Hope – You Are the Reason

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

¹⁵ When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. ¹⁸ All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, ¹⁹ but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. ²⁰ The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

“Tomorrow morning I’ll open up your heart” the surgeon said to the 8 year-old-boy.
“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy said.
The surgeon continued, “I’ll open your heart and check the damage.”
“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy said.
“When I see the damage, I will suture you back up and then think about the
next step,” said the surgeon.
“You will find Jesus in my heart because my Sunday school teacher told me so.
She said it says so in the Bible. Besides that, our Sunday school songs say He
lives there,” said the boy.
The surgery took place the next day. After the surgery the surgeon began to
make notes of what he found. In his mind there was no hope and no cure. The
little boy would die within a matter of months.
The thought began to get to the doctor and all of a sudden the doctor shouted
to God, “Why did you do this to the boy? Why can’t he live a normal
life?”
God spoke to the surgeon’s heart and said, “The boy is a part of my flock
and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with me there will be no more
suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. One day his parents as well
as you will join him and my flock will continue to grow.”
The next day the surgeon went to the boy’s room and sat down with the parents
beside the bed.
In a moment or two, the boy opened his eyes and asked very quietly, “What
did you find in my heart?”
With tears flowing down his cheeks, the surgeon said, “I found Jesus
there.”

The boy was confident/certain that the doctor would find Jesus there.

Ordinarily, when we express hope, we are expressing uncertainty. We say things like “I hope my teams win the game.”  “I hope I get that job” , “I hope that restaurant still has my favorite dessert.”  “I hope I get that present for Christmas that I asked for.”

Hoping to get an A when you haven’t even studied for a test is wishful thinking.

Hoping that something will happen without having to expend any kind of energy is wishful thinking.

Hoping your spouse will finally get it without making any changes in yourself is wishful thinking.

Hope is not wishing something  would happen. Hope is not a finger crossed, rabbits foot rubbing, or a lip-biting gaze “hoping” your favorite team’s field goal kicker will hit the 45 yd field goal with the wind blowing in his face.  That’s wishing.

That is wishful thinking – not hope. Wishful thinking  leads to disappointment. Hope turns disappointment into a story.  

Biblical hope is  a confident assurance and desire for something good in the future.

• Look at Abraham – he had a confident assurance that God would give him a son.
• Look at Moses – he had a confident assurance that God would lead them out of Egypt and to the Promise Land.
• Look at Joseph and Mary – they had a confident assurance that God would do for them as the angel said.

Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future; it has the assurance it will happen. And it not only expects it to happen; it is confident that it will happen.

A lot followers of Christ have a wishing thinking kind of faith

• They don’t expect God’s promises to be true
• They don’t’ expect God to keep his promises
• They don’t expect God to do anything.

Wishing something will happen requires no faith.

When then angels came to the Shepherds and said in vs. 10 “. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”’

What do you think the Shepherds expected to find in the Bethlehem? They expected to find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloths lying in manger. That’s why they left all their sheep. They didn’t wish it were true.  They never would have left their sheep on a wish. They left their sheep on an expectation.  They expected to find a baby, wrapped in strips of cloths lying in a manger.  Why? Because they listen to what the angel told them.

Now take a moment to wrap your mind around this. Prior to the angels coming to the shepherds and speaking to them God had not spoken to anyone for 400 years.  After the “400 silent years,” when God did not speak through prophets, he now speaks through angels to lowly shepherds on a remote hillside outside a tiny Judean village.

God has been silent for 400 years.  No angels. No prophets. No Pastors. No nothing. God did not speak through anyone or to anyone for 400 years.

Needless to say, the shepherds were scared to death! Most shepherds were considered on a par with Gypsies, vagrants, and con men. Add to that the fact that shepherds were on the lowest rung of the economic ladder and had little or no formal education. It is entirely possible that these shepherds who heard the angels singing were illiterate. And that makes the story all the more remarkable. First, they heard and saw the spectacular angelic revelation. Then, when they went to Bethlehem, they discovered the Savior of the world in a feeding-trough in a rough, outdoor barn, perhaps a cave carved out of the rocky hillside. The birth and the revelation didn’t seem to go together. Yet there it was—all from the hand of God.

Here are some things we can learn from the shepherds:

1. They listened intently.  God had their full attention. And they went with the confident expectation of finding the Messiah, The Lord in the form of a helpless baby. Even though it didn’t make sense, they didn’t allow their fears or their uncertainty consume them.

We live in a world today that is full of noise.  Computers, cell phones, smart phones, cordless phones, regular phones, TV’s, radios, books, iPod, ipads, nooks, kindles, tablets, and every device in between.  All of these things are competing for your attention. In most cases, God generally loses our attention. Most of these devices have shortened our attention span to 20 – 30 minutes if you are lucky. God wants our full attention.  His desire is for us to seek him first (like the shepherds did) and he will take care of the rest of the details of your life. Listening intently requires time and energy.

2. They responded immediately.  They moved in the dark – they did not wait until daybreak when it would be easier and more comfortable to travel.  They didn’t just hear the Word of the Lord, they responded to it.  All the Shepherds had to go on was hope. Their hope came to fruition when they saw the baby wrapped in strips of clothes lying in a feeding trough.

We want to wait until it feels right. We want to wait until WE are sure we can do it. We want to wait until everything is perfect because when everything works out perfectly we know it’s from God.

3. They informed others about what they heard and saw. They went and told others what they had seen and heard.  When your hope comes to fruition it is hard to keep silent. They left praising and glorifying God.

How many of you parents called no one after your child was born? Look on Facebook, every mother and father claiming that they have the cutest kids.

• You wait 9 months to see and hear him/her.
• You care for and prepare for that one special birth day.
• It doesn’t make a difference if is it first or your fifth. There is an excitement and joy that cannot be contained.

What’s all the fuss – it’s just a baby. It is not just a baby ….. it is God’s way of reminding us that Hope is not dead. Whenever a baby is born – hope is born again. You can’t keep silent. You have to tell others. There is no keeping it in.  The joy and the excitement doesn’t allow you to keep it in. It is good news.

4. The shepherds learned that hope was more than just a word from God. Hope is not a
“what”. It is a “who”.

We put our hopes in the lot of “what’s” like money, family, things, and retirement plans. These things and people will disappoint us. A lot of times we become slaves to them. They rule our life and control what we do and don’t do.  We never have enough money. Are kids never turn out the way we planned for them too. We can never have enough toys to keep us entertained. We run from one device to another hoping it will simplify our life. We spend a lot of time chasing a lot of the “what’s” forgetting that the “who” will provide everything that we need. No thing and no one can give you hope. Hope can only come from a person who loved you so much that He gave his one and only son.

He is the author and perfecter of our faith, He is the reason we have hope. If you take him away, the world would be HOPE – LESS because Jesus is hope! God became human for me and for you not for himself.  That popular phrase, “Jesus is the reason for the season is not totally accurate.” This phrase totally misses  the point of WHY Jesus came.

He came for you and for me. You are the reason for the season. You are the one who needs hope. Not Him. God did not need to send His son into the world so we could celebrate the season. He came into the world to be the Hope of the world.  To give us himself.

This time of year is a good time to reflect and take inventory of our life. It is a good time to take a spiritual audit. As you allow these questions to examine your heart  I encourage you to not be TOO  hard or TOO easy on yourself. Just be honest.

On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not really  10=all the time)

Are  you listening intently? (my number is _______)

• With so many things competing for you attention Are intentionally setting aside to time to listen?

Are you responding purposefully? (my number is _________)

• Are you waiting to clean your life up before you begin a relationship with Him?
• Are you waiting to become more holy before you begin serving him?
• Are you still waiting for Him to make his  move before you make your move? (he is already moving)

Are you telling passionately? (my number is _________)

• Or are you keeping it a secret hoping someone will find out?
• Who in your sphere of influence needs to know?

Are you learning that hope is a “who”? (my number is _________)

• Hope is a person.
• No thing and no human can give you hope
• You are the reason for the season.