Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Galatians 4:4-7 (below)
Luke 2:22-40
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.
And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
I spent a great deal of time thinking about the phrase “When the fullness of time had come”
We have just come through Advent, a time of waiting and preparation before the celebration of Christmas, but while Advent is a time of waiting, it's not the usual kind of waiting that we do.
When we wait in Advent, we know what we are waiting for (Christmas) and how many days we have to wait (about 360, for those of you who like to get your shopping done early). So while it may be difficult for us to wait for Christmas (especially when we are young) at least we can watch as time passes and we get closer and closer.
There aren't many times in life when waiting is that easy. I was reminded of this earlier this year as Tracey and I awaited Ethan's arrival. We knew the time was near. We went to see the doctor who said “Maybe today!” and we were excited, as excited as I can ever remember being. We went home and made sure that everything was ready. The bag was packed and by the door. The sink was empty and the dishes put away. There were instructions for those who would take care of the dogs while we were in the hospital. We made a few phone calls to anxious-soon-to-be-grandparents, and announced it was just about time.
The “fullness of time had come” .... right? The doctor said it could even be today! A few hours past. Tracey decided to take a nap while I scrambled to make sure that everything was in order. Night fell. We were ready. The time was near. I went to bed with clothes, shoes, and keys laid out, ready for eventual dash to the hospital.
Imagine my surprise when I awoke the next morning and realized there had been no late-night trip to the hospital, no 4 a.m. dash. We had been ready. Hours came and went. The day came and went. The night followed, and the next morning. Just a bit of excitement had been exchanged for some frustration. Ready and waiting, all dressed up and nowhere to go. 2 days after the doctor's announcement that the end (of the pregnancy) was near, we went to the hospital. They told us the time was near, but not yet. Near, but not yet. I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed. Near but not yet.... Just about everyone we met said the same thing:
“Babies come when they are ready” “When it's time, it's time” “A watched pot never boils”
Although they might all have been true, and certainly all were well intentioned, none of them really helped.
Of course our experience was not unique. Many others have gone through the same thing. It has happened with many religious groups as well. Some of you may remember I have mentioned the sign that greeted us at the stop light in my hometown. It read: “Are you ready for the second coming? October 31st, 1992” The sign was already faded and the date had long since past.
Countless others have been sure that they knew that the end was near and that Jesus' return was very close at hand. And they are right, but as the nurse told us: Near... but not yet. Trouble is that we don't know what “near” really means. Well we knew it with the doctor, if more than a couple weeks had past they would have taken steps to make sure that the baby came before too much longer (although truth be told, even before 1 week had elapsed we were ready for the waiting to be over).
We don't have a schedule for God's timing. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son...” Thousands of years had passed since the creation of the world. Why had God waited so long? Why so many years and so many wars and so much unrest? The people of Israel had been through so much: exile, famines, wars... Why hadn't God acted sooner?
We aren't given an answer to that question. All we are told us God waited until “the fullness of time had come.”
It seems that many of Jesus' followers expected that He would return to the earth sometime soon. Many of them expected to still be alive when it happened. After all, why would God wait? What would God wait for?
That is a question I cannot answer. Others have tried. They thought that if they did something or caused something to happen, they could force God's hand. The truth is that God again is waiting until the fullness of time comes, and we don't know when that will be.
Of course we aren't the first ones to ask. People asked Jesus. He didn't tell them. In fact, he tried to dissuade them from even trying to guess, because He knew how easy it would be for them to be deceived. All of which leads me to believe that it just isn't for us to know. I wish it wasn't so, because we have been told to be ready.
In several places in the Gospels, Jesus warns folks to stay awake, because they do not know when God will come to them. This used to trouble me quite a bit, for a few reasons. The first reason that it used to worry me is that I sleep very soundly. In college, my roommate used to have to wake me up if the fire alarm went off at night. If I could sleep through a fire alarm, was there any hope that I wouldn't miss God who comes, it is said, like a thief in the night?
But eventually I came to understand that it was not about literally staying awake every night waiting for God to return. Instead God wants us to be ready, to be doing the things that He has called us to do right now. We shouldn't expect to try and snap to attention just before God returns and hope to look busy.
It's not a matter of sitting by the phone with our bags packed.
It's a matter of prepared living. God will surprise us whenever He returns, but He will not go unnoticed for long.
And so we prepare to begin a new year, starting all over again. Another 12 months, another year of ups and downs, of joys and concerns, of births and deaths, and all the things that make life “life” that make it exciting and scary, at times joyful and at times sad, but all of it lived knowing that we are God's children not by any right of our own, but by God's choosing us as His adopted children... all of us, each one, chosen by God to be a part of His plan.
The year ahead is filled with promises, hopes, and expectations. Like every year it will have its heartaches and difficult times, but if we can remember that it is God who is with us through it all, on the peaks and in the valleys, then we will be able to live with the faith and hope that God wants for us.
We have not been given a timetable for God's actions. We have not been given answers to all our questions. Instead we have been given a promise, a promise of God's love and grace, that no matter where we go, God is with us. No matter what happens to us, God never leaves us. No matter what evil, pain, and suffering is in the world, God is also in the world. The promise is that in the end, when the time is right, God will gather all His children to Himself. God has won the battle over the forces of evil, the demons and the forces of darkness will not prevail. God has already won, though His victory came quietly in the night, a little child, born of a woman in a manger... seemingly helpless, seemingly insignificant.... He lived a life of truth and love, and was wrongly convicted, sentenced to death, and crucified. Seemingly helpless, seemingly defeated.
But we know that with God, things are not always as they might seem. Though we might feel surrounded by darkness, His light is always there. Though we might see only one set of footprints, we later realize it was He who carried us there. Though all might seem lost, God has declared us found, chosen, and (most importantly) His.
Preached on December 29th, 2002 by Timothy J. Luoma