What Gift Can We Bring: The Gift of Hope

We enter the season of waiting and expectation at the end of a long year. For many of us, Advent feels more real this year. We are waiting. We are longing. We are hoping.

Thankfully, we can look to those who came before for signs of hope, even in the most difficult times. Today, we look to Isaiah 64 (Isaiah 64:1-9) as we consider what hope looks like in the midst of difficult times.

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I preached for the first time in a church 18 years ago on the First Sunday of Advent. I was in the middle of my second year of seminary, and I had been attending worship in the congregation for almost a year at that point. I don’t really remember anything about that Sunday. I remember I was nervous, but I don’t have any specific memories of the first time I stepped into the pulpit.

Oddly, what I remember is preparing the sermon. I remember being asked in early November if I would preach the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I remember seeing it would be the first Sunday of Advent. I remember thinking, “Oh, I guess there will be a reading from one of the prophets and something from early in one of the gospels.” And I remember being surprised to discover that the gospel reading from the First Sunday of Advent came instead from the end of the gospel. Instead of focusing on the coming Christ child, the readings on this First Sunday of the season look instead to the second coming of Christ.

The reason for this is that Advent is a season with a dual purpose. It is a season of expectation and preparation. In these four Sundays before we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, it is easy for us to remember the initial coming of Jesus into the world. Over the next three Sundays, our primary focus is on the initial arrival of the Son of God into the world. 

But on this first Sunday, we are reminded of all which that coming means. We are reminded of the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus’ teachings. We are reminded of the kingdom that he was bringing into being. We are reminded of his return in glory to reign over that realm that is still becoming.

Advent is a time for us to intentionally anticipate the coming kingdom. It is a time for us to intentionally look forward to God breaking into this world to change it for the better. Yes, that started with the foretold baby born 2000 years ago. But it is also something we are still looking toward. It is something we are still expecting, still anticipating. Something that was coming and is still coming into being.

Advent is about both the coming Messiah that the Hebrew people were awaiting and it is about the ultimate fulfillment of all that Jesus showed us -- something that we are still awaiting today.

This waiting, this anticipation, is an act of hope. When they looked back at the history of God’s involvement with Israel, the prophets saw how God’s promises were always fulfilled. And so they were able to look into the future with hope, even in the midst of difficult times. 

Following in their footsteps, we are able to look at the future with hope for the same reasons. We have heard the words of Jesus. We have felt the effect of his teaching and example in our own lives. We have seen enough to know that God’s promises are fulfilled.

Looking at Isaiah today, we get a sense of this note of hope even in the midst of a time of anxiety and uncertainty. Our reading opens with the words, “If only you would tear open the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 64:1a, CEB) Likely written during a time of exile, the Hebrew people are looking for salvation. They feel forgotten or even punished by God, carried to another land against their will. In the midst of their suffering it would be easy to despair.

But Isaiah knows where their salvation will come from. God has promised not to forget them or forsake them. The history of God’s relationship with the Hebrew people bears this out. “From ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any god but you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him!” (Isaiah 64:4, CEB) The Hebrew people are God’s people. God has always acted on their behalf. Even in times of chaos and uncertainty, the people of God have nothing to fear.

After the time of exile during which Isaiah was writing, the people did return to the land that had been promised to them. Over the years, their fortunes ebbed and flowed until they came under Roman rule. The people again looked to the prophets to understand what was happening and to give them hope for the future.

Into this world of longing and need, Jesus appeared. Jesus came as fulfillment of the words of the prophets, fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation. Jesus brings hope into the world, even as it is a hope that comes in an unexpected form. Jesus was not born in a palace. He did not wield military might. He did not rule through subjugation or violence.

Jesus came to offer hope. He came to show that there are other ways of living in relationship with one another than through power and dominance. He came to teach a different way of being in the world together that does not require competition or winners and losers. He came into the world and taught us that the first rule is love.

And then he asked his followers to continue the work that he started. He taught them what the kingdom to come would look like and asked them to live in that world as if it were already here. At the same time that Jesus brought hope to his followers, he asked them to bring hope to others.

As many of you know, I am a big fan of the Star Wars movies. The original movie blew me away when I was a kid, and it has continued to be a touchstone for me. Partly it is the story of good versus evil. Partly it is the story of someone of low means rising to bring down insurmountable odds.

In recent years, more stories have been told from this galaxy far, far away. One of the best of the newer movies was one called Rogue One. The setting for this movie is in the days leading up to the beginning of that movie I have watched over and over for years. It tells the story of a young woman who leads the attempt to steal the plans for the Empire’s superweapon, the Death Star. 

Throughout the movie, this woman, Jyn Erso, speaks of the need for hope in the face of the Empire’s cruelty. Considering she watched agents of the Empire kill her mother and kidnap her father when she was a small girl, she knows better than most what they are capable of. But even in the midst of that, she speaks words of hope. She leads a team on an impossible mission because people need hope. She transmits a signal without knowing if anyone is receiving it because the people need hope. Her small team is like David standing before the Goliath of the Empire, and in seeing her defiance, she gives hope to others. 

The Israelites under Roman rule knew what it was to live in subjugation to an empire. They knew about brutality. They knew about rule through violence and fear. Still they looked with hope to the promises of God, to the one who would come to offer them salvation.

They looked for the Messiah spoken of in the prophets.

Today, we look not for the promised Messiah. Jesus has already come. But we still look forward with hope for the ultimate fulfillment of all that has been promised. 

We are not ourselves Hebrews, but we can find hope in the words of Isaiah as well. Speaking to God, Isaiah says that “All of us are the work of your hand!” (Isaiah 64:8c, CEB) All of us are included in God’s promise of salvation. All of us are included in the salvation offered through Jesus. All of us are included in that hope.

All of us in this room watch with hope as we enter this season. Over the course of this year, we have sat in chaos and uncertainty. And so we wait with hope for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s kingdom here on earth.

At the same time, we remember that those promises are for all of us. All of us are the work of God’s hands. That includes those not in this room as well. 

Just as Jesus offers us hope, we must offer hope to others. I look at the ways the congregation I am currently serving has stepped up to provide food at Thanksgiving and gifts for the coming holiday. Many other congregations do an Angel Tree during Advent. Those acts provide hope to people that may otherwise feel hopeless and uncared for. They are acts of love that provide hope for people in need.

As we continue through this season, we will continue to reflect on the many gifts we anticipate during the season. After all, this is part of the celebration of Advent -- waiting with anticipation for the gift that is Jesus.

At the same time, we will also reflect on our call to continue to offer those gifts to others. How do we continue to offer the gifts we receive to the world around us? How do we continue to offer the gifts of hope, peace, joy, love, and grace?

In keeping with this theme, our song of reflection today comes from the United Methodist Hymnal. Perhaps some of you are familiar with it. “What Gift Can We Bring” is a reminder of the grace we have received from God and from others and our call to continue to offer that same gift to others. It is also a song of hope that remembers the acts of hope made by those who came before and the acts of hope we continue to participate in today.

The End of the Beginning: The Reign of Christ

On this final Sunday of this series where we have focused on beginnings and endings, we are again given a glimpse into the kingdom that is to come. In our reading from Matthew (see Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus uses metaphor to teach us about the kingdom of heaven that is not yet here while at the same time making it clear that we are expected to live today is if it is, in fact, already here. Using imagery that would be familiar to many of his followers, Jesus gives a twist to his familiar teaching about how we are to treat our neighbors -- loving others is one of the ways that we show our love of God.

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Today is the final Sunday of the current church year. In the liturgical calendar, this day is known as Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday. It is a day we celebrate the fullness of Jesus in our lives, our reliance on his guidance and protection in our lives. It is also a day we look ahead to the final fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven on earth and Christ’s eternal rule in that realm.

It is in some ways the ideal celebration for the theme we have focused on these last few weeks. It is an acknowledgement that the beginning will come to an end and a new reality is coming into existence. At the same time we recognize that the world to come is one we cannot fully comprehend and that our earthly rulers pale in comparison to Christ. We await the kingdom not fully understanding what it will be like even as Jesus has given us ample hints along the way.

The End of the Beginning: Encourage One Another

One of the surest ways through times of change and chaos, endings and uncertainty, is having someone offer a bit of encouragement. Encouragement takes many forms, and what one finds encouraging may differ from one person to the next. But encouragement helps us maintain our focus and keeps us steady when we aren't sure what is coming or when.

This week, we return to Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). In this brief reading, Paul starts with uncertainty and moves to encouragement. What does it mean to not know when something we greatly anticipate or even desire is going to come to pass? How can a word of encouragement get us through such times?

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Our text today continues the themes we have been exploring this month. In this bit of the letter to the Thessalonians we read today, Paul reminds us that we cannot know the timing and the dates of the kingdom to come, for “...the day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, CEB).

We know that the end of one thing is before us. We know that present things will come to a close. We know that the beginning must eventually come to an end. We know that the kingdom of heaven is coming. But the ultimate fulfillment of that time will come unexpectedly and without warning. We cannot know the timing and the dates.

Unfortunately, that leaves us in a bit of a difficult situation. I think we can all agree that it is difficult to wait when we don’t know what to expect or when. Looking at the health crisis looming around us with the impact of COVID on our lives, we can know that eventually things will change. Eventually we will be able to move closer to the way things were before. But not knowing when is hard. Living in the uncertainty can cause quite a bit of anxiety.

Paul seems to recognize this, which is one reason our reading today doesn’t end on a note of uncertainty. Paul does go on a bit about our inability to know and about the dangers of assuming that we know when things will go a particular way. Because of this uncertainty, he urges us to remain alert.

But, while it takes him a little while to get there, he does eventually switch gears. Going back to the metaphor of the thief, he highlights that the thief comes in the night, in a time of darkness. But then he reminds us that we are not in darkness. As followers of Jesus, who is the light of the world, we ourselves are children of the light. Therefore we cannot be in darkness.

This is a theme that comes up again during the Advent and Christmas season. The first chapter of the Gospel of John, which is often read on Christmas Eve, talks about light coming into a world of darkness and identifies Jesus as that light. There is also an Advent song in the United Methodist Hymnal that you may be familiar with that goes “I want to walk as a child of the light/I want to follow Jesus” (The United Methodist Hymnal, 206). Jesus is light, and, as his followers, we have inherited a part of that light as well. 

This is the first bit of encouragement that Paul offers here. While the thief may come in darkness, we cannot be in darkness. We are children of the light, so we can see more clearly. Then Paul plays with this imagery of day and night for a bit, making some comparisons that sound almost odd to our ears. He moves from talking about light and dark to day and night to awake and asleep to sober and drunkenness. 

Some of this is likely coded language that may have been immediately obvious to people in the church at Thessalonica. “Children of the Night” may have referred to followers of the Greek god, Dionysis, who held wild, drunken celebrations in the night time (as highlighted here). So comparisons between the day and the night and soberness and drunkenness might make more sense in this setting.

But in our present world, as we think about the difference between being awake and asleep, we know that when we are awake, we are generally aware of what is going on around us. However, when we are asleep, we are oblivious to what is going on around us.  How many of you have had the experience of waking up in the morning to discover there had been a storm the night before that you had slept through?

Paul wants to be clear that we who follow Jesus live in the light. Because we are in the light, we are awake and aware. We will not be caught off guard, unlike those who dwell in night and darkness. Those who live in the night and darkness are asleep and therefore unaware. Therefore, we should not be afraid, though we should remain alert.

Of course, I think there are times when we hear things like this from Paul, and we may find them discouraging instead of encouraging. I don’t really want to speak for any of you, but sometimes I feel like I don’t quite measure up to the vision Paul has of what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are times that I do not feel enlightened. There are times that I do not feel awake. I read these words from Paul, and I feel like I am still floundering in darkness, asleep to the signs around me that I am supposed to recognize.

As I continue reading, I think that perhaps Paul knows that other followers reading his letters may feel the same way, for he does not leave us there. As we get close to the end of this reading, we find these words: “God didn’t intend for us to suffer his wrath but rather to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, CEB). God did not create us with the intention that we would suffer. That is not God’s will for us. Now this is a true note of encouragement. Do not be anxious, for God does not intend ill towards you.

Rather, God created us for life and for love. When we look to the life and ministry of Jesus, this is the message we see repeated over and over. His life, death, and resurrection when taken together prove God’s love for us. We are meant to love God and to love one another. That’s it. That’s how Jesus sums up the entirety of history.

Those are words that begin to fill me with encouragement, but then Paul takes it one step further. “Jesus died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10, CEB). Did you catch that? Paul takes a bit of the sting out of his earlier statements. Recognizing that we all fall short, he does not wish those that do not feel up to the task, that do not feel perfect and awake, to be discouraged or fall into despair. Jesus came for all of us. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether we consider ourselves perfect already or still in need, whether we are already enlightened or still dwelling in darkness, Jesus came for us all.

“So continue encouraging each other and building each other up…” (5:11)

In the end, Paul comes to a place where he seems to feel it doesn’t entirely matter if you are already in the community or not. If Jesus came for us all, then the best thing we can do for ourselves and for our community is to continue to encourage one another.

As I consider the present world and our need to be a sign of encouragement for others, I was reminded of a movie I have seen a few times. It may seem like an odd choice at first, but I think “The Shawshank Redemption” offers us a pretty good model for what it is that Paul is talking to us about here. Maybe some of you have seen this movie or perhaps read the Stephen King story it is based on.

The movie is set primarily at Shawshank prison. As the story opens, we are introduced first to a man who goes by the name Red as he recounts the first time he saw Andy Dufresne. Andy Dufresne is a new prisoner, convicted of killing his wife and her lover in a fit of jealous rage. But he proclaims his innocence the entire time. Trying not to give away too much of the plot of the movie, but, at least from Andy’s point of view, he knows that he is innocent. 

Throughout the story, we see a man that refuses to be beaten down by the horrors he encounters in prison. He does not know when or even if he will ever be set free, but rather than falling into despair, Andy becomes an encouraging presence for his fellow inmates. Through his words and actions, the other prisoners are encouraged to be better people. Andy helps them obtain a functional library. He teaches some of them to read. He even assists more than one of the men in earning his GED. Even locked up in prison, Andy’s presence and his actions give the other prisoners hope for the future.

As we look around at the place we currently find ourselves in the world, how are we finding encouragement? Where are the signs of hope for us? And, following along with Paul’s encouragement, how are we providing encouragement for others? How is our presence in this community a sign of hope? I look at things like the Thanksgiving meal boxes and the upcoming Christmas gifts that my local congregation is providing, and I see some of the ways in which we as the church offer hope and encouragement for others.

As we draw to a close today, there is a song I would like to share. It is not explicitly a religious song, but it is obviously a song about faith and hope. The song is called “Secure Yourself” by Atlanta-based duo, the Indigo Girls. They often write songs that wrestle with faith and our place in the world. And they have connections to the Methodist community, as one of them is the daughter of a Methodist minister and Candler professor.

This particular song has similar imagery to what we find in our scripture today. There is an interplay between awake and asleep, between night and day. Phrases like “eyes wide open but fast asleep” and “hold on tight the night has come” seem to fit exactly with the imagery that Paul is using. And as we hear the chorus, we hear the note of both longing and encouragement - secure yourself to heaven, hold on tight the night has come, fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun. Sometimes, when all we have to offer are broken words, what we really need is a bit of encouragement.

As we consider endings and beginnings and not knowing what is next, may we hear the encouragement in these words for us today.

The End of the Beginning: You Do Not Know...

Last week we began talking about this season we find ourselves in, a season where the church year begins to draw to a close, where we start to come full circle in the story of the life and ministry of Jesus. As the year draws to a close, we know that there are familiar stories coming, even as we also know we will likely hear them in a new way.

Today, we have a story that is perhaps familiar to many (see Matthew 25:1-13). It is a parable about the kingdom of heaven, a recurring theme in the Gospel of Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount, which occurs early in the Gospel of Matthew, is all about laying out Jesus’ vision of what it means to live in the kingdom of heaven. In our story today, found near the end of Matthew, we see that Jesus is still talking about what the kingdom of heaven looks like.

The End of the Beginning: For All the Saints...

In November, I started a new series to explore the interplay between endings and beginnings. For many churches in the Western tradition that follow the common church year, the first Sunday in Advent is also the beginning of the new church year. This is when we reset our calendars so to speak. The lectionary starts over with a new cycle of readings. We return to the same pattern of celebrations and holy days that we have seen before.

So the month of November marks an ending of sorts in the life of the church. But it is not the ultimate end. It is really more the end of the beginning of things. There is more to come. 

On this first Sunday of the series, we take a look at 1 John 3:1-3 as we look back at those who have come before. We remember the saints that have modeled love and faithfulness for us, that have made it possible for us to do the same for others. We look back as a way of seeing what is to come.

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