Hopeful Expectation

Hopeful Expectation

It’s finally here! Advent. Christmas. My favorite time of year. Seriously, I love it. I love the music. I love the decorations. I love the spirit of it. I love the movies. It almost feels like, for a few weeks, I’m living a fairy tale. Someone even commented on a picture of my family that it looked like a perfect snow-globe. That’s fairy tale living.

The problem with fairy tale, though? Sometimes it comes crashing to reality. The fairy tale picture ignores the background of the fighting to get everyone situated and the deleting of the 100 pictures where one of them was crying. The fairy tale stops when the reality of the too-tight budget during the season smacks you in the face. The fairy tale comes skidding to a halt when missing loved ones and an enormous amount of grief becomes reality.

Christmas can sometimes be a fairy tale, but we live in reality.

There is a point in scripture where Peter is reminding those whom he has led of the reality that they live in. He is nearing the end of his life. In previous years he had written a letter that served as encouragement to a people who were under immense amounts of persecution. Now, later in his life, as he nears the end, he’s writing for a different reason.

He is writing to warn his people to stand firm against a series of false teachings and false prophets. So, 2 Peter very much becomes this defense of Christianity and a rebuke of some false teachings. It’s an opportunity for Peter to remind his people that they are not living in a fairy tale. They have not devoted their life to some made-up story that was created to make them feel better. He’s reminding them that their identity, their story in Christ is a deep seated reality. It’s not fairy tale. It’s reality. And in this reality, they can stand firm against false teaching and false prophets.

So in our particular passage this morning, Peter is addressing a very specific critique of Christianity – that Jesus is not actually coming back like he said he was. That Jesus was not who he said he was because the talk of the last days, the second coming, the return of Christ was just not happening. It had been at least a few decades, depending on what date of writing you go with, since Jesus had gone to heaven, and there was no sign of him returning. This was leading to scoffers and mockers to question the reality of this whole Christianity thing.

Read 2 Peter:

3Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So there is very much this elephant in the room that Peter is addressing. Jesus made it sound certain that he would return very soon, and he hadn’t. And it had caused people, believers and unbelievers alike, to question the authenticity of his claims. And it’s no stretch to acknowledge the current elephant in the room… they had waited for somewhere between 30 and 70 years. We’ve been waiting for nearly 2000 years! I think we can find some connections here from this passage.

But this wasn’t the first time that a group of people had been stuck waiting on the arrival of the Christ, the Messiah. So this morning, I want to make some connections to the first advent… the time of waiting for the first appearance of the messiah… and this time of waiting that the readers of Peter’s letter are in. And in doing so, I want to see what sort of encouragement we can find for us during this advent in 2021.

The time of waiting for the arrival of the Messiah was a long, drawn out period. A time of wondering when this savior would come and restore the people of Israel. Through a very tumultuous history, the people of Israel were having a very difficult time believing that they were such a blessed nation, favored by God. They had been enslaved, had wandered the wilderness, had conquered and been conquered, and were in a period of exile. Hardly the picture perfect fairy tale life that one would expect for God’s chosen people.

And then rumors started. Rumors that went beyond simple whispers of gossip. Rumors that pointed to a glimpse of hope. Words like these words from the prophet Isaiah started to emerge:

9 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

And for once, there was a great hope. A great anticipation for something greater ahead. A warrior king who would finally conquer the enemies of the Israelites and return them to greatness.

And they waited. And waited. And waited some more. And this waiting reached it’s pinnacle with a period of 400 years of silence. No more words from God. No reminders of how God was at work. No “God-winks”. Silence.

Until the waiting was over. The waiting culminated in the arrival of the messiah. But it wasn’t the messiah they had expected. Not a warrior king, but a humble baby. Born amongst the animals to poor teenage parents. This messiah would reveal his power and his dominion by doing the opposite – by laying it all aside. Even by giving up his life without so much as a fight.

The messiah, the one hoped for, had come. God’s way of working was misunderstood. It wasn’t the way the people thought it would be and it certainly wasn’t on the timeline that they wanted or expected. But God worked in his creative ways and fulfilled his promise.

And that promise led to another promise. That he would be back. That he would return and with his return would finally make ALL things right. That all would be restored. And it was in that waiting that the early church found themselves. And has the years dragged on, the questions started to be raised – was he serious? Was he really the Messiah? Can God be trusted? Is this thing we’ve devoted our lives to even real? And the outsiders used it as a means of mocking, scoffing, and proving the invalidity of this religion.

And Peter uses this opportunity to encourage. To remind them of the nature of this hope and what they are waiting for. To remind them of the reality of the way God works. That, in reality, God doesn’t adhere to our timelines. That God works in creative ways that we don’t often see, but that ultimately, he keeps his promise. That he will, indeed, one day return. And when he returns, what we have to look forward to is better than we could ever imagine – a new heaven and earth, where righteousness dwells. I love the way the NRSV puts this – he describes this future as a place “where righteousness is at home”.

And then he gives instructions on how to live given this future hope. To live in accordance with that righteousness, so that when things are made new, they will be right at home.

And, again, this is one of those times where it is really easy to connect with the people in a particular scripture, because we are right there, too. This promised 2nd coming has still not happened. So we find ourselves in the midst of this 2nd Advent. Where we anxiously await that which Christ had promised. Waiting for what John writes in Revelation 21:

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

And we are painfully aware that we aren’t there yet. That this reality that John paints isn’t the reality that we live in. So we wait. And we wait. And we wait. And at times the world grows weary. And at times the questions start to raise about the reality of it. The scoffers and mockers emerge. But the words of encouragement from Peter remain. To live in hopeful anticipation. To wait with hope without the human constraints we want to put on the promise of God.

We wait. But we have hope. Not with optimism, per se, but with hope. Optimism would be to ignore, or be naïve of reality. The truth is, our circumstances in this world do not lend themselves to a bright future at times. To live in a constant state of optimism would be to ignore the reality of our circumstances. Hope, on the other hand, is not reliant on our circumstances. It acknowledges that even in the midst of our sometimes crushing circumstances, God will fulfill his promises. It’s to say that even though I see no light at the end of the tunnel, I hold onto hope that God is working and God will come through.

It’s to hear the words of Revelation, in the context of a real world that doesn’t look like that, and cling to hope that Christ is coming to make that a reality. But here’s the thing – this hope also requires us to submit to the creative and redemptive work of God. And what we learned from the 1st advent and arrival of Jesus, and what Peter reminds us of is that God’s creative and redemptive work is not on our timeline, and he doesn’t use our desired methods to bring it about. To have hope is to not only cling to the promise of God, but it is also to submit to God doing it his way, in his time.

And so we wait with hope. But how do we do that? What I have found in my life is that I am able to cling to that Hope more tightly when I am actively working to bring about that which was promised. So how do we wait with hope for the new heaven and new earth that Peter talked about and that John described? That new heaven and new earth where chains of injustice are broken, where tears are wiped away, where the thirsty have water and the hungry have food and brokenness is restored? We cling to that hope by working to bring about those things now. To take seriously the prayer that Jesus taught – your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

To find opportunities to be with the broken-hearted. To feed the hungry. To fight injustice. This is what it looks like to live with hope in this in between time where we await the 2nd coming of Christ to make all things right.

I want to leave you with a story that I think perfectly portrays this kind of hope.

In 1999, Julius Jones was charged with the murder of Paul Howell. Jones was 19. In 2002, Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. For 19 years, the family of Julius fought to have this overturned. There have been conflicting reports of evidence that would deem Julius innocent. After years of fighting, and even having the support and recommendation of the parole board to have the death penalty sentence commuted, nothing was happening. Julius was scheduled to be executed the Thursday before last: Thursday, November 18th at 4:00pm. At the last hour, after an immense amount of pressure and public outcry, the governor of Oklahoma finally granted the commutation of the execution. Julius’ life was spared. Shortly after the announcement was made, it was discovered that Julius’ mom – Mama Jones – as Julius’ supporters have come to know her, had, at the beginning of the week, scheduled a visit with Julius for Saturday, November 20th. On that Saturday, a week ago yesterday, Mama Jones hugged her son Julius for the first time in 20 years.

All because she hoped. The circumstances said there was no reason for optimism. There was no realistic indication that Julius’ fate would actually change. Yet, she hoped. And what I love is that she didn’t just sit by and wait. While she waited, while she hoped, she actively worked to bring about that which she hoped for. She worked to make her visit on Saturday a reality. She rallied supporters around her. Literally, people from around the world came out in support of Julius and Mama Jones.

That is hope. Not optimism. Hope. So as we celebrate advent over these next 4 weeks, as we look forward to the celebration of the first arrival of Christ, but as we sit in this place of waiting for the return, the restoration of all things, may we be a people of hope. A people deeply anchored in the promises of God. A people who submit to the creative and redemptive ways of God. And a people who actively participate in bringing about that which we hope for.