Hope, Peace, Love & Joy

2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.

As Isaiah writes in a time of exile - when Jerusalem has been occupied and half destroyed - the temple lies in ruins. The people are captive.

He declares that things are going to change.

Jerusalem will be restored.

Isaiah 2:4 NRSV

4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

In addition to the hope of Jerusalem restored - there is this hope.

The coming of God’s judgment...

He shall judge between the nations...

Sometimes this is translated as rule.

He shall arbitrate for many peoples...

To arbitrate for many peoples; is to set things straight - to restore the balance of justice. Stand in the gap between the weak and the powerful / adjust the settings - get things back on track.

What is the opposite of Hope? // What do you hope for?

I started with those two questions. I am trying to think about what hope means for us - and what it should mean for us.

The opposite - I suggest despair - but I’m not happy with that. Maybe cynicism.

And the question - What do I hope for?

Well - I have a few things....

A nice nap this afternoon....

Isaiah’s Hope is Bigger

Isaiah’s Hope is ‘God Given’

Isaiah 2:1 NRSV

1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

I feel a bit bad sometimes - hoping for a Sunday Afternoon nap… But I realise that God has blessed that rest - just as God has blessed the work I do.

We’re created to enjoy a well earned rest.

But I think we need to learn to ENLARGE our hope… See them on a larger - God scale. Learn to see our struggles, victories and losses in that context.

And I think we need to bring our hopes to God in prayer.

God is this your hope for me?

What is your hope for me?

Something for the future?

So maybe - what Isaiah is inviting us to embrace is a longing for God’s future. But maybe that’s not hope.

Maybe hope isn’t about wanting something in the future.

Maybe hope has nothing to do with the future and it is all about the right now?

And as I try to explain this - I hope - I will be able to make myself clear.

Isaiah 2:3 (NRSV)

3 Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah’s vision sees people going to the Mountain of Jerusalem - to the temple… so that God would:

Teach them his ways.

That they may walk in his paths.

As I was doing some research I found this article on the idea of hope in the new Testament:

HOPE (NT). ...the verb “to hope” (Gk elpı́zein) is found only five times in the Gospels—with the OT sense of “to trust”

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Hope (NT))

hope as confidence in God “whose goodness and mercy are to be relied on and whose promises cannot fail” (Barr 1950: 72)

Hope is Trust

So I live with this very future moment by moment, thing by thing version of hope.

And as I think about trying to give you a message of hope I almost default to the message that you should put your hope in God then everything will be alright.

But we’re still - ‘hoping’ for all sorts of things.

Winning lotto numbers. Jobs. Cars. Good news.

But then I’m confronted by this helpful redefinition:

hope as confidence in God “whose goodness and mercy are to be relied on and whose promises cannot fail” (Barr 1950: 72)

Hope Redefined

Not about the future. But more about the now. In Isaiah 2:3 we heard Isaiah’s report of what the people were saying: Let us go to the mountain of the Lord - to the house of the God of Jacob...

“That he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3)

Paths are funny things. I am over reliant on my GPS. But yesterday afternoon I had to make my way to conduct a wedding in Stellenbosch.

Lovely wedding.

But the groom was a little nervous about things starting on time. And I took a minute to get going - I was cutting it fine.

But the R304 was closed for renovations.

For some reason Google didn’t pick that up.

I ended up being 20 minutes early for the wedding ceremony rather than my usual 30 minutes.

But the awkward part was being directed by detour signs down a lovely road that I don’t believe I had ever seen before.

My phone battery was flat...

But I trusted the detour signs - and the re-calibrated directions that Google was giving me.

The path was beautiful.

I settled into it. Enjoyed the farms and the vineyards.

Hope is not then - it is now. It is not about some specific future that we dream up on our own. It is about knowing that God has got that future.

What is the opposite of Hope? // What do you hope for?

So I realise that what I hope for doesn’t actually matter that much.

I want to plant myself in the picture that Isaiah is hoping for.

A day when the nations will turn to God.

Go up to the temple that “he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

As I think about this prophecy of Isaiah and its fulfilment in Jesus teaching on those temple steps.

Jesus’ judging the nations in his death on the cross.

Jesus’ arbitrating between peoples in the way he teaches us to live a just life.

I hope for all of that.

But that hope is not for a day. Or an event.

It is a hope in God.

I choose to no longer hope for - instead I hope in.

What I ‘hope for’ doesn’t matter. I don’t care much about it anymore because I put my trust in God who is good.

And I realise - that the opposite of hope is distrust

As those two helpful quotes reminded me:

HOPE (NT). ...the verb “to hope” (Gk elpı́zein) is found only five times in the Gospels—with the OT sense of “to trust”

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Hope (NT))

hope as confidence in God “whose goodness and mercy are to be relied on and whose promises cannot fail” (Barr 1950: 72)

Hope in God in the Here and Now

So I want to invite you to receive new Hope Full Ness today.

In Romans 5:2 Paul says: we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)

It really is an odd phrase: Hope of sharing in the glory of God?

Oh maybe its just the hope of heaven.

Maybe its getting a great reward and pat on the back when you die

or maybe it is more mysterious than that.

Sharing in the glory?

Glory - is doxa - light - the light of God - that light that we imagine pierces teh sould - that light that shines so bright our sins are burnt away?

Sharing?

I wonder if a better word would not be ‘participating’

Participating in the glory of God.

In my imagination - a great big warm embrace from God who loves us. An embrace that shines through.

That is what we hope for - A mysterious fulfilment - completeness - in God.

It is Hope Received

Finally - it is Hope Received:

Romans 5:1–2 NRSV

1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

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