Title: Waiting Heart (December 21)
Content span id="writeContents">◆ Text: Matthew 2:1-6
When I was young, I was very happy to receive Christmas. By December 24th, I couldn't sleep well and waited for the gift that Santa Claus would bring. But strangely enough, Santa Claus always brought me the gifts I wanted. When I was young, I thought it was really weird. A few days ago, a child in elementary school looked at me and asked.
“Pastor, what kind of teacher is doing Santa Claus this year?”
“Why are you asking that?”
Then he said that if he knew the teacher in charge of Santa Claus, he would talk to him and tell him what gift he wanted in advance.
I was a little late in development, so I believed in Santa Claus until my sophomore year in high school. Once, my father and mother thought I was sleeping and said that.
“No, Jong-soon, like a child, must believe that Santa Claus is really coming so that he is that old.” So that's my mother.
“He seems to be developing a little late.” Then I laughed to myself.
"I know. If I say I know, I just close my eyes for fear that I won’t give you a present.”
For these young children, Christmas is such a memory that ‘the day you receive a gift, the day you feel good, the day you are very happy’. What memories do you have on Christmas? Let's be angry next to each other, hold hands, and confess together.
“I’ll give you a present this Christmas.”
Look again and say.
"what do you want?"
The happiest thing in life is meeting the person you've been waiting for. ‘Waiting’ is like a word that leads us to happiness. In today's Bible, there are stories of people waiting for Jesus to come to this earth. The first is the story of the three wise men we know well. Perhaps this expression of the East applies to countries such as Iran or Iraq today, but it would be correct to say that the Magi was not a doctor of astronomy, but an astrologer who used the stars to fortunetelling at that time.
While studying the stars, a strange star came to mind. It was an unexpected star. If I followed that star, I thought I would meet the greatest person in the world who came to this earth. They followed the star and set out to meet the great One who is now coming into this world. It took a long time, but following that star, they met the greatest man in the world as they wished. The gifts they gave the baby Jesus were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Because God loved us, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth, and the wise men from the East give their most precious things in gratitude for God's grace. It is the feast of Christmas. What is the most precious goal of your religious life? It is meeting the Lord. Meeting the Lord is the greatest value for a person of faith. That is why we are always waiting for the Lord and living with such faith that we are sure that there is an encounter in that waiting.
Second, there is the story of the shepherds among those who waited for Jesus. They are shepherds who watch over the sheep. You will hear the news of the birth of Jesus while keeping the sheep. This means telling us that the place we meet the Lord is right where we are.
A butler has been calling me for over a month.
“A war breaks out at 4:30 in the morning on December 14th, do you know Pastor?”
“I don’t know.”
Then you're talking too specific.
I laughed and did it.
“Whether you go to L.A. or wherever you go, if there is a war, everyone will die. So, don’t say anything you don’t want to use, and just pray while you are.”
But she was stubborn and left her husband, children, and left for L.A. alone. What movie do you go to L.A. to see after your husband dies and your child dies? I think the church today is absurd because its members did not have the right faith. They were tempted by nonsensical things, made strange noises, and then there is no war, so what they are saying now is that they gathered in L.A. and prayed that God stopped war. How does such a story reach our ears, and how do we believe it as if it were true? What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for war? It's not.
Guys, what are our beliefs? You must meet the Lord wherever you are. I am certain that when Jesus comes back to this earth, the place we will meet is everyone, our church, Songnae Central Church. The place where Jesus came to meet us is our home where we live. Guys, don't be wrong. How miserable is that? She left her husband and children, and couldn't even come to Korea. There are so many really pathetic things going on around us.
Waiting in the Bible means waiting for the Lord with complete faith where you are. Just as the shepherds did not wait for Jesus in a great place, but met Jesus at the place where they worked, so, folks, the Lord who will come again is definitely here now. We will meet the Lord where we are now.
There are no specific stories in the Bible, but if you look at the history of the early church, there is a story of a man named Anna. Anna was waiting and longing for Jesus to come again with good faith, but she left the place for a while for other reasons, and after 30 years, she did not meet Jesus and became the protagonist of the story of meeting Jesus. Guys, what does this story mean for us? It is said that once we miss an opportunity, we have to wait a lot more time.
Therefore, perfect faith is to keep our place today. All of you who wait for the Lord, keep the temple. Keep the word. You must have the kind of faith that waits while doing your best where you are. The most precious thing for people of faith is to meet the Lord who will come again. Waiting is important in the beginning, in the process and in the result. Therefore, your faith, your faith, and your waiting must have a beautiful beginning, process, and result. I sincerely hope that this Christmas will be a good time. We will pray together.
“Thank God, thank you. Thank you for loving us and helping us. We clearly believe that the Lord is coming to this earth. Help me to do my best where I am, be loyal, and prepare to meet you. Help me to live with the joy of giving and sharing rather than the joy of receiving this Christmas. I earnestly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen"