Waiting With Faith & Hope
Did you have a favorite teacher in school?
This question came up recently at my 50th
reunion and I didn’t have to think twice about
my answer: It was Mrs. Madge Van Horn. 1■
She taught English Literature and was an
incredibly gifted educator. Listening to her
read and interpret Shakespeare was like
listening to Max Lucado or David Jeremiah
teach the Bible.
2■ Her 40-year public school teaching
tenure ended in 1984. 27 years later her 89
years of life came to a close and she was
buried in the cemetery of the church where her
62-year-long tenure teaching Sunday School
came to a close.
The class textbook she used is still in my
library and is the only textbook I purchased
from my High School years. 3■I still have the
receipt proving I paid $1.25. The best part
about the receipt is that I have Mrs. Van
Horn’s autograph. 4■ [BLACK SLIDE]
If she were still with us, I would have sent
word that I had written a poem about “waiting”
as a companion to this sermon on Advent. She
would have appreciated knowing that it is
written in unrhymed, blank verse – a style I
first learned in her class.
The full poem is too long for this setting.
So, here’s a brief excerpt from a poem
entitled, “So Much Waiting”.
So much waiting.
What are you WAITING for?
WHAT are you waiting for?
Wait a minute.
Wait a second.
They’re taking a wait and see attitude.
I’m waiting for someone.
I’ll wait (Sarcasm)
Waiting Rooms, Waiting Areas.
Make them wait.
Wait in your room.
Please wait outside.
Go wait in the car.
I’ll wait in the car.
Wait right here until I get back.
Wait till we get home.
I can’t wait (sarcasm)
So much waiting.
But wait, there’s more!
We wait around.
You’re expected wait time for the next
available customer service representative is
…”
We wait by the phone.
Call waiting?
Wait your turn.
Don’t wait until the last minute.
You should have waited.
I’mmmmm waaaaaiting (with attitude)
Don’t wait too long.
You waited too long
You didn’t wait long enough.
I’ve been waiting all my life for this.
I got tired of waiting.
I was waiting in the rain.
We wait for the mail to come, wait for the
check to clear.
Popular restaurants have wait times.
Their employees wait tables.
They are professional … waiters.
So much waiting.
We’re just playing a waiting game.
Just wait till your father gets home.
Dad’s late and dinner is waiting on the table.
Time waits for no man.
The Armed Services motto: “Hurry Up and
Wait!”
Thieves and Murderers lie in wait.
We Wait for help to arrive.
We wait for a doctor’s appointment.
For test results.
For the medicine to take effect.
We wait for healing.
So much waiting.
It’s just a nightmare waiting to happen.
Now I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
Can’t wait to see you!
Put me on the waiting list, please.
Don’t keep them waiting.
All we can do now is wait.
I’m waiting with bated breath.
Don’t wait up for me.
Wait for me.
They’re waiting for you.
Anything worth having is worth waiting for.
Good things come to those who wait.
Wait for it.
The wait is over.
It was worth the wait.
5■ So much waiting. 6■ [BLACK SLIDE]
In the midst of “so much waiting” in our lives,
Advent season reminds us to Wait on the
Lord. As those who awaited His first coming,
we await His second coming. And, we also
wait on Him to work in our lives.
7■ In Isaiah 40:31, the prophet Isaiah wrote:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 8■
[BLACK SLIDE]
Over these 5 Sundays of Advent, each
sermon will focus on KEY WORDS related to
the Advent theme.
Today, we’ll focus on two very important
words we know very well. They are: 9■ FAITH
& HOPE
These two words are part of a larger set of
words that are used so frequently they risk
become Christian cliché words. 10■ [BLACK
SLIDE]
So, over the next few minutes, I hope to
remind us of their deepest, truest meaning; to
remove them from the cliché shelf and invite
us to hold them closely in our hearts –
because – they are words that truly matter.
Since there is “So Much Waiting” in our
lives, what difference do FAITH and HOPE
make in our waiting. And, how are we—a
people of FAITH and HOPE—different from
everyone else whose lives are also full of “So
Much Waiting”?
In your bulletin handout, I invite you to write
the word “WHY” in the first blank.
■11 Faith is WHY we wait.
■12 What is faith?
In the first verse of ■13 Hebrews 11, known
as the great “Hall of Faith” chapter in the Bible,
we read:
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen. Without faith,
we have no hope.”
Even a casual observation of this scripture
shows the vital linkage between FAITH &
HOPE.
14■ In fact, the verse begins with FAITH
and ends with HOPE.
Hope is the outcome of faith. No faith. No
Hope. 15■ [BLACK SLIDE]
There is no simpler or truer definition of
FAITH than this:
16■ FAITH IS BELIEVING GOD.
So, the difference that Faith makes in our
WAITING is that we are waiting with a belief in
God. 17■ [BLACK SLIDE]
Lest believing in God ALSO be reduced to
a cliché, allow me to serve you a baker’s
dozen of “P’s” describing—in very specific,
biblical terms what believing God means.
The scriptures are in your bulletin and will
be on the screen as I serve the “P’s”:
18■ We Believe in God’s Presence –
Hebrews 11:6 – Without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is and He is a
rewarder of those who seek Him.
19■ We Believe in God’s Pre-eminence –
Isaiah 46:9 — For I am God, and there is
none else; I am God, and there is none like
me
20■ We Believe in God’s Perpetuity
Psalm 90:2: "Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever you had formed the
earth and the world, from everlasting to
everlasting you are God"
21■ We Believe in God’s Power
Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah Lord GOD! Behold,
You have made the heavens and the earth by
Your great power and by Your outstretched
arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.”
22■ We Believe in God’s Perceptiveness
I John 3:20: “… for God is greater than our
heart and knows all things.”
23■ We Believe in God’s Persistence
Malachi 3:6a: “For I the Lord do not
change”
24■ We Believe in God’s Purity
Psalm 145:17: “The Lord is righteous in all
his ways and faithful in all he does.”
25■ We Believe in God’s Patience
2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about His
promise, as some count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing for any to
perish but for all to come to repentance.”
26■ We Believe in God’s Precepts – His
Word
Psalm 119:104: “From Your precepts I get
understanding; Therefore I hate every false
way.”
27■ We Believe in God’s Providence
Romans 8:28: “And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose.
Page 15 of 25
28■ We Believe in God’s Plan
Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I
have for you, declares the LORD, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a
future and a hope.”
29■ We Believe in God’s Promises
Isaiah 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with
you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am
your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will
help you, Surely I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand”
30■ We Believe in God’s Passion
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that
He gave His only Son, so that everyone who
believes in Him will not perish, but
have eternal life 31■ [BLANK SLIDE]
Page 16 of 25
***
So, upon reviewing these 13 attributes of
God we reveal our faith is not just a cliché, but
the very REASON WHY we have hope.
32■ And just as FAITH is WHY WE WAIT,
33■ HOPE is HOW WE WAIT; not only during
this season of Advent, but every day of our
lives.
34■ Because we BELIEVE GOD, we have
HOPE! 35■ [BLACK SLIDE]
It is worth emphasizing the word “Hope” as
used in scripture is not used as we sometimes
do in our vernacular.
Minnesota HOPES the Vikings will win the
Superbowl one day. That is an admirable “I
hope so” kind of aspiration.
Our biblical hope is much different.
So, once again, let’s go to the scriptures to
elevate this word “HOPE” from cliché and
“hope so” status to one that is deep with
meaning.
We wait patiently with HOPE because …
36■ Our hope has CONVICTION
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen
37■ Our hope has a CLOUD
Hebrews 12:1 — … Since we have so
great a cloud of witnesses … let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us
38■ Our hope has CERTAINTY
Heb 6:19—This hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable
39■ Our hope CONTRASTS with the
world’s hope
I Thessalonians 4:13 — But we do not
want you to be uninformed, brethren, about
those who are asleep, so that you will not
grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 40■
[BLACK SLIDE]
We here in the Trinity community are
grieving with the family of Pastor Jerry Lewis
since his death last week. But grief is not all
we are experiencing, for we are also rejoicing
because he is spending his first week in
paradise in the presence of Jesus.
41■ Our hope is CHEERFUL
Proverbs 10:28 — The hope of the
righteous is gladness, but the expectation of
the wicked perishes.
42■ Our hope is CONSPICUOUS
I Peter 3:15 — Honor Christ and let him be
the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give
an answer when someone asks you about
your hope. (CEV)
43■ Our hope gives us COURAGE
II Corinthians 3:12 — Therefore, having
such hope, we use great boldness in our
speech.
44■ Our hope is based on History’s Central
CHARACTER
Hebrews 12:1b-2a — … and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith …
45■ Our hope leads to a CROWN of LIFE
James 1:12 —Blessed is a man who
perseveres under trial; for once he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised to those who
love Him. 46■ [BLACK SLIDE]
And so, during this season of Advent, and
every day of our life, we are waiting. Sure,
we’re waiting for elevators, for lights to turn
green, for paint to dry, and for Christmas
morning to come.
But, more importantly, we’re waiting on the
Lord. Waiting doesn’t mean we do nothing. It
means we do everything as if He is going to
join us.
We’re awaiting daily opportunities …
• to make his thoughts our thoughts
• to love as He loved
• to make His ways our ways
You may have been sidelined in life through
some circumstance beyond your control where
nothing seems to be left but the waiting.
What an excellent opportunity to wait on the
Lord to use the gifts He gave you to shine in
your situation.
Consider, for example, John Milton.
When Milton wrote the poem, Paradise
Lost, it elevated his reputation as one of
history’s greatest poets and, after William
Shakespeare, the most significant English
writer.
The poem I wrote for this service was
patterned after Milton’s Paradise Lost which
was also written in rhymeless, blank verse.
Paradise Lost, written in 1667, was 10,000
lines long and it took 12 books to publish.
I first learned about this epic work in Mrs.
Van Horn’s English Lit class.
As epic as a ten-thousand-line poem is, the
feat is even more amazing when you learn
Milton wrote it when he was 59 years old, an
age that marked his 15th year of total
blindness.
Sometimes at night he would compose lines
of poetry and commit them to memory so he
could recite them the next day for others to
write down.
Mrs. Van Horn introduced me to another
poem Milton had written just after he lost his
eyesight at age 44 entitled, Sonnet 19.
Knowing that years of darkness lay before
him, Milton’s 14-line Sonnet 19 acknowledges
the one gift God has given him is to be a
writer.
He credits patience for preventing him from
foolishly asking how God can expect him to
write without eyesight.
Instead, he reasons, God doesn’t need his
work or his writing. He can serve God best by
being humble, loving God, and loving one
another. Being above doing.
When Winston Churchill sought to unify all
of England behind the war effort as the Nazi’s
were raining bombs down on England, he
wanted to let every English citizen know they
were important to the war effort; even if they
couldn’t go to the front lines of battle and fight.
During a speech to the House of Commons
on October 29, 1941 broadcast to a war-wear
nation, Winston Churchill quoted the last line
of Milton’s Sonnet 19 that reads as follows:
47■
“They also serve who only stand and
wait.”
48■ Wait on the Lord: be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,
on the Lord.
