The Thrill of Hope

Advent | The Thrill of Hope

Me: Thanksgiving is officially over which means that even the Scrooge’s among us must now admit we are in the Christmas Season!!! Which means I can now reference Christmas carols in my messages, even though they have been playing in my car for four weeks…

I love the song “O Holy Night” there is a line in there that resonates…

“A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoicing”

Although as I sat down to prepare this message I felt less thrill of hope and much more weary world.

“A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoicing”

A few nights ago I struggled to fall asleep because all I could think about was how in every aspect of my life there is stress, some positive and some not, but all making me feel that weariness…

Although as I sat down to prepare this message I felt less thrill of hope and much more weary world.

And then surprise Christmas season is officially here (November was just a dress rehearsal).

A few nights ago I struggled to fall asleep because all I could think about was how in every aspect of my life there is stress, some positive and some not, but all making me feel that weariness…

Christmas is inevitable. As Thanos might explain, “Dread it, run from it, Christmas arrives all the same.”

And then surprise Christmas season is officially here (November was just a dress rehearsal).

It’s coming….

Christmas is inevitable. As Thanos might explain, “Dread it, run from it, Christmas arrives all the same.”

You:

It’s coming….

You: Are you ready? Probably not….

Are you ready? Probably not….

Decorations, Shopping, Food, family coming into town or you going out of town, Money, extra shifts, longer shifts, etc.

This feeling is all for the hope that this Christmas will lead us to some semblance of peace, some experience of joy, and some feeling of love.

Because nothing says Christmas cheer like a Christmas series intro discussing our weariness!

Our hope for Christmas Time is that our time with our family, the presents we give and receive, the decorations and the atmosphere will feel just right, maybe it won’t be 85* outside, all so that we can feel like all the chaos has been worth it… and usually we end up somewhat disappointed- it usually doesn’t match up to our expectations. And even when we get it all just right, don’t we discover the feeling that there MUST BE something more? Something more profound? Something better?

Main Statement: Our hope for Christmas Time is that our time with our family, the presents we give and receive, the decorations and the atmosphere will feel just right, maybe it won’t be 85* outside, all so that we can feel like it’s all been worth it… and usually we end up somewhat disappointed- it usually doesn’t match up to our expectations. And even when we get it all just right, don’t we discover the feeling that there MUST BE something more? Something more profound? Something better?

As we begin to step into the Christmas Season this year at Mosaic, we are going to find that indeed there is something more, Something more profound, Something better. And God built into the fabric of creation ways for us to continually remind us of what God has done, and what God is going to do.

With that in mind, what is the purpose of

As we begin to step into the Christmas Season this year at Mosaic, we are going to find that indeed there is something more, Something more profound, Something better. And God built into the fabric of creation ways for us to continually remind us of what God has done, and what God is going to do.

God: Seasons of celebration and remembrance were created into the fabric of our world.

God: In order to discover this, let’s step all the way back to the VERY beginning of the Human Story. The story of creation.

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Seasons = Festivals (Hebrew: moadim)

: Built into the fabric of Creation… Remembrance & Times and Seasons…

Woven into the fabric of Creation… Festivals, Holy Days, Holidays that lead us to remember what God has done & look forward to what God will do!

Our world operates in rhythms of seasons, and from ancient cultures until now the stars have provided a systematic approach toward expectations of what is to come and where we are in the year.

This led toward remembrance and times for seasons, essentially cultures began to carve out times based on the rhythms implemented into creation to remember.

Our world operates in rhythms of seasons, and from ancient cultures until now the stars have provided a systematic approach toward expectations of what is to come and where we are in the year.

This led toward remembrance and times for seasons, essentially ancient cultures began to carve out times based on the rhythms implemented into creation to remember.

In ancient Israel, in the Old Testament God had commanded His people to create a series of annual festivals based on the rhythms of the seasons to remember what He had done for them.

Was this for God’s ego boost? No. It is because we are a forgetful people who need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to lead us to gratitude for the past, confidence in the present, and hope for the future, whether it was of Him delivering the Jews from Egypt in Passover, or of God’s constant presence with them in the festival of Tabernacles.

In ancient Israel, in the Old Testament God had commanded His people to create a series of annual festivals based on the rhythms of the seasons to remember what He had done for them.

Advent is our Calendar Rhythm Festival that points us back to what Jesus HAS done, and what Jesus WILL do.

Was this for God’s ego boost? No. It is because we are a forgetful people who need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to lead us to gratitude for the past, confidence in the present, and hope for the future, whether it was of Him delivering the Jews from Egypt in Passover, or of God’s constant presence with them in the festival of Tabernacles.

In our culture and especially for those of us who are followers of Jesus, Advent is one of the Festivals in our Calendar Rhythms that points us back to what Jesus HAS done, IS doing, and WILL do.

During Advent we remember the hope, joy, peace, and love that Jesus brought into the world when He became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

Advent is focused on the arrival of Jesus.

Hope is a confident expectation in what is to come.

During Advent we remember the hope, joy, peace, and love that Jesus brought into the world when He became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

Hope is the antidote to weariness, it is freedom from hopelessness.

Hope is a confident expectation in what is to come.

Hope is the antidote to weariness, it is freedom from despair.

But in Jesus, we not only have hope, like an intellectual truth to hold onto… It is an emotional reality that changes our lives. As the song says, it is a “thrill of hope”… all good thrills have stages though.

Anticipation, Possession, Engagement.

Remember when you were a kid and you looked under the Christmas tree to see if your parents or parent got you exactly what you hoped for? You were like measuring the boxes under the tree and then following up on the next Wal Mart trip to measure the box of the game or toy set you were hoping for?

There was a thrill to the anticipation.

To help provide an example of what it looks like to have a thrill of hope around Christmas lets check out what happens when a kid named Ralphie’s Christmas dream comes true…

Then on Christmas day you hopefully opened the gift and realized you were now the possessor of the gift you so desired.

The entire movie he lived in the thrill of anticipation… finding ways to tell his parents that he wanted this BB Gun. Daydreaming. Stalking Santa to make this happen. Being constantly mocked that he would shoot his eye out.

In this clip, we see what happens when he gets the thrill of possession. The joy not only on his face but his dads as well.

There was a thrill to the newfound possession.

But then soon after he goes outside and begins to play with his new BB Gun, and get the thrill of engagement. Well up until he breaks his glasses and “shoots his eye out.”

Then five minutes later you were out in the front yard or in the living room setting up your new gift, not reading the instruction and beginning to play with the gift!

Remember when you were a kid and you looked under the Christmas tree to see if your parents or parent got you exactly what you hoped for? You were like measuring the boxes under the tree and then following up on the next Wal Mart trip to measure the box of the game or toy set you were hoping for?

There was a thrill to the engagement.

There was a thrill to the anticipation.

In Jesus, we discover the same pattern. There is a thrilling story of the past, a thrilling present in our lives with Him, and thrilling future into eternity!

Then on Christmas day you hopefully opened the gift and realized you were now the possessor of the gift you so desired.

For all of the festivals and feasts of Ancient Israel there was a sacredness to the calendar where they remembered what God had done so that they would have confidence in what He was doing but ultimately hoping for the long awaited character known as the Messiah.

After the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity was promised a Messiah, a savior, and God establishes Israel to be the one Through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed when Messiah arrived on the scene.

There was a thrill to the newfound possession.

Then five minutes later you were out in the front yard or in the living room setting up your new gift, not reading the instruction and beginning to play with the gift!

Israel’s Hope was that God would send a Messiah to liberate them from their oppressors. Israel hoped that He would liberate them from Rome.

There was a thrill to the engagement.

What Israel failed to recognize is that their slavery to Rome was a child’s toy in comparison to the reality of humanity’s spiritual slavery to Sin & Death. And because they were unable to fulfill the law, they were hopeless to free themselves from the grip of the power of sin & death.

In Jesus, we discover the same pattern. There is a thrilling story of the past, a thrilling present in our lives with Him, and thrilling future into eternity!

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

So let’s start with the thrill of anticipation...

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For all of the festivals and feasts of Ancient Israel there was a sacredness to the calendar where they remembered what God had done so that they would have confidence in what He was doing but ultimately hoping for the long awaited character known as the Messiah.

After the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity was promised a Messiah, a savior, and God establishes Israel to be the one Through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed when Messiah arrived on the scene.

As we have talked about before, we can easily think that our condition is the spiritual sniffles, like we just need Jesus when we have a felt need.

Paul wrote, “the power of death is the law.” The law provides a gage for us to realize how much we need a savior. It reveals our darkness by showing that none of us are as good as we think. As we chatted about in Ephesians, it reveals that we are spiritually dead.

It’s been said, “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” And centuries of waiting and continued oppression gave them opportunity for their hearts to be sick.

Israel’s Hope was that God would send a Messiah to liberate them from their oppressors. Israel hoped that He would liberate them from Rome.

But the Sting of Death is Sin. In other words, the implications of our arrival into this world as spiritually dead is our disobedience to God.

But Israel misplaced their hope in something that honestly makes sense, this thought of “our God will free us from Rome” makes sense but this was just a child’s toy in comparison to the reality of humanity’s spiritual oppression that transcended every people and nation.

You see we aren’t sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Or to put it another way, our outward actions of darkness are a reflection of the inward reality of darkness. We think we need a Gospel touch up, but Jesus desires to do something far more thrilling…

Messiah was a greater hope than they could have ever imagined…

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

But Jesus came to take care of an issue far greater than Israel’s desire to overthrow Roman oppression or my desire to be less selfish.

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Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

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The Prophets of Israel were caught up with the thrill of anticipation… how will this all play out? What will this Messiah be like?

According to this passage, they didn’t know specifically when he would be arriving or even how, yet they were captivated by the possibilities!

In , Paul is writing about the spiritual bondage that humanity is born and lives in. But here in , he changes up the metaphor and says at the very least it is like living as a child under a legal guardian, which is the law.

In other words, the best we could have ever hoped for on our own was to live a “righteous life” where we don’t screw it up too bad. That’s not hopeful, and it isn’t living. It is surviving and it leads to a weary world in need of freedom and hope.

The reality is many of them were just hoping for freedom FROM the nations. They had spent hundreds of years being beaten down by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Medes, and most recently the Romans. The thought of being saved from the other nations sounded pretty sweet. They wanted freedom from their felt need.

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But even then the Spirit of God gave them this longing, this desire for the day when all the broken things of this world would be dealt with…

For the Jews, the arrival of the Messiah was long-awaited but He came right when he meant to. He came when the fullness of time had come. This is the anticipation.

Think of the systemic evils of the centuries and the social injusticies of our day. Don’t we want to see evil dealt with? Don’t we want to see light life and freedom win out?

And what He sent was not some cheap knockoff savior, but the Father sent His Son. Fully God. Because only God Himself could live in perfection to the law.

But Messiah came to bring so much more than a temporary victory…

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

He was born of a woman and born under the law. Because it was the brokenness of mankind that needed to be reconciled back together. So He placed Himself under the same rules that condemn us.

Why?

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Just like Israel focused their hope on the temporary victory OVER the nations. We can easily hope for Jesus to only save us when we have a felt need.

To Redeem those under the law. He came down to our level to get us.

We can desire for Jesus to simply do behavior modification… make me sin less, heal me, help me get the job… most of our felt needs are not bad for us to desire saving, but we just think of Jesus as too small! But we don’t understand just how thrilling what Jesus has done is… For example, He dealt with our broken nature.

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

You see we aren’t sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Or to put it another way, our outward actions of darkness are a reflection of the inward reality of darkness. We think we need a Gospel touch up, but Jesus desires to do something far more thrilling…

He held nothing back. He went to the furthest ends to adopt us into His Forever Family! This is possession.

And He sealed us with His Holy Spirit to offer guarantee our future engagement!

But Jesus came to take care of an issue far greater than Israel’s desire to overthrow Roman oppression or my desire to be less selfish.

As many of you know, Ali and I have been going through our adoption process of our son who is currently in China along with his biological siblings who are being adopted by our friends Miles and Elizabeth.

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

The process has left all of us feeling weary. When will lawyers do their thing. What else do we need to do? There are cultural and national realities at play with the Chinese way of doing things versus the American way…

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But one thing we have all felt through this process. We will do whatever it takes to bring home our son. This is the thrill of the Father… the thrill of the pursuit.

Jesus was not some cheap knock savior to the hopes of Israel… He sent us His son so that we can be born again to a living hope!

Why does that matter? Because everything you have ever placed your hope in on this earth apart from Jesus has or will fail you. This is just reality. Your family, friends, me, your own body. We will disappoint and let down one another. But Jesus?

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

Not only did the Father come to pursue us, free us from our spiritual bondage, resurrect us from our spiritual death, and adopt us into His Family.

He is Hope by His very nature! He is alive and He came to set us free!! And we can trust Him because He is the only one who cannot and will not let us down.

Which takes us to the thrilling hope of possession. That through Jesus we have attained possession of our salvation already. We can live right now in light of this living hope.

Any one of these spaces would be ridiculous but the light and hope of the Gospel was meant to break through into the dark spaces of our world.

We don’t have to focus all our energy on “being better” because He has already done the real work. Instead, we are live in freedom.

The Song “O Holy Night” was written in the mid-1800s in France as a hymn commissioned by a local priest from two guys who didn’t even follow Jesus. But they were talented and God used them to write what we consider to be a holiday classic.

For Israel, if they would follow Messiah they were being set free not just FROM the nations but being set free WITH the nations!

But when it was translated by an American in the North before the Civil War had begun named John Sullivan Dwight who was a Follower of Jesus and an abolitionist. His translation reflected that the Gospel was meant to effect every aspect of our lives.

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

In the third verse he wrote, "Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease."

The Father is such an incredible Dad...

Most of us have sung these words countless times. Jesus’ divine ideal for our lives is that we would love God and love one another. This is what Jesus called the greatest commandment of the law. And while we all seek peace only in His GOOD NEWS do we have true peace.

He held nothing back. He went to the furthest ends to adopt us into His Forever Family! We are now have the thrill of possession, specifically we are HIS possession.

And He sealed us with His Holy Spirit to guarantee our future engagement!

As Paul wrote in Galatians, He has come and broke the chains of sin and death, and in light of that our differences and animosities must fade away.

As many of you know, Ali and I have been going through our adoption process of our son who is currently in China along with his biological siblings who are being adopted by our friends Miles and Elizabeth.

Because now, as it is written, the Gospel came to bring unity to where there was division, men and women, slave and free, Jew and non-Jews. The divisions carry no weight in light of the Gospel.

The process has left all of us feeling weary. When will lawyers do their thing. What else do we need to do? There are cultural and national realities at play with the Chinese way of doing things versus the American way…

ALL OPPRESSION SHALL CEASE.

But one thing we have all felt through this process. We will do whatever it takes to bring home our son. This is the thrill of the Father… the thrill of the pursuit.

This song spread across the Union bringing the Gospel of reconciliation and light to a country of division and darkness.

The Gospel challenges every culture, because no culture lives up to God’s divine ideal of love. It is meant to challenge you and me to love others as sons and daughters of the King.

Main Idea: Our Hope is more thrilling than we could possibly imagine!

Main Point: The Messiah, Our Hope, is Better than we imagined! Jesus not only came to bring forgiveness, but to invite us into Sonship & Inheritance!

Not only did the Father come to pursue us, free us from our spiritual bondage, resurrect us from our spiritual death, and adopt us into His Family.

Any one of these spaces would be ridiculous but the light and hope of the Gospel was meant to break through into the dark spaces of our world.

And what will our inheritance be? What are we anticipating????

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The Song “O Holy Night” was written in the mid-1800s in France as a hymn commissioned by a local priest from two guys who didn’t even follow Jesus. But they were talented and God used them to write what we consider to be a holiday classic.

But when it was translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight, an American who lived in the North right before the Civil War had begun, he was a Follower of Jesus and an abolitionist. His translation reflected that the Gospel was meant to effect every aspect of our lives.

You: How many of you would like a Disney Cruise as a Christmas Present this year even if it didn’t have a porthole in your room? Awesome, let your families know.

In the third verse he wrote, "Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease."

Imagine this is what you hoped for to be under the tree this year. You anticipate you are going to receive it in the form of a certificate, and then on Christmas morning you see an envelope hanging in the tree!!! The thrill of anticipation is real.

Most of us have sung these words countless times. Jesus’ divine ideal for our lives is that we would love God and love one another. This is what Jesus called the greatest commandment of the law. And while we all seek peace only in His GOOD NEWS do we have true peace.

Then you open it, and it is everything you were hoping for! A certificate that says Disney Cruise and gives you the date you set sail…

You hold onto that certificate like its gold until you get to boarding and hand it over… the thrill of possession.

As Paul wrote in the book of Galatians, He has come and broke the chains of sin and death, and in light of that our differences and animosities must fade away.

Because now, as it is written, the Gospel came to bring unity to where there was division, men and women, slave and free, Jew and non-Jews. The divisions carry no weight in light of the Gospel.

You hand it over, are handed your key card and get onboard and they announce your name!! The thrill of engagement.

ALL OPPRESSION SHALL CEASE.

But then you get to your room and you realize they upgraded you from a windowless room to the Disney Suite! The thrill of exceeded expectations!

This song spread across the Union bringing the Gospel of reconciliation and light to a country of division and darkness.

This is what we have in Jesus. Thrill beyond thrill. Hope beyond hope!

This Christmas, as we celebrate Advent together, may we be a people who live in the AMAZING HOPE that what we have in Christ is BETTER than we could have ever imagined!

The Gospel challenges every culture, because no culture lives up to God’s divine ideal of love. It is meant to challenge you and me to love others as sons and daughters of the King.

Us: So the question is are you ready for Christmas? Now logistically, the answer is no more than when I started speaking… but even if everything falls apart. Even if the flight gets cancelled. You burn your food for the potluck at work. You don’t get the present you hoped. You can be ready for Christmas because we can live with the thrill of hope!

Main Point: The Messiah, Our Hope, is Better than we imagined! Jesus not only came to bring forgiveness, but to invite us into Sonship & Inheritance!

Let’s Pray.