In Jesus Holy Name November 27, 2022
Text: Acts 27,28 Redeemer Lutheran
Advent I
“Hope: The Heart of Christmas”
The season of Advent begins today. It is the beginning of a new church year. It is a season of anticipation. A time to hope. But for many people “hope” is elusive. I’m reminded of the Scottish Proverb: “Were it not for hope, the heart would break”.
As we come to the conclusion of our sermon series through the book of Acts we find that Paul & his fellow prisoners, are on a ship sailing for Rome. There are 279 passengers on board. There is some delay. The winds needed for their sail boat are blowing in the wrong direction.
Luke writes: “before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster” swept down from the island and the ship was caught by the storm and we were driven along. There was such violent battering the crew began to throw the ships cargo and tackle overboard. The storm raged for 14 days with neither sun nor stars appearing. “….we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” For 278 of the 279 passengers hope was elusive.
Paul was not worried. He had hope when others did not. His hope was based on the promise of Jesus. Remember when he was in prison in Jerusalem Jesus appeared to him and said: “Take courage, Paul, you have testified about me in Jerusalem so you must also testify in Rome.”
The passengers were overwhelmed with a loss of hope. 278 passengers believed death was imminent. The storm was so great they had given up hope of reaching Rome. Not Paul. His hope remained in the promise of Jesus regarding the future.
Finally, the ship reaches a sandy beach but the waves began to break apart the ship. Everyone swam to shore.” Luke writes “It was raining…… everyone was wet and cold and everyone was gathering wood to build a fire.” As Paul was gathering wood a viper fastened itself to Paul’s hand. He should have died. He did not. Arrested. Shipwrecked. Poison snake bite. Paul was not without hope.
Thanksgiving is three days behind us and Christmas is on the horizon. It should be a time of optimism and hope but people are pessimistic about the future. There is worry. Inflation is still on the rise. Gas and home heating prices are rising. There is worry regarding the use of tactical nuclear weapons, in Ukraine or in the Mid East. North Korea is firing missiles across the sea. There is constant chatter between governments, fear has engulfed our planet. We are told global warming will end human life on planet earth as we know it….unless we do something. People wonder….Will we lose the country we grew up in? Where is hope?
The loss of hope is a terrible thing. Maybe you lost hope when the company down sized and you were left without a job. How will I pay my mortgage? Maybe it was when the Doctor walked into the waiting room and said: “We did all we could”, there is no hope. Without hope, troubles bring discouragement. Without hope we are left with depression and despair. For the Carlson family “hope: has been a roller coaster.
“We can bear the doctor’s diagnosis of cancer with hope for a cure. We can endure the separation from a loved one with hope for a reunion. We can endure physical death of our loved one with the hope of eternal life and infinite joy in the presence of God forever. But when there is no hope ……..we are undone.” bible.org/article/two-unbearable-words-nature-Christian-hope
Every day we use that small, magical word….-hope. It’s tough to live or even make it through one day without hope.
I hope you feel better. I hope you have a healthy baby. I hope I get an A in that class. I hope she likes me. I hope to make a difference in the world. I hope the Doctor gives you a good report. I hope their marriage makes it. I hope I get that raise. I hope we have world peace by Christmas.
What is hope? Hope is a vision for better days that changes us in the present.
Hope tells us that something good is up ahead, just around the corner, in sight and it’s good.
Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future, it expects it to happen. It expects it to happen; it is confident that it will happen. Paul’s hope is a realistic expectation for future good based on the promises of God. Paul had hope in the promise of Jesus when others were overwhelmed with their circumstance.
(William Barclay in his commentary on writes in I Peter) “The man that has faith, never doubts even when he cannot see God …for He knows God is standing within the shadows keeping watch upon His own. It is not that God saves us from the troubles and the sorrow and the problems of life; it is that He enables us to encounter them, to bear them, and to conquer them…”
In his sermon a few years ago on the Lutheran Hour Pastor Klaus shared a letter from a listener from Cleveland, Ohio. The listener wrote: “I read your daily devotions. I have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given 11 months to live. I was told to make peace with God, get my affairs in order, and when the time comes….I will be put into hospice and given morphine until the end. Where there is life, there is hope.
The physicians working with this individual have told him. “We are at a loss. Your illness has taken you beyond the scope of our knowledge and skill to heal.” In short, the man was told that his calendar has on a very few pages left to be turned. They gave him no hope.
On Good Friday the crucifixion of Jesus took all hope from the disciples. The women who huddled at the foot of the cross in the darkness, were weeping. Their hope gone. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus placed the body of their Messiah in the tomb and rolled a stone to close the entrance. Hope was gone.
Then on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. He is the first to be given a glorified resurrected body, but He is not the last. On Judgment Day, He’s going to bring with Him all those who have already died in the faith. These people, our family and friends, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, will not be as we remembered them. The ravages of illness, the pains of persecution, the sorrows of sickness, will be gone. This is the secure hope we have because Jesus rose from death and the grave. I Thessalonians (read)
Where there is eternal life, there is hope.
Our sermon series through the book of Acts ends today with Paul having “hope”. He knows he will reach Rome. The Beginning of Advent brings us “hope”. The very Heart of Christmas, the birth of Jesus gives us “hope”. In this season of Advent, in this season preparation we must not let the tinsel on our Christmas trees distract us from what really matters, the birth of Jesus. Advent points us to our true hope, peace, joy and love which are at the heart of Christmas.
The true reason there is hope at the heart of Christmas is not because of gifts under the tree, but the birth of our savior. His arrival on the earth was the fulfillment of a prophecy spoken hundreds of years. The angel told Joseph, “Don’t be afraid. You shall name the child of Mary, Jesus, for He will save God’s people from their sins. The child would be named Immanuel, which means God with us… Even in the midst of darkness, in a culture that is at a lost for direction, There is hope.
Earlier I shared part of a letter from a listener of the Lutheran Hour from Cleveland, Ohio. It was from a man who had been diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer. His name is Ken Weidus. This is how he finished the letter to Pastor Klaus.
“Pastor Klaus, I receive the Daily Devotions and have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given 11 months to live. I was told to make peace with God, get my affairs in order, and when the time comes, I will be put into hospice and given morphine until the end. That was 14 years, 5 months and 17 days ago. I am still waiting to hear from God why He has given me a second chance. I just put everything in His hands and take it day by day.”
Advent. The season of hope. Our hope is based on the knowledge that God created this universe. He chose to enter the world which He created through the womb of a virgin girl named Mary. We know it to be true. Even in a world that laughs at the impossibility of God choosing to live on earth for the purpose of defeating evil. Advent is a reminder that Jesus came once and He will come again to take us home.
