Advent one

Intro: There are four Sundays leading up to Christmas, each Sunday we will be talking about different subjects: hope, peace, joy and love

The first Sunday of the advent is about hope

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia.

Advent is a season of celebration of the birth of Christ. It can be easy to lose sight of this, focusing more on gift giving and receiving.

This series of preaching leading up to Christmas have the purpose not only to retell the story of Christ but also to help us to set our minds and hearts on the true meaning on this season.

The birth of the savior of the world, namely Jesus.

The world is in a race, a race for a vaccine against covid-19. Leaders around the globe are following very closely the labs and big pharma who are pouring out billions in research to find the exact combination that will work against this disease. In fact, some labs already said that they have developed a vaccine.

Meanwhile, the entire globe watches and wait in hope that the vaccine will be effective and will make us immune of this disease.

The world waits in hope.

What is hope? what does it mean to say that I have hope?

Dictionary: Hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation, to want something to happen or to be true.

To be hopeful means to believe that what you want is likely to happen.

Example: I hope that you are going to do well in our test, or that the surgery will be a success.

The definition that the dictionary gives is about “a desire or feeling.”

However, I find this definition a little problematic.

Here is why...

If we take the example about the vaccine against Covid-19. Some labs claim that their vaccine has over 90% efficacy over the disease. In other words, the vaccine is 90% effective.

However, depending on the individual (in terms of his age and health) the vaccine may not be as effective as promised.

As the world waits for the cure, there is no assurance that this vaccine will be as effective as they say and everything will come back to normal once it is approved and released.

Hope is not sure. The vaccine may work for some but there is no guarantee it will work for everybody with the same effectiveness. For some who hope that the vaccine will make them immune will come to pass. But for other people this hope might fail, their hope will be crushed.

Hope # hopeless

Based on the dictionary definition we can say that the line between hope and hopelessness is built on feelings, things or people..

I think this kind of hope is problematic and chaotic.

Living in a world of pain and suffering, uncertainty and stability, hunger and disease to talk about hope is a need. We all long for something better.

The world longs for something better and greater.

Is there a sure hope? Is there an unchangeable, unshakable hope? is there a hope that is not based on feelings? a kind of hope that we can trust?

The bible says yes to these questions. Yes, for a hope that is sure and reliable. Yes, for a hope we can trust, a hope that has a firm foundation.

MPS: The main idea of this message is to point us to a better and sure hope. The kind of hope that is not lame by the circumstances and is not crippled by fear but is strong and true.

In the OT the word used for hope is tiqwah and in the NT testament the Greek word for hope is elpis and both have the same meaning, expectation.

In the ancient world the majority of the secular thinkers did not regard hope as virtue, but merely as a temporary illusion.

Paul gives us a clear picture of pagan belief when he said that before Christ, they had no hope. The reason that they were hopeless was because they did not know God.

Ephesians 2:12

“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world”

In a biblical sense hope not only points to God but defines him as the source and the object of true hope.

Biblical hope is inseparable from faith in God.

Through faith in God, hope is increase as the believer reflects on the acts of God in the past waiting with great anticipation the glory that is yet to be revealed.

Romans 5:5

“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Because of his faith the believer has an assurance that the things he hopes for are real and his hope never disappoints him.

Hebrews 6:19-20

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters [r]within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us.”

In a world of confusion, fear and uncertainties the Bible talks about a hope that is steadfast. A kind of hope that is the anchor for the soul of the believer. A hope that depends upon the perfect being who never gets things done on 90%.

Trans: A biblical hope rests in God and in the promise of the establishment of the eternal kingdom of Christ on earth.

The Text that we are looking today talks about the perfect ruling of Christ over his people.

The promised that we have in Micah 5:2-5 is about a king who will come to shepherd his people in the strength of the Lord. This king will be great and in him his people will be safe and find peace.

That’s the kind of ruler the world is looking for.

And because they are so desperately looking for this “savior” they are an easy pray for deceivers. In this quest for the perfect ruler the was deceived and is being deceive right now.

These false rulers that promised the end of injustice, suffering, prosperity, safety, social equality and so on…

They offer hope on a better time. Only to the misfortune of those who follow after their false promises. And in the end when of what their hope for does not come to pass they quest for another savior start all over.

The prophet Micah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Christ.

His days were marked by economic prosperity and the lack of international crises. However, the outward prosperity was only a façade masking the social corruption and religious syncretism (the combination of pagan worship with the worship of Yahweh).

Micah who came from the hill country of Judah prophesied to the rulers and to the nation denouncing the disintegration of personal and social values.

Chapter 1 and 2 Micah denounces the idolatry of the nation and its unfaithfulness towards God.

Chapter 3 Micah denounces the sins of the rulers and the ministry of the false prophets.

Chapter 4 and 5 we have the promised of a leader who will deliver and restore the nation.

Chapter 6 there is a message of judgement and lament by the prophet.

Chapter 7 the prophesy ends with a word of hope to the nation saying that the Lord will vindicate his people and will deliver them, it a message of salvation.

700 hundred years later that promised was fulfilled in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, 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.

This ruler that Micah prophesied in chapter 5 that would come from eternity and would lead his people in peace and prosperity is Jesus.

The promised king of old that would restore the glory of the Israel and will be exalted over the whole earth is the reason for our hope.

Christmas is the story of Christ, the story of the King who came to redeem his people.

The days of Micah were not so different than ours. Today syncretism has marked many churches, individuals and denominations as in the days of Micah. Churches and individuals in trying to be relevant or to blend with the world has welcomed all kinds of theories and cultural demands only to its on damage.

The combination of contemporary culture with religion.

The outward prosperity that mascaraed the unfaithfulness and the idolatry of the people in the times of Micah in not so different than what we live in America today.

Prosperity deceives while comfort blind us to what really is important.

But like the days of Micah the Lord is reminding us today of this beautiful promised that already came to pass, the birth of the promised king.

While the world is confused and hopeless because they do not know in what or in whom to trust believers have an anchor for their soul, hope.

Our hope is not lame or weak because is not based upon individuals or feelings. But is based upon the faithfulness of God.

Let this advent in your life be marked by deep reflections for the reason of your hope. Let this season be marked by a renewal of your hope is Christ.

We hope in the humble king called Christ who was born over 2000 years ago and died on the cross so that we today may have life.

This humble king promised to return the same way that he was taken to the havens.

Let this season be marked by an increase in the anticipation of our promised king, Jesus Christ.