Waiting in Hope | Finding Hope in Advent

So our Advent sermon series is El Peace. That

is how, probably the better way to say that Greek

word, El Peace, El Pez, however you want to do

that. That is a Greek word for hope. That we

are waiting in hope where we're looking at the

prophets that spoke of hope of the Messiah. But

I wanted to kind of bridge where we've been because

we were in a pretty big sermon series for the

last three months in the book of Acts. We walked

deeply in the start of the church, those first

eight chapters. And many of you wanted to keep

going. And believe me, there was a part of me

that wanted to as well. But I think it was a

good journey of those eight chapters of how really

the story of us, the church, got started. The

highs and the lows. God birthed the church. Wind,

fire, power, and mission with unstoppable gospel

momentum. In a reflection I have, there are many,

but one that kind of leads me to Advent is what

the church didn't need. That as we look over

kind of the centuries at the church, what was

this kind of vagabond group of people called

the way. It wasn't even called Christians at

that point. It was the people of the way. They

just kind of went. They didn't plan too much

for it. We saw when they needed to elect new

officers for elders, when they created deacons.

There wasn't a whole lot outside of just relying

on the Holy Spirit to show up and do the work.

And a reflection that I've had over the last,

I don't know, three, four weeks is maybe how

much we've gotten away from that. That a lot

of times in the church, we look at statistics.

We look at a lot of data that we can look at

as far as making decisions. And I go, wow, we've

come pretty far, but maybe not always in the

best things when it comes to just being the church.

Now don't get me wrong, being the organization,

being a non -for -profit, a 501c3 organization,

they didn't worry about any of that then because

they didn't have that. And so in the culture

we live in now, that is Christ in culture, the

church engages. But one of the things that Acts

taught us that applies to today's church as it

did in the start of the church, is four things.

That God keeps his promises. God pours out his

spirit on the church. He builds the church. And

he always finishes what he starts. And I think

for churches, those are four key things to keep

kind of right here when it comes to mission and

vision. And you're going to hear a lot about

that over the coming three, four months. Vision

and mission. And what does that look like for

214 Ridge Road? But the thread of faithfulness

to God is one that we cannot. gloss over here

at Munster Church. All you have to do is look

at the history boards going all the way back

to Reverend Malama, right, 155 years ago, though

he wasn't the pastor at that time yet, to be

able to say that a century and a half of God's

faithfulness has been upon this church, and not

because all of us are awesome, but because God

is, and that God is faithful. And that's really

the bridge of God's faithfulness from the start

of the church to Advent. Because hope is really

the first celebration in Advent. It's not sentimental.

Even though we can get wrapped up in all the

ribbons and the bows of the coming weeks. What

Advent is, is it's historical. It's covenantal.

It's deeply rooted in the character of God. The

same God who called, who empowered, and sent

the early church. Is the God that spoke through

the prophets. Promising a hope of the Messiah.

Capital M. And who faithfully fulfilled the promise

in the person of Jesus. Acts shows us the church

on mission because Jesus came. The Messiah came.

Advent shows us the Messiah in promise. In prophecy.

which is always exciting and a little scary,

or a lot of scary, and in the incarnation of

Jesus coming as a baby. So, El Peace, our Advent

journey, is going to be on hope. And one of the

things I want you to take time with this week

is, what are the things you put your hope in?

What are the things that you hope for in life?

We all, together, walk through a hope that one

day... Whether this church or another church,

Sloan, hopefully this church, that Sloan stands

on this stage and declares her faith in Jesus

Christ. That is hope. And that is hope that we

are excited to have. But if we're being honest,

sometimes our hope can be a pretty flippant thing

in our life. Whether it's hope for something

very small and really doesn't mean much, to hope

that, oh, when I ask her, she's going to say

yes. For those that might be looking to get engaged

this year or just got engaged. There's hope that

we have for all the things. But what's deeply

rooted in the character, in the fabric of who

God is and what Jesus means to us in our life

as Lord and Savior is hope. But a hope that comes

with perspective. And that's what we're going

to journey in this month. So let's look first

from the hope from the past. So we're looking

at hope from the past, the faithfulness of God.

That is going to be kind of our first point.

And we're going to look at Jeremiah 33. We're

just going to look at two verses today that we're

going to find ourselves as we start Advent. Behold,

the days are coming, declares the Lord, when

I will fulfill the promise I made to the house

of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days,

at that time, I will cause a righteous branch

to spring up for David. And he shall execute

justice and righteousness in the land. In those

days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell

securely. This is the name by which it will be

called, the Lord is our righteousness. Jeremiah

and Isaiah, known as the weeping prophets, had

a job that none of us would want to do. That

they had to go and prophesy really hard things

to the people of Israel. Right? Jeremiah, we

find, writing this to a broken nation. Jerusalem

has already been besieged. The king is weak.

The temple is compromised. Idolatry run rampant.

The exile is near. Hope almost gone. And then

God wakes Jeremiah up as a prophet. To go say

these things to a people, to a nation. But what

God says and what they may be experiencing are

not necessarily the same. And in that we find

hope. God says the days are coming. Not they

might come. We're going to roll the dice. It

could happen. Not I'm thinking about doing this,

but I'm not totally sure. But he says declaratively,

the days are coming. You see, hope begins not

with our circumstances, but with the promise

-keeping character of God. That God keeps his

promise. How many of you have always kept your

promises that you've made in your life always

ever absolute? Bingo. God does. I'll take my

hand down because I haven't. Hope begins not

with our circumstances. Because I guarantee if

you sat down with the people of Israel, all the

bad things I just listed that were going on for

them, my guess is the hope of a Messiah like

Jesus was going to be wasn't going to be their

first choice. Their hope was going to be in not

going to exile. Not being beaten down by surrounding

people groups. That the temple wouldn't be compromised.

That they would live holy lives. But something

needed to change. And it's a righteous branch.

That he says. That he gives that message. God

promises a branch from David. Right then and

there. That's going to give people hope. Why?

Because David was the king that they looked to.

If you really read the prophets, that this shoot

from David, this offshoot, this lineage of David

was going to come a Messiah like they have never

seen or heard before. A Messiah that would execute

justice and righteousness. This is covenant language.

God has been consistent in his covenant throughout

history. God is reminding his people as they're

sitting in the muck, in the mire of what is to

come. The promise holds true. I have not abandoned

what I promised. My covenant stands. My word

remains. So now, fast forward that to your 2025.

In the muck and mire you may find yourself today.

Does that promise still give you hope? Does that

promise still give you comfort? I have not abandoned

what I promised. My covenant stands. My word

remains. This continuity is called the covenant

of grace. The way God weaves his story through

Genesis, all the way through Malachi, into Bethlehem,

onto Calvary, into the empty tomb. That you are

a part of God's covenant. That God has called

you. Not because you're awesome, not because

I'm awesome, but that is what his covenant calls

for us to recognize him as Lord and Savior and

to live a life as holy as we can on this side

of glory. Understanding that when we are asked

what I declared in the beginning of Ida's service

yesterday, the question that comes to us from

the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day One, what

is your only comfort in life and in death? The

covenant answer is not that I am my own and I

do this all my way. No. It's I am not my own,

but I belong, body and soul, in life and in death,

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. And then

it lists the ways that that happens. Hope from

the past means the God who promised is the God

who will always deliver. But here's the thing.

Some of us, I don't know if we buy it. We think

that's a little hallmarky. That's a little kitschy.

I don't know if I like that. The God who promises

is the God who always delivers. Can we use always

and never when it comes to God? Friend, hear

me today. Absolutely we can. Guess what? You

and I cannot. It's one of the biggest teachings

I give in premarital counseling before the wedding

and in marriage counseling afterwards. Because

it's funny. They're taught not to use it in premarital.

You can't say to your spouse, you always do that

or you never do that. Right? Never a good idea.

Okay? Don't do that. Yet as they get into their

marriage, right, a couple years, a couple months,

maybe an hour, all of a sudden it starts up again.

You always do that. You never do that. And that

doesn't help in conversation, doesn't it? It

just shuts conversation down. But when it comes

to God with what he promises, he will always

deliver. That is the hope that Jeremiah is trying

to bring to a broken people. You will not remain

broken. God has not abandoned you. Let me ask

today, how many of you may need to hear that

today? Maybe not in the same way the Israelites

did back in Jeremiah's day. But maybe you're

at the end of your rope. Maybe you just can't

seem to figure it out. Maybe sleep has escaped

you because anxiety has set in. Have you forgotten

that God will deliver you? But the hard part

is, it might not be in the way we want it to

go. That's pretty consistent in the Bible, isn't

it? That God's going to show up the way God,

the sovereign God, the creator God, decides to

show up in your life. And when that differs from

ours, sometimes it wavers our confidence or our

assurance of our faith in God. Well, that's hope

for the present. Right? Hope for the present

means that we wait in confidence. You see, Jeremiah's

audience had to wait. Where did we hear that

about two and a half months ago? Where did we

hear the waiting? Does anyone remember? Go ahead.

Yeah, the church. He was calling the church,

Acts chapter 1, but they were told to wait for

Acts 1 · chapter mention

the Holy Spirit. That part of a Christian's life

is waiting. In uncertainty, in fear, maybe even

in longing, we might be called to wait. We wait

for the news to change. We wait for the marriage

to heal. We wait for that prodigal to return.

We wait for clarity about futures. We wait for

answers to prayer. We wait on direction from

God. Let's be honest. Our waiting often feels

like silence, doesn't it? But Advent tells us

that waiting is not empty. Waiting is, in fact,

discipleship. Let that wreck your week, month,

year, whatever. I don't like to wait. Yes, it

would be better if my relationship with God was

more like Burger King's motto, right? My way,

right away, at my relationship with Christ now.

It's not like that. That we are called to wait.

And if you struggle with that, come and join

me. That means the Lord's teaching us patience.

How many of us are patient? Oh, I thought at

least a couple of you would raise your hand.

We have a lot of work to do. We'll get there.

But Advent tells us waiting is not empty. Waiting

is discipleship. That's why Advent, the waiting

we do in Advent, is not a passive waiting. It's

active. That when we wait on the Lord, it's actually

an active thing. That means we're seeking. That

means we're studying. That means we're praying.

When we're in that season of waiting, it's a

lot easier for us to just kind of turn all that

off. When God says, no, lock it in. Let's dig

down, dig deep. Scripture never calls us to passively

wait. Never to sit in the corner and just hope

that things will magically get better. Advent

waiting is active. And here's a list of those

activities. We wait with obedience. We wait with

prayer. We wait with repentance. We wait with

expectation. We wait trusting the promises of

God. Because here is something that I was told

years ago in the beginning of my ministry. That

God will not bless until he knows we're ready

for the blessing. Now, I could probably fight

that theologically. I may be able to argue that

from a scripture point of view. But I'm probably

wrong. That if God is ready to bless you. the

first thing you have to understand is that blessing

might not be what you want it to be. And we need

to be able to discern that. We need to be able

to have that perspective. That is why the L piece,

that hope that we're going to talk about for

the next four weeks, rests not in things, not

in an idea, but in a person. Because through

the person of Christ, our hope and our waiting

is fulfilled. Paul says in Romans 5, we rejoice

in hope of the glory of God because God's love

has been poured into our hearts through the work

of the Holy Spirit. Advent hope is a present

tense strength. We have the hope now to wait.

We look at that as passive or a negative. It's

not. It's positive. Be waiting in that hope.

Be waiting to see God work. Because when Jeremiah

promises a righteous branch who will bring justice

and righteousness, he is pointing to that only

high priest. That Messiah's prophetic and priestly

work is going to begin. But guess what? The Sermon

on the Mount doesn't happen the day after Jesus

is born. But in the most lowly of places, in

a feeding trough in a barn, the Son of God is

born. I wish we had more kind of insights of

Jesus' childhood. We have a little, not a lot.

But then we see him come on the scene in his

baptism, his temptation in the wilderness, his

healings, his miracles, his sermons. You see,

the Heidelberg Catechism 31 reminds us that this

Jesus that we're waiting for, that we find our

hope in, is prophet, priest, and king. He is

prophet. He reveals who God is. He reveals who

God is to us. He is our priest, meaning he intercedes

and sacrifices for us. The cross. And he is the

king who rules and protects us. So what aspect

of Jesus do you need today? As you look back

on a month that was, you look to a very busy

month to come. Does Christ need to reveal to

you more of who God is in your life? The biggest

revelation, if we're calling a spade a spade,

is that God is God and we are not. God is big

and we are little. That's how it should be. Maybe

you need that priest. Maybe you just need that

intercession, those sins, that crying out that

you're doing, trying to make sense of it yourself.

You need to throw on the two -by -fours of the

cross and recognize that Christ already died

for that. He died for you. Or do you need the

king? Do you need to understand that you are

not the ruler of your life? That you aren't the

center of that. That God hems you in front and

back and side to side and he protects you. Because

that is our peace. That is our hope. Because

Jesus is all three for us. Hope for the present

is grounded in Christ's ongoing work. Just because

he has ascended into glory doesn't mean he's

not at work anymore. But it's something that

we look forward to in the future. Our peace is

hope for the future. The Lord is our righteousness.

Jeremiah ends with a phrase that echoes the whole

history of redemption. And this is the name by

which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness.

Why is that important? Why is righteousness so

important? Because that is what... What God sees

over you. Instead of seeing all your dirty laundry,

all your muck and your mire, all of my muck and

mire, Christ imputes his righteousness onto us.

So when God looks at us, he sees Christ's righteousness.

So let me ask, how are you walking that out?

Ouch. That is very convicting for me. How am

I walking out Christ's righteousness? There are

days I don't do a good job of that, and I'm sure

you're walking that with me. This is not poetic

fluff, my friends. This is the gospel. This is

hope facing forward because Christ is our righteousness.

This is justification. His righteousness is counted

as ours. Our sins are counted unto him. I'm not

going to lie. That's not a fair trade, is it?

We offer Christ nothing, yet he gives us everything

in his life, death, and resurrection. Our hope

is that Christ is coming again. We are in a post

-ascension society. That's where we are in history.

Advent is not only about Bethlehem, it looks

forward as well as backward. We don't just remember

his first coming, we prepare for his second coming.

And here's the thing, none of us know when that's

going to be. But if it were to be tomorrow, are

you right with the Lord? Because Christ will

put all things right. That's the third point

of his righteousness. The righteous branch will

bring a righteous judgment, a righteous restoration,

and a righteous peace to all of his people. That's

why Paul calls Jesus our blessed hope in Titus

Titus 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. In a broken world, in a violent world,

in an anxious world, in a world that feels like

exile, if we're honest, the future of God's people

is not fear, but peace, but hope. Not darkness,

but light. Not defeat, but victory. So as we

land the plane today, I want us to think about

Advent as a cross -shaped... That understanding

that he was born to die. As we begin Advent 2025,

let's root ourselves not just in the manger,

but in the mission that Christ has for all of

us. You were born to die so one day I could pray

to you to save my life. Let that wreck your day

today. Let that kind of take in your thoughts

of what you thought the week was going to be.

The manger and the cross are made of the same

wood. Bethlehem is already pointing to Calvary.

Hope comes wrapped in flesh and laid in a feeding

trough because our Savior was born to die, rise,

reign, and return. That is the mission of Advent.

So let's wait. Let's wait together. How should

we do that? Well, Let's spend some time this

month to look back. God has always been faithful.

He fulfills his promises in the person of Jesus.

Let us stand in the present. Christ is our prophet,

our priest, and our king right now, in this moment.

And we trust him for our waiting. And then together,

let's look forward. He will come again. He will

make all things new. Hope has a name, and his

name is Jesus. So this week, Munster Church,

as we enter Advent, not with frantic busyness,

wishness, or seasonal stress, but let's sit in

holy anticipation. The Lord is our righteousness.

He keeps his promises. He will forever be our

hope. Let's pray.