church

INI
Third Sunday after Trinity
June 20, 2010
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN WAITER?
Lamentations 3:22-32

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has
made us kings and priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and
dominion forever and ever, Amen. The Word of God that I would lay on your
hearts this morning comes from the Old Testament book of Lamentations,
chapter three, beginning with the 22nd verse, as follows:

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions
fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “ The
LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “ Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is
good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that
one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD. It is good for
a man to bear The yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because
God has laid it on him; Let him put his mouth in the dust—There may yet be
hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of
reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet
He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.. So far the
holy Word.

In Christ Jesus, our Help in ages past and our Hope for years to come, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

"He who hesitates is lost." -So goes the old saying, and there's a lot of truth in
it. A couple of weeks ago I was looking on the internet for a piece of luggage, a
highly-rated carryon suitcase that I’d heard about. Well, I found it, and the price
was terrific. But instead of acting, I waited. One day later I went back looking
for it, but in that short time it had sold out.

Sometimes we wait, when we ought to act. But even more common, I think, is
the opposite problem. All too often we rush into action, when it would have
been much more prudent to wait! Sadly, this is all too true even of Christians. In
our fast-paced world of today, many have lost the time-honored Christian skill
of waiting. What is a Christian "waiter"? He's someone who waits for the Lord.
He trusts in, and relies completely upon his God, even in the face of the most
terrible trials in life. It's the kind of person each of us should be - and can be! -
with the help of the Holy Spirit. That's the kind of person the writer of
Lamentations talks about in our text for today. So let's take a closer look at our
text, and see how it answers the question --

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN WAITER?
I. He knows the meaning of Grace
II. He makes the Lord his portion
III. He humbly endures trials
IV. He looks forward to God's deliverance

This Old Testament book of the Bible is called "Lamentations," because that's
what it is: a lament, or a dirge. It's a poem of sorrow over the fate of Israel. It
was written in the last half of the sixth century, BC. If you know what happened
to the nation of Israel long about that time, it's easy to understand what they
had to feel sad about. This was the period during which King Nebuchadnezzar
came down from Babylonia with his armies and conquered Judah. They
besieged Jerusalem, destroyed it, and carried the people away into captivity in
Babylonia. Lamentations was God's message to these captives. It was probably
written by the prophet Jeremiah, although his name isn't specifically mentioned.
It is a song of sorrow -- but it is also a song of hope. In the midst of their
captivity, God wants these people to understand the reasons for this difficulty,
and to look forward to His deliverance. He wants them to be believing
"waiters." When we face troubles in life, God wants the same attitude from us!

What is a Christian "waiter"? First of all, he's someone who knows the meaning
of grace. Our text begins, Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed.
The people of Jerusalem were in a bad situation, but not as bad as it might have
been. They had been beaten, taken captive, and dragged off to another country,
but most of them were still alive. They hadn't been killed. Why not? Why
weren't they completely "consumed"? Simply because of the Lord's mercies!

By the way, the word "mercy" in our text is the same one we talked about a
few weeks ago. It is pretty much a synonym of the word "grace". Grace is the
undeserved love of God for sinners. And those people of Israel were sinners,
alright! Again and again throughout their history, they had turned away from the
Lord to worship idols. They had ignored his warnings, and gone right on their
merry, sinful way. By rights, they deserved to be wiped off the face of the map!
But although God had brought a severe chastisement on them for their sins,
they had not been completely consumed. There was still hope for them. But
that hope lay, not in themselves, but in the grace of God.

If we want to be Christian "waiters" - if we want the ability to cope with sin,
and with the other problems that assault us in this life - then we too must know
the meaning of grace. We must realize that our hope for salvation and
deliverance doesn't lie in ourselves. We are sinners, and the wages of sin is
death. Why, if God gave us what was really coming to us, we'd have nothing to
look forward to but a lifetime of misery on earth, and an eternity of torment in
hell! That's why we have to put our trust in something outside of ourselves: in
the grace and mercy of God for Jesus' sake.

We couldn't live a perfect life - we couldn't even come close. So our Savior
lived a perfect life in our place, and died on the cross to pay for our sins. He is
our only hope for salvation. A Christian "waiter", is someone who understands
that. He makes the Lord his portion -- and places his entire trust in Jesus! By
the way, that's one of the things that's different about us Lutherans. I remember
a conversation I had a long time ago with a woman who wanted to discuss the
Lodge. I said that one of the reasons we take a stand against Lodge membership
is because they teach "work-righteousness" - that good deeds contribute toward
a person's salvation. "What's so bad about that?" she said. "Isn't that what it
means to be a Christian - that if you believe in God and live a good life you'll go
to heaven?" Well, that is what the Roman Catholics teach, and that is (in effect)
what many Reformed churches teach -- but it's not what the Bible teaches!
Isaiah says that "...All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags." Is 64:6. The
Apostle Paul backs him up: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith apart from the deeds of the law." Rom 3:28.

You just can't have it both ways. You can't trust in Jesus and in yourself! So,
we confessional Lutherans have made Christ alone our portion. Take another
look at the picture on the cover of this morning's bulletin. I chose it because it
reminds me of that beautiful hymn, "Rock of Ages," in which we sing,

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace!"

A Christian "waiter" makes the Lord his portion. He clings only to the cross for
forgiveness. He knows that God's mercy, for Jesus' sake, will never fail us. Our
friends may let us down, our bank account and our insurance policies may fail
us, but the grace of God will never fail us. It's a renewable resource that's never
used up. We can come back to the cross every day with our sins, and every day
we'll find full forgiveness there. As our text says, "His compassions fail not,
they are new every morning."

Does that mean Lutherans don't do good works? It had better not mean that!
No, the Bible says that our lives are to be filled with good works. On the other
hand, we need to bear in mind that they aren't the cause of our salvation --
they're the result of it. They're the fruits of faith that flow naturally in the lives
of people saved by Jesus. One of these fruits is the third thing that distinguishes
a Christian "waiter": the ability to humbly endure trials.

Everyone has troubles in life; but not everyone has the ability to deal well with
them. Have you ever noticed that? You probably know people who have
endured the most difficult hardships without seeming to bat an eye. On the
other hand there are those people who can’t seem to deal with a hangnail
without making a federal case out of it. We should remember that the ability to
deal with challenges and endure hardships - this, too, is a gift from God. It's
part of the faith that the Holy Spirit works in your heart. It's something you can
ask God for - the ability to bear up patiently and hopefully when trouble comes
your way. Maybe it's some constant small annoyance, like a troublesome
co-worker on the job, or the pain of arthritis that comes back every day. Maybe
it's something big, like a wayward child, a family crisis, a major illness, or the
loss of a job. Whatever it is, our text tells us to pray and to wait hopefully for
the Lord's solution!

But that can be so hard to do -- even for believers. Several years ago I had a
conversation with a man who was going through a severe family crisis. No
matter what I said, he just wouldn't believe that the Lord could provide a
solution. It was hopeless, he said. All the prayers in the world wouldn't help the
situation. Was this man an unbeliever? No - he was a Christian. In fact, he was
a Christian pastor! As it turned out, God did supply a solution for his problem,
as He always does. But God's solves our problems according to His timetable,
not ours! He wants us to remember that He is the Creator, and we are the
creation, not the other way around.

You know the account of Job in the Old Testament: he lost his family, his
money, and his health all in quick succession. He still trusted in God, and he
expressed that trust. But as time wore on, that trust started to get a little shaky.
He began to lose hope that God would ever deliver him from his troubles. How
did the Lord answer his complaint? Maybe you remember - He humbled Job
with a simple question: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the
earth?" Wait for the Lord! Remember who's the creature and who's the Creator!
The Lord is always ready and willing to help his beloved children, but He is
justifiably angry when we try to tell Him how and when to do it! The Lord's
ways are higher above our ways than the heavens are above the earth. He
doesn't ask us to understand how He works in our lives, just to trust in His love
and His omniscience. Enduring humbly under trials isn't a bad thing; in fact, it's
something that God often uses for our good. Our text says, It is good that one
should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

This is especially true for young people in our day. So many young people in
America are brought up to expect that what they want, they get. They expect
immediate gratification of all their desires, and a quick fix for all their troubles.
But that's not always the Lord's way. It's good training, even at an early age, to
wait humbly for the Lord -- even if it means putting up with pain and injustice
for a time. It is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone
and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him; Let him put his mouth in the
dust—There may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes
him, And be full of reproach. When your children are young, that's the time to
instill a humble attitude of faith and obedience to God's will. If they need an
example, there is a wonderful one you can point them to -- take them to the
court of Pontius Pilate, and show them Jesus, bruised and bleeding, sentenced
to death. Read to them from the Gospel, "Then they spat in His face and beat
Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, 'Prophesy to
us, Christ!'" Matt 27:67-68. The mighty Creator of all the universe put up with
all this and more. He who could push back the waves with a word of His mouth
allowed Himself to be put to death on a cross. Why did He do that? For one
reason, so that He might set you free from sin and death! How can you now do
anything other than accept with patience the trials that the Lord sees fit to lay
upon you? The writer to the Hebrews urges us, "Consider Him who endured
such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls." Heb 12:3.

Finally, a Christian "waiter" is hopeful, because he looks forward to God's
deliverance. We're not just whistling in the dark! We can have confidence,
because we know that no matter what kind of trouble we find in life,
deliverance is definitely on its way! Our text concludes, For the Lord will not
cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion
according to the multitude of His mercies. That meant a lot for the captive
Israelites in Babylonia. It meant that one day the Lord would deliver them from
their captors, and let them go home to Palestine and rebuild their city of
Jerusalem. And the prophecy came true seventy years later.

"Everything will be alright," We've heard that phrase often enough during
times of family crisis. Perhaps we've even said it a time or two. But they can
sometimes be empty words of comfort, can't they? Sometimes that's what we
say when we simply don't know what else to say. But the promises of your God
are not empty. And when God tells you, "Everything will be alright," you can
take Him at His Word. He knows all your grief; sometimes He's the One who
sends it for the strengthening of your faith. And He is the One who will deliver
you from it at exactly the right time. Knowing that makes it so much easier to
be Christian "waiters", patiently waiting for the Lord's will to be done in our
lives!

What is a Christian "waiter"? Someone who knows the meaning of Grace, who
makes God his portion, who humbly endures trials and who looks forward to
God's deliverance. And remember, my friends: we will not be "waiters" forever.
The Day is coming soon when all our waiting will be over, when the eternal joy
that Jesus won for us will be ours. "And it will be said in that day: 'Behold, this
is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we
have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'" Is 25:9.
AMEN.