Heart of Christmas: Hope

Advent: Hope

Isaiah 9:2-7

Isaiah 9:2–7 ESV

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Matthew 4:16

Matthew 4:16 ESV

16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

During this Christmas season, we celebrate Advent and the 4 themes of hope, peace, love, and joy. All of which are build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, who is in Himself the reality of each of these ideals.

This evening…as we talk firstly about “Hope”, I want to propose that we don’t understand “Hope” as well as we think we do. Not just in the object of our hope, but the definition.

1. Understanding Hope

“I Hope”. Sometimes we associate our hopes with something we want, but don’t really believe will happen. Will our team win? We hope…we may not expect them to, but we want them to.

We typically use the word hope in three senses:

A desire for something good in the future

the thing in the future that we desire,

and the basis or reason for thinking that our desire may indeed be fulfilled.

“I hope I get the job”- I have a desire, but theres no certainty that it will come

“Our only hope is if a cure for this disease”- We have hope that if a cure comes we can be saved, but we have no confidence that the cure will come, or that it will do what we think it can.

Biblical hope is deeper than that. It is not simply to desire something good in the future..it is the confidence and expectation that it will come. Biblical hope is more than a longing, it is a certainty.

“Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen.”- John Piper

a. Desire and Expectation

Your hope in the things that you expect to fulfill your desires.

“You and I are unavoidably and irreducibly hope-based creatures. We are controlled in how we live now, by what we think will happen later.” -Tim Keller

Your life is shaped for good or bad by what you hope in. Your desires and expectations determine your future. If you tell me your hope, I can tell you your future. More specificially, it is not what you say that reveals your hope…the way you live reveals more about your hope than what you say.

Notice from the beginning…Adam and Eve had a desire for freedom and wisdom…to be like God. Thats not bad in itself, Humanity was made to exercise wisdom and be Holy as God is Holy. We were made to be like God…but the problem was that instead of expecting God to give it (and obeying)…they believed God was keeping something from them, and expected disobedience and the fruit..to give them something only God can.

You see its not just your desires which betray you, it is your expectations. We all want comfort, security, love, happiness....those are not bad desires. The sin comes in what things we turn to to fulfill those desires..What we expect to fulfill those desires is your hope.

And there is no more important question to ask yourself than this…What is my hope in? Not just in theory..but in practice. To say I trust in Jesus, but to refuse to pray…reveals what you truly expect to save you. Its one thing to say I trust God to be my provider…yet when our finances get tight, we stress and blame God..and look for our way out.

Your life is shaped for good or bad by your hopes…by what you trust to meet your desires. By what you look to for rescue.

In the book Unbroken, it records the life of a man named Louis Zamporini, an Olympic Athlete who later joined the battle of world 2.

Nowhere is the importance of hope and life-filled words more strongly showcased than in the story of Mac.  Mac was the third man to survive the plane crash a long with Louie and Phil, but he did not survive the raft.  From the onset of the journey, he had the least hope of the three men.  It didn’t begin well for Mac, whose fear overtook him from day one as he screamed repeatedly in a panic, “We’re gonna die!” until Louie had to punch him in the face to get him to shut up.  That night, Mac devoured all the provisional chocolate, and though Phil and Louie were merciful the next morning, after that moment Mac went virtually silent.  Phil and Louie were determined to keep their minds sharp by talking about the future, telling every detail of their past, praying, singing songs and describing their favorite foods. Mac didn’t participate in any of this and slowly slipped into a haze that he never escaped.  This part of the story particularly riveted me because Mac had the same food and water Louie and Phil, and he was just as healthy (even more so perhaps because Phil was injured) and yet he simply died one night after 34 days on the raft.  The life-giving power of hope contrasted with the death-bringing power of fear and guilt were a powerful lesson to me in this small portion of the story. They eventually spend 47 days on a raft before spending 2 years in a Japanese war prison. -Unbroken

The life-threatening conditions led Phil and Zamperini to turn to prayer. Twice, Zamperini promised that if God would spare his life, he would serve him forever.

One of those prayerful promises is depicted in the film when the men are fighting a storm, trying to keep their raft afloat in the middle of the crashing waves.

According to Hillenbrand's biography, it is this promise that Zamperini remembered when attending a sermon by the evangelical preacher Billy Graham years after returning from war. In an interview with the Faith Community Church in his old age, Zamperini talked about the moment he recognized the hand God had in his life and was filled with faith and forgiveness.

"God kept his promise," Zamperini said. "And I started to leave (the sermon) when I thought about that and I thought, 'You know, he brought me home alive, and here I am turning my back on him.' So when we got to the main aisle, I turned to the right and went back to the prayer room and made a confession of my faith in Christ."

We live or die by our hopes. Can what you hope in rescue you.

“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” -C.S. Lewis

They looked to the future not as something which may be..but on that which they are sure..and which they expect…and so thier life was shaped by that hope. What will rescue you from the dark ness of the world? What do you expect to save you?

Your hope rests in that which you trust to meet your desires.

2. False Hope- What did they hope could get them out of the dark?

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

What does it mean that the people were walking in darkness?

Biblically darkness refers to wickedness, ignorance, foolishness.

The problem for the people in the Old Testament, and the new wasn’t simply thier desires..but their expectations. The problem was that they looked to the wrong things and expected them to meet the desires that only God could. Walking in darkness…wanted life, freedom, joy, victory, but were decieved into trusting into the wrong things.

Isaiah 7:9 CSB

9 the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria, and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.

Judah wanted victory, but God told them, put your hope in me, or you will find no hope at all.

We want the same things…love, peace, rest, victory, strength. We are shaped however by what we expect to give it to us. The problem firstly wasn’t that they people wanted bad things, but that they in thier ignorance, turned to the wrong things to give it.

Isaiah 9:5 ESV

5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

What can get us out of the dark?

a. Israelites- Hope in Military Power/Country- The people of the Old testament hoped in warriors and battle, they thought victory over thier enemies would come by the size of their armies/and country. In the New Testament, as Matthew quotes this verse, we see the same thing. Thier desire was for the messiah, but they expected him to come in military might and armies. Jesus comes without this…as a baby! Reminding them, and reminding us, that military might, is not the basis of our hope! There were those who rejected Jesus not because they didn’t want a savior, ,but He didn’t meet thier expectations. He was too weak.

They wanted to be saved, rescued from the suffering of thier life, but it was not the military strength of their nation. It is a good thing to want peace and security, but we are fools, and walk in darkness, when we think that the salvation of us or the world, is tied to the military power of nations. would do more for the world as a meek, Jewish Galilean than the world’s armies throughout all history.

It is a good thing to want the good of our country, and to thank God for the good that we can enjoy as members of it. But our hope is not in America. Our hope is not in the strength of America. God never promised to save nations..he said he would save people! There have many great nations that have risen and fallen…many which far outnumbered America in size, and in age…but though those nations have fallen…God hasn’t. I want our nation to be transformed…for God to lead this nation in the way He would have us go..but American is not an eternal kingdom. Jesus’ is.

Instead, Christians must turn their attention to a different kind of politics. Part of the change we have to make is accepting that in the years to come, faithful Christians may have to choose between being a good American and being a good Christian. In a nation where “God and country” are so entwined, the idea that one’s citizenship might be at radical odds with one’s faith is a new one.- Rod Dreher

There is good that a nation can do, but not eternal good. This is why Jesus came. Because no nation can accomplish in 1000’s of years, what Jesus could in this short life. We continue to walk in darkness when we put more trust more in the kingdom of men more than God’s.

b. Israelites- Hope in Government- Political Power (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

“The government will be on HIs shoulders”- Jesus did not come with an army..or come seeking political power. That was not the foundation of this hope. There were others who rejected Jesus because he was not fighting for political position to bring salvation.

We walk in darkness by thinking that the deepest desires of our hearts and soul can be provided by a new man or woman in political power.

This baby in a manger, carries with Him more power than any man or woman in any palace, temple, or white house. He again challenges the basis of our hope. Jesus had to die for every king and leader too, because they could not rescue and needed rescuing.

Not only is our hope not in a nation, but it is also not in any military or government leader. Kings can do good…leaders are important…vote…but even Kings and Queens must toss their crowns before Jesus…this light of the world, born in a manger. King of Kings.

Thier problem wasn’t that they wanted freedom, but that thier hope was so tied up in Caesar, and power…they missed Jesus. Do not get so tied up in political policies and agendas…you lose sight of Jesus. And people lose sight of Jesus in our own lives.

c. Pharisees Hope in Religious Authority/Moral Goodness

Pharisees to a large degree were those who hoped in their own moral goodness. They had law upon law that they beloved could bring blessing and rescue for them and their people. They thought if they were good enough, and the people were good enough, then rescue and salvation would come.

Not only is there no hope in military power…there is no hope in moral goodness. Some of us thing that we can change the world by doing good things. That if we join the right social cause, or give to charitable causes…then, we can save our nation. There is a place for social good, but the darkness of the world will not be saved by more philanthropy and generosity.

The Pharisess were good people..they obeyed the law…and added laws just to be safe. Still, Jesus says unless your rightousness exceeds the pharises you can not be saved. Hear me, there are people in hell who gave more money than I make…they may have did good. The problem was, they weren’t good.

Notice the people walking in darkness saw a light…the light wasn’t in them! It was outside of them.

Ephesians 5:8

Ephesians 5:8 ESV

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Ephesians says, not only were we in darkness..but we were darkness. This means that even the best we do is as filthy darkness…its like trying to clean up a mess with a dirty rag. We can’t get rid of the darkness of the world because…apart from God its not just that we do bad…we are bad.

The Pharisees resisted Jesus, though they were good…because they trusted in thier own goodness.

Give all you have to the poor…move to another country…its not enough to save anybody. The light is not something in us…its something we need!

d. Wisemen Hope in Intellect/Worldly Wisdom

In Matthew 2, we see these wisemen...These men were astrologers, students of the stars, brilliant people who were knowledgable and represented the best of human wisdom. They knew alot..but Even they needed a savior. And they came to this baby..this Messiah.

Hear me, no about of human wisdom or intellect can rescue us from the darkness of this world. There is a trend now that we have gotten so smart we don’t need God. We have better cars, better technology…better houses…better businesses…but notice, we don’t have better men. Or another way to say it, we have more mass shootings and killings today than we have ever had.

When we educate our children, without dealing with the darkness of thier heart, we just get smarter thieves. More sophisticated means of evil and manipulation.

We have degree upon degree but we can’t even define what a man and woman is. Those who trust in thier own intellect apart from God are the worst type of fools…sophisticated/cunning devils.

You know..universities..were oringonally theological schools. Finding out the unity of God brings meaning to the diversity oforld so we can understand it. University literally meant finding..”Unity in diversity. God was the one who brought a foundation upon which to make sense of the diverstiy of this world.

e. Shepherds Hope for the Common Man

Lastly, we see the angels appearing to the shepherds. They representing the common man and woman. The common, uneducated, blue collar, just working. Thus represnting the common man and woman.

In each of these cases, Jesus challenges the hope of each of these groups, and is in himself the only thing that can deliver the deepest desire and expectation of the human heart.

The people walked in darkness, as we do…because we foolishly have placed our hope in something besides Jesus, and our expectations. Each one wanted rescue, salvation..same desire, but misplaced expectations..and thus, misplaced hope.

This leads us to the next point..which is the problem of hope.

3. The Problem With Hope

a. Spiritually

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Notice something, this light that has dawned, was not found from within man, but outside of them. This hope, something by which we can escape the darkness, sufering and wickedness of this world..comes to us, and is not our own light.

Ephesians 5:8 ESV

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Not just that we walked in darkness, but we were darkness! We can not fix the darkness of the world, because we ourselves are that darkness.

Years ago, I read an ad in the New York Times that said, “The meaning of Christmas is that love will triumph and that we will be able to put together a world of unity and peace.” In other words, we have the light within us, and so we are the ones who can dispel the darkness of the world.- Tim Keller

QUESTION: Is it true that The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” and Chesterton responded simply,

“Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”

This is what it means to walk in darkness. It is not just that there is wicknedness around us…its around us. It is not that there is a light within us that must come out, there isn’t. So, the hope, and light we long for…is beyond us..and beyond this world. This is the dilimma.

This is the issue with hope…we have within us desires which nothing in ourselves or in this world can fulfill. Everytime we put these deep expectations on each-other or our goodness, or the things in this world..it ends in disappointment.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 ESV

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

If God is over the sun, and we live under the sun…He says, if I look at this life without God..and I try to live without him, its vanity. Meaningless, hopeless.

You see this was Solomon. And Solomon would have been the culmination of every one of these categories of hope. Military power, he had it. Powerful king, wealthy..he had it. Intellect…the smartest and wisest man who ever lives outside of Jesus himself. He was the son of David a man after God’s heart…and Solomon himself says…its all vanity. Meaninglessness.

Death- Live everlasting (Vrs. 4)

Weariness- True Rest (Vrs. 8a)

Dissatisfied- Deep lasting satisfaction (Vrs 8b)

Lack of purpose- Lasting impact (Vrs. 11)

These are the questions we look for. These are the desires we have…but the problem there is nothing in us, or in this world that can offer them. What could answer these questions?

Spiritually we are in a predicament. We have desires in us that we can’t fulfill, others can’t..or the world can’t.

b. Psychologically

Romans 1:21-24

Romans 1:21–24 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

spiritually there is no hope for us in us or in this world..but this then produces a psychological problem. God says, one of the ways He will judge us in our wickedness..is to give us up to the desires of our heart. This means that God will punish us by giving us that thing which we hope in besides Him..knowing it can not rescue us..and we will fall to ruin.

What happens when we put our hopes in things which can not rescue.

Destruction that comes from misplaced trust

Depression that comes from misplaced trust

Bitterness and cynicism that comes from misplaced trust

Weariness and Restlessness

Psalm 127:1-2

Psalm 127:1–2 ESV

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

So you have within you desires which the world can not fultill..and phychologically it brings destructions, depression, bitterness, weariness.

This is what it means to walk in darkness. Needing a light, but having none. This is where we are. We are a people that is convinced the light is in us…or in goodness, or the military, or president, or spouse, or job..only to leave us spiritually empty and psychologically broken.

This is why depression and anxiety are on the rise. We have put our trust in ourselves, and realized we can’t carry the weight. This is also why so many Christians walk around powerless, cyncical , anxious..and misearble. We may say we have put our trust in Jesus, but functionally we live as if our hope is everything else.

We misunderstand the Christian hope…we hope Jesus will rescue us and help us, but we put our trust and effort in other things.

4. True Hope

a. Child was born- Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Everyhing under the sun is vanity, so Jesus (the son) comes from above the sun, and enters into this world.

No hope could be found, so hope came and found us.

We fail to recognize the hope in Jesus because we foolishly have placed our hope in something else.

You must understand the significance of Christ coming to this earth. To take on humanity. This is not an old story…or the same old, same old. It is God answering all of the problems of hope in this life. Light entering into the darkness of the world!

b. Son is given- Isaiah 9:6

This is the gift.

Hope is not earned. It is not even found through intellect or your own effort..hope has to find you.

The problem with walking in the dark is that we can’t find what we are looking for, and even if we could we wouldn’t recognize it.

Jesus is the hope of the world.

He is the answer for those who trust in Military power, govermental power, intellect, goodness, humanity.

They need hope to. It is vanity of vanities.

He is the answer to every question that Solomon could find no answer for.

Death, weariness, no satisfaction, lack of purpose.

So what will you do with this gift. Will you bring your gifts to this king of kings…will you bow before this child given. The embodiment of every longing of our heart.

6th Sense- Bruce Willis finds out the whole time He has been dead, and though he thought he was the main character..he is a character in anothers story. And you then look back over the whole movie and realize the clues were all there. We thought the boy was crazy…but he was living one.

Jesus comes and its like that…we realize that we ourselves are the dead one. He look at Jesus likes he’s crazy..and realize this isn’t our story. Its His. We’ve been in the dark the whole time.

We don’t recognize Christ because He comes different than we expect.

Isaiah 7:9 ESV

9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ”

Hope in Jesus or you will have no hope at all!

Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Look to God!

Only a Christian has a right to hope, for only he has the power of God to give substance to his hope. The man who hopes in Christ is as safe as the rainbow-circled throne where sits the God who cannot lie. Such a man has a moral right to look upward and quietly wait for the fulfillment of every promise. Let him but see to it that his anticipations conform to the revealed Word of God and he has nothing to doubt or fear in life or in death. His loftiest flights of fancy cannot outsoar the promises of God to those that love Him and that hope in His mercy.       Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:17-20).

      Hope without the great High Priest is a false hope. How dare they look forward with cheerful expectation of blessedness to come who are not protected by the oath nor held steadfast by the anchor? What is certain about human hopes? Yet millions go on assuming that all is well with their souls when they have never known the forgiving love of God nor felt the kiss of His approval. They nourish the flimsy hope that they are not so bad after all and that "God's a good fellow and 'twill all be well." The worldly minded hope that they are children of God. The impenitent and unrenewed dream of the reward of the righteous and those whose nature fits them for hell pensively hope that they will enter heaven at last.

      Earth is bearable because there is hope. Hell is unendurable because all hope has fled. Heaven is eternal beatitude because hope is there in radiant fulfillment.

      "For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, ... I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more" (Psalm 71:5, 14). -AW Tozer

The light has entered the world. A child is given. He is a gift. But a gift can be accepted or rejected.

There is no good thing, or perfect thing which can not be found in Christ.