Tired Of Waiting for Jesus
Do you get tired of waiting for Jesus? I do. I know he promised he would return. It’s just been so long, and the world is getting so bad. From being merely marginalized here in America to being murdered in the rest of the world. Things don’t seem very good for Christians.
Is He really coming back? Why has it been so long? What’s holding things up?
If you want to emphasize something, there are many ways to do it. You can say it first. It can be your final word. You can repeat yourself tirelessly. The promise of His return fills the scripture from beginning to end.
One out of every 30 verses speaks about the end times or Jesus’ return.
There are 300 references to Jesus’ return in the New Testament alone.
The Holy Spirit has used every technique to emphasize to us the importance of recognizing that Jesus is going to return.
Jesus’ return. It is going to happen.
In Luke 21:27, the disciples were promised they would see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Matthew 24, verse 42. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
He is coming back. It’s not an extra piece of doctrine. It’s not optional theology. It’s one of the basics. In fact, it’s the central piece. He is coming back, and everything depends on it.
I know what appears to be a delay is discouraging. It was a bit of a shock and disappointment to the disciples.
They were all ready for a kingdom, but they wanted an immediate, physical, political kingdom. Living under Roman rule was no picnic.
They weren’t unhappy he was coming back. They weren’t happy he was leaving at all. They witnessed miracles. They saw how the crowds followed and adored him. He seemed the answer to their suffering. Then he didn’t.
Suddenly, they saw him suffer and die. And their kingdom dreams were dashed.
They saw him die, but then they saw him risen. If they had any doubt about who this man was, what this man was, God, they saw him lifted up into heaven.
After His miraculous rise, the angels asked: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.
He is not coming back undercover. His return won’t be mysterious. When he descends from heaven, there won’t be any question in anyone’s mind that this is it.
But what do we do until then? Apparently, not just stand there looking up. I get frustrated with those who, every time there is war, a rumor of war, or an earthquake, jump up and down and exclaim. “This is it. He’s coming back now.” It seems to me they are just heaven gazers. Watching for the return. It seems we should be doing something. Acting to justify this 2000-plus-year delay.
What are we supposed to do?
I think we’re supposed to have three A’s. Appreciation with an attitude and action.
Appreciation is knowledge, but it’s a special kind of knowledge. It’s knowledge that what you know is very important. We must know that He is returning and that that return means everything.
But most of the disciples, most of the followers of Jesus, thought he was coming back before they would be dead.
When his return was not immediate, there was a problem. People started dying. And it shook their faith.
“Well, wait a minute. What about this one? He’s dead and Jesus has not returned.” And Paul writes to them to try to address this concern.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so will God bring with Him those also who sleep in Jesus. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-15. And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. The dead in Christ shall rise first.
Paul was saying, “Don’t worry about them. They fall asleep in him; they’re fine.
Appreciation is knowledge of a truth that you know is so important, so crucial, that you appreciate it. If we appreciate, with certainty, that He is returning, what should result from this appreciation? We should have an attitude.
Christians should have an attitude. Now, it’s not an in-your-face, combative game type attitude. It’s not the “I’m good, and you’re not” attitude. We are not better because we await the return with assurance. We are just more blessed.
Non-believers often consider Christians as heaven gazers, joyless sojourners in this world without present purpose or love for those around them. We often deserve those labels.
We must have an attitude of joyous expectation. The world must see us as expectant but waiting in joy.
We should get up in the morning, look out the window, and ask, “Is today going to be the day? I hope. We shouldn’t be filled with regret that yesterday wasn’t the day. Our eyes look forward. We should joyfully expect that today will be the day of his glorious return, and we should live like it.
We tend to think of Jesus as serious and determined. He was. The business of providing salvation is serious, and to live a life knowing the circumstances of your death isn’t fun. Yet He was full of joy. At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, I praise you Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth… Luke 10:21
John 15. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
You can have joy. It’s a decision if you’re a Christian. You’re capable of the joy, but it’s a daily decision.
Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace that you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians 5:22, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, Joy comes after only love: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
To be joyous means more than being happy. It means being at peace. That perfect peace. Notice “peace” follows “love, joy.”
Appreciation, attitude, action. What should be our action?
Our first action is occupation.
We’re to occupy the land. We’re to take it for Jesus until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord. But occupation alone is insufficient; purification is necessary. It’s beyond our power, but comes with the recognition and acceptance of our King.
While we’re waiting, he should be purifying us. He should be making us holy and, through us, the world we occupy.
Why does the gospel stress this end time, that Jesus is coming back? It’s because the truth must compete with everything that we see every day. What we see in the world can so take over us, can so occupy us, can so govern what we do. If we don’t constantly have in our minds that He’s coming back, if we don’t have Him in our minds, our priorities get all out of order.
We’re to occupy, we’re to watch, we’re to be purified in order to purify, and we are to worship. Our worship is our proclamation of our assurance of His blessed return.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11
He is coming back. It could be today.
Those are the truths we have to remember, that we have to remind each other of. That should be our appreciation. That should shape our attitude.
That should form our actions. The actions of watching, occupation, purification, and worship.
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