Year A, 2 Advent
Given by Sherry Black at Church of the Redeemer in Cairo, IL on Saturday, December 8th, 2007.

The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city's hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child's name and room number and talked briefly with the child's regular class teacher. "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I'd be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too far behind." 

The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I've been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't accomplished much. 

But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live." 

Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they? Bits & Pieces , July 1991.1

Another story, told by Norman Cousins.

He tells of two physicians who were to deliver a paper at a national meeting of cancer specialists. One was complaining bitterly, “I don’t understand it, Bob. We use the same drugs, the same dosage, and the same schedule of treatment. Yet I get a 22% recovery rate and you get a 74% recovery rate. How do you explain that?

The other responded, “We both use Etoposide, Platinol, Oncovin, and Hydroxyurea. You put those letters together and tell them that you are giving them EPOH. I put them together and explain to them that they are receiving H-O-P-E.. I emphasize that they have a chance.”2

Two examples of the power of hope, and hope is the common thread among our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent. What is hope? The dictionary says it’s the desire and expectation of good, something like anticipation. It’s buying a lottery ticket—for many $1.00 is a small price to pay for hope. Hope gives us reasons for living, like the little boy and the cancer patients.

In our reading from Isaiah, the prophet speaks a message of hope. The Jewish remnant is being threatened by Assyria, and days are dark. Life is hard. But Isaiah brings hope speaking of the coming messiah, the Shoot of Jesse, Jesse being King David’s father. This one will not be just another king, but another David. Then Isaiah speaks of the Root of Jesse, which means that even Jesse came out of this root. The coming king, the Messiah is not just a king from the Davidic line, but “he is the root support and origin of the Messianic family in which he would be born. . . .Here the Messiah is the root cause of his own family tree pending the day when, within that family, he will shoot forth.”3 The promise of a Messiah brings hope, “a living, ever-present assurance for God’s people”4 both then and now! And with this promise comes a new order, where all creation is living in peace—the peaceable kingdom under the righteous judge and king. This One is not just the hope of the Jews, but the hope of the nations, the hope of the gentiles.

These ideas are even echoed in the psalm. In his time, justice and peace shall flourish.

And in Romans, Paul explains that the Scriptures were written to teach, to instruct, and through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we have hope. He’s writing to mainly Gentile Christians who once had no hope, but now have been brought into a life of hope as God’s people. And in order to preserve their hope, they are to work for unity. This unity is not necessarily having the same opinions, but a unity of purpose which transcends any differences, a unity founded in Christ. It’s important to note, though, that “we can have Christian unity only where the essentials of what it means to be Christian are believed in and lived.”5 We must be united in our belief in the essentials, and not too hung up on the non-essentials.

Paul continues by writing of Christ, who confirmed the promises made to the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—so that even Gentiles can glorify God for his mercy. “I will praise you among Gentiles.” “Rejoice O Gentiles with his people!” “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!” And finally he quotes from our Isaiah passage. “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” Jesus Christ, the root of Jesse, is the hope of the gentiles; and Paul concludes with a prayer. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” When all Christians in Rome “rejoice together in their common hope, they will be able to praise God . . . with the united hearts and voices of a community of believers.”6 Their hope is in Christ.

Clearly these lessons speak of hope. But what about John the Baptist? His appearance and his message seems abrasive and confrontational, but still great crowds came to him to be baptized, people from Jerusalem and all Judea. And he calls the people to repent—“for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” John is announcing the coming of the soon-to arrive Messiah, the hope of the Jews. He calls for the people to prepare themselves for the arrival of the One who is coming. And the people were sick and tired of kingdoms and rulers dominating them. They wanted things to be different, to be like it was when David was king. They had been under foreign rule for so long, and they thirsted for independence. John the Baptist ignites their hopes for the Messiah, the shoot and root of Jesse. He is like a herald, proclaiming the king, renewing hope for a kingdom, the kingdom of God on earth. And while Jesus was the King, the Messiah, the Promised one—his kingdom didn’t quite meet expectations—but that’s another story.

The King is coming, the Kingdom of Heaven is near. In appearance and message, he is like a prophet calling for repentance—and since the Jews were living in hope of God’s intervention, they responded to John and his message. God is speaking through a prophet! And the response is extraordinary. They are convicted by his powerful claim and they demonstrate this in confessing their sins and being baptized. If the kingdom of God is truly near, they must be prepared, they must get ready. Even the Sadducees and Pharisees are challenged when they go out to see the spectacle—and John sees through their hypocrisy. The coming of the kingdom will be accompanied by the judgment and wrath of God, and just being a Jew or a Sadducee or a Pharisee won’t earn them a spot in the kingdom. They are challenged to be examples for the people through the fruit of their lives—because the Messiah is coming. The main event is the one who is coming—the one who is more powerful than John, the one who is Worthy. And while John baptizes with water for repentance, the one who is coming will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with Fire!! (Is this good news??) Jesus brings good news, healing, rest, but those who reject him face judgment. The harvest is almost ready to begin and the chaff will be separated from the wheat, and the chaff will be burned. While the people are hoping for and expecting the Messiah, they are warned not to come with impure motives. But those who are sincere will receive the Messiah and the Spirit.

Challenging words, then and now. We who hope for the 2 nd coming of Jesus must also be sincere and prepare with pure hearts. We can’t just say that we are Episcopalians—or Christians, but we have to demonstrate in our hearts and by our lives that we are his followers. We too are called to bear fruit worthy of repentance. Still, Jesus is the hope of the nations. Jesus is our hope for life both abundant and eternal, now and in the age to come.

Here’s one more story of hope:

As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. 

There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.  (Gary Thomas, in Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, p. 26.7)

With Jesus as our Hope, May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

1 http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/h/hope.htm

2 http://pluto.matrix49.com/15635/?subpages/a20112607.shtml

3 Motyer, J. Alec: Motyer, J. Alec: The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993. 121.

4 Motyer, 120.

5 Moo, Douglas. The NIV Application Commentary: Romans. Grand Rapids: Zondervan (2000) 475.

6 Moo, 479-80.

7 http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/h/hope.htm