God is Good to Those Who Wait Lamentations 3:22–33; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9, 13–15; Mark 5:21–43
Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, whom we seek, and our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we wait.
We’re going to talk about how God is good and merciful to those who wait for Him, and seek Him… from our Old Testament, verses 22-26: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
We have a Lord who is amazingly patient with us… and so in patience, we wait for Him, and with yearning, we seek Him.
His patience teaches us to be patient, and wait faithfully, which is a virtue, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, Love is patient. 1 John 4:8 says: God is love.
So it follows that God is patient; He loves us, and therefore is patient with us, otherwise we’d all be lost causes, none of us would be sanctified and saved.
As Jesus is God’s true and only Son, very God of very God, as we confess in the Creed, so it follows that He is loving and patient, since God is love and love is patient.
He was faithful and patient to carry out His Messianic ministry, including dying for us on the appointed day, neither trying to rush nor delay it.
As Jesus carried out His ministry, He was waiting patiently, in perfect love, until the time was right for Him to die and rise for our salvation.
His love and faithfulness cost Him His life, but it won ours.
And His patient love and faithfulness were rewarded with glory, as His Father raised Him on the third day, and forty days later, He ascended in majesty to Heaven’s throne.
And then, waiting for the appointed time, He sent the Holy Spirit to His apostles, and to the Church, that we might be sanctified and saved by the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit.
From the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed and humanity fell into sin and death, God patiently began to carry out His plan to rescue and redeem you.
Rather than turning His back on you the moment you sinned, He turned His face toward you, with a promise to redeem you.
He sent His Son to come to close to you, to save and befriend you.
And He sent His Spirit to come close to you, to be the Helper you need, who abides in you, so that you’re never alone, never left to try to overcome sin, evil, and death on your own.
How powerful in comfort, are the words and promises of the Gospel for us: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
As His dear and faithful baptized child, you woke up this morning in the abundance of His mercy, as you will tomorrow morning.
Like we said last Sunday, in Christ, each and every day is your favorable, blessed day, because… 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness.
As we sing in the hymn: Great Is Thy Faithfulness, O God, my Father; there is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not; as Thou has been, Thou forever will be.
Patient, loving, merciful… forever will our Lord be. And forever will He be faithful to you… He has yet to break a promise.
No promise He has made, has He ever broken. No promise will He ever make, and then break…
… which is pretty amazing, considering the prophecies about Him, and promises from Him.
Born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, to be righteous and just and live without sin… courageous and holy to die on a cross for the sins of the world…
… and finally, Jesus Himself promising the sign of Jonah, promising to rise again on the third day.
These are not easy promises to keep; you and I couldn’t keep them; only Jesus could… and keep them He did, so great is His power, His love, and His faithfulness.
Knowing His love and faithfulness for us, as we wait for Him, let us wait with the confidence that all His promises will come true… in addition to all His promises that have already come true… all that He has already done, and is now doing for us.
He promises you, His faithful child, to heal you of your sin and disease, and of the agony of death, as Peter calls it in Acts 2:24. He will heal you by raising you in glory, and will fill your life with eternal joys.
In our Gospel, in healing the woman who wasn’t able to get help anywhere else, and in raising the young girl back to life, Jesus gives us a promise of how, when we are raised, He’ll heal our bodies for an eternity of well-being in body, mind and soul.
Jairus had to be patient and wait, while Jesus first healed the woman. But while he waited, his daughter died.
That was no problem for Jesus, though; He knew He could heal her even from death.
It requires our patient faith and endurance, but Jesus will also heal our bodies from death, someday raising us to live always in perfect health and happiness.
Knowing and believing this changes how we wait. With God’s help, we wait with confident hope.
We wait as our Old Testament lesson teaches us: 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
To wait quietly means to trust and not complain, or doubt, or second guess, or worst of all, fall away.
Waiting patiently and quietly for the Lord, for His help today, and waiting for our future eternal life and glory, increases and refines our faith; it builds our hope, and heightens our expectations.
Yet no matter how wonderful we expect Heaven to be, it’ll be better.
Waiting patiently and quietly doesn’t mean waiting in an apathetic or lazy way.
Quite the opposite: it means waiting in a spiritually active and productive way, adding goodness and love to the world.
There’s a lot of good that needs to be done, and truth to be said in this world of sin and confusion.
And so we wait by serving… God and our neighbor.
Worshiping, praising, praying, hearing, reading and learning His Word… receiving and celebrating His Sacraments, His washing away of our sins, and His body and blood to comfort and strengthen us… these are the things we do and receive as we wait.
Loving, helping, forgiving, teaching, correcting, befriending, supporting, praying for, and all the things we can do for others in the place of Jesus, these things He calls us to do as we wait, and helps us to do.
And He calls and helps us to seek Him as we wait, to come to know Him better, to be closer to Him… then we wait in a more content and resolute way.
As we wait for Christ, knowing Him, He calls us and helps us to make Him known to others…
… that He may come into their hearts and stay by faith…. for their forgiveness and resurrection…
… and that they, too, may be adopted into His family, here to be loved, treasured, and supported in the fellowship of Christ.
May God bless us to wait for Him faithfully and patiently, seeking to know Him better, and to serve others as we do.
And as we wait, His peace, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, whom we wait for in faith, and whom we seek and serve in love. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed