Hope Has A Name (4)

First Sunday of Advent 2025

Luke 2:1-3

Hope of All the Earth— Nazarene church-wide study

Intro:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Or is it? It is busy for a lot of us. We’re shopping, going to parties—and ya know, we have to clean the house to get ready for hosting. And there’s decorating too.

It seems like there’s not enough hours in the day to get it all done.

The Church calendar invites us to take a different posture. One of waiting. In the Christian calendar, TODAY is the first day of the New Year. It’s the First Sunday of Advent.

What Is Advent?

I don’t ever remember hearing that word and I grew up in Church—every Sunday morning, night, Wed. If the door was open, we were there.

Advent is a four week period in the Christian Calendar that prepares people for Jesus’ birth at Christmas—all while pointing us ahead to his promised return.

The word Advent means “a coming” or “an arrival.” It’s a season of waiting for Christ to come. Each Sunday during the 4-week Advent Season, we spotlight a theme—Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Sometimes people think of Advent and sort of a count-down to Christmas—but that doesn’t really accurately capture what Advent is.

It’s not a count-down to Christmas, but it is a reminder that we are living during the time between Jesus’ first and second advents.

During this season of waiting, we see and lament the ways that sin and death still hold sway in this world. Advent reminds us that as we wait for Christ’s second coming, we see the brokenness in the world and remember what God is going to do. As we wait, we’re invited to practice a way of love and care for our neighbors as we partner with Jesus to bring peace on earth.

This morning, we will launch into a new church year reminding ourselves that we are a people of hope!

Why? Hope has a name...It’s Jesus!

READING OF THE PASSAGE

Let’s turn to Luke 2:1-3 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syra. And everyone went to their own town to register.”

Transition—prayer

That’s a short passage right! Maybe we will get out a bit early today—Ha! Probably not. In this one little phrase… “In those days” says a lot!

What days? “In those days.” In THOSE days—Luke is referring to a time, an era of Israel’s history when the world seemed so dark and so broken that it was beyond repair. Hopeless.

Israel was under Roman control. They were harsh, they were cruel. Israel had been an occupied nation for pretty much most of the last 600 years—they had very little control over their laws and even faced challenges with the worship practices.

Now, The Roman emperor has declared a census. They kept track of their citizens! This counting of people was going to lead to more taxation, more oppression. Rome had power of them. 

“In those days” meant that It was also during this time that Israel had not heard God speak in a long long time. They had not heard a prophetic voice is close to 400 years! 

However, the people did not put to good use that time to prepare for the Messiah’s coming. They had 400 years to study Scripture, to seek God (Psalm 43-44), and to prepare for the coming Messiah—but most of them didn’t. They didn’t make good use of that time.

It seems those years blinded and deafened the nation to the point where most of the Jews could not even consider the concept a Messiah that would be humble. 

We can fast forward to 2025 and we can relate somewhat. We are waiting for Christ’s second return. Do we make good use of that time in preparation?

We also know what it is like for darkness feels overwhelming.  All we have to do is watch the news—watch TikTok, social media—crime, natural disasters, floods, wars raging…

We also know about relationships that are broken—broken homes, broken families…We also know the pain of grieving loved ones.

Just this week, my youngest son lost his childhood best friend. He was 29 years old. Struggled with some sort of depression and mental illness that he just couldn’t seem to shake. 

We understand pain, suffering, oppression, depression, injustice, tragedies—all of it. The world is such a dark place. 

But in Luke 2:1-3 we are reminded that there is Hope in the midst of all that darkness! Hope in the midst of immense suffering, pain, loss, grief. Hope.

John Bunyan English Christian writer, once said: “Hope is never ill when faith is well. 

There is HOPE—but what is biblical hope? 

Sometimes we use that word like it’s just wishful thinking- crossing our fingers and hoping for the best—like when you take a test—you hope you pass. Or, you hope it snows and school gets cancelled.

We hope for better jobs, brighter futures—that kind of hope is based on things that may or may not come to be. When our hopes come crashing down from the moon, we’re crushed. We’re frustated. 

Our Hope is misguided. Our hope gets misplaced. We resort to wishful thinking, or we hope in the wrong things. We hope in our bank accounts, our positions, titles, government, spouse, ourselves…

During this season of Advent, we’re invited to imagine a different kind of hope that goes beyond wishful thinking.

Biblical hope invites us to imagine hope that is grounded and rooted in two things: God’s unchanging nature—and especially in His promises that He is going to make all things new and all things right. That’s real hope. 

Maybe you’re thinking—okay—you’re not in the real world. You’re looking through rose colored glasses.

Biblical hope is not pretending that everthing is okay. It is not dismissing or minimizing pain and suffering and naively assume that everything is going to get fixed or get better. 

Again…biblical hope invites us to imagine a hope that is grounded in God’s unchanging nature and promises.

This is what it is—biblical hope gives us the courage to face the darkness because it chooses to believe God’s promises will indeed come true—and we believe that based on God’s faithful character. He has stood and passed the test of time. 

Hope is often translated as “wait.” We wait and anticipate God fulfilling His promise to return and make all things new.

That’s the hope that strengthens us to endure and persevere. In the midst of our trouble, hope empowers us to hang in there—keep doing what we should—loving God and others because that’s the sign for others that restoration is going to arrive when Jesus returns again.  In other words Hope empowers us to model what it’s going to look like when Jesus returns. We model Kingdom living. Hope makes this possible.

In the meantime, until He returns, we cling to passages like Psalm 25:

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed;Do not let my enemies exult over me.Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know Your ways, O Lord;Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me,For You are the God of my salvation;For You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.”

And this one— Psalm 33:18-22:

“Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. 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.”

Biblical hope doesn’t fade  or get weak when we’re under pressure. We hold to promises like this from I Peter 1:3-9:

“ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

But going back to today’s text…Luke 2:1-3, “In those days”—yes, things were bad. In those days, things were overwhelming. In those days, things were dark. In those days. It was bad,

but guess what? God was already moving. Prophecies had been falling into place and most people didn’t pay attention.

He was already working. Think about it—He had already sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord. He had already told Mary about the coming Messiah. 

God is still working today-God has always worked through faithful people to bring hope and peace to the world that is suffering from despair and darkness. God’s grace is at work now—always reaching and drawing people to Himself. 

The Old Christmas Hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” speaks to this hope. Based on a poem by Henry Wadsorth Longfellow written during the Civil War, the poem begins with the joy of hearing Christmas bells proclaiming peace and goodwill.

Then another sound rings out—the sound of cannons, shattering the speaker’s peace and throwing him into despair, believing that hatred and war have made a mockery of peace and goodwill.

Yet then, the bells ring out and again, and the speaker hears this message of hope:

“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth good-will to men. 

What a great reminder for us today… As we wait in the darkness- when we’re tempted to let it overwhelm us, our hope is in the God who neither slumbers nor sleeps and will one day redeem and restore all of creation.

I love this quote: William Jenkyn once said, “My future is as bright as the promises of God.”

Our hope is anchored in the promises of God! I love that word “anchored!”

Anchored—Our hope is anchored in the promises of God.

Hope—not wishful thinking. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines it like this: Biblical hope is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God’s guidance.

More specifically, hope is the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future.

In the meantime we use our time wisely. We pay attention. We stay awake. We model Kingdom living. We keep our Hope in Christ.

Hope Has A Name—Jesus

I challenge you to put your hope in Him—and in Him alone. In Christ alone my hope is found…He is my light, my strength and song.

I want to close this morning by singing a song of celebration, one of the Hope we have in Christ.

Closing Song: “In Christ Alone”

Benediction: May the God of hope fill you with hope and may it live in your heart as you share the hope of Christ with all you meet. Share hope by noticing someone else’s humanity. Share