Advent 2 - Looking Through the Lense of Hope

I'd like to carry out a couple of thought experiments this morning.

Here's the first one.

I'm going to ask you to imagine, to remember,

a time in your life that you would perhaps regard as the happiest.

I'm not going to ask you to share this with the person next to you or anywhere near you.

I'm just going to ask you to think about it.

So I want you to think about a moment in your life,

it might have been a period of your life, say childhood, for example,

or it might have been a particular day or a week,

maybe a holiday, a special event, a special occasion,

but something that you look back on that you regard as perhaps the happiest time in your life so far.

I'll just give you a few moments to think about that.

Okay, so think about something that was really special.

And having thought about that thing, just ask yourself the question,

what is it particularly about that memory or set of memories

that gives you that really warm glow inside?

And just hold on to that for a few moments.

Now you've got that,

here's a question.

If you're really honest with yourself,

what at that point in your life would have been not good?

In other words, at some point, no matter how wonderful life was at that moment,

I'm pretty sure that there would have been something going on in your life as well

that was not so great.

And the reason for I to say that, I think quite confidently,

is that life is never perfect.

There's always that combination of what you might call the blessings and the battles,

or the battles and the blessings.

And sometimes one becomes more prominent than the other.

That's true of life completely.

It's never perfect this side of eternity.

And so as you think of that moment, that day, or that period of your life

that you think of, that's what brings you that warm glow,

what kind of troubles or concerns were going on at that time?

For me, I'm thinking of two things.

One thing I'm thinking of, time when I was a student.

I loved being a student.

It just was a time of, I think of straight away,

I think it was a time of freedom and just learning so much as well.

It was just such a great time for me, and I absolutely loved it.

But I'm also aware that if I'm really honest with myself,

that actually I very quickly forget about things like exams

and all the crisis that goes with trying to meet essay deadlines

and all the other stuff.

The other sort of really pleasant thought that brings me a warm glow inside

is when our children were really young, were really tiny.

And then I kind of remember that actually there was a time

when we had three of them under the age of four.

And actually, do I need to even complete that sentence?

The point is, is we look back on our lives at those times that we think,

oh, that was just such an amazing time, wasn't it?

And we look through those rose-tinted spectacles, don't we?

Where we only see the positives, but not the negatives.

So why is it then that when we look to the future,

that instinct seems to be reversed?

That we look to the future and our human instincts latch on

to the things that we fear.

The things that we get anxious and worried about

and the things that could go wrong, probably won't most of the time,

but we fear they might.

And we find it difficult, if not impossible,

to latch on to all that is positive.

Christian hope is focused on an ultimate future

where Christ will return and all will be made new.

There will be no more suffering, no more death or dying or pain,

no more tears, every last one of them will be wiped away.

Ultimately, all of Scripture and all of the teachings of Jesus

point towards that reality.

And what I want to suggest is looking through the lens of hope

is like putting on those rose-tinted spectacles,

not to look back at the past, but to look at the future.

Not in a way that denies the reality of pains and troubles of this life

and the things that we might worry about,

but actually focusing on those ultimate promises of God,

such that those ultimate promises of life everlasting with him

burn through the fog of the fears

and everything that this life throws at us

that might be described as in any way negative.

And that embracing hope,

and this is the challenge to all of us,

embracing hope is daring to look through those glasses,

through that lens.

I want to suggest that it's about having a sense of readiness.

It's about having a sense of expectancy,

and it's about being focused.

Firstly, it is about being ready.

And in those words that we read just now,

it says that it will happen like a thief coming in the night.

It will be in an instant.

We don't know how or when or exactly what that will look like,

but we are promised that Jesus will return.

We find that really hard to get our minds around how it will happen.

But it will happen.

And that's the promise of Scripture.

That the world won't just gradually, slowly disintegrate

into meaningless chaos,

although it might feel like that at times.

But God's got it in hand.

And in an instant, he will return.

Now, if we find that so hard to imagine,

let's remember that our own individual personal ends

actually will come,

and we don't know when that's going to happen.

We will all die.

Now, that might sound like a really bleak thing

to be saying on a Sunday morning,

or at any time.

But let's be honest.

It's a reality.

What is the saying?

Death and taxes.

The only two things of which we can be absolutely sure.

It will happen.

Life is finite.

And we don't know,

none of us know,

when that is going to happen for us.

So if we can grasp that reality,

it's not such a greater reality,

surely, to grasp that actually the same truth

applies to the whole of the cosmos.

It will come to an end,

or rather, it will come to a new beginning.

And the call to Christian hope,

to see things through that lens,

is a call to readiness,

that sense of being poised

to knowing that it can happen at any time.

That's the first thing.

The second thing is,

it's about being expectant.

Living in the light of the promises of God

is about looking forward

to the day of the Lord,

as it's put in these verses that we read just now.

Living in the light of God's promise

and eternal future.

So what does it look like

as a daily reality to do that,

to live with that sense of expectancy?

Well, living in hope in that way,

and again, this is a challenge to all of us,

has to do with the way in which

our minds latch on

to those images of hope.

See, when we talk about tomorrow,

when we talk about the future,

we are navigating pictures in our minds.

When we think about the future,

we think in pictures.

As a matter of fact,

we think in pictures most of the time.

I said there were going to be two thought experiments.

Here's the second one.

I'm going to tell you a story.

On my way here this morning,

I met a dog.

It was an ugly dog.

And it was a big dog.

And it was an aggressive dog.

This thing wanted to bite me.

And so I ran away from this dog,

and it started to chase me.

And as I ran down the road,

it was coming after me,

and so I jumped onto a car.

Okay, I'll stop there.

I was making all of that up.

Firstly, let me tell you

that I absolutely love dogs,

and I would actually find it really hard

to describe any dog as ugly.

The second thing is,

I also know that actually,

if a dog is looking aggressive,

running away from it

is probably not the best thing to do.

But stay with me

for the purposes of the illustration.

What was going on just now

as I was telling you that story?

I was feeding you

a sequence of pictures.

When I said I met a dog this morning,

I doubt anybody in this room

thought of the letters D-O-G.

You had a picture of a dog.

You saw your cute, adorable dog.

Except when I said

it was an ugly dog,

in which case it was no longer your dog.

When I told you it was a big dog,

that little dog grew suddenly.

And as I described this dog

that was aggressive

and it was chasing me down the street,

you had this picture

of this gnarly dog

that was running after me

along the road.

All along the while,

all the while,

I was feeding you pictures.

I was affecting the pictures

in your mind.

If you have the wrong

sort of information,

you have the wrong

sort of pictures

in your mind.

And if you have the wrong

pictures in your mind,

you have the wrong

expectations

of the future.

Living in hope

means seeing things

through the right

sort of pictures.

and this isn't always

an easy thing

for us to do.

But the call

to live in hope

is to take those pictures

that cause us

so much fear

and stress

and trauma

and to replace them

with those ultimate pictures

of hope.

Picture

of light.

Picture of life.

The picture

where every last tear

is wiped away.

Where there's no more death

or dying

or mourning

or suffering.

Pictures that go

far, far, far

greater and deeper

than the pictures

that you started off

this morning

when I asked you

think of something

that represents

happiest moment

in your life so far.

I mean,

think of that

and times it by a million

and you still don't even

get close

as to what eternity

will be like

according to the promises

of God.

It's not pie in the sky

when you die.

It's a picture

of hope

that is set

before us

in scripture.

A picture

of how Christ

will return

and make all things new.

And our calling

is to live

in that sense

of expectation

that it will

come to pass.

And when we have

that picture

in our mind

when we allow

that picture

to navigate

all the others

all the other pictures

as scary as they may be

that we hold

in our minds

about the future

and we carry with us

fall into line

and are put into

that ultimate perspective

as that image

of resurrection hope

that picture

of hope

burns through the fog

and floods us

with light.

But the last thing is

we're called

to be focused

with this.

What does that mean?

To be focused

to be focused

means

to look forward

to look forward

in hope

with Jesus

front and centre.

I'll share with you

one last story.

There's a story

from years and years ago

where a ship

was brought in

to harbour

on a very

very rough night.

The waves

were crashing

and it was

there was

it was very dark

and the account

that I'm going

to read to you

is the account

of the

it was actually

the wife

of the captain

of the ship

who was escorted

from the ship

onto land

in the midst

of the darkness.

She said this

that one man

came to me

and said

do not be afraid

I will take care

of you.

Her account

reads like this.

He brought

a peculiarly

shaped

dark lantern

only

single ray

of light

being emitted

from a small

circular

opening.

Now

said he

take my hand

hold fast

do not

fear

do not

look about

you

or on

either side

of you

only on

the little

spot

lighted

by my

lantern

and place

your footsteps

firmly

right there.

I heard

the rushing

of the waters

and was still

conscious of fear

by looking

steadily

only where

the light

fell

and planting

my footsteps

just there

not turning

either to the

right

or to the

left

clasping

firmly

the strong

hand

the danger

was overcome

and the

shore

reached

in safety.

The next

day my

kind

guide

said

would you

like to

see the

way by

which you

came last

night

and then he

showed me

where our

vessel had

been lying

and the

very

very

narrow

plank

by which

we had

reached

the shore

he knew

that I

had turned

either

he knew

that had

I turned

either to

the right

or to

the left

I should

in all

probability

have lost

my balance

and gone

over into

those dark

waters

but by

holding fast

and treading

just where

the light

fell

all danger

would be

averted.

Jesus

front and

centre

as the

light of

the world

he is the

one

that we are

called to

focus our

hope on

he is the

one

to set

as the

central

image

of hope

in our

hearts

and in

our

minds

and his

promise is

that when

we do

that

there may

still be

fears lurking

there may

still be

things that

we know

are out

there as

possibilities

but his

light of

hope

burns

through the

fog and

the darkness

and enables

us

to walk

let's

pray

Lord

thank you

that you

don't just

leave us

in this

world

and expect

us to

get on

with it

but you

come to

us in

Jesus

as the

light of

the world

to lighten

our darkness

and to give

us that

direction

to give

us that

focus

Lord

would you

be

front and

centre

in our

vision

Lord

help us

to live

in a

way

that is

truly

ready

ready to

meet with

you in

our daily

lives

may we

live in a

way that

is truly

expectant

living in

the light

of your

promises

the light

of that

future

that will

be so

amazing

Lord

may that

picture

of that

future

be at

the centre

of our

minds

in our

everyday

thinking

that we

might navigate

our way

forwards

knowing

that that

future

is in

you

so be

at the

centre

of our

lives

be at

the centre

of our

thinking

be at the

centre

of our

being

this

day

and in

whatever

lies ahead

over these

coming

days

in

Jesus

name

we

pray

amen

amen

to

to

do

ert

away