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Sermons

"HOPE"
Old Testament SCRIPTURE TEXT:
ISAIAH 40:1-11

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 30, 2008
THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SCRIPTURE LESSON: 1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

MESSAGE: I begin this message with a stark illustration, a news item that was carried on CNN a while back. A man in New York City called the police to inform them that he and his wife were about to commit suicide. He rapidly detailed for the dispatcher who answered the financial pre-arrangements that they had made for the disposal of their bodies. The police dispatcher tried to keep him on the phone, but to no avail. When New York City police arrived at the upscale, $18,000 per month's-rent apartment, they found two bodies, both dead. And a note which simply read, "We have no hope."

Today's scripture text, among other important lessons, teaches us that human life is frail and fleeting. "All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them." In other words, considered overall, we human beings are a weak, transient bunch.

Despite this obvious truth about us as a species, there are times when individual persons can be amazingly resilient. Stories abound of the heroism of men and women who, against impossible odds, have successfully defended themselves against whole armies. Prisoners of war have been known to maintain their integrity for years on end, despite starvation and grisly torture. Various victims of disease have stood up to and conquered ailments that cause their physicians to marvel in disbelief.

Over the course of billions of human lives and several millennia of human history, such exceptional tales are to be found in the thousands - and virtually every one of them contains a common element: That element is hope. A determined man or woman with hope may prevail when logic and reason say they will surely fail. But take away hope, and you might as well write "R. I. P." Life without hope isn't worth living.

Bad things had happened to the people of Israel, almost continuously, for more than 400 years. After several centuries of being on top, they'd been on the bottom for a long, long time. First the Assyrians had come in and destroyed their northern provinces, then the Babylonians had ravaged their heartland, including their precious, holy city -- Jerusalem. Their leaders and their men of learning had been scattered, exiled to faraway places. And although there had been partial restorations on a couple of occasions - under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah in the fifth century B. C. and under the Maccabees in the second, such respites were brief and unfulfilling. The latest incarnation of oppression, for them, was the Romans. The yoke of Roman tyranny was omnipresent, squeezing the life out of those who were supposed to be the very apple of God's eye.

In the midst of such lengthy, unrelenting suffering, even the chosen people of God were beginning to lose their grip on that critical element without which life becomes merely existence: hope. Only a minority of them continued to hold out, hoping against all hope that a long-ago promised deliverer, a Messiah, might be granted. They diligently studied the revealed Word of God, given centuries before by anointed prophets, clinging to passages such as this from Isaiah: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." And in response, they cried out, "When?" "How long?" "O God, make it soon!"

And God heard their cry. A man arose among them who began to quote Isaiah in a new and different way, applying a portion of God's great prophecy to himself: "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.'" As God's people gathered to hear him, their long-frustrated hope began to rise. So they eagerly asked the inevitable question: "Are you Him? Are you the Messiah?" Their disappointment was bitter as John replied, "No, I am not. He is far greater than I. I am merely his herald."

Once again it appeared God's people were to be frustrated. Once more their hopes began to ebb. But then, only a year or two later, another man appeared among them. Like John, he proclaimed a message of repentance. God listens; God hears those who approach Him with repentant, humble hearts. OK, fine, we've been given another John the Baptist. Oh, well…

Still, just in case, they asked Him anyway: "Are you the Messiah? Are you the one we've been waiting, praying, hoping for all these many centuries?" And the response they received was this: "The Kingdom of God has come near to you. Come and follow; come and see." He didn't exactly say "Yes," but He also wasn't saying, "No."

Mostly out of curiosity at first, some began to follow Him. And what they heard and saw was tantalizing. This man healed their sick. He opened the eyes of the blind among them. He preached a message of God's love and concern for the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden. He invited children to sit in his lap. He termed Himself a shepherd, sent by God to gather the lost sheep of Israel. They remembered more of the Messianic prophecies of old: "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Could He be the One?

A few began to pin their hopes upon Him. He - this odd man from Nazareth named Jesus -- might be able to lead them to victory over their enemies and restore them to power, respect, and authority among the peoples of the world. And so they began to encourage Him. "Jesus - if you're really the Messiah, show us plainly! Organize us - lead us. We're ready to march into battle with you - just say the word. Remember that the prophet, speaking of the Messiah, said, '…the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him.' So if you're the genuine article, Jesus, give us what we want!"

Unfortunately, the people of Jesus' generation were hoping for the wrong thing - or rather, for a lot of wrong things. Jesus was offering them a Kingdom - yes. But it wasn't a kingdom of worldly possessions and political prowess and mundane might. It's very easy for human beings to confuse the things of this world - the hopes of life on earth -- with the hope of eternity. That was true in Jesus' day; it's equally true today.

People of God - what are you hoping for this Advent season? What are you seeking? I know well that Detroit would have you pin your hopes on a new car. After all, according to the ads, a new Buick is "something to believe in." Ladies, there's a jeweler in Santa Fe who'd like you to set your hopes on an expensive new necklace. If he really loves you this Christmas, he'll show it with diamonds. Kids, there are a jillion toys available at Wal-Mart, and if you hope long enough and hard enough - and write a letter to Santa plus make your parents' lives unbearably miserable with constant whining, you'll get plenty of them. Guys: There's a gun shop down the hill that has just the shotgun you're hoping for this December. You'll feel ten feet tall when you brandish that puppy in front of your brother-in-law at Christmas dinner.

The subject is hope. Humans can't live without hope. But ultimately, we can't fix our hopes on anything - or anyone - in this life -- because it's all transitory. It can't, it won't satisfy - at least not for long. So what's left?

Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, though He die, yet shall He live." Jesus also said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." The people of His day didn't understand those statements - because they had set their hopes on different, worldly goals. But we today, at least potentially, are in a quite different position. For we know that Jesus' claims proved true - because He rose from death. And therefore, we know that hope, when it's placed in Him, is based upon a solid, permanent foundation. Jesus desires that we set our hopes upon the Kingdom of God - and He will be pleased to give it to us. All we need to do is ask Him.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God….See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." In Jesus, the Messiah of God, there is hope! Amen.

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