Understanding Advent Unites Us at Christmas - Part 1 - HOPE

Introduction

In 1982, I had been serving for two years as the church planter and founding pastor of a church in a small but growing suburb in Texas. The members and attenders had moved to the area from several different states. Their cultures and religious backgrounds were varied but their desire for community had brought them to our church.

We had just moved into our first permanent building and Christmas was only a few weeks away. Was there a way that through understanding the true significance and meaning of Christmas unite us and put us on the same page in our pilgrimage of being true believers and followers of Jesus and enhance our commitment to maturing in Him? Our answer became to celebrate Christmas as a congregation by emphasizing the different aspects of Advent that many other churches and denominations were using to focus upon Christmas.

I sent the church a letter outlining the plan we would follow for December and explaining a little about the aspects of Advent. The following is a brief excerpt from that letter:

"For the four Sundays that precede Christmas Day, we will emphasize four aspects of Advent that together help us to understand the true significance of Christmas. Advent means coming or arrival. We are celebrating the first arrival or coming of Jesus into our world as God's promised Messiah and it reminds us of the Second Advent when Jesus will return as the reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Each Sunday will focus on one of these four connected elements of the First Advent: Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace."

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HOPE

Have you noticed that the days seem shorter and the nights seem longer?  That is not because we went off of daylight savings time.  It is because we are moving closer to the winter solstice which comes on December 21st.  Because of the tilt of our planet, there is a winter solstice when our time of daylight is the shortest and a summer solstice when our daylight is the longest.  If we lived in the region of the North Pole, we would be close to experiencing 23-24 hours of darkness at the date of the winter solstice.  If we lived in the southern hemisphere of our planet, this would be reversed.

Those who live near the North Pole experience these extremes of daylight seasons and nighttime seasons.  Some talk about the depression they experience during the extended darkness during the winter.  While our days are not that extreme, we can experience a less pleasant season of life when the days are dreary and we go several days without sunshine. 

Isaiah the prophet recorded God’s word about living in darkness and having a need for light. 

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a

great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

on them has light shone."

This verse found in Isaiah 9:2 occurs during some of the darkest days for Ahaz as King of the Southern Kingdom of a divided Israel.  He was faced with war against either Assyria or with his neighbors and allies.  Isaiah offered a sign from God to Ahaz but Ahaz refused to accept a sign.  Then the time and the land of Judah had become dark.  But Ahaz’s indecision and refusal did not deter God’s plan. 

What does it mean to walk in darkness?

Physical darkness is only one form of darkness.  It tends to be the simplest to alter.  A switch turns on a lamp; a flashlight illuminates the night shadows; a full moon can provide enough light to see; and even our cell phones provide a certain amount of light.  In 8-12 hours, the sun rises again in the east and a new day begins.

But physical darkness pales in comparison to darkness that descends because of evil and spiritual emptiness.  Evil is often portrayed in literature and on film in dark tones with little physical light present to give emphasis to the severity of the time.

Likewise, spiritual emptiness in people’s lives or the reality of people being led by false teachings is seen in the dullness of grays, not the vitality of colors.

It is in these areas of darkness where man sinks to his lowest levels of existence.  His moral values are crushed; his belief in God Jehovah diminishes or vanishes altogether.  In these moments Satan flexes his muscles and turns the purposeful creation of God into a wasteland of hatred and destruction. And if we are not careful, we begin to believe that this is the way life was intended to be. Hope has disappeared.  Fatalism is present.  Does this picture ever begin to seem like any parts of your world?

Does light restore hope?

Isaiah relayed God’s message of hope in Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6-7.  His message was not one of the breaking of dawn or the flipping of a switch.  Rather it was a message of hope based on God sending His Son into this world. 

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin

shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel."

Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and His name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end."

Isaiah 9:6-7a

One of the best musical pieces is George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.  It was written as a Easter presentation but has been adopted, at least in part, as a Christmas tradition.  In 1741, Handel, a remarkably gifted composer, was in a downward spiral. His most recent pieces had not been well received by the public.  But in a 3-4 week period in the summer of 1741, he composed the Messiah.  When one listens to the Christmas portion of this masterpiece, one cannot miss the overwhelming sense of hope that permeates out of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Physical light may brighten your day, but the only light that truly offers eternal hope is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one promised as a sign to Ahaz, the one who is proclaimed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, forever, forever, forever. We are in the midst of the Christmas season.  But neither Black Friday nor a gathering of family will restore the hope that our world desperately needs.  That hope is only found in Jesus Christ.  That promise, that first Christmas in a stable in Bethlehem was the first coming, the first advent of Jesus.  He brought hope to a family, to shepherds, to wise men, to 12 disciples, to a host of followers, and finally to a world.  He is the light of the world.

Is the light still shining today?

We shouldn’t even have to ask this question.  Around the world, literally thousands of people are coming to Christ on a daily basis.  Muslims are having visions and dreams of Jesus and inquiring about who He is and are being saved.  Third world countries are seeing transformation because people are coming to Christ bringing hope to the hopeless.

After an extended period of spiritual drought in our own country, we are now seeing college and high school students stepping forward in trusting Jesus and proclaiming His truths to their peers. One of the ongoing messages of hope for every generation is found in

2 Chronicles 7:14.

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and

pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then

I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

God the Father has sent us hope in the person of Jesus Christ.  This Christmas season, in a dark world, will we embrace and share the hope that God has provided?  Or will we pretend that all is well because of who we are and where we live?  Jesus came into this world for all mankind – including you and me.  He is the hope that brings light to repel the darkness.

May our celebration of Christmas be marked by our proclamation of the hope that is offered to all people through Jesus Christ.