Advent: Hope
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Recap of Last Week
Recap of Last Week
We began our series on Advent last week.
Advent means arrival
The Christmas season is a celebration of the advent of emmanuel.
During these weeks we are looking at the things that Jesus brought with Him when he came.
Last week we discussed the fact that Jesus brought shalom’ or peace when he came.
This is a peace that is more than just the absence of war…it’s the presence of wholeness.
YOU CAN BE WHOLE EVEN IN THE MIDST OF BROKEN DAYS.
Today we are going to be discussing the fact that when Jesus came He brought hope!
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And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him.
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I hated the office - But then I loved it
I hated the office - But then I loved it
I can’t remember who the first person I saw talking about the office was...
But I heard about this show that I just had to watch.
So i tried to watch it...
The plot wasn’t great, the filming was weird, the jokes were odd...
I went years without being an “office” guy
But then someone I really like told me I had to watch it…(I don’t even remember who it was.)
SO I STUCK IT OUT BECAUSE I KEPT THINKING THIS HAS TO GET BETTER...
I made it through and discovered something I love because I allowed the credibility of my friend to outweigh the less than ideal product I was consuming.
I HAD HOPE IT WAS GONNA GET BETTER
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And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him.
Isaiah starts this passage by telling us he is waiting on a God who is “hiding his face.”
Have you ever felt like God is really good at hiding.
You look everywhere and can’t seem to find him in the situation you are walking through.
This perfectly describes what the nation of Israel is about to walk through when Isaiah receives this Word from God.
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Background
Background
This passage is written shortly after Isaiah has a divine encounter with God.
The king of Israel has passed away…this has led to a great deal of uncertainty.
But Isaiah 6 tells us that it is within the context of uncertainty that Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up.
Often we want revival in the recliner...
A move of God is going to cost comfort.
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Ahaz was wicked…because Uzziah was prideful
Ahaz was wicked…because Uzziah was prideful
When Uzziah dies, his son ascends to the throne…his name is Ahaz.
Ahaz is a wicked king that leads the nation down a path of paganism.
Uzziah was a king that actually started in a good place.
He let his success cause him to misplace his priorities.
Ahaz’ wickedness is the result of the presence of pride in the life of Uzziah.
PARENTS WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR PURITY…
OUR PURITY PLAYS A LARGE ROLE IN OUR CHILDREN’S PATH.
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Struggle isn’t random
Struggle isn’t random
Because of the wickedness of the nation under Ahaz’ reign…the nation of Israel is headed into a season of struggle.
Isaiah is the newly called prophet who gets to inform the people as well as the administration of this fact.
Isaiah gets to spend a good portion of his ministry letting the nation know that their path will not be roses and candy canes.
This is why he characterizes God in our text by saying that He is “hiding his face.”
This phrase simply means that God is removing His favor and protection from the people of Israel because of their wickedness.
CATCH THAT LAST PART: BECAUSE OF THEIR WICKEDNESS.
However…this removal of favor and protection is not punitive…it is corrective.
There are moments wherein bad things happen in our lives by the allowance of God...
Moments of judgment are signs of God’s providence not God’s punishment
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I can hope even when He’s hiding
I can hope even when He’s hiding
Isaiah says something interesting in regards to the God who is “hiding his face.”
He says He will hope in the God who is hiding.
The word hope is the word: qavah (875c); a prim. root; to wait for:—eagerly
The word picture provided in this word is the stretching of a band....as the tension increases…so does the expectation that something is going to break.
In the midst of a degradating society, failing economy, and nation under judgment…Isaiah said he would hope in the Lord.
THAT MEANS WE CAN HAVE HOPE IN THE MIDST OF OUR NATIONS CRAZINESS
Hope allows me to stand in anxious anticipation of God’s plan in spite of the trajectory of societies pattern.
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Lucrative investments are often unpopular investments
Lucrative investments are often unpopular investments
One of the greatest things about our American economy and really world economy is the potential of investment. (I played the stock market during 2020) - Turned $100 into $200 into $9
You can turn something without much value into something of great value if you invest it properly.
The most lucrative investments are often thought to be the most nonsensical investments.
Around 2009 people made investments of miniscule amounts into something called bitcoin.
It didn’t seem valuable at the time...
$0.0009 a piece - 100,000 : $90
$6,000,000,000
Many people said they were crazy for investing in it.
But they made fortunes.
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HOPE IS AN INVESTMENT.
HOPE IS AN INVESTMENT.
When you live a life full of hope people are going to call you crazy for it!
But it’s only crazy until it happens!
We have to understand that hope is only hope when it doesn’t make sense.
If you possess the thing you are hoping for then by the very definition of hope…you cannot hope for it.
Hope is the expectation that current conditions will improve.
In seasons that are less than ideal…we have to make an investment of hope.
It’s easy to say and hard to do…because hope goes against the evidence of your circumstance.
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When we lost Hadley
When we lost Hadley
Backdrop of two healthy pregnancies - A belief that God was giving us the desires of our heart.
When we lost her…Kayla went into her first bout of depression…COMPLETELY NEW TO US.
I can remember the fear of thinking things were not going to get better...
But we kept putting our hope in Him!
Qavah = an expectation that though the tensions increase eventually a break is coming!
Because of the fact that Jesus came…our hope can grow in congruence with our chaos
The crazier it gets the closer we are to the breaking season!
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Hope is not blind optimism
Hope is not blind optimism
I am not putting my hope in some form of alternate reality.
Hope allows me to fully admit the subpar nature of my current circumstances while believing they will improve.
They will not simply improve because that’s the natural course of life…That would be hoping in nature or circumstances
They will improve because God is a God who steps into my subpar reality!
And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him.
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.
I’m not hoping that things will simply get better…I’m hoping in the goodness of my God!
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The one we hoped in came through
The one we hoped in came through
The depression that Kayla was facing didn’t get better overnight.
We weren’t simply able to pray the pain away.
We both had questions…We both had fears.
But one day I was on my way to the office and Kayla called me and said “I’m going to be alright.”
THE HS HAD INTERRUPTED HER DISH WASHING SESSION
My hope wasn’t in medical discovery…My hope wasn’t in medication…My hope was and is in HIM!
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If you need proof…look at the past
If you need proof…look at the past
I’m willing to have a little faith....I’m willing to exercise hope...but I need some solid proof to put my hope in.
STARBUCKS BARISTA AT INGLES
STARBUCKS BARISTA AT INGLES
I knew my coffee was going to be good
Because he had made me an exceptionally good coffee before
Maybe you are wanting some proof before you exercise hope...
What proof do I have that God is going to come through for me?
(I completely understand and relate with a certain level of pessimism.)
Later in Isaiah’s writings we would be given an understanding as to why he so confidently put His hope in Him!
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: “Where is He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
Who led them by the right hand of Moses, With His glorious arm, Dividing the water before them To make for Himself an everlasting name,
Who led them through the deep, As a horse in the wilderness, That they might not stumble?”
As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name.
Isaiah could confidently hope in God because he knew the track record of the God he was hoping in.
Hope allows me to have faith for the future based on His presence, power, and performance in the past.
ROB COME UP HERE
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Praise him in the highs…But hope in him in the lows
Praise him in the highs…But hope in him in the lows
Hope is something that once you find it you have to hold on to it!
He came through for us when we hoped in him…but more pain was to come.
We have had more pain in the last five years of our lives than we have in the entirety before that.
But just when giving up seems like the best option…I can put my hope in Him!
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A people far from God living in silence
A nation living under the rule of a foreign power
A commonality of poverty and barely making it.
The picture of poor circumstances
But then there was a child born in a stable in Bethlehem.
Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear saviors birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appears and the soul felt it’s worth
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
The context of Christmas gives us permission to have hope in the worst of circumstances.