As we begin the start of the church year,
our first Sunday of Advent encourages us to look at being hopeful.
This week I read a story about a lady called Susan Duggan.
Susan Duggan is a lady with hope.
Not because she’s had an easy life or she has received great rewards.
Listen to part of her story.
"The last ten years of our lives have been somewhere between tiresome and sheer hell. This is the litany.
During the last decade one of our children was born with a heart defect. Our business collapsed. We lost their home, and the one we were able to move into was burnt to the ground. For a little while I thought I had the ideal job teaching in a country school, however I was assaulted by a parent, and instead of the school supporting me they supported the parent because it was close knit community. Amongst all this I found out how nasty supposedly nice Christian people could be, especially behind my back. I then had a nervous breakdown which affected my health for 3 years. Then just as I was recovering my husband badly hurt his back."
And yet despite all this Susan Duggan has hope.
She goes onto say,
Even on her worst days she clearly knows God is with her helping here through the mess she is experiencing.
She says even when there is no room left in your heart for hope,
it is still there because God is holding it.
And as Christians our hope doesn’t come from what we have achieved, what is happening or even what we have done in this world.
But the true lasting hope that we hold onto comes from the future God has created for us.
It is easy to be hopeless when we are swamped with negativity.
Sometimes I dread looking at the news.
They are full of bad news…
Terrorist attacks.
Floods.
Drought.
Financial markets in trouble.
Problems with the government.
Businesses going bust.
Superannuation funds declining.
Another airline crashing.
And the list seems to go on and on.
Now we would have a problem if our future depended on our life being good now.
But it doesn’t.
Let’s put our life into perspective.
God’s perspective.
Problems are not the end of the world.
At times they can feel like it.
But they are not the end of the world.
Our life and future does not depend on life being good now.
Our life and future depends on God and what he offers.
A question I have asked you to think about before and I ask you again to think about:
What is the focus of your relationship with God?
Is your relationship with God so you can gain things from God
or is God and his ways of life your focus?
This is an important question.
When our relationship with God is based on God and his way of life
problems and difficulties are put into perspective.
We see them as part of life, as something God is with us through.
And our gospel reading highlights that when bad things happen it is a sign.
It is a sign that Jesus is needed.
It is a sign that Jesus’ second coming is getting closer.
That is where our hope comes from.
When bad situations occur we are a lot like the whales that were beached at Stanley this week.
No matter how much they flipped and flopped around they couldn’t rescue themselves.
Like those whales we need someone to help us through the difficulties of life otherwise we will die.
And the Good News is Jesus promises to rescue us, not just some of us, but all of us.
So when bad situations occur, look beyond the situation
to Jesus to help you through that situation.
And today’s Gospel reading also gives us an indication of how to live so that Jesus hope is visible.
Listen again to verses 33 to 37
33 Be on guard! Be alert ! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
This reading highlights that we have two roles in preparing for Jesus second coming.
First of all is to be alert.
We are to be ready for Jesus to come again.
Are you ready for Jesus to come again?
If Jesus was to come in the next few minutes, is there anything you would regret not doing?
Being alert also means being prepared.
Have you been engaging in a conversation with God through regular bible reading, prayer and worship listening to how God sees life and the future?
And the way to be prepared is to explore and understand what God says about life.
When we do this our hope increases,
because see that bad things don’t mean God has deserted us.
We see that bad things occur because of sin, not because of God.
Secondly this reading also highlights that we are to be workers of hope.
To bring hope into the world we are living.
To shine Jesus light of hope amongst our family, friends, neighbours and people we see down the street.
How might we do this?
How can we be different to others as we lead up to Christmas?
Think about how can you be different from others this Christmas?
There are two verses I invite you to listen to:
Romans 12 verse 2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will
Also from Hebrews 10:23-24
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
To be deliverers of God’s hope
Our minds need transforming constantly, so that we can point others to the better future Jesus offers.
Only God and His word reveals how much better heaven is.
That is why we have available for each family an Advent Devotion book.
If you need one for family and friends there are a few available in the foyer.
Being deliverers of God’s hope also means giving like Christ
We live in a world of being that if we give something, we expect to receive something.
That sort of giving is not Christian giving.
Unfortunately, though that is how many people including Christians approach Christmas.
I only send a card to those who have sent me one.
Or I only buy a present for those who have bought me one.
Many people only give if they receive something.
But Christian giving is reflecting Christ’s giving
Giving like Christ means giving without conditions or expectations, regardless of whether people are grateful or they deserve it.]
That is what Christ is done for us.
Something to think about and put into action.
How can you give like Christ this year?
How can you give without any strings this Christmas?
Being deliverers of God’s hope also means bringing God’s hope into conversations.
Many conversations we are involved in can be negative.
Complaining about others.
Blaming others.
Talking about how bad things are and life is.
What a great opportunity to not conform to this world’s talk and bring God’s hope into such conversations.
And we do this by
spending time with people who are experiencing difficulties,
listening to them,
reminding people of the good things that are happening
and reminding people that God has created something better than what we have now.
That life and the future is bigger than any current difficulty we are experiencing.
As you do, God will help you shine his light in your life and theirs.
So as you prepare for Christmas this Advent
Allow the hope of Jesus to dominate your conversations and your actions
That is being alert, being ready
Because as Romans 5 says God’s hope will not disappoint us
Amen
