“Why and How Celebrate Advent” - The Gift of New Hope I - (Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13)

             “Why and How Celebrate Advent” - The Gift of New Hope I -

(Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13)

Advent???

Today we embark on the journey of Advent. It’s officially Christmastime. How does your to-do list look? For most of us, in this time of year there are sales to shop and presents to wrap. There are cards to send and decorations to unpack. There are parties to attend and trips to make. There are traffic, stress, and expectations. But in the midst of all this, we’re supposed to celebrate Advent season. So what is Advent? And why should we celebrate it? The word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is the season that helps us to be ready for Christ’s coming. The first two passages of this week’s lectionary – Jeremiah 33 and Luke 21 – provide us two different perspectives on the coming of Christ – the First Coming and the Second Coming. Those two scriptures give us obvious reasons why we should celebrate Advent. They also give us the message of hope. And the third scripture – 1 Thessalonians 3 – gives us guidelines how to celebrate Advent based on this hope.  

Now, more than ever, we live in need of new hope. At an international level we find ourselves facing greater challenges such as terrorism, conflict, immigration, refugees, and climate change. At an individual and family level, we also face different challenges – health problems, financial problems, relationship problems, and so on. In the midst of all this, we need “hope.” We need an “anchor” we can rely on. If you google it, Wikipedia provides the definition of hope in this way: “Hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large.” That is a pretty accurate definition of hope, but this “optimistic attitude” or “positive wishful thinking” cannot be our firm and steadfast anchor we can rely on in times of trouble. We need more than that. Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain” (NRSV). Then, what is “this” hope? Today we will explore what this hope is.

The First Advent: The Gospel of Christ (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

Prophet Jeremiah proclaims the first message of hope in times of trouble at a national level. At that time the people of Israel lived in a time of political and moral confusion. God diagnosed their spiritual condition in this way: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer 2:13). God’s people had turned away from God in pursuit of their own interests. If they kept going their own way, they would face defeat and exile. As the Israelites were going through the darkest valley, Jeremiah declares the greatest message of hope ever preached. He speaks of a life-changing “coming”: a righteous branch, a descendant of David. Jeremiah tells us, “Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety!” Why? Because the Lord will raise up a successor of David and his name will be The LORD Our Righteousness. This is Good News. Judah and Jerusalem will be saved, not because of their performance, but because of God’s righteousness. But even after the people heard this message, they kept sinning and finally faced destruction. But that was not the end. As he promised, God remembered His people. He did raise up a better David, our Lord and King Jesus Christ. Through the first coming of Christ, God gave his people a new heart and a new spirit. He removed their stony, stubborn heart and gave them a tender, responsive heart. Through the first coming of Christ, God made His people a new creation. Today we have the same Good News that the people of Israel had. Romans 1:17 says, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God (apart from man’s righteousness) is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”” No matter who you are, no matter what the circumstances are, God is able. He is able to restore you and make you whole when you place your trust in Christ Jesus, not because of what you have done but because of what Christ has done for you. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. This is our hope. The first coming of Christ. The First Advent.

The Second Advent: The Kingdom of God Is Near! (Luke 21:25-36)

The Gospel reading for this first week of Advent tells us the second coming of Christ. This is our second message of hope. In Luke 21 Jesus tells his disciples about the signs of the end of the age. A first glance, it seems that Jesus is providing his disciples with specific information about the end of the world. But he is not. Jesus never makes a one for one connection. The people of Jesus’ time were eager to see signs of the end, but Jesus always spoke of them vaguely and warned people constantly not to follow those who provided specific information. His point was not to give us with specific information about the end of the world. Instead, in verse 28 he said to his disciples, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Here Jesus is saying, “Every time you see earthly things are shaken up, lift up your eyes and remember where you belong to.” Every time we see the signs of the end of the world – war, earthquakes, famines, diseases, and persecution, we need to be reminded how fragile this earth is and how little security is to be found in earthly things. Every time we see earthly things are shaken up, we need to be reminded we belong to heaven, not to this world.

In all ages, one of the greatest enemies to God’s people is complacency. In verse 34 Jesus said, “But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap” (MSG). When I was young, I had two close friends – Borah and Jaewoo. They were siblings. Their father was a very successful business man. One evening Borah was hit by a car and killed on her way home from the stationery store. After this, Borah’s father came to our house and said to my parents, “I am shocked and saddened at the sudden death of my daughter. But I give thanks to God because once I was blinded by my worldly success, but now I am able to fix my eyes on heaven where my daughter is.” His confession of faith helped me to look up to heaven. Deuteronomy 32:11-12 says, “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him” (ESV). Just as an eagle trains its young to be a healthy eagle, there are times when God stirs up our nest. So when things are shaken up, stand up and look up to heaven. When things are shaken up, be alert and pray. When things are shaken up, remember the Lord is near and rejoice! This is our hope and anchor. The second coming of Christ. The Second Advent.  

Love One Another! (1 Thessalonians 3:9-13)

Now we’ve heard two messages of hope – the First Advent and the Second Advent. Jesus has opened the door of salvation that no one can shut. And now he is on his way back to help his people. This is the reason why we should celebrate Advent. And the Epistle reading for this week, 1 Thessalonians 3, tells us how we should celebrate Advent. It is direct, practical, and personal. In verse 12 and 13, Paul says, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (ESV). If Jesus should come today, what would need to be changed? What would survive? The answer is, we need to increase in love for one another and for everyone because at the end only love will survive. We tend to look at our outreach programs and worship, preaching, and music, and ask how we could do these things better. But the most important question we must ask ourselves based on this passage is: “Do we love each other enough?” “Are we doing all these things with love?” In this season of Advent the most excellent way to celebrate Advent is to do everything with love (cf. 1Co 16:14). It might decorate our Christmas tree with love. It might do Advent daily devotional with love. It might ring a bell of the red kettle with love. Small things become greater things when we do them with love.

Mother Teresa always said, “You don’t need to come to Calcutta to discover Jesus in the poorest of the poor. The poor are right there where you are, very often in your own families. Look for them, find them and put your love for Jesus into a living action for them.” She also said, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility; I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time. So you begin. I began - I picked up one person. Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand....The same thing goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community. Just begin - one, one, one.” The waterfall begins with only one drop of water. The provision of love’s impact begins with you and me. Today let us start with one person. In this season of Advent who will be that one person you need to pick up and love? My prayer is that we will be an answer to another’s prayer so that we may be one of God’s signs of hope in the world He so loves. Amen.