Hope

Missions Month

supporting two missions efforts

Grace Harbor Church - West End Ministry Center -

International Mission Board - known as the Lottie Moon Christmas offering - named for a woman in the last century who worked tirelessly to support missionaries by writing letters, praying, and advocating.

if giving by check or cash - note which or how much to allocate to each

if giving online - there are two places - Lottie Moon and Grace Harbor

Hope Springs Eternal

…is a sentiment that has passed through people’s minds for over 200 years. It was first introduced in the poem “An Essay on Man” by Alexander Pope in the 18th century. The poem recognizes the scientific advancements and education brought on by the enlightenment, but also provided a sense of pause and humility.

The stanza that contains this phrase says:

Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;

Wait the great teacher, Death, and God adore!

What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,

But gives that Hope to be thy blessing now.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never is, but always to be blest;

The soul uneasy, and confin'd at home,

Rests, and expatiates, in a life to come.

There is something in-grained in the human heart that longs for hope. We hope for relief. We hope for something more. We hope for peace. We hope for that future blessing.

Hope is what has motivated inventors - in the desire to find a new way of doing something.

Hope has fueled activists seeking advocate for change in society.

And yet hope is a dependent commodity. Hope is more like a directional sign leading to a destination - and yet it lacks the means to get there. Hope needs an object upon which to rest.

Today, as we celebrate this first Sunday of Advent, we reflect on hope. In order to do so, we will consider part of the passage that was read earlier.

Lamentations 3:19–24 NET

Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. I continually think about this, and I am depressed. But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.

That passage is found in the book of Lamentations. Let’s consider briefly a little...

Background on Lamentations

It was likely written by the prophet Jeremiah in the decade following the exile of Judah, which happened in 586BC. It’s a short book, only 5 chapters that seems to form a chiasm - forcing us to consider the theme of the central chapter (ch. 3). There are some interesting patterns that emerge in the book.

Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 are each 22 verses

Chapters 1, 2, 4 are written as an acrostic - each verse begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In fact some translations like the New English Translation include the Hebrew Letters to help us understand how the acrostic works.

Chapter 5 is also 22 verses, but not written in an acrostic form

Chapter 3 - the focus of our attention, is 66 verses - three times as long as the others, also acrostic - every three verses begin with a new letter of the alphabet

The content of Lamentations consists of Jeremiah’s heartfelt cry over a desperate situation. The book is his written and prayerful lament. We’ve defined a lament before as

A prayer in pain that leads to trust. (Mark Vroegop)

So here, in this central chapter of Lamentations, Jeremiah acknowledges the difficulty and the justice of the situation, but also expresses his sense of hope.

Jeremiah is not alone in this. Throughout the OT, we find glimpses of hope. We find prophets both proclaiming the coming discipline of the Lord and then also providing a sense of hope in the salvation that would come.

The Hebrew word that is translated as “hope” in the verses we are considering today is often translated as “wait” in other parts of the OT, depending on the context. For the Hebrew writers, hoping and waiting essentially go hand in hand. There is an element of hope that requires waiting.

As we think through this concept of hope today, I want us to ask and answer two questions:

In what do we hope?

Why should we hope in God?

Let’s begin by asking...

In what do we hope?

As humans and as people who live in the USA, we tend to place our hope in a variety of materialistic things. In some ways, we need to hope.

Where there is no hope, there can be no endeavor.

Samuel Johnson

Hope prompts us to take action.

As one of the most prosperous nations on earth, we often turn first to...

Money

confidence is savings or investments - again - the waiting element - hoping to have enough to purchase this or that or to be able to retire.

the payday that is coming in the next few days - and put off doing certain things until pay day comes.

we hope in the financial windfall of the next big deal.

working a side hustle to get ahead.

Challenge:

Inflation eats away at money’s effectiveness

surprise expenses whittle away at savings

Sometimes we’ll hope in a new...

Position or Opportunity

Maybe it’s the next rung in the career ladder

the “grass is always greener” mentality of thinking that the same job in another company will make life better.

Challenge:

We are still the same person in that position as we were in this one

The new environment or view may have new levels of peace - but it will also have it’s own set of new problems

Maybe we put hope in...

Power or Influence

having power over a situation or a person

having influence or at least knowing someone who does in the hope of increasing social standing. It’s like getting close to that popular kid at school in the hope of avoiding their bullying tactics.

Challenge

there will always be someone more powerful or influential

situations change quickly - someone who is powerful in one administration or school year might be powerless in the next.

Politics

we assume that our party has the right solutions for the nation and easily place our hope in the outcome of the next election

Security/Safety

avoiding pain or injury

forgetting that it is sometimes in pain that God speaks most clearly. As C.S. Lewis has famously said:

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.

The Problem of Pain (1947)

C. S. Lewis

We also tend to put out hope in...

Education

more knowledge or achievement

or the hope that the right education or degree will result in a certain job or level of income - all the while forgetting that the economy does not care what degree or you or I may have - if there are not jobs available in that field - then there are not jobs.

Catherine - went to a certain prestigious law school, initially promised work (100% placement rate), enticed to come to the school for a law degree - upon graduation - nothing. God has finally opened doors for her, but the hope of the initial promises took a long time to come to fruition.

Finally, among many other things in which we can place our hope, we also hope in...

Religion

For some in our society, religion becomes a sort of feel-good medicine to hopefully bring about change in the world. Sure it may make some difference, but it can also cause other problems.

There are so many more things in which we can hope, but ultimately all of those will let us down. Jeremiah through his lament seems to be urging us to place our hope in God - to look to him. Which then begs the question...

Why should we hope in God?

Will placing our hope in God actually make a difference or will it be more like wishful thinking and spiritual catharsis?

Jeremiah gives us a couple of things to remember. First of all...

Hope in God relieves our minds from the mess (19-21)

In the midst of his pain, he offers up this prayer and reminder...

Lamentations 3:19–21 ESV

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

He cries out for God to remember his pain - and I think by extension the pain of his people.

He also acknowledges the inner turmoil of his present circumstances. As the NET says - he “continually” thinks about it. Here he is near the beginning of a 70 year exile - one that he won’t live through. It’s almost as though he is facing a sort of depression.

Have you been in that kind of a place - mentally, emotionally, physically? A place where things are so bad that it’s all you can think about. I get that way with mistakes or poor decisions that I’ve made - unable to forgive myself, even though I’ve taken it to the Lord multiple times. It’s easy to get lost in those thoughts of failure or discouraged in the mire of despair. As with Jeremiah - these thoughts can continually be before us and can cause us to be depressed.

And yet Jeremiah finds hope. - “But this I call to mind...”

God may not always relieve the pressures of the mess - after all - it was 70 years before the exile was ended, and it was centuries before Christ came.

Hoping in God helps us to live out the verse - “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim. 6:6)

Hoping in God gets our minds off of the mess on the Maker.

Hoping in God provides perspective in the midst of the problems.

But, for Jeremiah and for us, hoping in God is not a religious activity or a mental ascent. What we find is that...

Hope in God is rooted in His endless acts of love and compassion (22-23)

Hope in God rooted in his character and conduct.

Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

One of the interesting things that we find here is that Jeremiah uses the plural forms of both love and mercies. It doesn’t make sense in English - but it would be as though he says, the steadfast “loves”of the Lord....In other words, it is as though Jeremiah sees various actions of God as expressions of His love.

But what actions had he seen?

In many ways, all he saw was the discipline of the Lord for His people - which means that even his discipline is a sign of his love.

Hebrews 12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.””

But I do think there are so many more ways that we can look at the hesed or steadfast love and mercies of Yahweh. Let’s reflect for a moment on these two Hebrew words.

Hesed - or steadfast love - is sometimes translated lovingkindness or loyal love. It’s God’s covenantal love for his people, for His creation. This is the word he used to describe His own faithfulness to His people - Exodus 34:6–7 “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”” Even though God will bring discipline to His people - he will never leave them. He will not abandon them. He will not stop showing faithful love to them.

For those who are parents, you may experience a bit of this from God’s perspective as in love you discipline your children in order to help them grow up in the way they should go (Pv. 22:6). Now, I know that as parents we may try to discipline in love but we may not always be loving. I also know that there are some parents who discipline from a completely different motivation - selfishness, pride, ego-centrism, etc.

While Jeremiah lived in such a dark time that the discipline of the Lord was what he saw clearly - that is not the only way that God works in our lives. In the subsequent verses, Jeremiah notes some of the things that he sees…look in your bibles as some of the next verses:

Lamentations 3:25 “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

Lamentations 3:31-33 “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.”

Lamentations 3:37-38 “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?”

A few verses later, Jeremiah comes to the conclusion that he and his people should Lamentations 3:40 “...test and examine [their] ways, and return to the Lord!”

Paul echoes this sentiment in Romans 2:4 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

These endless acts of love from God are complimented by his never-ending acts of compassion, which is translated by the term...

rahamim - mercies - This is the outward expression of God’s steadfast love. This word in many ways pictures the way that a pregnant woman would care for and nurture the child in her womb. A child in utero does not have a sense of time and has no idea how long it will be until the day of birth, but instead grows in a nurturing environment - enveloped in the compassionate care of the mother. In much the same way - God’s never ending mercies will care for us, will nurture us until the full fruition of his will is accomplished. Not only in salvation through Jesus, but the hope of the resurrection and eternal life with Him.

So, our hope in God is not based on whims or wishful thinking, but on his character and the expression of that character - his mercies/compassion.

Secondly, our...

Hope in God is realized in Jesus (24)

I don’t think Jeremiah here is speaking specifically of Jesus - but he is reflecting on His relationship with God.

Lamentations 3:24 ESV

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Jeremiah saw Yahweh as his portion - inheritance

From the earliest pages of the Old Testament, there has been a promise of someone coming in the future.

the “seed of the woman” in Gen. 3:15.

The prophet of which Moses promised - Dt. 18:15.

The eternal heir to the throne of David (2 Sam. 7:13)

The suffering servant who would redeem His people from their sins (Isa. 52-53).

I’m not sure that Jeremiah realized all of that when he was writing his lament, but as he turned to be able to trust in God - he recognized that it wasn’t in the hand or the handouts of God - but in his very being that he would find the source of his hope.

When we look to the circumstances of our lives and assume that the lack of conflict, bounty food on the table or in the abundance of money bank is evidence of God’s presence, then we fail to see that it is truly in Him that we find our portion.

Ultimately, the full realization of that portion is Jesus Christ, the heir of David’s throne, the Son of God, our redeemer.

Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope.

Charles Spurgeon

Closing Thoughts

At Christmas, we look back in faith to his first coming - rejoicing in all that he did. He embodied the perfection that we could never attain to. He became the fulfillment of all that the Law of God requires - and allows us to be reconciled to God.

Advent provides an opportunity for us to look forward in hope to his second coming and the consummation of all that he has promised. Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT promises and the deposit for God’s eternal promises.

So, in essence, hope for Christians springs eternal because the eternal holy God, looked in love on us in the mess of our sin, sent his son to redeem us from that sin and bring us into a relationship with Him for eternity.

Have you found your hope in that God? Have you received Jesus as your inheritance? Has the kindness of God led you to repentance? Come unto Jesus today!

The Lord’s Supper

As we think about this season of advent and the coming of Jesus - we get to recognize that Jesus brings us hope because he stepped into the darkness of our sin. He stepped into the frailty of our humanity. Some will say that he lived life as an example for us. He did that and so much more. Out of love, he willingly offered his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sin. In love John 3:17 “... God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

For those who have trusted in Him, Jesus saved us from the eternal consequences of our sin, welcomed us into an eternal relationship with Him, and brought us into an eternal family.

So as we come to this banquet hall, we come in gratitude and celebration of all that Christ has done for us.

in a few moments - we will pass the elements

pause to pray -

thanking God for what he has done,

repenting of things area that you might be holding back or sins that you’ve committed,

pray for people in this room and in your life that you know don’t know Christ yet.

If you’re not yet a believer, let this pass, this is for you when you believe.

Students, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your savior, this is for you, but follow your parents lead. If you’ve not yet gone public with your faith, let me encourage you to consider that. I’d be happy to talk with you about that sometime.

Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions:

What earthly/temporary things are you most inclined to place your hope?

How have you found those to be fulfilling? How have you found those to let you down?

Jeremiah notes that he remembers the challenges of his current situation (3:19-20). What does dwelling on the mess do to us internally? How does hope in God change our situation? How does hope in God change our perspective?

What are some examples of the steadfast love (hesed) and mercies of God?

Jeremiah sees Yahweh (the LORD) as his portion or allotment or inheritance (v. 24). What does that mean? (practically, spiritually, psychologically). How can we relate to God in that way?

Hope in God has an eternal perspective. Are you putting your hope in him for eternal life through Jesus Christ?

How have you found hoping in Him to make a difference today?

Sources

https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/works/o3676-w0010.shtml

Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition Notes. Biblical Studies Press, 2006.

Dyer, Charles H. “Lamentations.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.