Make Room in your Heart for Hope

Make Room in your Heart  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  29:19
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Advent is about waiting for what is coming. But waiting is not empty time; it is filled with anticipation. Isaiah shows us how to make room in our hearts for hope during a time of waiting.

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As we enter this advent time of year we remember that Christmas is a time that is so often filled with hope. We think about hope in so many different ways. Children get a taste of hope at Christmas with the expectation of presents. It is common for children at Christmas to make a list of the things they might like to receive as presents for Christmas. And when wrapped packages start showing up under the Christmas tree, we start wondering and guessing what might be inside. Because one of my favorite hobbies is cooking, I always wonder if there will be some kind of new kitchen gadget wrapped in one of those presents under the tree.
That’s one way of thinking about hope. It is a longing or anticipation for something we might desire. But hope is not always about desire. Often Christian hope is more about comfort and assurance. Hope is about a sure knowledge that God will always remain faithful to his promises. And so the hope that we find in the Christmas story is a fulfillment of the promise of God to send a Messiah; and it is an expression of God’s faithfulness which strengthens and builds our assurance that God will continue to be faithful to his promises. Or, in other words, since God has always been faithful in the past, we have hope that God will remain faithful in the future.
We embrace this kind of hope in other ways too. We say that there is always hope for a new day, hope for tomorrow, hope for the dawn. What we mean by this is that because the sun has always come up to end the night in the past, we have a comfort and assurance that the sun will continue to come up after this night and the nights to come. There will always be a new dawn to another day. We have hope for a new day because we know with certainty that it will come.
As we start this advent season we look back to the Old Testament for a reminder from the prophet Isaiah that a new dawn is on the horizon, that there is a new day coming. We start our advent season by looking at the expression of Christian hope.
Isaiah 11:1–10 NIV
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Doesn’t it feel like this Christmas time could use more hope than other years. 2020 has been a rough year. We have seen a rise in people who are feeling hopeless. We could all use an extra dose of hope right now. So, let’s spend a little time in this strange prophecy in the Old Testament from Isaiah, and let’s consider what this hope looks like in our world and in our lives today.

Hope for a Savior: the Messiah’s Character

The first five verses of Isaiah 11 are a description of the Messiah’s character. It is a word of hope which points us to focus on what the savior will be like. It is a word of hope which brings comfort and assurance by reminding us of who the Messiah is. Notice the ways this shows up in the words of this prophecy. Isaiah makes it clear that the Spirit of God is present in everything the Messiah does. No matter the task or endeavor before the Messiah, there will be no mistake that the Spirit is at the heart of all the Messiah’s activity.
verses 1-5 — description of Messiah’s character
the Spirit of God is present in everything the Messiah does
commitment to justice, righteousness, and faithfulness
The Messiah’s character is also marked by an unwavering commitment to justice and righteousness. The Messiah will not be fooled by petty outward appearances, or swayed by empty words that come from insincerity; Isaiah says he will not judge by what he sees or hears. Instead, it will be righteousness and justice that show through in the character of the Messiah. In particular, look at how this righteousness and justice of God’s announced one bends especially towards the needs of the poor and the oppressed. Those who have fallen under the abuse of the powerful will find their hope in God’s Messiah.
Verse 5 concludes this section on the Messiah’s character by making reference to two articles of clothing: a belt and a sash. Isaiah says that righteousness will be the Messiah’s belt, and faithfulness will be the Messiah’s sash. Belts and sashes do not mean the same thing in our modern fashion as they did in the time of Isaiah the prophet. It was not just an accessory to an outfit. Neither would it have been an article of clothing that was used like we use it today. What I mean is, belts were not just the thing you used to hold up your pants. This is because in Isaiah’s day, nobody wore pants; everybody wore robes that covered their legs. In this way, belts and sashes were the things that kept the robes and the outer garments in place. They served a practical function which kept all the other pieces of clothing together.
This is what Isaiah is saying about the character of the Messiah. His faithfulness, righteousness, and justice will never be in doubt. The presence of God’s Spirit upon him will never waver or diminish. These attributes will always be evident in all the Messiah does.
Jesus is completely unlike all other saviors of our world
This was a message that the people of Israel in the time of Isaiah needed to hear. The kings who ruled over the people during that time may have been the ones anointed with the authority and power to rule, but they all certainly lacked the character needed to rule as God intends. Isaiah lived in a world which needed a reminder of hope. They saw the corruption and abuse which came from the anointed rulers in their time. Perhaps they needed the reminder of this hope because everything else in their world seemed to be pushing in the exact opposite direction. It would have been easy to forget the Messiah’s character in a world where all the other would-be Messiah’s fell so far short of the one true Messiah of God.
Our world is not all that different from the time of Isaiah in some respects. It is a good reminder this advent season of just how often we tend to place our hopes for the future in saviors that do not measure up to the character of our one true Messiah, Jesus. We can fill in the blank with whatever these other saviors might be in our world: a strong economy, a political party, a good career or thriving business, popularity among peers.
Perhaps we do not completely turn our backs on God and jettison all faith in Jesus to be replaced by any of these others. Perhaps we would not immediately think of any of these other things as saviors. But then again, maybe we need to spend a little time in some honest examination and reflection of where it is our allegiances align. I think if we were all completely honest, there would have to be a confession that we each have had the tendency to misplace some hope in other saviors alongside of Jesus.
The tendency we face as Christians in todays world, then, is NOT one of hope in either economy or Jesus; it is economy and Jesus. We do not place hope in either political party or Jesus; it is political party and Jesus. We do not place hope in either popularity status or Jesus; it is popularity status and Jesus. Pay attention to what happens to our hope when we do this. When we start attaching savior-like qualities to these various institutions along with Jesus, then we lose hope. None of these other institutions can ever save our world because none of these other institutions can ever share the same perfect character of our one true savior Jesus. Nothing else in this world will ever be righteous like Jesus. Nothing else in this world will ever be faithful like Jesus. And nothing else in this world will ever deliver justice for the poor and oppressed like Jesus.
Hold onto that thought and let’s move through the last half of today’s passage from Isaiah.

Hope for Salvation: the Messiah’s New World

God’s salvation for those who have been devoured by the carnivorous abuse of corrupt rulers
Perhaps part of why it is we have such a hard time finding and holding onto hope is because we need to be reminded of what this salvation looks like. Isaiah gives a poetic description of that salvation for us. Isaiah describes a new kind of world. I must admit there has been some disagreement among various biblical scholars over the years to the meaning of this description in Isaiah 11. Some have taken these prophetic words literally as a description of God’s coming paradise when all the world is made new again. Others have interpreted these words with more symbolic meaning, not literal. I agree with this second interpretation. It is not Isaiah’s intent to divulge specific data about the coming new world in which we should expect to see young children playing with poisonous cobras. It is not Isaiah’s point to describe for us in detail some kind of reshuffling of the animal kingdom in the new world. That would be ridiculous because it does not in any way fit the context of Isaiah’s message. Isaiah’s letter is not about animal behavior; it is about God’s salvation for those who have been devoured by the carnivorous abuse of the corrupt rulers of this world.
Isaiah is using poetic language to give a symbolic picture of a new world in which there is no longer fear of one another. It is a picture of a new world in which those who have only ever known abuse and oppression will live in harmony and peace with all. You see, Isaiah wants to point the hope of God’s people toward something. It is not just hope in the Messiah; it is also hope in what it is that the Messiah brings. It is not just a glimpse at the savior; it is also glimpse at salvation.
hope that frames itself into a world free of violence, corruption, and abuse
What does this kind of salvation-hope look like? It is a hope that frames itself into a world free of violence, corruption, and abuse. It is a glimpse into a world where none shall use their strength or power to inflict harm on others. It strains the imagination, but maybe that is the point. It seems almost impossible for us to imagine a world in which lions and oxen graze together. Perhaps that calls out for us the ways in which our world is so broken by sin that we have completely lost sight of the paradise God intends. We can scarcely imagine a world in which we no longer need locks on our doors, or guns for defense. We can no longer picture a world in which there is no longer a need for armies, no longer a need for fences and walls and barriers, no need for prisons or jails.
not other-worldly spiritual heaven, but resurrection new world
We lose hope in salvation because we lose sight of what this new world looks like. We have reduced salvation to being nothing more than some kind of spiritual heavenly afterlife. We have forgotten that the Bible points to resurrection as the pinnacle of God’s salvation plan for his creation. It is not some other spiritual heavenly place; it is a new creation of a new world with new resurrected bodies. Isaiah is pointing us towards this new world. The Old Testament prophets are reminding God’s people of the hope which casts our gaze upon the promise for this new world.

Make Room in your Heart

hope that comes with an instruction; make room in your heart for this hope to enter and fill your life
Today, we begin this advent season with this reminder of hope which our world desperately needs. But it is a reminder of hope that comes with an instruction; make room in your heart for this hope to enter and fill your life. At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus is the hope of the world. Jesus comes bringing hope into the world. But have we made room in our hearts for that hope to enter in?
The Bible describes for us the character of Jesus. It is a character of righteousness, faithfulness, and justice. It is a hope for a savior who stands completely apart from all the other ways of our fallen and sinful world. Have you made room in your heart for hope in this one true savior? The Bible describes this poetic vision of a new world salvation in which there is no longer abuse or violence or destruction. Have you made room in your heart for hope in this new resurrection world?
One of the necessary steps that many families need to take before a Christmas gift exchange arrives is a purge. There may be new clothes coming in some of those presents at Christmas; but there is no space in the closet or the dresser drawers. There may be new dishes or cookware in those presents; but there is no space in the kitchen cupboards. There may be new toys or games under the Christmas tree; but the family room shelves are already stuffed. There may be new tools in those packages; but the garage workbench is already a piled up mess.
The Christmas present purge means that each new shirt means that one or two old shirts have to go. A new pair of pants means that an old pair has to go. Each new game means that we pick two old games to pass along. My house just is not big enough to hold all of this new stuff that arrives at Christmas. These presents cannot be received without making some room. Sometimes that is not so easy to do. Sometimes I do not want to let go of anything old in order to make room for the new. But every year this is what has to happen. Every year Christmas faces us with the necessity to make room for the gifts that are coming.
hope is a gift from God that needs some room to be received
pick one thing to eliminate as a distractor of hope
The hope we see in Isaiah’s prophecy today is no different. This hope is a gift from God that needs some room to be received. There needs to be room in my heart for this hope. And the way this happens is by cleaning house to get rid of all those other places that compete for my hope. Pick one thing to begin this week as a purge in your heart to make room for hope. Pick one thing to eliminate as a distractor of hope. Remind yourself when you read the newspaper that our hope is not in political leaders. Remind yourself when you see the likes and shares on your Instagram that our hope is not in popularity or social status. Remind yourself when the payroll check arrives on payday that our hope does not come from economic security or accumulation of wealth. Politics and social relationships and economics are all part of our world; but do not let them become your hope. Start making room in your heart this week for the hope that comes from Jesus.
How does that happen? What does that look like to make room in your heart for the hope that we have in Jesus? It begins with a life that leans into all that this hope stands for. Isaiah gives a description of a savior who is marked by a character of righteousness, faithfulness, and justice for the poor and oppressed. We make room in our hearts for hope in this savior when we make room in our hearts to embrace this character of righteousness, faithfulness, and justice in our own lives right now in today’s world. Isaiah gives a description of salvation which points to a new world free of abuse and corruption. We make room in our hearts for hope in this resurrection salvation when we make room in our hearts to embrace expressions of this peace and harmony right now in today’s world.
The gift of God’s Messiah to the world brings a hope that can never be destroyed or taken away. It is a gift that is given by God’s grace regardless of anything we could ever do to earn it or deserve it. This gift of hope is for you. Make room in your heart this week for that gift of hope to be received into your life.
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