it is probably true. Perhaps someone in this service is in terrible pain and is praying, Maranatha, “Come quickly Lord.” But most of us are living quite nicely and we would not be concerned if Christ should tarry.
This is not to say that we are patient people. We are not. The average person today becomes agitated after waiting forty seconds for an elevator. And most of us are like that. It’s not that we are patient. It’s more that we are indifferent. We’re happy with our lives. If Christ should come tonight, that will be fine, but we are in no rush.
Nevertheless, we need to know that God’s kingdom is coming. We need to understand this truth so that we do not find ourselves unprepared. Most of Jesus’ teachings were about the Kingdom of God, when God will reign in every heart. We need to understand that the seeds which were planted with the coming of Jesus 2,000 years ago are growing and will one day blossom forth with justice and dignity for all people. Do not be deceived. God is at work.
Maybe you know about the century plant. The century plant is native to the desert regions. It is so named because it is a notoriously slow grower. For decades, the century plant will show no signs of growth. It will just look like a scrubby, ugly little bush. Then one day, it will suddenly start growing. It may grow half a foot per day and reach up to forty feet. And after it has reached its full growth, the century plant suddenly produces flowers. Its bright yellow blossoms last for weeks at a time. It is a spectacular sight for anyone who has the patience to watch for it. (5)
The Kingdom of God is like that, Jesus taught us. We may not even be aware of the Kingdom in our lives, but God never stops working through the lives of those God has called to be His people. And one day the risen Christ will return to reign over all.
__________________________________
1. Ron Mehl, What God Whispers in the Night, 2000.
2. Steven Mosley, Secrets of the Mustard Seed (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002), pp. 75-76.
3. Rev. Daniel Meyer, “Living in Christmas Time,” http://cc-ob.org/sermons/2003/1203c.htm.
4. “The Barrel Children,” by Brook Larmer with Knolly Moses, Newsweek, February 19, 1996, p. 45.
5. John Beukema, Stories from God’s Heart (Chicago: Moody Press, 2000), p. 31.
