1 What Do We Do When the Wait is Over?

We have all had that season in life when we have been waiting for something to come, or perhaps even something to finish, and then it does. We find ourselves thinking, is that it or now what? The tension of waiting is that, when the moment has passed, we can often find ourselves trying to figure out what to do or needing something to motivate us again as we move forward. The challenge of waiting is as much what we do after something has happened as what we do while we are waiting. Like the child waiting for Christmas Day and then enjoying every moment of it, and then on Boxing Day asking how long until the next Christmas! Or the athlete who has been training for a race for a long time in such a way that it has dominated every aspect of their life, their eating, their timetabling, their social life, and their sleep has all been built around maximising the results of the race. It’s over, and they wonder – what now?

What can I do with all this time? The tension of waiting is as much about what we do after the moment that we have waiting for; that is true whether we are a professional athlete, a child after Christmas morning, a student waiting for a test, or a Christian trying to understand what life is meant to be like in the moments after Christ’s first coming, all while we wait for his second. In this series of Hopeful waiting, as we have journeyed through Advent and now into this first Sunday of Christmas, I want us to realise that there is beauty in the tension of our faith. Yes, we are waiting until he comes again, but we also are those who grasp – and live in light – that the wait is over.

1.1 Ageless Truth from the Book of Isaiah

In these few verses from Isaiah, we see something of this tension in the Christian faith, as well as our freedom, for Isaiah shows us what the life of faith should look like, both because God has done something and because God has more to do. Translating that into our context, some might seem challenging and a stretch. Yet, the ministry of Isaiah and the context of his ministry remain as important to us as ever, as we live for Christ and wait for him to come again. Think about it, Isaiah has been called and commissioned by God to go and speak to a people who have drifted from their love of him. Many of the people of God still go through the routines of their religious life: Temple, Synagogue, festivals and sacrificial rites – they are performing well! Even more, they know how to live the moral life by keeping the law, looking after their family, and living as good citizens. Yet, they do not know the One they are meant to be living for; nor does he know them! God sends Isaiah to speak into that sort of religious culture and landscape about the one they are meant to be living for. In the later parts of Isaiah, the people are living in a context of radical displacement and judgement as they are in exile and know: Jerusalem has been destroyed, the temple is gone, and they have become a people whose identity is in where they are no longer.

It might be a few thousand years ago, amid lands and nations, many of you speak very little about – but does it really sound that different? We find ourselves trying to live faithfully in a land that once took pride in its religious heritage, where we fought over how to approach God through Jesus. Where Church attendance and spiritual life were a part of the very fabric of our society, as the swings were tied on Sundays to stop people breaking the sabbath. Yet, in the lifetime of this church, it’s not that we have seen people turn to other gods; they have turned their backs on God. We can walk down the street, and many people will tell us they are Christian or that they belong to this church or that Church, and then, if we push a little deeper, we begin to see how far their hearts are from the God who loves them as they either trust in their religious identity (that they were born into something) or spiritual life (they belong to specific organisations or go to Church on the big days).

2 What Hope Have We Now (Context and Our Context )

We live amid a culture where people still practise the rhythms of faith, even as they have been hollowed out by each generation, and think that will make them okay before God. Worse we live in amid a culture where as the faith of people has been hollowed out by the idols of our age in response our churches have become more hollow in their convictions, core, and approach as we seem to accept the management of decline as a given; closure as something to expect; and growth, renewal, and revival as memories from a bygone age.

Yet, God is never finished with his people, with his church; and if we are faithful to his call, he will be faithful with us, and we will see the fruit of the Kingdom in our lives. What might that look like? Who knows – we might see a rising generation come to faith and our churches full, or we might see steadiness amid an age of decline – but we can be sure that we will see God in us, among us and through us. Our call in the waiting is to have hope, even when our institutions and their leadership seem void of it.

Isaiah ministered as one who had seen God do something and was waiting for him to do something again; Isaiah ministers to people who are confused about where God is because they allowed themselves to get confused in how to approach God, and they thought that the Lord had abandoned them when he was discipling them out of love. What does Isaiah do to challenge and encourage a people in exile? He reminds them of God’s kindness, compassion and commitment (Carrying) – he reminds them that God is all good. Isaiah, for us, represents the call of each of us who know Christ by faith, and the people he ministers to, describing this cultural moment so clearly that we find ourselves in.

2.1 Our Call to Be Faithful

As Isaiah again calls the covenant people of God not just to behave correctly, but to remember rightly – to know the truth of God first in their hearts, he does so by reminding them of who God is. That God is of good character, compassionate, and will never forsake his people, and because of this, we live for him and with him. Thus, the book of Isaiah captures much of the tension of our lived experience and challenges us to live because Christ has come and to wait, knowing he will go again. It helps us to see that the reality of our waiting is not dependent on the circumstances we find ourselves living in. God’s people have always found themselves living amid some sort of exile, some hostility, and yet they have always been called to wait actively and live well – why? Because we never do it in our own strength: the wait is over because God has come, and the wait goes on because God sustains us.

Isaiah speaks to a wounded, exiled people who are tempted to believe that God has let them go, and he calls them to remember that the Lord is a God who saves, suffers with his people, and carries them as they wait for redemption. We are living in a wounded city full of people wondering where God is, populated by many weary, broken and closing churches as the same God is calling us to speak again the gracious promises of his presence, suffering, and sustaining until He comes again.

3 Remembering to Move Forward (Isaiah 63:7–9)

So how does Isaiah speak into a moment like this? What does he say to people who feel disoriented, disappointed, and unsure what faithfulness looks like now? He does something that may seem surprisingly simple, but is profound in its simplicity and challenge: He remembers! Then he teaches the people to remember again the God who is good and faithful to them.

That movement to remember is not some random occurrence; it is intentional, focused, deliberate and good. Think about it, in this sort of context, these people already remember what used to be. How often do we do it? We tell people how things used to be when the church was full, when people dressed the way they did, and when the city was better. We remember what used to be so that we don’t have to face what is unknown and ahead. Isaiah 63 is written to people who are remembering the wreckage of their lives and identity as a result of sin, in mourning, and facing an uncertain future. Thus, this passage not only speaks to our lived reality but also to the tension we often feel at the end of a year as we stand at a symbolic moment in our own lives, between what has been and what will be. We live carrying the pains and joys of the last year – gratitude and grief, hope and weariness, confidence and questions – all while wondering what the next will bring. It is into this personal, contextual, and missional reality that Isaiah shows us that faithful waiting in moments like this does not begin with strategy or resolve, but with remembrance. Remember the God who is good and has done it many times, and if we trust Him, he will do it again.

3.1 The Kindness of God (v7)

Hear the words Isaiah speaks at the beginning of our passage: “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us.” Isaiah confronts the reality of their world by forcing them to twist their necks backwards and see not something they have done, but a truth they have forgotten – God is good, and their covenant lives show it even in discipline. The goodness of God is seen in his character and actions; ironically, not because the present is easy, but because it is difficult! In darkness, the light of God’s goodness shines brighter still! Do you see how Isaiah is refusing to let the pain of exile rewrite the story of who God is in the mind of his people? No! instead, he reframes it to show how good God is because of the exile and difficulty. As he speaks of the Lord’s kindness, compassion, and mercy. In other words, hopeful waiting is sustained not by self-confidence or ability, but by clarity about God. Clarity about every aspect of who God is in his power, goodness, sovereignty, and majesty. We remember who God is, and then in the worst of situations, we can see it! Think about the Cross, which was the heaviest darkness the world could throw at Jesus, and it was the moment when the Kindness and Goodness of God were most clearly displayed. As a church, regardless of the challenges we are facing or the stumbles we have made, Isaiah teaches us to fix our eyes on God! As individuals, regardless of the year we have had or the future ahead, Isaiah calls us to the same perspective: fix our eyes on God! The foundation of hope is God’s character, not our performance. That is why Isaiah is so strong on his praise of the goodness of God here, because every act God makes in power is a display of kindness and love to the sinner, even his rebuke and discipline. All things from God are good things for those who are of God. Isaiah does not speak of the kindness of God once in verse seven, but again and again: I will tell of God’s kindness, all that the Lord has granted to us, the great goodness! Why? Because “he has granted them according to his compassion.” It is according to the abundance of his kindness (steadfast love). All good gifts in this life are from God, even his discipline, and Isaiah wanted the people to remember it! He wants us to recognise it as we go into the new year, facing uncertain futures, knowing a steadfast God who is compassionate and kind. Not kind in a weak way, but in steadfastness of love and strength. A steadfastness of love shows in all that he has done, and in the relationship that he has established, a relationship that is not dependent on circumstances – it is dependent on him, and we see that in verse 8.

3.2 A Covenant Commitment (v8)

How Good is God? How committed is he to the thing that he has started with the nation of Israel, for the whole of mankind? Isaiah helps us see this so clearly in this verse. You see, I think even though we know how different God is, we still struggle to understand the fullness of his commitment to us through Christ. We view our relationship with God through the best of our human relationships, where even when they are good, we still have a level of uncertainty – will they let us down? Will we hurt them? We struggle to grasp the fullness of God’s commitment to us not because of who we are, but because of who he is! He is only Good! Thus, if God is good, we will always know his goodness in our walk with him; even if we are unsure about it by faith, we can be sure of it. If we were among the people of God who faced exile and wondered where God is, our knowledge of God should lead us to know that he is sovereign, and still good in this situation – even if we are not sure now. Today, we might face innumerable stresses in our lives, and we might not even know where to begin. Yet, we have a greater foundation than the people of God. When we look back to remember God’s goodness and power, we can see the Cross. And, if God can show his goodness in something as dark as the Cross, we can trust him in whatever we are going through, whatever we are before.

Think about that – Relationally, Yahweh can only be good, and that goodness means that anyone in relationship with Him can only experience goodness from him. Thus, the foundations of our relationship with God differ, and the experience of our relationship with him can only be Good. Being one who keeps his word. One of the ways we see clearly the difference between our relationship with the God of the universe and our relationship with one another is how he chooses to shape it. When God chose the nation of Israel to be his, and then the church as the new Israel, he committed to us, and to show the strength of that commitment, he made a covenant. A covenant is, in essence, a blood oath in which, if one breaks it, they must pay a price. God made that commitment with us and took upon himself the weight of it (because he knew we would break it), and we see that commitment realised on the cross. The Cross is a reminder of the depth of God’s love for us and covenant-commitment to us. Nouwen captures it so clearly when he writes:

” When God makes a covenant with us, God says: ‘I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.” In our society, we don’t speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: “I will fulfil my part as long as you fulfil yours. When you don’t live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine.” Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms. ‘But God didn’t make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us…”

This covenant commitment is the fullness of what Isaiah then presses in this verse: “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me; and so he became their Saviour.” You cannot get more obvious covenant language than this. God identifies those in exile as his own, and calls them his children, and then declares that he will become their saviour. Thus, we see how God’s saving action flows from his relationship to us and his covenantal presence among us. This is not a God who stays far away; he draws close to those whom he has committed to! As close as the shepherd in Psalm 23. Yahweh saves his people from being among them! Even in exile, even in discipline, even in displacement, his covenant love remains present and working for those he has called his own! The Lord will never disown what he has claimed as his own. How can we be sure of this as Christians?

” In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:14)

Thus, no matter what we face or find ourselves going through, we can be certain that our waiting does not undo the love God has for us. He is with us in the waiting, and in our waiting, he is moving us towards something – towards him. In this strange time between the new year and thinking about the old year where we wonder about what has been, what might have been, and perhaps what should be; we must above all in all see the goodness of God in our remembering, and then as we look forward trust what it is he is moving us towards for his Glory, until he comes again.

3.3 The God who is Present (v9)

Isaiah then takes us to what may well be the pinnacle of this passage, not in terms of its structure, but the truth it teaches. A truth that reshapes how we understand suffering, our waiting, and even God himself: “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them.” This is not the language of a distant, nor is it the voice of a God who merely permits suffering as a necessary inconvenience in the running of the world because he cannot do anything about it – it is something far more beautiful, far more hopeful. It is something that shapes how we see the world and our waiting in it, because Isaiah makes clear something;** something far more intimate,** and unlike any idea of a god in the world: that God is involved. Think about that as an idea for a moment – the God of the universe is involved with the world that he created because of Love. More than that, God is moved by compassion for those who are his. He sees and knows the distress of his people, and by grace, somehow, that distress becomes his own. He knew their pain; he knows our pain. So we can know this day that, before God and in Christ, our pain is not abstract to him; it is not dismissed as pointless nor ignored. No, beautifully ** It is entered into!** Isaiah is reminding weary, displaced, confused people that their suffering has not placed them outside the care of God or his covenant commitment to them; nor has it signalled his absence. No! On the contrary, their distress has drawn him nearer to them. And that which was true then is true for us in Christ.

This is the soil out of which the Incarnation grows, something long before Bethlehem, long before the manger, long before the Word became flesh, Isaiah is already teaching God’s people that the Lord is a God who has come close to fulfil his work of redemption; he is present amid the pain to save us from it – this is what the manger is all about. Our God comes close, so close he chose to be born amongst us to redeem us as we are – he took on our flesh to redeem our flesh. Yahweh embraces the weakness of our humanity that by His Grace and power, He can restore our image to what it was meant to be: He draws near; He enters in; And that means that our waiting, however heavy it feels, is never endured alone. To wait in faith is not to grit our teeth in isolation, but to know the presence of God by the dwelling of his Spirit through faith in his Son. Then in that Knowledge to trust that God is with us in the waiting, and sovereign over all things – even when we are not sure. God does not watch our suffering from afar; he has already entered into it by the incarnation and remains in it through the presence of the Spirit in our lives; our job is to trust.

3.4 The God Who Redeems (v9)

Isaiah then gathers all of this into an image that is as tender as it is powerful: _“In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them and carried them all the days of old._” What we see so clearly is that Redemption does not flow from some sense of obligation from God to us; nor is God irritated that he has to act. No! God acts because he is good, and from his goodness flows love and mercy, from a God whose instinct toward his people is love, mercy and covenantal faithfulness. Thus, the picture Isaiah leaves us with is not one of God pressuring us to do better, or demanding more from us before he acts; it is not about moralism, or religious purity, or our bloodline. In our language today, it is not about church attendance or do-better-faith! It is all about God because it is all from God; a God who lifts, bears, and carries. The God who, from his incarnation, carried a cross, was lifted upon it, and bore the sins of the world. The God who endures the cross for us is the God who sustains us along the long road, through the long night when our strength is gone. Thus, Isaiah helps us see that Redemption is not only a moment of historical rescue on the Cross; it is an ongoing covenant reality, as the God who loves us shows his care for us.

This shows changes how we think about faithfulness, especially as we stand at the end of a year and look ahead into one we cannot yet see. Our default is to make it about us, our strength, our ability, our motivation; we create superhero complexes in our mind, and think that if we can endure long enough on our own strength without help from another or God, then it’s a sign of spiritual toughness and our strength. We convince ourselves that our waiting means holding it together in our own strength until God acts. It is simply wrong as Isaiah offers a very different vision, a kingdom vision: Our faithfulness and fruitfulness are sustained by Grace, not the strength of self. Hopeful waiting is not about mustering strength we do not have, but about trusting the God who has promised to carry us through the days and seasons we cannot manage on our own. It is about remembering that God is always with us in the long night, and his light will overcome any darkness. We look back and remember that the same God who redeemed his people in love is the God who continues to bear them, day after day, moment by moment, until his purposes are complete, as we begin to look forward into the year ahead and wonder what might be we do so through the lens of remembering God’s goodness towards his people, he carried us until this moment and he will see us forward through the long night by the light of his presence and the power of the Spirit.

4 Remembering God to Live Well for God (Conclusion )

Thus, at the end of one year, as we look back and remember, and begin to look forward and wonder, Isaiah 63 feels like such a fitting passage. It reminds us that, in faith and life with God, there is no strategy for us to achieve, no strength or moment for us to applaud; it is all from God and by God’s grace. This is the truth, no matter if we apply it individually or to whatever we belong: We do not move forward in our own strength –We are carried by the covenant love of God. In all and through all that the long night may throw at us, we never walk alone because the Good Shepherd walks beside us and goes before us. God was with us in the year that has passed, and he will be with us in every second, minute, hour, day, week and month of the year(s) to come. Our call is simple: to trust Christ and live out our call in his Kingdom and for his Glory as we wait for him to come again. Our living should be active because our waiting is shaped by our confident hope as a people who know the wonder of God’s love, the power of God’s grace by our faith in him, and the beauty of the Cross. Today, we wait as people who have already been saved, sustained, and carried by a God who has come near and remains near until Christ comes again. So today, let us live because the light has come.