“For You” 11-27-22
Overview
For You: Past, Present, and Future in God's Hands
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol paints a familiar picture: Ebenezer Scrooge is shown his past, present, and future, and warned that unless he becomes kinder, gentler, and more generous, he will meet a tragic end. It is tempting to imagine our own lives the same way — that with a few better choices and a little more effort, we can write ourselves a happy ending. But Scripture tells a very different story.
Consider Israel's past, present, and future. Redeemed from Egypt, having walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, the people grew impatient when Moses lingered on the mountain and demanded an idol — the golden calf of Exodus 32. Centuries later in Ezekiel 20, the Lord confronts the elders for repeating their ancestors' treachery. And yet, woven through the prophets, a future hope is promised: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah... from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel" Micah 5:2. The pattern of turning away repeats — in Israel, in the early church, and in us. We don't have to look far to see the same sinful heart at work in our culture and in ourselves.
The hard truth is that we cannot moralize our way to a happy ending. 2 Peter 3:10 reminds us that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief," and the world as we know it will pass away. Saints and sinners alike face the same future. But God is not bound to our timeline like Dickens's ghosts. "With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise... but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:8–9. God stands simultaneously over past, present, and future — and His plan of salvation was set before the foundation of the world.
This is the heart of the gospel: salvation is for you, but it is not about you. "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children" Galatians 4:4–5. "At the right time Christ died for the ungodly" Romans 5:6. God is the main character of this story. He came in the flesh, bore the wrath we deserved, and clothes us with His own righteousness. In the present, He calls us by faith, claims us in baptism, and sanctifies us by His Spirit — not so we can earn a better ending, but because He has already secured one. As we move through Advent toward the manger, remember that Christ became man to die for our sins, to face the empty grave on our behalf, and to bring us into an eternal future with Him. That gift is for you.
Transcript
One of my favorite stories to read in this season leading up to the Christmas season is a Christmas 3s
Carol. 14s
It's a wonderful story written by Charles Dickens and in it we have a main character. 15s
It's all about Ebenezer Scrooge and his friend, his business partner, who's a great 22s
head previously died, comes back as a ghost and he warns Ebenezer of the scary and tragic 29s
end that is to come if Scrooge doesn't do something about it. 39s
Scrooge has got to change his ways and so Bob Marley wrapped in these chains carrying 50s
on telling Scrooge, warning Scrooge, he says that he is going to send three ghosts of 57s
Christmas. 65s
The ghost of Christmas passed, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas future. 66s
Now as a child this was one of my favorite stories because the first time I had ever experienced 74s
a Christmas Carol, it was Mickey Mouse. 80s
And so even today as I think of Ebenezer Scrooge or Bob Marley, I still see goofy in those 84s
chains and falling down the steps and Ebenezer Scrooge, which is Scrooge McDuck and I can't 93s
quite get the animal cartoon picture out of my mind. 99s
But as we continue today and as we talk about Scrooge you are welcome to think of Scrooge 105s
McDuck or you can think of an old timey Brit. 112s
Either way is just fine. 116s
As the story unfolds we read about how Scrooge wasn't too bad in the past that he actually 119s
had a girl that he loved and she wanted to get married and we see that he didn't have 129s
too much bad baggage in his life. 138s
But then we fast forward to the present for Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas present 144s
comes and he shows Scrooge how life had led him from this not too bad person to all 151s
of the sudden being this greedy selfish, self-centered man who was only considerate or 162s
only concerned with the accumulation of more gold, more wealth and was blinded to everything 170s
and everyone else. 181s
And it wasn't that he wanted to live an extravagant life. 183s
He was collecting gold and he did for fun count his money and then when it was time to have 187s
more fun he would count his money and when it was business time he would count his money. 195s
It wasn't that he had gained money or earned money to go and live an extravagant life. 200s
But he was so self-centered, so self-involved in the wealth that he had accumulated for 207s
himself. 218s
And when the ghost of Christmas future comes and he leads him in the future path or to the 219s
future of where Scrooge is headed we see that Scrooge meets a very tragic and very dismal 227s
and very scary future. 238s
Are we in the middle of our own Christmas Carol? 245s
Are we in the middle of our own Christmas Carol? 252s
Are we the main players as Scrooge is the starring role of the past, present and future? 257s
Are we living in our own Christmas Carol is God waiting patiently for us to be better, 267s
to make better choices, to be gentler, to be kinder? 277s
Are we in the middle of a Christmas Carol? 281s
I want to look at past, present and future, beginning with Israel. 287s
Israel's past, present and future, Israel was a redeemed people. 293s
As we know they were brought through the red sea as if on dry ground they were taken out of 299s
captivity out of bondage, out of slavery, in Egypt to the promised land or they were headed to the promised land. 308s
And Moses, they had already seen all these miracles and Moses had gone to the mountain to speak with God. 318s
And they knew this, they knew this and yet in Exodus 32, it reads when the people saw that Moses 325s
delayed to come down from the mountain, they knew he was talking to God. 335s
The people gathered around Aaron and said to him, come, make God's for us, who shall go before us. 340s
As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has 347s
become of him. And Aaron said to them, take off the gold rings that are on your ears, 353s
on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me. 357s
So all the people took off their gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron, 360s
he took the gold from them, formed it in a mold and cast an image of a calf. 366s
And they said, these are your gods, oh Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 371s
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and said, 378s
tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord. They rose early the next day, 384s
and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being, and the people sat down to eat, 389s
and drink, and rose up to revel. Israel's past was that they had been brought out of slavery. 396s
They had seen the miracles before their eyes. They had physically walked through water 409s
as if on dry ground and the moment that the man who led them through by the grace of God 417s
was talking to God, five minutes too long, and they abandoned God. They abandoned God. 426s
They turned their backs, and they need something else. They had been redeemed, and yet they chose 435s
to worship and idol. So then fast forward to Israel's present, past present. 444s
And we come to Ezekiel, where certain elders of Israel came to consult the Lord and sat down before 456s
me that being, Ezekiel. And the Lord said to Ezekiel, therefore mortal speak to the house of 463s
Israel and say to them, thus says the Lord God, in this again, your ancestors blasphemed me, 470s
by dealing treacherously with me. Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, 477s
will you defile yourselves after the manner of your ancestors and go astray after their 484s
testable things? Again, again, Israel's present. They had turned from the Lord. They had blasphemed. 489s
They had returned to the stiff neck persona that their ancestors had had, and they turned their 501s
toes and they turned away from God. So Israel's past was that they turned from God. Israel's 510s
present was that they had turned from God. And then we come to Israel's future, the future promise 519s
that the Lord had made to them in Micah chapter five, where the prophet writes for the Lord, 531s
but you O'Bethlehem of Ehrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, 540s
from you shall come forth for me, one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old 547s
from ancient days, over and over. We read in the prophets a restoration of Israel, 553s
a coming Messiah, a coming redemption, a future promise, a future hope. 561s
And yet Israel continues to return to the past, to return to the present. And it's this 569s
cycle that is unending of Israel turning and turning and turning away from the Lord, chasing 578s
after other idols, chasing after other little G gods. And we see this timeline in a loop, 586s
over and over and over. It's like they were timeline hopping. And then we fast forward 598s
to the Christian people. And as a Christian people, the Christian people will they knew 609s
of Israel's past and present. They knew of Israel's turning from the Lord. They knew exactly 617s
what Israel had done, and they were not going to do the same. We hear of the Christian peoples 626s
past where it began with the Israelites in Acts 2. Where Peter is preaching his sermon after 635s
the Holy Spirit had descended upon him and the other apostles. And he's saying to the people, 642s
you that our Israelites listen to what I have to say. Jesus of Nazareth, a man 648s
attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders in signs that God did through him among you, 654s
as you yourselves know, this man handed over to you, according to the definite plan and 660s
for knowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised 667s
him up, having freed him from death because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 675s
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 684s
brothers, what should we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the 688s
name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy 695s
Spirit. So those who welcomed his message were baptized and that day about 3,000 persons were 702s
added. The Christian people, they heard, they heard the mistakes of Israel's past, they were 709s
part of the mistakes of Israel's past, but they were going to do it differently and they repented 718s
and they turned. And 3,000 were baptized and added to the Christian people that day. 726s
And the book of Acts carries us even to today. Do we act? Any differently in our present 735s
as a Christian people? Do we act any differently in our present as a Christian people? 750s
Because I look around when I walk out these doors when I turn on the television, 768s
when I open up a social media site, I look around and I don't see a lot of difference. 775s
I don't see a lot of our present looking any different than the sinful present of Israel, 787s
the sinful past of the Christian. I look around and I don't have to look very far. 798s
I can look inward and I see the sinful person, the sinner dwelling inside, 809s
and just like Scrooge, just like Ebenezer Scrooge, just had to do a little bit better. 823s
Just had to make a few better choices, be a little gentler, a little kinder. 833s
Look up from his money, just every once in a while. We try to do our best. 840s
We try an hour starring role in our Christmas Carol. We try to be kinder, to be gentler, 851s
to do better because we're hoping for a happy ending. We're hoping for a happy future. 863s
But we aren't better when we're trying to be better. The truth is that we all 874s
sinners and saints alike, we all have the same future. In second Peter chapter 3 verse 10, 885s
it says, the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with 894s
loud noise and the elements will be dissolved with fire and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. 899s
It doesn't matter how good we are. It doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter what our past or our present is. 910s
The future for each of us is same in that the Lord will return and all things as we know it 917s
in our present will dissolve. Will be disclosed. Will be done. Will be ended. 932s
Where does that leave us? In our Christmas Carol. Where does that leave us? If we can't 942s
do better to be better. We have to remember that God is not Charles Dickens and Charles Dickens is not God. 954s
And time passed present in future does not work for God as it works for Scrooge. 968s
Past present in future does not work for God as it works for Charles Dickens. Past present in 979s
future doesn't work for God like it works for you and I. Time for God does not function in the same way 985s
as it does in a Christmas Carol because God is simultaneously past present in future. 996s
He is outside of our linear timeline. He is outside of the constraints that we have in past present and future. 1006s
In verse 8 of our text today, we see do not ignore this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day 1018s
is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise 1026s
as some think of slowness but as patient with you not wanting any to perish but all 1034s
to come to repentance. You see we think that we're starring in the Christmas Carol. We think 1042s
that we are the main stage player as Ebenezer Scrooge is in that fictitious story. 1051s
But when it comes down to it past present in future, God's plan of salvation, it is not about you. 1062s
It is not about me. Instead, as we read scripture, we realize especially in verse 9, 1072s
the Lord is not slow about his promise as some think of slowness but his patient with you 1082s
not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. We realize that God's plan of salvation 1087s
is not about us. It is for us that God is the main player. God is the starring role because 1097s
He is the only one that can do or be good. God's plan of salvation began before the past. 1111s
In Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5 we read but when the fullness of time had come, God sent 1129s
his son born of a woman born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law so that we 1137s
might receive adoption as children. In Romans 5 chapter we read that at the right time Christ died 1143s
for the ungodly. God's plan of salvation was decided before the beginning of creation, before 1151s
the foundations of this world. God's plan of salvation of redemption for you began before 1160s
times past. God's plan in salvation of salvation and forgiveness is not so that we can make 1169s
better choices like screwed is encouraged to live a more moral life. God's plan of salvation 1178s
is because we cannot save ourselves. God's plan of salvation was it to enter into humanity, 1187s
be born of the Virgin Mary so that He could go to the cross so that He could undertake or undergo 1196s
the wrath of justice, the punishment that is due for our sins so that He can give us His own 1205s
perfection, His own righteousness so that it's not a matter of us earning it. It's not a matter of us 1219s
doing better, being better, kinder, gentler. But because God is good. And in our present God calls 1226s
us into faith. In the present God claims us through the waters of baptism. In the present God 1240s
through His Holy Spirit continues to sanctify us, change us, mold us, grow us more and more into 1246s
who we are as His people, as His children. He is patient toward us so that we can be drawn closer to 1253s
Him so that we can repent, hearing the good news that He loves us, hearing the good news that 1268s
we are forgiven in Him, hearing the good news that it is not about us. But it's about God's love 1277s
for us. It's about God's forgiveness for you. And the purpose of that forgiveness is to lead us 1288s
into the future that really began in the past that carries into the present, the eternal 1299s
future of dwelling in His presence. When Ebenees are screwed, is visited by the ghost of Christmas 1304s
present. He's taken to a graveyard and He's shown in open and empty grave and He realizes 1318s
it's His. In our sins we face the open and empty grave. But in God's mercy, he faced that grave. 1330s
He experienced that grave and He rose triumphant from that grave for you. 1347s
As we're heading into or through this Advent season, we're going to be looking forward with joyful 1358s
and hope filled anticipation to Christmas morning. When we can celebrate Christ incarnated, 1367s
Christ become man. But we cannot forget Christ became man to die for our sins. 1375s
Christ became man to secure our eternal future. Christ became man because God is patient with us. 1389s
And Christ became man so that we may dwell with Him today tomorrow and forever more. Amen. 1402s