Right on time

Galatians 4: 4-5

4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.


Last week we talked briefly about the timing of the Lord. I want to expand on that thought this week. This time of year we become very sensitive to timing. Much of what we do is all based on timing. The day after Thanksgiving here in the states depends on your timing. It even has a name….black Friday. All of the stores that sell anything open their doors early. Ridiculously early. 5 a.m. early. Funny enough the 24 hrs stores actually close their doors for a few hours, just to build up that all-important sense of timing. Get there to early you are standing in line, get there to late and everything is gone. The stores slash prices for the remainder of the year, everything must go, buy one get one, ( I love that new phrase bogo!) This all fuels so many peoples direction for the remainder of the year. Buy, buy, buy. People worry more about what they are spending, than they do about what they are buying. Many people say that there are those among us that are trying to “take the Christ out of Christmas” or that there is some war being waged. While there are many things that might lead us to believe that; nothing has done a better job of taking the spotlight off of God’s timing and placing it on ourselves; than the retail market has done.

We do the same thing with our expectations of preaching. We want the Wisemen, we want the Star, all of the things that we expect to hear. Each and every year. We want to hear about the Angles appearing to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds. Don’t misunderstand me here, I like those stories myself, and yes they are a vital part of the birth of Christ, but I often wonder, do we really hear them anymore?

Are we missing the importance of the timing? Look at the manger, it was not that Mary and Joseph were poor and could not afford better accommodations. God’s plan was not for Christ to just be born to normal circumstances. If that were the case Christ would have been born at home. No, Mary went in to labor when she was far form home, not only far form home, but under the circumstances brought on by the census count, and taxation that resulted in the inns being full. Because of this, Christ was not born in the lap of luxury; He was born in some of the most humble surroundings. Surroundings that most would find unacceptable, and no one would think would even be close to fit for a king!

Yet the timing of the Lord was well thought out…..as usual. What about the wisemen? I know you have all heard the saying that if it had been the three wise women, they would have arrived on time, brought practical gifts, and cooked a meal for everyone! Well, I would have to say that is why God must have chosen men to go. He knew they would not ask for direction, they would get lost, and arrive, not before the birth, but right after, making Christ’s first guests some of the most respected men of the time. They did not bring practical gifts, because they were coming to see a king, they brought gifts fitting of a king. Could you imagine their surprise when they came upon the stable! A child born to deliver the world, born in a barn…..(you know, His parents could never ask him that question when he left the door open!). What I am trying to say here is that while on the surface we acknowledge Christ’s birth, do we take the time to marvel at the impeccable timing that God showed, the great care to detail, the grace that he is about to show to the world? The deliberate, and painstaking effort that went in to bringing this all about.

Paul hits the nail on the head by starting off with, “when the time had fully come”. The Lord is always on time. He will not move until the time has come, and once here the Lord will not be stopped. If only we could have even a drop of that patience, and conviction.
How often do we try to force things? Impatience comes so easy to us! We want what we want when we want it, and we do not like to take no for an answer. We pray and pray for things to happen, because we want them to happen on our schedule. Make no mistake about it, no matter what we thing, the Lord is running right on time.

Take a couple of examples, Look at Joseph, the son of Jacob a young man, who was sold into slavery. What might seem like a terrible turn of events for him ends with him being the Pharaoh’s right hand man, which allows Joseph to save his family in the end. This might not be the path that Joseph would have picked for himself, but as he looked back Joseph himself explains that it was God’s plan, His impeccable timing that allowed things to turn out so well for him. What about the Israelites, 40 years in the wilderness; wandering around, wondering just what the future held for them. Because of God’s timing they crossed the Jordan, full of faith, full of commitment to the LORD. Had they crossed sooner, their faith would not have matured, had they crossed to late and their faith might have started to lack. God had them cross just at the right time. How about when they left Egypt? The Red Sea parted just in time to allow their escape, yet closed up at just the right time; freeing every Israelite form the grip of the Pharaoh, and swallowing up all who chased after them.

So we know that the Lord is always on schedule, from freeing the Israelites to the birth of Christ, he has been faithfully on schedule. It might be his schedule, and not ours, but he it tracking 100% on time.

He will be right on time for the second coming as well. I know that there are many out there who like to speculate, and second guess. They spend much of their time worrying about when, and if, and will there be two raptures, will there be one. Some might question if He is going to show up at all, or better yet, if He is not already running late. Make no mistake about it. Christ himself tells us that not even He knows the exact day or hour that He will return, but you can bet that the Lord will show up right on time, when the time fully comes!

The Lord works just as punctually in each of our lives, now it might not seem like that to us, it always seems too fast or too slow. We either think that we are ready and waiting, or not even close to being at the jump off point. The beauty of the Lord is that he comes to you, not when you are ready, but when it is time. IN the passage reminds us that Christ was born to a woman, under the law. HE came to the world as one of us, he knows what it is like to want people to understand you and they don’t, he knows what it is like to have people doubt you, to be tempted, and to feel despair. He fully understands that sometimes in life things happen before we are ready, but it all runs on His Father’s clock. He came to us as a child, born in worse conditions than most of us could imagine, HE started off his life showing us that even though he is the most, He is willing to be the least. Christ did not receive a future King’s birth. There were no huge celebrations; there were no feasts, or balls. The town crier did not run through the street announcing his birth with joy. HE entered this world with a humble start. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5-7 “5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

He made himself nothing, a servant, a human. See the Lord comes to each of us no matter where we are, from the time He set his foot on this earth, he has shown us that when the time is right, he will come to us, he made this sacrifice for us, because he loves us. HE comes to us like the good Shepard searching for his lost sheep. Not full of anger towards us for getting lost, but full of joy, for he has found us. He will meet you today, where you are, where you stand. You do not have to go far to find him diligently searching for you. Just call on him, and he will hear. As He tells us in Matthew 7:7 “7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Just remember to walk through when the door is opened.

Peace,
Rev. Thetford