12/7/08 - Advent 2 - 2 Peter 3:8-14

GOD'S PROMISES ARE PERFECTLY TIMED
- We are impatient with God's promises
- God promises to be patient with us

God’s promises are perfectly timed. We usually don’t know when they will be fulfilled. And we oftentimes don’t know how they will be carried out. But we do know that his promises are 100% sure, and he will bring them to completion at the exact moment he had planned all along. And that’s been true throughout the history of God’s people. When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, God promised them that he would guide them to the Promised Land. And he did. But not until 40 years later. The people complained and they grumbled and they were impatient with the Lord during those four decades, but God kept his word and fulfilled his promise to them at exactly the right time. Hundreds of years later, when the Israelites were taken into exile by the Babylonian army, God promised that he would safely return them to their homeland. 70 years later, that’s exactly what God did. He sent his people home just as he had said - even though it took a little longer than what some of them would have liked. And even from the very beginning, back in the time of Adam and Eve, God promised that he would one day send them a Savior who would crush Satan’s head. “And when the time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Gal. 4:4), the Bible says. But that time fully came about 4000 years after God made that very first promise about Christ. Many people grew impatient during that length of time. Many people doubted. Many people lost hope. But God knew exactly when he would fulfill that promise of a Savior and his promise was perfectly timed.
And so are all of his other promises - even those that have yet to be completed. Many people during the time of the apostle Peter were already complaining about God’s promise of Christ’s 2nd Coming to this earth. It had been only about 35 years since Jesus had ascended into heaven. But, of course, the promise had not been delayed. It is not as though God just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. And it won’t be a split second decision. God’s promise about the 2nd Coming of Christ was just like every other promise he has ever made: it is perfectly timed. And Peter today encourages us about that very thing: “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” No, the Lord is not slow. He is right on time. And whenever the Lord decides to come again the 2nd time and whenever he decides to fulfill any of his promises - there could never be a better time for him to do it.
God makes perfectly timed promises to us every day. And just like those Old Testament believers and the people who lived with Peter, we usually don’t know when the Lord will carry them out or how he will do it. And it’s frustrating sometimes, isn’t it? We usually don’t like to be kept in the dark. We don’t like to be kept waiting for something or someone when we have no idea when it will happen or when the person will arrive. Because we’re impatient people, aren’t we? We do not like to wait - for anything or anyone. If you find yourself at a stoplight and the car in front of you doesn’t see the light has turned green, what do you do within 5 seconds or less? You either honk the horn, yell at them within the confines of your own car or mumble under your breath, “Let’s go! Come on! Wake up! It’s green, it’s green, hello it’s green!” We are very impatient people. When you are in line at the grocery store, it drives you up the wall when the cashier two people ahead of you calls for a price check over the intercom, doesn’t it? Because now you’re going to have to wait in line another five minutes while some manager double checks whether that item is $1.50 or $1.75. We are very impatient people. In this country we have drive throughs at “fast food” restaurants so we don’t even have to get out of our cars, one-hour photo centers, credit card swipes right at the gas pump, and overnight mail so that we don’t have to wait one second longer than we have to.
The problem is: that impatient mindset doesn’t change when it comes to the promises of God. We get impatient with God, don’t we? It happens on any number of occasions throughout our lives. For instance, we know that God promises in his Word that, “The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (Psalm 121:7-8). And so when you or one of your loved ones is sick and in the hospital, and health and strength are not returning as quickly as you would like, you start to think things like, “Come on, Lord. How long is this going to last? Why aren’t you helping those you love as you have promised? When, Lord, when will things start to improve?” We become impatient, too, when we work so hard at something but have yet to see the results. Because we know Jesus promises that he will help us through thick and thin, we know he promises that he is ever-strong and always loving. And so when retirement keeps getting pushed off because you still have to work, when the time you spend writing letters or hanging door hangers seems fruitless, when your savings is turning into your spending, when a church building project is a long time in coming… the thoughts start flooding in, “Lord, lend me a hand, here. Help me out. Please! Be to me what you promised to be: my helper and strength and fortress. Give me something, give me anything positive I can hang my hat on.” And we get frustrated and impatient because the Lord’s plans don’t seem to be matching up with ours.
And that happens with prayer too, doesn’t it? We can boldly say with David based on God’s promises, “Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice” (Psalm 55:17). The Lord listens to every one of our prayers. And so when we are praying for something or someone so often and so fervently for so long - we get impatient when our prayers are not granted, don’t we? Those prayers seem so good! They seem so God-pleasing! But the Lord hasn’t yet said “yes” to them. And so we get impatient with the Lord when we can’t see the reasons why he seems to be waiting so long.
But when we are impatient with God, that’s not just an unpleasant character trait that we possess. When we are impatient with God, we are conveying the attitude that we know better than he does, that God hasn’t made the right decision! Impatience is arrogance. We think that this person should be brought back to health now - but the Lord isn’t doing it! We are convinced that the results of our efforts should already be evident, but the Lord isn’t cooperating! We are of the opinion that this particular prayer should have been answered with a resounding “yes” long ago - but God seems to be dragging his feet and he doesn’t have any reason for it! Impatience with the Lord’s plans and the Lord’s ways is arrogance. As if we knew better than the Almighty God. As if our humanly sinful perspective of what would be good for us and the rest of God’s people is that much more clear than the insight of the God who has been around from eternity. God’s promises are perfectly timed. He will put them into effect at exactly the right moment. How could we be impatient with promises that are perfectly timed for us?
It’s a good thing the Lord is patient with us. Think about that for a second. Think about how patient the Lord has to be with us when we are so impatient with him. He promises us great and glorious things - in this life and the next - and we question him and complain to him and become impatient with him. Think of the patience it must take on the part of our Lord not to completely destroy us or at least become fed up with us because of our arrogance. It must take an incredible amount of patience every day - and that’s Peter reminds us that, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
The Lord could completely wipe us out. And he should have. He really ought to have done away with the human race a long time ago. If everything were fair and right - we should no longer be around. We don’t deserve to be. But God’s patience overrules our sinfulness. He is filled with love. And because he is filled with love he cannot help but be patient. He does not want to destroy us. He does not want us to have to pay for our sins. He wants everyone to repent and believe that he’s the one who already paid for our sins on the cross.
Peter knew a little something about God’s patience. Do you remember what kind of person Peter was throughout his life? He was brash and bold and very impatient - and so the Lord had to demonstrate a lot of patience with him. One day he told Jesus that he would never let him be crucified even though that’s what Jesus said had to happen, and so Jesus turned around and rebuked him. In the Garden of Gethsemane Peter lashed out with a sword and cut off the high priest servant’s ear when the mob was gathered around his Savior - and Jesus had to rebuke him again. Later that night in the courtyard, Peter did exactly what he promised Jesus he would never do: deny that he knew his Lord. And Peter did that three times. And when he verbally denied that he knew who the Lord was that third time, Jesus was being led through the courtyard at that exact moment. Jesus looked at Peter, Peter remembered what Jesus had predicted, he was reminded what he himself had claimed, and he realized what he had just done. And Peter went outside and he wept as a sinner who had let down his Lord. But Jesus was patient with him. He didn’t condemn him. He didn’t disown him as one of his twelve disciples, he forgave him. And Peter himself saw that forgiveness with his own eyes in all of its gore and all of its glory as Jesus was nailed to a cross less than 24 hours later. Peter witnessed that crucifixion. He saw Jesus bleeding to death on a piece of wood. He heard his Savior scream in agony as his Father physically left him when he entered hell. He watched as Jesus closed his eyes and gave up his breath. And Peter knew, he knew everything that he had seen, everything that Christ had done, was all for him. Know that it’s also all for you.
Everything Jesus did that day. Everything Jesus did for the 33 years leading up to that point. And everything Jesus has done after that Friday afternoon - his resurrection, his ascension, and his eternal reign, it was all for you. It was for your forgiveness. Even though you are sinner. Because you are a sinner. It was all for you. The Lord knew most people would reject what he had done for them. The Lord knew even his own children would become impatient with him at times and doubt his good and glorious plans. But he died for you all anyway. Because he is loving. Because he is patient. And because his promises are perfectly timed.
In a little under 3 weeks, we’ll celebrate Christ’s first coming to this earth. And he came to this earth at exactly the right moment. He died on the cross and rose again at the perfect time. And he will come again when the time is right. These are really the two biggest promises he has ever given to us: his 1st coming and his 2nd coming. And we know that just as the birth of Jesus was planned to the very day, the very hour, the very minute, and the very second, so is the reappearing of our Lord on Judgment Day. The very day, the very hour, the very minute, and the very second are already decided on. And we can be sure when that second promise arrives, that glorious day of our Savior’s 2nd Coming will be perfectly timed.
And if these two greatest promises that the Lord has ever spoken have and will be accomplished at precisely the moment he has determined, so will every other promise he has given you. He promises to protect you and guide you and strengthen you and support you and lead you and discipline you… and he will. It may not be tomorrow. It may not be in the time frame that you think it should be. It may not be as soon as you would like it. But whenever he does these things for you - they will be perfectly timed. There will be no other time that could have been better. And so be patient with the Lord. Be patient for his promises. Because you can be sure that you will receive them at the exact moment when you need them the most.
Amen.

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” - Rev. 22:20