Advent 2013: Hope

Advent, Week 2, 2013 (adapted from:  Nov 2011)
Advent:  Restore Us, O God

Week 1:  Restore Our Hope

Psalm 80                                                 NOT EDITED

SIS – We must reconnect with God and others to have any real
hope for the future.

The Psalmist describes the pathway to hope.  Let’s read it together:

READ PSALM 80:1-3

We live in a day of great irony:  “people are communicating with each other more than at any time in human history, but connecting with each other less.

I’m not all that old but “back in the day” when a person wanted to communicate with another person there were limited options.  One option was to pick up that heavy, black device with a plastic dial that sat on the end table in your home but was owned by the local company.  They called it a “telephone.”  Or, you could communicate by writing a letter and dropping it in the mail box.  And, of course, there was always the option of actually getting up from the couch and going to talk to someone face-to-face.

The options for communicating with others in our present day have increased exponentially.  Almost everyone carries a mobile telephone, but even then, most prefer “texting” to “talking.”  Go to any public place and you will notice that at least 50 per cent of the people are communicating with an electronic device.  Regular mail is almost obsolete.  Email is considered too slow.  Even instant messaging has given way to Skype and FaceTime where you can talk and see the person, whether they are across the mall or across the ocean. 

We live in a world where communication is fast and easy.  We communicate more but the irony is:  we are connecting much less.  People now do not even have to leave their homes to work, and dropping in on a neighbor for a friendly visit is considered very bad form.  We can communicate with just a “touch on the screen,” but we do not connect at a level that really touches our hearts. In a land birthed in an atmosphere of great hope, many struggle with despair.

Most of you will recall the theme of President Obama’s political campaign in 2004.  It was “hope.”  Or, more fully “hope and change.” 

In many ways I feel sorry for Obama.  It must be horrible being in charge of a nation that looks like a train wreck. Who would want to leave such a legacy behind as President of the U.S.  It must be a tough time for President Obama, personally.

In fact, I just heard on T.V. the other day that "A man jumped the White House fence.  The Secret Service quickly chased the man down and after a brief conversation they were able to talk President Obama into coming back and finishing his term." —Conan O'Brien

These are tough days for the President, tough days for the nation, and tough days for many, many families.  We desperately need “hope,” but real hope can never come from a politician.

The hope we need this Christmas, and throughout the year, is outlined in Psalm 80.  Verse 18-19 declares where hope can be found:

Revive us . . .Restore us, “Yahweh the God of Hosts; look on us with favor, and we will be saved.”

Why is the Psalmist crying out for God to restore the hope of Israel?  Because Israel had fallen into despair and disrepair because Israel had become “disconnected” from the God of their Fathers, just like America has become “disconnected” from the Founding Fathers. 

Thomas Jefferson, drafter and signer of Our Declaration of Independence sums up the perspective of our Founding Fathers, that was overwhelmingly Christian,  when he said:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? . . . . Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.

We have lost our hope in America because we have lost our way.  We’ve lost our way because we’ve lost our connection with the Word of God.  We MUST reconnect:  reconnect with the Word of God; reconnect with Family and Friends; and most of all reconnect with God, Himself.  Therein lies a sure and certain hope.

1.  We need to reconnect with the Word of God (8-11)

The Psalmist’s despair came because he knew the history of God’s Covenant relationship with Israel.  It was through the understanding of Who God was and how God’s relationship was revealed in His Word that the Psalmist knew where to look when times became dark and the nation was adrift.

He knew the History of God.  The Psalmist had read the scrolls telling of God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt.  The Psalmist had a boldness in his prayer because he had full knowledge of what God had done, showing what God could do again.

One thing is sure:  ignorance of God’s Word will always lead to the fall of any nation, the crippling of families, and individual despair.  Jesus summed up the importance of God’s Word by saying:

“A man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”
(Mat. 4:4; Deu. 8:3)

Joshua reminds us of the importance of the Word of God in bringing prosperity, health, and well-being:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth and you shall meditate on it day and night being careful to observe everything written therein; then shall your way prosper and then shall you know good success”  (Jos. 1:8)

The Psalmist lived in a time of great despair and great depression, but he knew why because he knew the Word of God.  But, knowing the Word, the Psalmist also knew the way back.  He knew how disconnected Israel had become from God, and he knew the ancient scrolls were a road map back to God.  There was his hope.

There is no foundation for any real hope if one does not know the Word of God and one does not seek diligently to apply that Word to one’s everyday life. A person, or a nation, without a foundation in the Word of God is a person or nation is building on shifting sand.

Hope comes from knowing what God “can” do in the future
by knowing what God “has done” in the past.

To have that solid foundation we need to “reconnect with the Word of God.”

2.  Reconnect with Family and Friends (v1: “flock”)

About 20 times the Psalmist refers to God’s people using plural pronouns like “us, we, our, them, they.” (HCSB).  The rest of the references to God’s people the Psalmist makes is in regard to a vine or cedar with many branches, or sprouts.

Hope is a “group” project.  If you allow yourself to become isolated from family and friends, or the world in general, you will most surely fall prey at one time or another to deep depression.  Hope is all about “community,” – sharing with others the deep treasures of grace we have received from God. 

You might recall Ebenezer Scrooge, the primary character in Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. He is a cranky, self-absorbed, man with no friends because he wanted no friends.  When his lonely, sad existence was pointed out to him by three Christmas Spirits, it brings Scrooge to the realization that the most important gift one could ever give or receive was “friendship and love of others.”

Loneliness feeds upon itself.  When you allow yourself to become isolated from others, for whatever reason (and there are many) you allow yourself to sail into some very dangerous waters.  God made us to live in “community” with others.  Christmas is a great time to “reconnect” with Family and Friends.

We live our lives in a sea of people--people at work, people at the grocery store, people at the bank, and even in church—but we don’t “connect.”  We need to connect with as many people as possible in order to have a solid foundation of hope for the future.

Don’t be an “old Scrooge.” Reach out to others. Give and receive love this Christmas and you will find that a blazing fire of hope will ignite in your soul and warm you on any cold nights of life you might face now and in the future.

One of the saddest ironies of our day is that people can “connect” with others in ways that nobody would have dreamed of even a few decades ago, but we have become more “disconnected” in our lives.

Anybody remember Dick Tracy, the comic book character?  He was given a very important piece of equipment:  a wrist-watch walkie/talkie.  As technology advanced, so did his wrist-watch.  It became a “two-way video communication device.”  Of course, back in the 60’s this was all fantasy—video communication was nothing but science fiction.  Now, with Skype and FAceTime, you can see who you are talking with in real time. Video communication is fact.

We need to reconnect this Christmas with the Word of God, and with people in our world, but most importantly, we need to reconnect with the God of the Word. 

3.  Reconnect with God (3, 7, 19)

One of the most profound statements I have read in regard our hope is amazingly simple.  Every problem a person [nation] has is related to his concept of God.  If you have a big God, you have small problems.  If you have a small God, you have big problems. (Hendrickson, Disciples are Made, Not Born).

If you can grasp this concept—that is, the concept of God’s absolute, sovereign, grace-filled control of everything, including your life—you have grasp the fundamental principle of living a “hope-filled, victorious Christian life.”  It’s all about God!

J.B. Philips wrote a masterpiece on this theme entitled, “Your God is Too Small.” Philips points out that the our despair and debilitation in life as believers stems from an “inadequate” view of God.  He says:

“Let us fling wide the doors and windows of our minds and make some attempt to appreciate the size of God.”

This is what the Psalmist here is trying to do:  he seeks to correct an inadequate view of God in order to restore Israel’s confidence in immensity of God; and, as a result, restore Israel’s hope for the future.

Look at how the Psalmist describes God in verse 19:

¹⁹ Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts.

If you follow the Psalmist’s train of thought from beginning to end you will see that the climax of his song comes in verse 19 when he piles on three different terms for God.

(1) Verse 3, the Psalmist uses “elohim,” a general word for God in the O.T., often referencing God as Creator.  Then in (2)verse 7 the Psalmist adds to elohim the term, iowtצבא, (tsabaōt). 

The title, “God of Hosts,” translates the word root, tsaba (צָבָא), which means “God Who Commands An Army.”  The NET Bible interprets the title as, “The Invincible God.” 

Then, (3)verse 19 adds yet another title to describe the God in whom the Psalmist finds great hope.  In verse 19 the Psalmist adds to elohim and tsabaōt the term, יהוה Yhvh. These are the four most important letters in the O.T.  This is God’s special name He gave to Moses before Moses set off to challenge the Pharaoh.  It is called the “Covenant Name” because it recognizes that Almighty God is the God Who made a contract with Israel, making them “His Special People.”  It is the most significant title for God in the O.T., or N.T.

Notice how the Psalmist increases the intensity of the name of God as we move through this Psalm of Hope.  The Psalmist is poetically detailing an important truth in God’s Word:  our hope in life intensifies as our relationship with God intensifies.  A deeper relationship means a deeper hope in life.

The image the Psalmist portrays is one of Immense Power and Intimate Love. In fact, the Psalmist calls upon Yahweh in verse 3 to:

“Rally Your power and come to save us!”

Salvation is what Christmas is all about.  Recall the angel’s words to the shepherds on the hillside near Bethlehem that first Christmas:

“Don’t be afraid, for look I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord was born to you” (Luke 2:1-11)

God sent us a Savior because we needed salvation from our sin.  He didn’t send us a Military General to deliver us from tyranny.  He didn’t send us a mere teacher, to deliver us from ignorance.  He didn’t send a politician to “deliver us from our wealth”.  God sent us what we needed, just when we needed it:  a Savior to deliver us from sin.

Some day it will be “too late” for God to save us.  But, today is not that day.  Today, we can call upon God; we can reconnect with God and we will be saved by God—perhaps, just in the nick of time!

“Just in the nick of time” is definitely one of the stranger idioms in the language. The language experts are sure that nick here is the same word as that for a small cut or notch.  It stood for absolute precision.

That’s the whole point of Christmas:  God came to us just in the nick of time.  Paul describes it like this in the KJV:

4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God [sent forth] his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the [adoption of sons.]

God is standing at the ready backed up by His Sovereign power and Heavenly Army to act on our behalf if we will simply “reconnect” with Him.  God WANTS to reconnect with you—that’s the real beauty of Christmas.  God came to us to be with us.

Our hope is built, not on our politics or our power but upon the power and plan of an Almighty, All-powerful, All-knowing, All-loving God.

We lose hope when we allow ourselves—because of our sin—to become disconnected from “Yahweh, the God of Hosts.”  It is like unplugging a power tool—it becomes useless and ineffective.

When we become “distant and disconnected” from God, He looks smaller and our problems look bigger.  The key to having our hope restored is “reconnecting with the God of the Word.”

God “reconnected” with the world by taking the form of a baby in a manger.  John refers to the “reconnection” in this way:

“God became flesh and dwelled among us.” (John 1:14)

There’s our hope friends.  Wrapped up in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger!  When you read the Christmas story, you are reading the “story of hope.”  Real hope.  When you look into the “face of Jesus Christ” you are seeing the “face of hope.”  Real hope.

That’s the whole point of the Christmas story.  That’s the whole point of the Bible.  God has not given up on us—in fact, God will never give up on us.

I like to say that the real miracle of every human birth is that it reminds us God has not given up on humanity.  God has not given up on you and I.  Christmas is a time for us to “reconnect” with the God of the Word and let “Yahweh, the God of Hosts, restore our hope.”

We can communicate faster and easier than at anytime in human history, but even when we communicate, do we really connect?

At Christmas time, God made the “ultimate connection” with man by being born as a man.  He lived as a man.  He died as a man.  He rose again as the God-man of Heaven.  That is the remarkable, astonishing, mind-boggling truth that underlies Christmas.

Join me in seeking God earnestly and patiently to help us “reconnect” with Him and with our world this Christmas.  Join me in asking God to “Restore Our Hope” this Christmas.

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