Waiting on God’s Presence

Waiting on God's presence. You know, this autumn we've been following a series, and it's the last in that series today,

where we've been thinking about what it means to live with a sense of the presence, the supernatural presence of God in our everyday lives.

But one question which I'm not sure we've really dug deep into throughout all of this time, and I think it's perhaps a really important question,

is what about those times, those experiences, where we don't feel the presence of God?

What about those experiences where that can actually be quite agonising at times?

When we cry out, God, where are you? When are you going to move on this? When are we going to see some action?

When is the presence of God going to become really apparent?

And so today, as we round off this series and we move into Advent next week,

we're thinking about that theme, waiting on the presence of God.

What does it mean to wait on God's presence?

I don't know if you've seen the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Anyone seen that film? Great film. If you haven't seen it, go and watch it.

But there's a line in that film. It's often actually attributed to John Lennon.

It goes like this.

It says, everything will be all right in the end.

And if it's not all right, it's not the end.

That simple one line carries an enormous weight of theological significance.

And I'm quite sure that if it was John Lennon and I said it,

or the writers of that film, never actually really kind of intended, but it's there anyway.

Everything will be all right in the end.

And if it's not all right now, it's not the end.

And in a roundabout very different way,

that's what the message is in that passage that we just had read to us a moment ago.

When we sense that feeling of where is God, we're waiting on the presence of God.

We believe in it. We want to believe in it.

And our prayers are praying with that sense of anticipation.

But somehow it doesn't seem to match our experience.

We need to revisit these basic tenets of Christian belief

that talk about that sense of the presence, but the not yet presence of God.

So when we look at the Christian worldview,

we see it very helpfully captures that ambiguity

in a way that actually I think makes the Christian gospel

and all its claims all the more compelling.

Because it engages reality.

First, it tells us, the Christian gospel tells us God created the world.

That affirms the reality of the presence of God as we experience it in life.

But the Christian narrative tells us that we live in a broken world, a fallen world.

God gives us freedom and we reject that freedom and we've turned our back on him.

We have the reality of sin and brokenness and death and dying in the world.

God gives us an experience of God.

This experience of, well, where is God?

He seems to be absent.

And yet it's that the Old Testament points forward to the coming of Jesus

and that the gospels tell us how Jesus has come to us, God has come to us in him.

It tells us that God is with us.

He is present.

And yet the gospels then finish by saying that Jesus has returned to be with his father

with the promise that one day he will return and make all things new.

And so we sense that kind of absence of God.

And yet God is an absence because he's here by his Holy Spirit

and he gives us that promise that one day the end will come

and we don't know how or when or what that will be

but it's there in scripture that one day God will bring history to conclusion

and all will be well.

And therefore we live in that place of tension

between the already of God's presence

and what God has done through his creation,

through his coming to us in Jesus

and with the Holy Spirit present among us,

the already of God's presence

and the not quite yet of God's presence.

And it's in that place of tension

that we wait upon the presence of God.

He is present

and yet there's a sense in which he isn't in all his fullness yet.

So our calling then is to live in the light of that promise

as we wait on God to live in the light of that end which is coming

which isn't yet here but one day will be.

So what might that look like in practical terms?

Well I want you to imagine a picture

as we unpack this in a little bit more detail.

I want you to imagine that we walk into a restaurant

and as you walk into that restaurant

you can see three different types of waiting that are going on.

The first type of waiting is

I want you to imagine that you've gone into this restaurant

but you've got limited time.

Perhaps you've got tickets to a show that you're going to see in an hour.

You've got an hour to order your meal, eat your meal,

get out the door and get to the theatre.

And as you go in, you sit down.

Nobody's said hello to you.

You can't even see any members of staff around.

You're waiting.

You have a look at the menu.

You know what you want.

You just want something that's quick.

But there's nobody there.

So you're waiting to be served.

And in that place of waiting, it's agonising.

You're looking at your watch.

You haven't got time.

You're getting impatient, frustrated, angry.

You start to think,

am I just going to give up on this place,

walk out and go somewhere else?

I want to suggest that that sense of waiting

is very much a part of our Christian experience.

When, Lord, are you going to intervene in this situation?

I've been praying about this for ages.

I need to see some action.

I want to be reassured of something.

I feel like giving up.

Trying something else.

It's a part of waiting.

And these words in 2 Peter that we heard just now

were written actually into that experience

in that first century.

It's the first century of believers

who were being persecuted for their faith,

whose daily experience is,

when, Lord, when are you coming back?

Without wishing to oversimplify Peter's response there,

but saying we are called to live in the light of expectation

involves patience.

Now, that, of course, is one thing to say.

It's a very different thing to do.

There are no easy answers,

except that we need to know that God has got it in hand

because God is internal, eternal.

And God's eternity contrasts radically

with our experience,

which has only ever been in time and space.

And so it is that Peter quotes back to the psalmist

who says that, you know,

a day to God is like a thousand years.

And a thousand years is like a day

because God is eternal.

He doesn't differentiate between those things,

but our lived experience knows of all the difference.

And the challenge for us is to come to terms

with the fact that God's perspective in his eternity

is very different from ours.

You may have heard that old joke

about the guy that was having an argument with God one day

and said, God, is it true that a thousand years

is like a day to you?

God answered him back and he said,

yes, that's true.

He wasn't expecting that.

So he said, so God,

is it true then that one second

is like a million years?

To a surprise, God answered him back again

and said, yep, that's right.

One second is just like a million years,

a million years but a second to me.

Man thought about this

and so his next prayer was this.

He said, God, if that's the case,

is a million pounds to you just like a penny

and a penny just like a million pounds?

God said, yep, you're right.

He said, God, could you give me a penny?

God said, sure, just wait a second.

That agonizing weight

is put into a different frame

when we see that God is eternal.

It doesn't suddenly make it easy.

It in itself doesn't change things

but it does change the way we look at things

and that is what Peter is urging us.

So there is that type of agonizing weight

but there's two other types of weight

I want to suggest.

Let's go back to this restaurant scene

and I want you to imagine

that now you're in a different situation

of waiting.

You've gone in.

You're not in a hurry

but you've gone in.

You're just looking for a really lovely evening

out in this restaurant

and the moment you walk in through the door

you just love the atmosphere

perhaps there's some lovely music playing

the smells coming out of the kitchen

are just amazing

and as you look around

and you see food being taken to the table

that others have ordered

you think, wow, I cannot wait for this.

The staff meet you on your way in

they're super friendly

you just love them to bits already

and you sit down

they take your order

and you wait for it.

Only this time

it's not that agonizing, impatient wait

it's that wait for the food to come

which as your stomach rumbles

there's something quite enjoyable about it.

Living in the light of God's eternity

living in the light of God's promises

knowing that it's not alright yet

because the end hasn't come

but we anticipate it

knowing it

it's that kind of waiting.

There's a story about two boys

twins

and one of them

always seemed to be

much more hopeful than the other

and their parents

were always arguing about this

and say, he's always so much more helpful

and the other said, no he's not

yes he is, no he's not

so they decided an experiment

to try and settle the argument

it was Christmas

they bought both of these brothers

a bike each

except

the one that was always

the hopeful one

they hid his bike

out of the way

so they wrapped up two things

they wrapped up

two boxes

in one box

was a bike

and that

they were going to present

to the brother

that was always

not so hopeful

in fact was quite negative

in his thinking

and in his approach

to life in general

to the one who was always hopeful

they wrapped up the box

as I say

there was a bike for him

but they put it out of the way

and as part of the experiment

instead of putting the bike

in this box

they filled it with straw

Christmas morning came

brothers ran down

the more kind of

less hopeful one

didn't quite run down

more kind of

sauntered down

ripped open the box

pulled out this gleaming

brand new bike

oh a bike

thanks

looks like it's raining outside

I hope I'm not going to fall off

meanwhile the other boy

has just ripped open his box

and pulled out the straw

and he's just shut off

and he's looking in all directions

mum and dad are getting

a little bit worried

what's going on

so are you okay

he said yeah yeah yeah yeah

he looks really excited

so what are you doing

he said I just know

there's got to be a pony

here somewhere

living in the light

of God's presence

is about hope

hope doesn't come easy

let's not pretend that

but we need to remember

that tension

that we live

between the already

of God's presence

and that which is to come

in all its fullness

at the end

because

Jesus' promise

is that

it will be alright

in the end

and if it's not alright now

it's because it's not yet

the end

and in those moments

of agonising wait

where we just

when is this going to sort out

when is this

when are we going to see

some answers to some prayer

when is God going to move

in this situation

we need to hold

to that fundamental truth

that's what Peter was telling

the early church

some 2000 years ago

and it's what we need

to hold fast to

now

but how do we do that

well let's go back

to the restaurant

because there's one

more type of waiting

that I want to suggest

and that's to do with

as the name

more than suggests

the waiting

that we see taking place

with a waiter

the old

apparently the word

the English word waiter

comes from

variations of the old

French

and German words

meaning

to attend

to stay awake

to be alert

to attend

to needs

to wait

at tables

means

literally

to do that

to be on

heightened awareness

ready

poised

in a posture

of ready to serve

you see

to wait on the presence

of God

is not just a passive

consumerist thing

it's not something

that we do

just to

sort of

make us feel good

to make us

warm and fuzzy

inside

when life's tough

that call

that invitation

is a real

practical challenge

to wait on the presence

of God

doesn't mean we sit back

and we do nothing

and we just wait

for God to step in

zap

it's a call

to actually

actively engage

in service

again

so without wishing

to oversimplify

if we're serious

about wanting

to see God

happen in our lives

he calls us

to be a part

of that action

part of the kingdom

and in a way

it will be

that the very thing

that we are agonizing

over

when will God

intervene in this

situation

we may not see

action in that area

but part of that

bigger picture

as he calls us

to serve

we see action

in other areas

and the danger

can be that we

compartmentalize

our lives

and we angst

and we stress

over one area

where we don't

see God moving

but meanwhile

there are other areas

where he can

and he does move

don't ask me

why

he does seem to

in some

at some points

and not in others

at other times

but if we find

ourselves agonizing

over the wait

a question we need

to ask ourselves

of what are we doing

not just about

that situation

but about the wider

picture

to actively engage

in the work

of God's kingdom

see

that word

the phrase

to wait

on God

comes from

the psalm

from

Psalm

Psalms 27:14

27

verse 14

talks of

not waiting

for God

it talks of

waiting

on God

disciples of

Jesus

in the 21st

century

disciples of

Jesus

in any

century

are called

not to

wait for

God

but to

wait on

God

now

ultimately

only God

will shift

certain things

but he calls

us to be part

of that bigger

picture

that bigger

journey

that kingdom

that he promises

that is coming

in all fullness

that we live

in that place

of tension

between the

already

and the not

quite yet

but he calls

us to play

a part in it

to be active

to be waiting

in an active

roll up our

sleeves and get

dirty kind of

way

what does

that look like

in practical

terms

well one last

story

John Patton

was a missionary

who lived in

the 19th

century

he spent

some time

in the

southwest

Pacific

in some

islands

called the

New Hebrides

during his

time there

John Patton

seeked to

translate

St John's

Gospel

into the

indigenous

language of

those islands

he lived

there and he

worked on his

translation and

he got to

know the

people that

lived in

that place

and it was

a dangerous

place incidentally

he just

couldn't find

a word

that meant

faith

or belief

or trust

or anything

like it

he found

that the

people that

he was living

among

seemed to

be a people

who had no

faith and no

trust in

others

they were

suspicious of

anybody

so he had

to find a

word that

somehow

carried

something about

believing in

something that's

different from

yourself

beyond yourself

trusting

believing

hoping

having faith

in that

other

so one day

he came up

with an idea

and he got

some people to

come indoors

and he sat

in a chair

and he took

both feet off

the ground

and leaned

right back

into this

chair

he said

to the people

around him

he said

what am I

doing right

now

and they

used a word

I don't know

what the word

was by the way

but they

used a word

that in their

own language

meant

to lean

into

with your

whole self

that's the

word that

went into

this translation

of St.

John's gospel

to mean

trusting in

God

to lean

into

with your

whole self

to wait

on the

presence

of God

yes at

times it

will be

agonising

at times

there will

be a

sense

of joyful

expectation

but let's

remember

that it's

never a

passive

sit back

and do

nothing

but it's

a leaning

into

with our

whole

selves

we're

called

to live

expectantly

waiting on

the presence

of God

in the

light of

his

eternal

promises

it will

be alright

in the

end

and if

it's not

alright

now

it's

because

it's not

yet the

end

let's

pray

as we

think about

this

theme

of

waiting

as we

come to

pray

I want

to put

this

question

to you

and each

one of

us

will

probably

answer

this

slightly

differently

but here's

the question

what are

you

waiting

for

to spell

that out

in a bit

more

detail

what are

you waiting

on God

for

and in

response to

that question

I invite

each of us

just to

build a

picture now

before God

in prayer

as to what

that is

that we're

waiting

for him

on

Lord

you know

that each

of us

is waiting

for different

things

Lord

forgive us

for when

sometimes

we lose

the plot

we get

so impatient

and we live

lives that

are not

the kind

of lives

that you

want us

to live

Lord

thank you

that

you don't

look back

on the

past

but you

call us

to the

future

that future

that one

day

everything

will be

made

whole

and

complete

we're

not

there

yet

but Lord

as we

pray to

you

now

in that

place

where we

are in

tension

between

what

you

have

already

done

in

Jesus

and

what

you

will

do

at

the

end

we

bring

our

waiting

before

you

Lord

in the

midst

of the

waiting

help us

to wait

in

hope

and help

us to

live

actively

in

hope

help us

to lean

on to

you

and

into

you

with

our

whole

selves

help us

to do

that

every

day

in

Jesus

name

Amen