Anticipation
Staying Eager for the Right Reasons
By Pastor Adam Fox
Would not be the first time in which I have been accused of being extra eager - like a kid on Christmas morning. Each week during the months of November and December, Andrea and I have had appointment television for a new show on Disney +, The Mandalorian.
This 8 episode show takes the viewer on a journey of a bounty hunter who has been faced with a moral dilemma - kill or not to kill a very important target. Without going into to many plot points and details, the show introduces us to a mysterious and unnamed character who has stolen the show, The Child.
The Child - or Baby Yoda as some refer to him - is every part adorable and hilarious and keeps you in your seat for the entirety of the show. In fact, when each episode ended it got me frustrated because I had to wait another week for more. My desire for more Baby Yoda content in The Mandalorian, eagerness or anticipation took over me and that is a good thing, just not a great thing.
Anticipation is defined in the dictionary "as the action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction." Anticipating something is a common human experience. The folks in Hollywood have been doing it to perfection for years now. We wanted to know who shot JR, What was in Capone's Vault, who shot Mr. Burns, even Captain America finally Assembling all the Avengers to beat Thanos.
It is normal to be eager or anticipate something, but as believers in God should we experience the same emotions? I think we can do better.
While being eager for more episodes of a television show, or for a sports game or big life event is one thing. Being eager and filled with anticipation of Jesus Christ's glorious return is something completely different and much better.
As believers in God, we are forgiven from our sinful past and have an eternal future in Glory with the Creator and Author of our Faith. Heaven is a place that the book of Revelation describes in terrific detail filled with amazing things. In which the most amazing thing of Heaven is that we, plain old you and me, gets to be with God the Father forever.
The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse from John the Beloved into what Heaven will be like and will look like. Chapter 21 gives us this big BIG point about Glory.
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
There are plenty of things to be excited for about Heaven, streets and buildings of precious metals, mansions built for each of us, being with loved ones once again, being around Biblical figures that we have only read about - to name a few reasons. But nothing will be able to compare with spending eternity with the Triune God. The Father who loves us so deeply, the Son who died in our place and the Spirit who lives in us now.
We will not only be in the suburbs of Heaven or in the background just lucky to be invited, but 21:3-4 tell us that God will dwell with us and it will be a place of no sin, no pain or illness. but a time of dwelling in perfection with our God.
Wow.
While we may be eager to start school, the election, sports playoffs, a new job or even for another episode of our favorite television show. NONE OF THEM will be as great as spending eternity with God in a place of perfection.
So then, if Heaven is as great as Scripture tells us (and it will be) then why are we not hyped up for Glory?
Is it because we are glued to the urgent and the immediate instead of what is truly important and what really matters? Is it because we laugh at the idea of death and cling to the idea that we are immortal? Both? Neither?
How can we anticipate and be more eager for Glory with God like we are eager for television or a date on a calendar? Look at what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 130 about the idea of truly anticipating.
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.8 And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
Psalm 130 is a marvelous psalm written to show the depth of sin of humanity and the eagerness of receiving this divine mercy. Verses 5 & 6 show anticipation of receiving forgiveness and mercy from God and the amount of eagerness that this person has.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
This is where we need to be as believers in God. Eagerly anticipating and waiting just like the author of this psalm. The author shows the eagerness of anticipation for the hope that is in the Lord. Verse 6 shows that clearly, while we may see it as redundant – since it repeats, but it is actually a literary device to show the amount of anticipation, the seriousness of the hope that he has in God.
This is how we need to be, eager as the Psalmist is and not just on foolish or temporary things but in God and what is yet to come. Heaven is something that should give us hope and fill us with great joy on a daily basis. But I do not think it does.
Sure, when we sit in a hospital or a funeral setting our minds wonder onto what is still to come. But is Glory something that is on our minds daily? Does the idea of heading to Heaven – a place with no sin, with no pain, filled with love, joy and peace fill us with this overwhelming anticipation feelings?
Sadly no. We as a modern culture are in a fast paced culture. The news cycle for example can digest a serious issue and look at it from every angle and move on in a week.
Even for myself, my weekly to-do list dominates my life and work. It is easy to get lost in the tyranny of the urgent and the immediate and forget about what should be lighting my passions – Heaven and God.
The rapture is coming. The return of the Lord and all the rest of the Revelation will be coming too. We do not know when this will happen, only God does. But we are called to look forward to this day, to anticipate it, to be eager for God’s return and the rapture of believers. Peter writes that as such in 2 Peter 3.
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Peter is encouraging the church to look forward to this day. This reminder from the apostle is key for us because it shows that all of us, even the early church period forgets what motivates us or what our goal is. We are believers in God who are eager to be with Him one day in Glory. We need to be confident and comfortable in the fact of our God and of His promises in the Word.
While we have seen about the eagerness we need to have in what is to come, but we also need to have this eagerness in what God is doing in us today. Let’s look at the promises God has given to some of the Old Testament saints.
· God told Abram that he would have a son in his old age and have a massive family.
· God told the nation of Israel that He will be their God.
· God promised prosperity to Israel for obedience.
· God promised David that He will establish his thrown forever.
This sampling of Godly promises to individuals or to the nation of Israel show the trustworthiness and consistency of our God. But for the nation of Israel, the people of these promises, they had to anticipate God doing these things by faith and took comfort in the fact that they would be accomplished.
We need to be on that level of eagerness in our God. Eager for Heaven but also eager in the fact that what God say to us will come true in God’s time. While having faith in the unknown can be frightening if we think about what could happen – but knowing that God will keep His promises will bring us a greater comfort.
There is a lot to be eager about. While I have spent a few months anticipating a Friday night viewing of a television show, there is greater things still to eagerly anticipate. As fun and adorable as Baby Yoda is, this fictional creation is not even a drop in the bucket of the majesty of Heaven.
Cheers and Excelsior!
Pastor Adam