Thanksgiving is over. We’ve had enough turkey over the last few days to last us until next Thanksgiving. Some of us endured the crowds shopping on Friday. Many of us have decorated our homes with Christmas decorations. We are here officially in the Christmas season.
Now, realistically, the retailers have pushed Christmas on us in September. I read recently about how Japan celebrates Christmas, which has become a major event over there. They put up decorations, exchange presents, send cards, sing yuletide songs, decorate trees, serve special seasonal treats and make a big fuss over St Nick, Rudolph and Frosty. Their Santa is sometimes dressed like a Samurai. It is very important for single adults to have a date for a romantic dinner on Christmas Eve. And for reasons that can't be determined, a big Christmas tradition is attending a concert of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
The one thing the Japanese do not honor at Christmas is Christ. That's because Japan is nearly 99% Shinto and Buddhist. A missionary to Japan was asked if Christmas was Santa's birthday. Only 1/2 of 1 percent of Japan's population is Christian. So where do you think they got this commercial version of Christmas? From our North American practices. They are attracted to the glitter and romance of the American version of Christmas and have adopted nearly everything except the spiritual significance of the season. (Sermon Central)
This brings me to Advent. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a season in the church to help remind us that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Perhaps we need that reminder now more than ever. In our ever-increasing secular, humanist, post-modern world, our attention can easily be affixed to wrappings, gatherings, music, and gifts. Not that there is anything wrong with those things in themselves, but they become distractions to a more important purpose.
In Advent, there are 4 themes, we will explore each Sunday: Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. This week is hope and there are plenty of reasons today that we need more hope.
HOPE IN THE DARKNESS BRINGS MORE DARKNESS
Years ago an S-4 submarine was rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts. It sank immediately. The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death. Every effort was made to rescue the crew, but it ultimately failed. Near the end of the ordeal, a deep sea diver, who was doing everything in his power to find a way for the crew’s release, thought he heard tapping on the steel wall of the sunken sub. He placed his helmet up against the side of the vessel and he realized it was the Morse Code. He attached himself to the side and spelled out in his mind the message being tapped from within repeating the same question. The question was, from within, "Is...there...any...hope?"
Maybe you feel like that sailor right now. There are plenty of reasons why you may feel that way. A struggling economy, divisions, post-pandemic struggles, sickness, wickedness, wars, and so much more. That is why Advent is so important for us because there IS HOPE… we just need to be reminded of where to look.
The true reason there is hope at the heart of Christmas is not because of gifts but because of the birth of Jesus Christ. His arrival on the earth was the fulfillment of a prophecy spoken hundreds of years before His birth. That prophecy is actually one of the most well-known scripture passages shared during this time of year and it’s where we begin our journey today as well.
2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in the land of the shadow of death, The light will shine on them. 3 You shall multiply the nation, You shall make great their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You shall shatter the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their taskmaster, as at the battle of Midian. 5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the rumbling of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:2–7 LSB)
Isaiah wrote this passage around 740 BC during a time of poor and godless leadership in Israel. The people of Israel had been suffering through the reigns of four ungodly kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. They were corrupt and had led the people far from God. It was a very dark time in history. Isaiah wrote these words knowing God would have to intervene to bring Israel back to himself. The kingdom was crumbling, and the people needed hope.
This passage makes two major statements. This first is an acknowledgment of the brokenness and darkness that surrounded Israel due to sin and corruption. The second is the hope of a dawning light through the birth of a child who would one day make everything right. The Jewish people in the Old Testament needed these words to remind them that God had not forgotten about them.
The book of Matthew also reminds us of Isaiah’s writings. The gospel writer was making the connection between what Isaiah had prophetically written and what had taken place in a manger in Bethlehem.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” 24 And Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18–25 LSB)
Joseph, who was engaged to take Mary as his wife, was presented with a very difficult decision to make. During their engagement, it was discovered that Mary was pregnant. Because of her apparent infidelity, Joseph was going to divorce Mary (a serious and shameful disposition for Mary and her family)
You should know that in Jewish culture, unlike our own, the groom was the focus of the wedding. Joseph must have looked forward to the celebration and the simple life that would follow, of taking Mary into his household, of having children. The carpenter was fashioning a “well-constructed life.” He was looking forward to so many things - he had tremendous hope - and then he discovers Mary is pregnant with a child that is not his.
Perhaps he concluded that Mary had committed adultery. But she was a godly woman and would have never violated her purity and their engagement. Maybe she had been raped. But she would have told him so. A third option was that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah, just as she had said. Joseph was a devout man, a Hebrew. And surely he pondered the fact that the Messiah was to be born of the house of David. So, what could he do?
Not divorcing Mary might represent a failure to uphold the spirit of the law. (See Deuteronomy 22:23-24.) But to dismiss her publicly was unthinkable. He did not consider her guilty. He was in a position of not being able to condemn her or fully justify her pregnancy. So he decided to secretly divorce her. God had made a special vessel for this noble Hebrew woman. And not wanting to interfere with God’s mysterious purposes, he would set Mary aside. To be obedient to God, Joseph was willing to give up the woman he so dearly loved.
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him to go forward with the marriage because the child in her womb was from the Holy Spirit. This really speaks to Joseph's faith and trust in God. Honestly, how many of you would even believe the dream? Joseph did because the Bible says that Joseph was a righteous man. Joseph discovered hope in a place he was not previously looking - in God.
We know really little about Joseph. He comes on the scene and then disappears, leaving many theologians to speculate that he died before Jesus started his earthly ministry. However, these events took place to fulfill the prophecy from the Old Testament. According to his genealogy, Joseph was a person of royal blood. The same line the messiah was to come from.
THE PRESENCE OF DARKNESS THREATENS OUR HOPE
The center of the Christmas story is focused squarely on the birth of Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the Israelite's hope that God would push back the darkness and shine a bright light into the world.
One of the reasons Christmas resonates in our hearts is because we, too, live in a world that is similar to Israel. Our world is dark and corrupt because of the sin that so easily entangles. There is war, disease, conflict, immorality, and oppression all around us. We, too, are in need of the Christ child to usher in light to push back the darkness around us.
Christmas is a reminder that whatever it is we hope for in our lives—healing, restoration, forgiveness, or a fresh start—it is available to us through Immanuel, who is God with us. Hope does not come from the absence of conflict, difficulty, struggle, or trial, but rather in spite of these things. Hope is a result of the presence of God.
15, For this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of Him, 18 so that you—the eyes of your heart having been enlightened—will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:15–18 LSB)
GOD’S PRESENCE HAS COME TO GIVE US HOPE
Hope is that indispensable element that makes the present so important. The hard part about hope is that it often takes longer than we would like to be fulfilled. As the Jewish people experienced, hope requires patience.
"And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you." (1 Peter 5:10 LSB)
Malcolm Muggeridge was a very famous and highly respected British journalist who for many years was an ardent atheist. His opinions and thoughts were coveted by American publishers and he occasionally wrote the editorial page for Time magazine. Toward the end of his illustrious career as the Dean of British broadcasters, he became a Christian.
Several years ago he was a guest at a breakfast in Washington, D.C. where he shared his life story. When he had finished his testimony, he made a number of comments about world affairs, all of which were very pessimistic. Someone asked, "Dr. Muggeridge, you have been very pessimistic. Don't you have any reason for optimism?" He replied, "I could not be more optimistic than I am, because my hope is in Jesus Christ alone."
Isaiah saw that one day in the future, God would bring a great light and salvation through the birth of a child. It was not until hundreds of years later that Matthew recorded Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem. Jesus is the very presence of God on earth. He offers forgiveness of sin, destruction of evil, and the promise of eternal life. The apostle Paul made an appeal for hope to those who trust in Christ as he wrote a letter to the early church in Rome.
"For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4 LSB)
Paul said everything that had been written in the past— all of the prophecy and fulfillment—is meant to teach us how to hold onto faith in God to answer our prayers. What has been written gives us endurance and encouragement that we might have hope. The hope fulfilled for Joseph and all of Israel for the first coming of Christ should constantly keep our hope affixed on his return.
AT THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS IS HOPE
Though there are many distractions during the Christmas season. Advent is a time to reaffix our hope in the eternal instead of carnal.
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23 LSB)
The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only 4 minutes to flatten the nation and kill 30,000 people. Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. He looked at the massive stones and Rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.” Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. “It’s too late,” they told the man. “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged them to give up.
But the father refused. After 38 wrenching hours of digging through the rubble, he pulled back a large piece of cement and heard his son’s voice. He called his boy's name, “Arman! Arman!” And a voice answered him, “Dad, it’s me!” Then the boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you save me, they’d be saved, too. Because you promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.’”
What made the difference in the son to survival? It was a promise of hope. God has made the same promise to us. “I will come back…” He assures us. Yes, the rocks will tumble. Yes, the ground will shake. But the child of God should not fear, for the Lord himself promised to take us home
Conclusion
Someday, according to Christ, he will set us free. He will come back. And to prove that he was serious about his promise, the stone was rolled and his body was raised. For he knows that someday this world will shake again in the blink of an eye, we will behold him - not as a babe, but as the victorious King. Bodies will push back the dirt and rise and those who remain will meet him in the air.
For the believer in Christ, like the boy in Armenia, you have heard the promise of your Savior. He has moved the stone-not the stone of the Armenian earthquake, but the stone of the Arimathean's grave. And at the moment he removed the stone, he also removed all reason for doubt.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:3 LSB)
Do we dare to believe his promise? Do we dare to trust his loyalty? Is there a cautious part of us that wonders how reliable these words may be? In a world that is full of so much turmoil, false promises, and despair, may we not lose sight of the One who will never give up on us. But instead, hold onto every word.
Our God is always right on time. He knows exactly what we need, and he can be trusted to reveal the light of Christ in order to push back the darkness in our lives. In a land full of deep darkness, a light has indeed dawned.
