Hope Still Lives

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Jeremiah 33:14–16 NRSV

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

These past few weeks the country has been glued to the newspapers, tv news, facebook news and however you get your news about two different trials that had two very different outcomes. A hope was placed in he hands of someone who looks like you me to determine the judgment of a persons life that took another persons life of no wrong. As we start the beginning of Advent we begin a life journey of a man named Jesus who was a righteous man who came to execute justice and righteousness.

So let’s talk about this season we have approached starting today and see how it comes together with today’s scripture and what has occured over the last few days. Advent is the season we as believers set our sights and hearts on the birth of Jesus and think on the promises God made that was fulfilled and still is being fulfilled until his return. We start with Hope or the promise called the Prophets candle, Preparation or Faith the Bethlehem's candle, Joy or peace the Shepard’s candle, and Love or adoration the Angel’s candle. During Advent the tradition is to light a candle each week 3 purple a pink and a white up until the week of Christmas when a fifth candle can be lit in the representation of light and purity and is called the Christ’s candle.

The Advent wreath first appeared in Germany in 1839. A Lutheran minister working at a mission for children created a wreath out of the wheel of a cart. He placed twenty small red candles and four large white candles inside the ring. The red candles were lit on weekdays and the four white candles were lit on Sundays. Eventually, the Advent wreath was created out of evergreens, symbolizing everlasting life in the midst of winter and death as the evergreen is continuously green. The circle reminds us of God’s unending love and the eternal life He makes possible.

So with that let’s get going on what the Lord is speaking about Hope Still Lives, Hope Still Lives. In our scripture today we find the Lord speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah and he is a assuring the people that the Lord has kept his promises and will continue to keep them through the line of David. So he made a covenant with David and and he and and he told of what is to come from his lineage. Now a prophet we must understand is one who utters divinely inspired revelations such as the prophets in the Bible or one who is regarded by a group of followers as the final authoritative revealer of God’s will. Today we have such prophets still telling of the Hope of Christ as Hope still lives amongst us all, yet we must listen to the spirit of the Lord when they speak on behalf of the Lord.

How many of you today have Hope still living within you? Let me see a show of hands or hear an Amen this morning. Do you know that your hope is not based on mans actions, your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweet frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. It goes on to say On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. You see we must stand on the hope that still lives. In the court rooms over the past weeks we saw preachers and prominent leaders of the church standing and sitting together in courtrooms. The even showed a picture of Jessie Jackson at the Amahd hearing. You know Jessie Jackson the one that coined the stated Keep hope alive. He and others understood what we say now the assignment and when and stood on the solid Word of Jesus Christ that he is our deliverer, our justice league when we believe, our righteousness. The Lord promised David that a branch will spring up and God said it will be righteous. That Israel and Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. Why because Hope still lives within the children of Isreal those Jew and Gentile that believe in the promises of God.

You see when hope is still alive within you the Lord of righteousness will be be the executor of justice. It may not come out like we want justice to prevail but God said I am that I am, and I will as the prophet Isaiah stated in chapter 11:1, Isaiah 11:1

Isaiah 11:1 NRSV

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

and that branch will grow out of the house of David and Isaiah goes on to say in verse 4 Isaiah 11:4

Isaiah 11:4 NRSV

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

When Hope Still Lives we do not have to worry about the wicked and what it looks like they got away with or did not get away with. The prophets are telling us that justice will come and righteousness will prevail through the one who is coming to give hope to the hopeless and to show and witness the Glory of God through his son Jesus Christ who is to come and be a savior to the world.

Hope still lives when you pray for God to reveal his wisdom and knowledge so that we may live under the covenant that was promised to David and his forefathers. We believe and we know that Jesus is that Hope. We will win some and we will loose some but what I surly do know and can testify to you this day that if you keep you Hope in Jesus Christ the one who in this season is coming to save us from us that he will executed justice and righteousness if we just believe. The mother of Ahmad had hope in that the justice system would work out in the favor of the people. The families of those shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse saw a different kind of justice their day in court when they watched a man walk free of all charges, oh yet the righteousness judge has the last say of his acts and knows all truth of the matter and intent that was at hand that night. Two different results but the same God was there all the time with Hope that still lives within the families pain and hurt of it all.

So as we begin this day of celebration on the first day of Advent we must remember that in our daily lives Hope must be at the forefront of our belief. We cannot loose hope because we know that their was one righteous to come and is coming back again for a church without spot or wrinkle. We stand on that solid rock we spoke of earlier, why because he is our avenger, our Savior and the Lord who is our righteousness. We have come to prepare ourselves for Emmanuel the Hope that is to come, the one that is to come and draw us to him as a promise made by his father. When he came he came with an assignment of what we are speaking of today which Hope. Yes we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Jesus Christ yet we can’t get to that celebration until we celebrate the coming of our King the birth that starts our way to salvation. Hope still lives when you trust in the covenant that God has promised us. Keep your hope in tact with Jesus. Your hope is what keeps you closer to God because you believe in the righteousness one to come.

I want to finish out the song I stated earlier because this is our true Hope that is still lives within us. Versus 2-4 says....