The Amazing Gift of Hope
The Amazing Gifts of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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As I thought about the amazing gift of hope this week, I thought about waiting.
Hope implies waiting
Define hope - great expectation of good!
It is natural then that hope have a place in the season of Advent.
A reminder of the waiting of the coming Messiah
A teacher of waiting for his return
This had me thinking about a song we sang last week, ” Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” written by Charles Wesley
He was reading Haggai 2:7 KJV
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:7 KJV)
He began looking around him in the plight of the Orphans and the divides within society.
Through this train of thought, he wrote the song and published prayer at the time which had the words:
"Born Your people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now Your gracious kingdom bring. By Your own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone; by Your all sufficient merit, raise us to Your glorious throne. Amen." Charles Wesley
Wesley adapted this prayer into a hymn in 1744 and published it in his "Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord" hymnal.
Wesley wrote "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" with the intent for people to remember Advent and Christmas as commemorating the Nativity of Jesus and preparing for the Second Coming.
The lyrics of "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" focus on God choosing to give a Messiah to the world in the form of Jesus.
It also focusses on the Old Testament Israelites longing for the Messiah to come and take the burden of sins from them to take them upon himself.
The last line of the first verse may have come from Wesley being inspired by 17th century philosopher; Blaise Pascal's claim that "There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every person that cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator." Blaise Pascal
Last Line “By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.” Charles Wesley
How fitting then when thinking of Israel waiting in the hope of a coming Messiah
We in the season of advent would learn to wait in the hope of his return.
For Generations Israel Waited
For Generations Israel Waited
For so many generations Israel looked to and hoped in the promises of a coming savior who would redeem and save them
20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob who turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.
They waited and waited for their redeemer to come
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the humble of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
They long waited for the appearing of the LORD’s Anointed
It was the LORD’s timing not their’s.
When the waiting was over some rejoiced:
25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
28 then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 “Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples:
32 A light for revelation for the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.
Advent reminds us of this waiting period in the history of Isreal
The Old Testament passages are our school master in the art of waiting for His coming.
We too wait for the Messiah
We too wait for the Messiah
Like Isreal before us we must hope in the waiting
Paul made this point to Titus
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.
We remind ourselves of Christ’s appearing to strengthen our resolve to wait for his return.
Waiting is an art. To celebrate advent means we want to develop the art of waiting.
This is an art our impatient society has forgotten.
Think of this if you have a question what is the response, just google it!
Want more information look it up on Wikipedia
When we order something we use Amazon prime to get it here fast.
We are impatient and have forgotten how to wait.
Ever see a line at a gas station? Grocery store? Chick-fil-a? What was your response, impatience and frustration.
Why? Forgotten to wait patiently.
What did are parents say when we were impatient as children? Hold you horses!
Paul is telling us in Titus that like Isreal we too wait in hope.
Our waiting, our hope is the return of Jesus when He comes to call people home!
Hope is strengthened through the assurance that he came once, he will most assuredly return.
We need to teach others
We need to teach others
We need to prepare people
Vista HOPE church Help Others Prepare for Eternity
They need hope, our would is a hopeless world.
A world who think the best way to live is without God
So they ignore his existence, but he still knocks at the door
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Are we living our lives as a letter of hope to others?
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
So I ask, are we helping other prepare for eternity?
Conclusion
Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated: “In total reality, Jesus comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Experience at the living Nativity at Emmanuel Faith in Escondido The baby
This is how I envision Jesus. Special yes, but in other respects just like a human child with Mary and Joseph chosen to care for him in his infancy and childhood.
It is through his coming into the world like every person does that he connects with us.
The Amazing gift of Hope comes in the form of a child reminding us that he will come again.
And so we wait in that hope. Live our lives everyday in the hope of his return
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Are you ready? The Altars are open, why not start to today and join me at the altar.