A Thrill of Hope

We were in the middle of no where, Warthen, Georgia, on a hay ride on a moonless night.

The guy driving the tractor slowed down and stopped.

Then he shut the lights off.

Where I was raised in Austell, it seemed like Atlanta was a million miles away but, really, it was only 20 miles.

The lights of the Atlanta kind of bled over into our night’s sky.

I could see lots of stars when I stared into space.

But I had no idea.

When the lights of the tractor went off in the middle of nowhere, the sky exploded.

I believe it was a night just like that when the angels came to the shepherds.

The Bible doesn’t say, but I just don’t see the glory of heavenly angels competing with a full moon.

The shepherds were laying on a hillside.

The sheep were settling in.

Insect noises surrounded them.

And then the angel came.

Fear not! He said.

Good news! He said

A Savior, A Messiah, The Lord has come! He said.

And then in an overwhelming display of heavenly ecstasy, an angel choir busted out in song:

Luke 2:14 ““Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!””

And as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone.

Sheep still making sheep noises.

Insects still making insect noises.

And a group of befuddled shepherds, who either just saw a heavenly vision

Or one of the most grand mass delusions ever.

So to see if they were crazy, then went to see if it was true.

And it was.

Just as they had been told.

There was the baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths and laying in a manger.

I suspect that for a moment the shepherds would have been spell bound.

They weren’t crazy - the vision was real.

They were seeing the Messiah their grandfathers and their grandfather’s grandfathers had talked about for centuries.

But of that whole story, there’s this one verse.

They’ve seen Jesus.

They’ve told everyone what they’ve seen and heard.

They’ve stayed their welcome - now it’s time to go.

Luke 2:20 “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

What was it they were feeling?

What emotion was welling up in them that required glorifying and praising God?

It was the thrill of hope.

See, of any group of people alive, shepherds were the most hopeless.

The lowest of the low class.

Looked down on by the very people who enjoyed the benefits of their work.

They wore their wool, they ate their meat and they even sacrificed their lambs.

But they just despised shepherds.

As far as they were concern, shepherds would be societal refuse forever with no hope of ever being anything else.

But now, Messiah.

They know He’s a baby so he won’t deliver us today or tomorrow.

But soon - soon he will deliver us from our very hard lives.

But, that wasn’t what Jesus came to do.

And when He didn’t deliver them from their very hard lives, they did what Jesus knew they would do before He ever came.

They crucified Him.

Buried him.

Threw away the key, as it were.

But as the song says, “Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You, You silenced the boast of sin and grave.”

The shepherds misunderstood what Jesus was delivering them from - Later He tried to tell them, but they didn’t get it.

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

In other words, fear God.

Fear the wrath of God poured out on sinners.

And we’re not talking about death and hell here.

Those things aren’t the wrath of God.

They are the consequences of living under the wrath of God.

The wrath of God is much more simple - and its visible.

And it’s very visible right now all around you.

In Romans 1, three times the Lord tells us that He “turns [sinners] over.”

He turns them over to their lusts.

He turns them over to their dishonorable passions.

And He turns them over to their debased thinking.

In other words, He steps back and lets us have exactly what we want.

That is the wrath of God.

And how can you tell someone is living under the wrath of God?

Hopelessness.

Powerlessness.

Helplessness.

We see it all around us.

We’ve experienced it ourselves.

No one commits suicide because they are full of hope.

No one gets addicted because they are full of hope.

No one works 20 hours a day, 7 days a week because they are full of hope.

No person changes their identity because they are full of hope.

Sure, they may hope this next thing will be the thing that makes them - what?

Whole?

Healthy?

Happy?

But it won’t.

Because God created us to thrive under His authority.

We will not thrive any other way.

So listen to me.

When we meet Jesus, and understand what He is doing, and we repent and place our trust in Him - we gain hope.

We’ve all been told that, if we will trust Jesus as our Savior, we’ll go to heaven when we die.

But that’s not what Jesus said.

Jesus said this: John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Isn’t eternal life heaven?

No, eternal life is having a tomorrow.

And a next day, and a next day and a next day and a next day forever.

Eternal life is waking up from the worst night of your life to know that there will be a next day with another chance.

Eternal life is staring off into space after the most tragic thing ever could happen to you and knowing there will be a next day with another chance.

Eternal life is when your entire world just got turned upside down

And every plan you have made, all of the blood, sweat and tears you put into your plans - all of it gone.

And yet, there will be a next day with another chance.

Because you have Jesus - and He always gives us a next day with another chance with Him.

When the Lord leads you to Jesus, you don’t have to manufacture hope anymore.

Because, you have hope - because you have Jesus.

And that overwhelming feeling you have - that’s the Thrill of Hope.

Real hope - lasting hope - true hope.

And you know what?

When you have it, you’ll feel just like the shepherds.

Luke 2:20 “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

Let us pray:

O Holy Night!

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Father cause your children to experience our first glimpse of Jesus all over again.

Cause us to experience the thrill of hope all over again.

Cause us to fall on our knees and rejoice with the angels.

Cause us to sing your praises by the sheer ecstasy of knowing that we have a million, billion new tomorrows.

With You.

May your name be praised, forever and ever.

Because of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.