Pregnant with Hope

This week we enter the season of Advent. Advent means “Arrival”. Each year as Christmas approaches churches all over the globe take these 4 weeks leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ “arrival” or birth to tell the story of his coming. And remember how that changed everything for the world. How God - this creating, all knowing, all powerful, all loving person sent his Son to restore our relationship with our Creator.

HOPE

In this first week of Advent we look at the idea of Hope.

What do we think of as hope?

Good wishes?

Wishful thinking?

Optimistic outlook?

Biblical Hope is much more about WAITING on God than having a postive perspective.

Anticipation of a future that is better than the present.

Yakhal - To wait for

QaVah - Related to the word “cord”. The picture is the tension that exists when you pull a cord from both ends.

Biblical hope is about waiting on a person. On God to act.

It’s required in situations where we haven’t got the ability to bring about the desired future - but God does.

So hope is more about trusting the character of God....AND THE TIMING OF GOD.

HOPE IS HARD - sometimes God takes a loooooong time.

EXAMPLES OF HOPE

geneology

images of planting seeds & creating a vineyard

and yes, pregnancy and birth

HOPE IS HARD

It’s fitting that the story of God fufilling the Hope of many and bringing salvation through Jesus begins with the story of two unlikely pregnancies.

Even the most ordinary pregnancy is a bit of an experiment in Hope. You know that life is growing - that something much anticipated will arrive soon but you have very little control over what is happening on the inside. Long before you are even aware of the pregnacy the DNA is in place, the blue eyes or brown - the dark skin or fair. You can have a rough sense of when to anticipate the birth…but really it’s impossible to know for sure. Babies usually surprise us with their own timetable.

In some ways that’s a bit like waiting on God. We have the seed of hope - but growth and the realisation of those things comes slowly - sometimes painfully - and often unexpectedly.

So…now to the book of Luke where we will see God work to realise Hope in Elizabeth and Mary.

ELIZABETH & ZECHARIAH

Luke 1:5–25 ESV

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

So first - Here is a couple who have struggled to maintain hope over a long time.

They have been faithful to the degree they knew how

“priestly line” - Zechariah is actively serving before the Lord.

“they were both righteous before God - they tried to do what was good and right.

“walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord”

- They knew, honored, and followed the scriptures God gave to Israel. They took the time to learn what God was like, to learn what He said was good and to obey to the best of their ability.

And yet they had no child - Elizabeth was barren.

The way the text outlines their faithfullness to God is meant to demonstrate that it isn’t some kind of sin or failure on their part that has kept them from having a child.

And now they are advanced in years - the suggestion is probably too old to have a child.

HOPE IS HARD

There’s no way for us to know how Zechariah and Elizabeth felt about their childlessness.

In verse 12 the angel that appears before Zechariah in the temple says: “Your prayer has been heard.” I’m sure there were many, many prayers prayed over the years for children to be born to them. As they aged and the natural expectation of pregnancy faded did they still ask God for the impossible?

As Zechariah entered the Holy place - a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer incense in the space they understood to be closest to the presence of God. As he approached God in that moment was this prayer of Hope on his lips....the prayer he had prayed most of his life. The prayer for a child.

HOPE IS HARD

Because Hope means waiting for God to act where we can’t. Zechariah and Elizabeth could not do anything more to have a child. And we can see that Zechariah has a mixed response. He is both Hopeful enough to ask God for a child, but also very fearful that God will not give him his desire.

THIS IS RELATABLE: How often have you prayed, and prayed, and prayed for something to occur and when it does…or even at the first glimmer of hope you are so frightened that God may not actually fufill your desire that you try to tamp down hope to manage the pain that comes when hope is shattered.

And so, Zechariah second guesses the possiblity of this realized Hope and tries to explain away what God is doing…and look for assurance that what seemed irrational could possibly be true.

But the angel is standing there. The angel who spends his time in front of The Most High God and he’s here not to negotiate but to deliver a message about what God has already decided to do. To let Zechariah and Elizabeth in on the inside plan of God’s salvation that their son, John, will play a role in.

- John will be his name --- “God is gracious” - signaling God’s movement in Grace towards his people.

- He will be devoted to God in a special way from birth - the line about not drinking wine or strong drink suggests a Nazarine vow - a special promise of devotion to God. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb.

- He will turn people’s hearts back to God - and the reference to Elijah both illustrates the power God will work through Him and also the role to call people to repent and return to God.

And so even as all of Zechariah’s worries and questions and fears bubble to the surface the angel indicates that he needs to silence them for a while and he becomes mute - when he comes out of the temple to the crowd waiting in prayer he cannot speak and deliver the blessing…and this alone is a testimony to all of them that something strange and unique has happened.

When he returns home and Elizabeth becomes pregnant her response is one of hope.

“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among the people.”

HOPE & SHAME

In many scriptures I read there is definitely a connection between HOPE and SHAME

MARY

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Here is a pregnancy not at all expected or hoped for. Mary is a virgin. She is engaged to be married. So a pregnancy before her wedding is really not great news for her for obvious reasons.

But the angel tells Mary that her body is going to be a vehicle for the realization of HOPE for thousands of years of prayers that God would bring deliverance for His people. And the image is poignant - the deliverance of a child through birth and the “birthing act” God is doing to make a new people for himself.

When the angel greets Mary he uses the term “favored” twice in reference to her. Favored is a grace reference. There is no sense of any special qualification Mary has for this role - it doesn’t tell us anything about her relationship with God at all - though her response gives us some insight into her nature.

Mary’s role in this salvation act is simply a gift of grace. Just as salvation is for each of us. Something that cannot be bought or earned but only recieved gratefully.

Perhaps Mary would be aware of the prayers and prophetic hope gathered into this moment that she is participating in.

Messiah would be from the line of David and have an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12-13)

Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)

Through the descendants of Jacob (Genesis 28:14)

The king comes through Judah (Genesis 49:10)

These are among the Messianic Hopes the angel mentions to her. As Jesus’ birth and life continues he will fulfil many more Old Testament prophesies - everything from his birth place, to his mission, to specific details about his death and buriel.

In this moment of encounter with the angel Mary’s first question is the obvious one: “How can this be, since I am a virgin.”

And the response is that: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Most High will overshadow you;

This is the same language used of the glory of God descending on the tabernacle - overshadowing - being enveloped by God’s Glory. Mary’s body becomes a temple - literally - where God lives as the Holy Spirit’s power initiates conception.

And the angel says: “…therefore the child born will be called holy - the Son of God.”

This is the miracle we celebrate at Christmas - Jesus, both God and Man coming to earth.

The angel continues: “And behold, your relative Eliabeht in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

AND THEREIN LIES OUR HOPE. THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD. THAT HE IS BOTH POWERFUL ENOUGH AND WISE ENOUGH TO HELP AND HEAL US

Mary puts her trust in this with her response: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.

THE FORK IN THE ROAD

To have Biblical Hope means to wait and trust in God more than the thing you desire.

If all you are waiting for is a particular desire - a certain outcome for a circumstance, relationship, or a desire to see your life move in a particular direction or attain a particular goal…if this is where our hope is we will most certainly be disappointed eventually.

But Biblical Hope is all about knowing that God sees everything and knows much better than we do what leads to life.

So HOPE is rooted in knowing WHO it is we are putting our TRUST in not what. And if you come to know his character you can trust that where he leads you - even the tough places - he is bringing about goodness in the long run.

WHO DO WE HOPE IN?

Psalm 33 (ESV)

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

- WORSHIP & THANKSGIVING REMIND US OF WHAT IS TRUE AND STIR OUR HOPE

He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

HIS CHARACTER IS GOOD. Hesed - never ending, never giving up, covenant love of God.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

HE IS CREATOR AND IN AUTHORITY OVER ALL CREATION

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;

from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

GOD IS ACTIVE IN HISTORY. HE HAS A PLAN AND NO HUMAN CAN OUTWIT HIM. HE IS STRONGER THAN ANY ARMY.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

THE HARDEST PART OF HOPE IS THE WAITING.

We want God to move and act quickly - to take away difficulty.

But sometimes he is using the difficulty to form us, to grow our trust, to reveal to us his love.

END:

As the Christmas story begins…Israel has been waiting for a Saviour.

“O Come O Come Emmanuel”

I don’t know what you are hoping FOR right now.... I imagine in this room there are many prayers being prayed, many unfinished HOPEs

but I want to encourage you to hope IN

To get to know the God who makes all things possible.