The Hope Factor

Welcome to the very first message in our Advent series this year. My name is René, another one of the pastors here. Thank you so much for joining us. You know, I really miss you. I've got a question for you. Have you discovered that there are phrases that capture your imagination from the very first time you hear them or read them? I want to tell you about one of those phrases for me.

It happened in the pages of C.S. Lewis's classic book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And if you've read this, you know that a little girl from our world named Lucy goes through a magic wardrobe into the land of Narnia, where when she gets there it is winter, and soon she meets a character who explains the whole land is always in winter. It's under the spell of the evil white witch. And this character says, "It is winter in Narnia," said Mr. Tumnus, "and it has been forever so long. Always winter but never Christmas." I don't think there has ever been a better description of what it feels like to be hopeless than this phrase, "Always winter, never Christmas."

And a lot of people are feeling that right now, a sense of hopelessness, the feeling that things are terrible right now and they won't ever get any better. I saw a recent poll that said that 48% of Americans are feeling hopeless right now because of COVID, because of the economy, because of political unrest in this nation. And here's why this is such a big deal. Hopelessness leads to all kinds of bad consequences. It excuses inaction. Like for example, if I don't think there is any hope that I will ever get out of debt, well then I'm not gonna even try to manage my budget, right? And it excuses bad behavior. If I don't think there's any hope that I'll ever overcome my bad habit, then I'm just gonna keep doing it because I feel hopeless.

And it creates a negative thought loop. If I feel hopeless, then I'm going to be constantly looking for evidence that everything really is hopeless and I just keep feeding my own negativity. On the other hand, hopefulness has all kinds of great effects. I just saw some research from about two years ago that showed that the more hopeful people feel about the future, about their own personal future, the more productive they are, the less affected by stress and other crises in their lives they are, the more compassionate they are, and they're even physically healthier.

And this is why it is so important for us to start our Advent series this year. Our theme, as you heard Miss Yolanda and Nico say, is a thrill of hope. This is such an important part of Advent. And as we kick this series off, I want to encourage you to go to TLC.org/notes and download the message notes for today's talk. And as you do that, you may not have been raised with the Advent tradition, so let me explain it to you just a little bit.

The word Advent actually simply means arrival. And when it's used at Christmastime, it refers to both the first Advent of Jesus when the Messiah was born about 2,000 years ago, but also the second Advent when the Messiah Jesus will return to set all things right. And of course that's still in the future. And promises about these two Advents are found all through the Bible. And during the four weeks leading up to Christmas each year, Christians all over the world and in all kinds of different denominations traditionally remember some of the many scriptures talking about these two Advents of the Messiah.

And here is why this is so important right now and so relevant. Promises about the first and the second Advent, follow me here, promises about the first and the second Advent sustained Jewish people and Christian people for centuries through all kinds of dark times, through times of war and civil unrest and plague, and these two promises, these two Advents as we look back and look forward to them, they can do the same thing for you today.

You know it's symbolic that Advent comes during the darkest time of the year because the theme of Advent all through Scripture can really be summarized in one sentence, "This darkness will not last." Can you say that with me wherever you're joining us on the live stream? "This darkness will not last." Maybe you didn't get it that time. Let's say it one more time. "This darkness will not last." And that of course is why we light Advent candles to symbolically remember this darkness will what? Not last.

Now during Advent this year each week we're going to be looking at a different passage in the biblical book of Isaiah, which is a book of the Bible that's just full of these promises about the first and second Advent of God's Messiah. And to read today's passage this morning and light this morning's Advent candle, let's go to two people that are on our high school staff, Calvin and Kaylee.

From Isaiah, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord. The wolf will live with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf and the lion and the yearling together and a little child will lead them.

If you are feeling hopeless these days, those verses that you just heard contain one truth that could change everything for you. This morning it could lift you up, it can give you hope, but before I tell you what that truth is, I need to fill you in on some background. Those verses you just heard are, as I said, from the book of Isaiah, which was written in hopeless times for the Jewish people around 600 BC before Christ. They're under a Syrian attack in the north and soon to be under Babylonian attack in the south.

After centuries of mostly corrupt rulers of their own, the people are totally discouraged, and Isaiah is writing to say yes, it is about to get really bad. It is winter but don't give up, and it must have worked, right? I mean, the Jewish people did not give up and they did survive against incredible odds century after century, so you got to ask what was it that gave them hope? What kept them going through their own dark winters?

Well historians will tell you that it was an idea. An idea took hold of the Jewish imagination. It's an idea that's all through the book of Isaiah. It's an idea that grows and grows through the whole Bible. It's an idea that prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus Christ, and it's an idea that still is powerful today. People like Martin Luther King Jr. got all kinds of hope from this idea, and you can too. If you're wondering how do I move from hope less to hope full right now in this COVID winter, this is how they did it.

You see here in Isaiah chapter 11 three aspects of one powerful perspective-altering idea, and I want to describe to you three aspects of this truth and then see if you can guess what it is, all right? Number one, three aspects of this powerful truth. Number one, they believed God still has a plan. Looks grim now, but God still has a plan. A plan for us, and his plan involves a man. Isaiah 11.1, a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse. Now remember that the stump of Jesse. What does that mean? From his roots a branch will bear fruit.

This is a poetic metaphor, but what does it mean? Well, 400 years before this was written, the Kingdom of Israel had gone through kind of its Camelot phase. The reign of David, their best king ever, and he had been a son of Jesse, but by the time this was written, that lineage of Jesse had been chopped down. The Bible says it was like a dead stump. The royal lineage had stopped, but Isaiah said a shoot is going to sprout up from that dead stump. There will be a new king from Jesse's lineage one day. Well guess what? About 600 years after Isaiah wrote, a baby was born. Jesus was from the house of Jesse. That was his family tree. A shoot sprouted.

Now in Isaiah's time they didn't yet know how this would happen, but just this idea, the expectation of a Messiah, that just means somebody who is anointed by God. In David's lineage, a future king with a better future for everybody that captured the imagination of the Jewish people through centuries of struggle. Why? Because it meant God will not forget us. We are not at the mercy of the Assyrian armies or the great Babylonian armies. They will not have the last word. God will have the last word. So we have hope.

And listen, I want to tell you, even in your sorrows, even in your tragedies, even in your illnesses, even in COVID, even in unemployment, even in business difficulties, God has not forgotten you. And no matter what it looks like, those things will not have the last word. God will have the last word in your life too, and it's a good word. So that's where this idea starts. God still has a plan. And God's going to send a man. God's got the last word.

And then this promise of a Messiah develops further. God still has a plan and point two, "I can trust him." I can totally trust him. God will send his Messiah and then watch this. Verses two and three describe him, "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might." What this is saying is after all these centuries of terrible rulers, there's going to be one who is totally wise and understanding. Somebody will have the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

And fear of the Lord here just means kind of reverence and awe of God. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears. And that simply means he will not judge a book by its cover. This ruler won't judge by all the things that other rulers tend to judge by. You know, skin color and bank accounts and reputation and accomplishments. No, this kind of ruler is the kind of ruler that the whole world has always been starving for and that the Jewish people at this point were starving for. Their own rulers were letting them down. They were surrounded by vicious rulers who were against them.

But God promises one day you'll have a ruler who will have the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and of counsel. It will happen. So you're seeing it develop the idea that gave them hope. In their bleakest times, God has a plan to send a Messiah. I can totally trust him because he will be righteous and wise. And then the third part of this idea as it develops is the most mind-blowing part. And it's the best part. And it's my favorite part. He will make all things right.

And here Isaiah just kind of goes on this poetic riff like some modern spoken word artist as he develops this idea of just how powerful and impactful this Messiah will be. He says the Messiah will first of all end injustice. End all injustice. Can you imagine? Well, Isaiah paints you a picture. Verse four. With righteousness he will judge the needy. Now in English this phrase sounds like he's going to judge the needy. What this means is he will get justice for the needy. With justice he will give decisions for the poor of the planet. And what about the people who've been oppressing the poor? Well, it says he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. With the breath of his lips. This is how easy it's going to be for the Messiah to get justice for the poor. With the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Finally, the poor and the oppressed will get justice against their oppressors. Righteousness, Isaiah says, will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. And in those days this was a poetic way of saying this is what's going to characterize the Messiah. He will be a ruler who is personified by, who is characterized by righteousness and faithfulness. In other words, he will be incorruptible. Wow.

Now at this point you might have the idea that the Messiah is just going to be some sort of an enlightened civil servant, right? Kind of like the perfect president, and that alone would be great. But then, as Tim Keller says, the passage sort of bursts its banks and the poetic water comes up and sort of floods everything. Because check this out, I just love this as it develops. Isaiah says the Messiah will also end conflict. That's right. End all conflict. Because look at the way he puts it. Very famous verses. Verse six. The wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf and the lion and the yearling together. And a little child will lead them.

Can you picture that? Well let me help you. Somebody sent me a book once called Unlikely Friendships, and it's full of stories of unlikely friendships of animals with each other. Actual true stories like this in a village in India. This leopard shows up every night to be cleaned by one particular cow who is like his adopted mom. I mean you look at this picture and it's like it was right out of that Bible verse, right? Or this stray cat who drops into the pen of this Asiatic black bear. That's a carnivorous black bear who is just, you know, licking this cat clean. They just kind of hang out together all day long like their best buds.

But my favorite image in the book is of this. Sharky the Pit Bull and his friend Max the Cat and the little chicks that they are both raising. There's a pit bull and a cat and baby birds all living in harmony. There is just something about these unlikely friendships that we love. And it reminds us of these very verses, but this is not just about animals. This is also poetry. To say long time human enemies will also live at peace, and I can prove it because there's a parallel passage later in Isaiah. Isaiah 19 says in that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and in those days the Egyptians and Assyrians, they were mortal enemies. The Assyrians will go to Egypt. The Egyptians to Assyria, and check this out. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

Man, that picture of the future God guarantees that brings you hope in a real practical way. I'll show you what I mean. At the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his acceptance speech. And check this out. In his acceptance speech he explained why he was able to still have hope. That's a good question, right? Because he had seen relatively little progress in his quest for civil rights. He had endured bomb threats and all kinds of vile insults. Betrayals. How could he still have a sense of hope? Well, he explains why in his speech, and the reason I bring this up is because in his speech he quoted Isaiah chapter 11.

Check this out. This is rich. He says I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daylight of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe unconditional love will have the final word in reality. I believe that one day mankind will bow before the altar of God triumphant over war and bloodshed and the lion and the lamb shall lie down together. Now check this out. This faith, he said, can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future.

Did you get it? Do you see what he's saying? When you truly trust God, trust that this promise here in Isaiah 11 actually describes the future in reality. Well that gives hope, and it doesn't mean you just kind of sit around and wait for it to happen. Dr. King obviously was very active. It means we are to be the kind of person Messiah is. Righteousness and faithfulness defining us as his grace changes us from the inside out and then the whole idea that he will complete the work that our labor is not in vain for sure. Man, that brings hope. That's how we persevere.

And then Isaiah says this Messiah will even end pain. You know he just keeps taking this to another level as all nature will be changed. Look at verse 8. "The infant will play near the cobra's den. The young child will put its hand into the viper's nest." Now before you go, somebody needs to be calling CPS on these parents, I want to explain this is poetry again. It's a poetic picture of pain-free perfection. That one day no one will ever get snake bit, not by a viper and not by a virus, as Max Lucado puts it. No more aspirin. No more chemo. No more wheelchairs. No more divorce or jail or broken hearts. Man, that is just beautiful.

And then finally this I think might shock you. He will end religion. What? Did the pastor just say that the Messiah would one day end religion? That's right. That's what the Bible says because there will be no more need of it. Look at verse 9. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." In a parallel passage, Jeremiah paints the same picture. He says no longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another know the Lord because they will all know me. From the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord. They will all know God.

So there you know there's no more need for a middleman. No teachers. No Sunday school. No pastors. No priests. No temple. No churches. I'll be out of a job. And do you see that is really God's end game? Not, you know, God doesn't want you to just behave. Be a good boy or girl. I mean that's great, but he didn't do all this just to get you to behave. He did all this to get you to know him. That is why he advented and didn't just send down a book of guidelines. And of course the ultimate way that he did that was when Jesus Christ gave his life for us on the cross.

You know Jesus didn't do that just to make you and me more religious. He did that so you could know him without the obstacle of sin. And as we see and as Isaiah predicts in the very next verse of Isaiah 11, in that day the heir to David's throne will be a banner of what? Salvation to all the world. The whole world. I can tell you from my own experience when your heart is captured by this idea. Here's the idea. The God you matter so much to God. God cares for you so much. God loves you so much that he didn't leave you in darkness but he sent his one and only son not to condemn you but to save you through his sacrifice.

And then that same Messiah showed you what you have to look forward to after death through his resurrection. That all adds up to one thing. Hope. Because illness and corruption and death and injustice do not have the final word. He will make all things right. And that includes your resurrection from the dead. Man, that just brings you so much hope and this is not just some intellectual truth that you comprehend. It is deeply emotional.

Let me explain it this way. You know my wife Lori and I love those home makeover shows that are so popular right now, but we especially love the one that started the whole trend. Do you remember Extreme Makeover Home Edition? Love that show, and I really love the way they wrapped up the whole series. Their very last episode was in Joplin, Missouri, where a category 5 hurricane killed over 150 people, wiped out whole neighborhoods, devastated the area. And Extreme Makeover came into the area and picked one street, seven families who had all been wiped out and rebuilt their homes.

And here's the big reveal. Are you ready to move seven buses? Well you know what to say, say it with me. Here we go. Boss driver. Who's that boss? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Look at her. Oh my gosh. Look at her voice. Look at all the stuff. Oh look at that picture. Look at that picture Lori. Spiderman. Go check out your new home. Oh my gosh. Oh. This is amazing. This is like my dream kitchen. That's so perfect. Well I guess there's just one thing left to say. Welcome home Joplin families.

Man, I love that. And you know Isaiah is saying here in Isaiah 11, God's got an extreme makeover in store for the universe. And one day he will say something like, you know what family, there's only one thing left to say. Welcome home. Welcome home my children. When you believe that, man, that brings so much hope. You see, that's hope in the second advent. Just as surely as we know that the first advent happened. We know that. We can look back in history and see that. Well we can know just as certainly that the second advent is going to happen too.

And let me give you a little secret, a little insight that's going to maybe help you enjoy Christmas at a new level this year. Most people completely miss this. But if you listen carefully to the lyrics of many Christmas carols, a lot of them are not only about the first advent, Christmas, but also about the second advent when Jesus returns and this extreme makeover for the world happens. Let me just show you a couple of examples.

For example, Joy to the World. Look at these lyrics. Mya was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine. Sorry, wrong Joy to the World. Here's the right lyrics. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground, because he comes to make his blessings flow. Watch this. Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, as far as, as far as the curse of sin is found, the second advent.

Or here's another example. I heard the bells, which was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. And I don't know if you know the story behind the song, but famously Longfellow wrote this when he was deeply grieving. His own dear wife had recently perished in a terrible house fire. So he was in grief over that. And then his son joined the Union Army and fought in the Civil War against his father's wishes and came back horribly maimed from the war. And so Longfellow, this one Christmas, was just in deep despair and grief. And he wrote a poem that became the lyrics to this song.

And you know how it went. I heard the bells, he wrote, on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. And he writes, and in despair I bowed my head, no, there is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. But then peeled the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor doth he sleep, the wrong shall fail, and the right prevail with peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

And again, talking about that second advent, that was a word for Longfellow, and maybe that's a word for you today. God is not dead, nor doth he sleep in your life, he is active. Now, his blessings are already flowing, but they will have their ultimate culmination at the second advent when we know the right shall prevail. Do you see the point of all these messianic promises in Isaiah 11? You could summarize it this way, it gets better. In fact, it gets perfect because of the Messiah. And a deep trust that this is true is what marked those Jewish exiles. It's what marked the early Christians and helped them survive all kinds of persecution themselves.

So why doesn't it mark us more consistently? I've thought a lot about this, and here's what I think. The biggest obstacle to hope for you and me is this. Our culture here in America lives and breathes with somebody called the Gospel of Now. Instant gratification. We can get almost anything instantly, usually watch on demand, shop with one click, microwave food. So we have forgotten how to wait. And as this weird year of delay and slow progress, 2020, unwinds, most of us just don't know how to deal with the wait.

Now, think of this, the original hearers of these promises in Isaiah had to wait a long time to see even the first advent, centuries. But even the anticipation gave them hope. And that's what we have to relearn because a crucial element of hope is learning to anticipate, to go, I know God is up to something. I choose to believe that each day I am one day closer to seeing God's promises fulfilled. I mean, can you say this each evening? I'm one day closer. We're one day closer to getting through this COVID situation. And we're also one day closer to the second advent when all disease will be wiped out.

You see, the key to having this attitude, watch this now, is to place your hope in the right thing. Because if you place your hope with whatever you're going to see in the headlines every morning, your hope level is going to be up and down like a roller coaster. So what's the solution? If hope is rooted in God's promise, it remains constant, always available. Because you just kind of settle in for the long haul and stay confident, I know God is up to something. I know it because his word tells me he is at work.

So you want to get through this with hope? I want to issue an invitation to you right now, whether you've been a Christian for decades or you're just kind of checking this out. I invite you. I challenge you. Like those who first heard these advent promises centuries and centuries ago, choose to trust that God still has a plan. I can totally trust him and he will make all things right. Will you say yes today to this idea, to this person, to this Messiah? Will you say, yes, Lord Jesus, I choose to trust you?

Let me tell you, when you do, then you start to hear the whisper of the promise. God saying to you every day, yes, I know it is winter right now, no doubt. But Christmas is coming. Let's pray together. Would you bow your head with me? Lord, thank you so much for this promise. Help us to live in this hope today. And for all those who are watching with their needle on their hope meter pointing to empty, particularly those grieving losses due to this terrible pandemic, I pray that you would fill them up today with the gospel's promise. That it gets better and that was proven in the ultimate way when Jesus Christ died and was resurrected. And so we say we place our trust in you, that you are at work in us and around us and in our future. And we thank you in Christ's name. Amen.