Bringing Forth Hope

Ist Sunday of Advent

Series “Away in a Manger”

5 characters: The Shepherd, Mary, Joseph, Wise Men ....

Today: Isaiah

ME:

Pledge

Passage: & 6-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Prayer

Title: Bringing Forth Hope

Hope (Def.)

: A feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing to happen

: A feeling of trust

: An Expectation of the fulfillment of some .... one thing ... desired or promised

What we read in Isaiah is hope!

: Hope for God’s people

Hope in WHAT?

Hope for a coming messiah

Have you ever been in a position for hope.

: Not necessarily talking about …..

- Your football team wining or losing

- Your Kids growing up and being successful

- You getting that job/new job

I am talking about being in exile and hoping to be rescued or released from your captor.

Hope on the horizon is one of the themes from the book of Isaiah.

His prophecies extended from 739-681 BC to the people of God primarily living in Jerusalem.

In this slice of history, the Israelite people find themselves living in dark times of judgment because they have broken their covenant with God and pursued idolatrous and rebellious lives leading to sin.

We do realize that when we pursue SIN, live in SIN, we find ourselves living without God?

For the Israelites, we read about the judgment of God throughout the Book of Isaiah in the form of foreign nations such as Assyria and Babylon overtaking God’s people and eventually leading them into exile.

Pause:

People that experience exile …. long for hope to hold on to until they can be rescued and released from their captors. Exile is a place where people desire for someone to save them. When a person wakes up and wonders if today could possibly get any worse than yesterday, that person may be living in exile.

Some may say that reading the daily headlines now in the 21st century brings echoes of a type of exile from what life could and should be like. Stories dealing with:

· Terrorist attacks

· Abuse in all forms

· Corruption in government

· Epidemics in society from human trafficking to opioid addiction

· Power and hedonism leading to oppression and exploitation

All these dark issues and more that surround our lives each day in the form of news stories can make it feel like a modern-day exile from what God intended and desires our lives to be.

Sometimes the stories are not in the news; rather, they are our own stories that seem to find us wandering in a dark season. Perhaps our stories are dealing with:

· Divorce

· Disease

· Debt

· Depression

· Death

Whether living 700 years before the birth of Jesus or almost 21 centuries afterwards, people experiencing the effects of exile need hope to hold on to in life.

PAUSE

Transition Statement: The meaning of Isaiah’s name, “the salvation of Yahweh,” is worth remembering as we anticipate the hope of Christmas.

WE:

The prophet’s name is appropriate for the people of God who find themselves in a season of exile regardless of how they got there.

Take note of how one scholar describes the book of Isaiah, which points to the prophetic hope found in the salvation of Yahweh, whose name is Jesus Christ.

· The Announcement of His coming is found in which says, “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

· His virgin birth is found in , which says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

· His proclamation of the good news is found in which says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”

· His sacrificial death is found in which says, “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Here is where it gets good church ....

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

· And His return to claim His own is found in which says, “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

And His return to claim His own is found in which says, “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

The theme of hope on the horizon throughout the book of Isaiah can reach into the hearts of all who feel the effects of living in exile; and hope shines like the light in the darkness just as Isaiah prophesied 700 years before hope arrived with the most wonderful name: Jesus.

Transition Statement: As we celebrate the Advent of our hope in Jesus, listen to these words of old, piercing through our darkness from & 6-7.

GOD:

“2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone...6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

As was referenced earlier, that the unique prophecy of hope would come from the womb of a virgin is stated in which says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

This prophecy found its fulfillment as Matthew (1:20-25 ) states in his gospel some 700 plus years later when speaking of the birth of Jesus during the solidification in Joseph’s life amidst a dream in the night.“...behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us.) When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”

Hope arrived some 700 years after Isaiah prophesied this moment, and His name was called Jesus, which means “God saves.” Isaiah, whose name, remember, means “the salvation of Yahweh,” had pointed the people living in darkness to hope on the horizon that finally broke through in glorious light seven centuries later that came straight from Yahweh Himself. Interestingly, some 700 years in the future from the birth of Jesus during the time known as the Dark Ages, the origins of one of the oldest Christmas Carols were being sung by monks that would become known later in history as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

Transition Statement: So what it this saying to us today?

YOU:

As Eric Metaxas suggests in his thoughtful article, “Salvation History in One Hymn":

“I want you to imagine yourself in a monastery in the 8th century. It’s December 17th and you’ve gathered with your brothers for Vespers, the sun-set prayer service. As with all Vespers, at the heart of the service is the chanting of select psalms, each of them preceded and followed by what is known as an antiphon, a sung or recited response. What sets December 17th apart, and the six nights that follow it, are the seven antiphons used only on these nights. Each one is a name of Christ – specifically, they are Messianic titles from the book of Isaiah: Sapieta (wisdom), Adonai (Lord), Radix (Root of Jesse), Clavis (Key of David), Oriens (Dayspring), Rex (King of the Nations), and Emmanuel.

Because each of these titles is preceded by the word “O,” they are known as the “O Antiphones.” If this sounds familiar, it should. I have just given you a glimpse into the origins of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” – the greatest Advent, or should I say, Christian Hymn of all time.

While I asked you to imagine an 8th-century monastery, the O Antiphons predate the 8th century. The Roman philosopher Boethius, who lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries, alludes to them in his writings. It’s reasonable to suppose, as one scholar put it, that ‘in some fashion, the O Antiphons have been part of our liturgical tradition since the very early church.’

But it’s what they teach us, and not just their antiquity, that gives them their power. The composer and musicologist Robert Greenberg has noted that if you take the first letter of each of the Messianic titles in reverse order, by December 23rd, you have the Latin phrase ERO CRAS which means, ‘Tomorrow I will come.’”

HAVE THE PRAISE TEAM COME UP

Transition Statement: While yesterday in exile may have been bad and today may not seem to be much better, we have hope knowing that if not tomorrow, soon, He will come again.

WE:

The second Advent is closer than we may realize even if we feel like exile has lasted far too long from our vantage point of life.

If we feel like we are still in exile, may we join with the monks and the many throughout the ages who have sung the song of advent hope: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel. And ransom captive Israel.”