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THE GIFT OF HOPE
Gifts of the Season, Part 2
December 9, 2007
Pastor Bob Sanders
As you know, the word Advent is of Latin origin and it means to come near. The early Church set aside the four weeks prior to Christmas as the season of Advent: a time to prepare ourselves to celebrate God’s coming near us in Jesus Christ. During this Advent our sermon series is entitled “Gifts of the Season.” Not the gifts you find nicely wrapped under the Christmas tree, but the gifts God gives us in the advent of his Son.
Last week we looked at John the Baptist and thought about the gift of a second story, a new beginning. This week we turn to the Book of Revelation, and think about the gift of hope that comes from knowing the Lord who has come once in history and will come again. This passage speaks of Christ’s coming toward us in the past, in the present, and in the future. Jesus is the One who was and who is and who is to come. Think with me now about the gift of hope as we find it in the three Advents of our Lord.
Revelation 1:1-8
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. 4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
The First Advent
The first Advent took place more than 2000 years ago. The word that best describes that first Advent is incarnation. Incarnation means to be made flesh, to become fully human. The first Advent is the miracle of the infinite, almighty God becoming one of us. That’s what John talks about in the first chapter of his Gospel when he says, “The Word [that is, Jesus Christ] became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”
In that first Advent God didn’t wait for us to come to him. Instead God took the initiative and came down to us. God didn’t send a philosophy or a new religion. God didn’t send a set of rules or a committee of experts. God sent Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. So we speak of the birth of Jesus as an Advent – God coming to us in Christ, God stooping to our level, God reaching out to find us and draw us near.
Years ago a man in China gave his life to Jesus Christ, and here’s how he described what that meant for him:
I was in a very deep well. I was sinking deeper and deeper and couldn’t find any way out. As I looked upward I saw a face peering down at me. A voice said, “My child, I am Confucius, the father of your country. Had you obeyed my teaching, you would never have landed where you are now.” He waved his hand and left, saying, “If you ever manage to get out of this well, be careful to follow my teachings.”
Then came Buddha, and looking down into the well he shouted, “My child, you have to quit the condition in which you find yourself. Rest down there where you are. Fold your arms and begin to think. You will find nirvana, the peace which all of us desire.”
I called back and said, “Father Buddha, if you could help me get out of here I would be so thankful. Then I shall with great ease follow your instructions. But in this horrible place how can I rest?” But Buddha did not get me out of the well. He left me in despair.
But there came another Man over to the well, a Man full of goodness and interest. And on His face there were marks of great sorrow and suffering. He wasted no time in offering me words of comfort from up there but came down to where I was and pulled me out of that terrible mud in which I was wallowing, and lifted me up to the surface. He didn’t forsake me but brought me to a place of safety. He took my dirty clothes and dressed me in clean new clothes. Then He invited me to follow Him, saying, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
That Man was Christ. And that is why I became a Christian. Christ was the only One who descended to the depths where I was. He saved me and has never ceased to have fellowship with me and be my Companion.
“He came down to where I was.” That’s what the first Advent is all about. God not staying safe and distant in the heavens, but God coming down to where we are. God not offering advice on how to clean up our act if we ever manage to get out of the well, but God descending into the mud to rescue us. God not immune to the sorrow and sadness of being human, but God becoming one of us and sharing our every struggle, our every temptation, our every loss. It begins with the birth at Bethlehem and culminates with the cross of Calvary. He came to be one of us, to even die for us. God with skin on, God enfleshed, God come all the way down. That’s what the first Advent means.
The Second Advent
That first Advent can be thought of as God’s D-Day – God’s invasion of human history. That may sound strange, but that’s just what happened. There at a beachhead in Bethlehem, God invaded planet Earth in the birth of a baby, the incarnate Son of God. This was the beginning of God’s assault on enemy-held territory to liberate all men and women held captive by sin and death.
And Scripture teaches there will be a second Advent. If the first Advent can be described as D-Day, then the second Advent is V-Day – the day when Christ comes again, this time in final victory. As Christians we believe that human history is headed toward a final end. We do not believe (as some eastern religions do) that history goes on endlessly recycling itself. Nor do we believe (as many modern philosophies do) that history wanders on forever, aimlessly adrift, heading nowhere.
Based on the clear teaching of Scripture, Christians believe human history is heading towards a final conclusion, an omega-point. That omega-point is the second Advent: the return of Jesus Christ to this planet. In the first Advent he came as the suffering servant of God – unknown, unexpected, unwelcome. In the second Advent he will come as the victorious King, unmistakable in glory and undisputed in power. “Look! He is coming with the clouds,” says Revelation; “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.”
The second Advent. Yes, I know some Christians go overboard with Jesus’ return. Some read every page of the Left Behind series, and worry more about the rapture than about loving their neighbor or working for peace and justice on this earth. They study the book of Revelation searching for some magic code that will reveal the timing of Christ’s return. Jesus was quite clear, however, that no one knows the day or the hour of the second Advent – not angels, not even Jesus himself. But that doesn’t stop some preachers and writers from making their (invariably wrong) predictions. I’m always amazed at those who claim to know more than Jesus.
But in spite of different interpretations, and in spite of the craziness of some, Christians down through the ages have believed in the personal return of Jesus Christ. In the Apostles’ Creed we say we believe in Jesus Christ who “rose again from the dead [and] ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty…” And then what? “From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” We do not know when this second Advent will occur. It may be within our lifetime. Scripture says it will come unexpectedly, and we are to be vigilant and ready.
This much is clear: Jesus will come again in triumph and glory, to destroy death and to banish evil and to wipe away every tear. And that’s good news. The second Advent will mean no more wars. No more injustice. No more Rwandas or Darfurs. No more HIV/AIDS or cancer. No more Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. No more hungry children. No more unwanted children. No more divorce, or death, or depression. That’s what the second Advent is all about. No wonder the final words of the New Testament are “Amen, come Lord Jesus” – a prayer for God’s V-Day, our Lord’s return, the second Advent.
Maybe that doesn’t mean much to you. Maybe Jesus’ coming again doesn’t sound like good news to you. And that’s understandable, especially if things are going well for you. If you’ve had a good year in your own kingdom, why would you want Jesus to show up and bring in God’s kingdom? But I can tell you this. The second Advent is really good news for people whose lives are full of bad news. It’s the gift of hope.
If your world is crashing in on you – if your marriage is ending or your child is suffering or your career is crumbling – you know what it means to want the Lord to return and end all the pain, take away the heartbreak, make all things right and new. If you’re a slave in a sweatshop in India or a brothel in Cambodia, the idea of Jesus coming again to set you free from bondage sounds like very good news, and you long for it. If you’re a villager in Zambia without clean water for your children and without hope for their future, you want Jesus to come again. You want redemption from poverty and disease and hunger. And you want it with every fiber of your being.
I like what Cornelius Plantinga of Calvin Theological Seminary says about the second Advent (in the quote on your bulletin cover):
People with crummy lives want it to happen now. If you’re a Christian in sub-Saharan Africa today, you don’t yawn when somebody mentions the return of Jesus Christ. When the AIDS epidemic has devastated whole populations, you want your Redeemer. You want the One who has healing in his wings. Passionate Christians want the return of the Lord. And so do compassionate ones.
Compassionate Christians want the return of our Lord. When our own lives are comfortable, we can look across the world (or even across the street) to some lives that are anything but comfortable. We can weep with those who weep, and pray with those who pray: “Come Lord Jesus!”
The Third Advent
The first Advent was the coming of the incarnate Son of God to free us from sin and death. The second Advent will be the coming again of the victorious Lord Jesus to bring all things to final and glorious completion. D-Day has come. God’s gracious invasion of planet Earth has begun. God’s V-Day is on the horizon. You and I live in between those two Advents. We had nothing to do with the first one, and the second Advent will come whether we like it or not. What we must consider carefully is the only one in which we play a part, and that is the third Advent. It happens not in the distant past, nor in the unknown future. It happens here and now. It happens when Jesus Christ comes to be born in your heart as your own Lord and Savior.
This third Advent is the key to an authentic Christmas celebration. To know that Christ came once in history is good. To know that Christ will come again at the end of history is also good. To know that Christ comes to me, to find me and forgive me, to save and keep me, is the best of all.
The Advent season is this time of preparation, a time for getting ready. There are gifts to buy and wrap, cards to write and read, parties to attend and people to see. But the most important preparation happens in here, as we make room for the Lord Jesus, as we ask him to come to us.
Sadly, a lot of people never experience this third Advent. So let me be direct. Has Jesus Christ come to you? Have you asked him to live his life in you?
Some of you have done that. Some of you know what we mean when we talk about a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. At some point, at some place of need, you opened your heart to him. You asked him to come into you, to dwell in you, to transform you. And you could stand today and tell the folks around you how he did that. This stuff isn’t just preacher-talk. It really happens. One of you wrote me a letter recently about how at the end of a message one Sunday not long ago you knew the Lord was there, calling you. And you turned to him in silent prayer and said, “Yes, Lord. Come into my life and be my Savior.” And he did. And now you know his presence and his power, his forgiveness and his love. These aren’t just words to you. They’re realities.
Some of you have heard this before, but have not yet responded. Can it be that our lives are too full, too busy – like that crowded inn at Bethlehem – and there is no room for Christ to come to us? Some of us are like that. And some of us are afraid to open up to this Advent Lord – afraid of what we’ve been or done in the past, afraid of what Jesus might ask of us in the future. Some of us think it’s enough just to show up in church and go through the motions. “I’ve been a Presbyterian all my life,” someone said to me, “isn’t that enough?” No, it’s not enough. Not enough for the joy. Not enough for the assurance. Not enough for the fun. See, it’s not about being a church-goer. It’s about a Lord who comes to live inside you and make you a new creation. It’s about opening your life to him.
The third Advent means Jesus wants to come to your world, to your life, to your experience. He’s here this morning. What would stop you from making an authentic response to him? What would keep you from saying “Yes” to Jesus right now? What a marvelous difference it would make in your life, in your family’s life, and in the life of this church if you would allow Christ to come to you this Advent Sunday.
He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of kings of the earth. He is the One who loves us and frees us from our sins by his blood. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and was and is to come, the Almighty. And he is here – for you.
Won’t you take a few moments of quiet right now, and make your own response to Jesus Christ, our Advent Lord?
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