In those days and at that time . . .

First Sunday in Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

I’m completing my 9th year of preaching through the lectionary passages each Sunday, and I noticed that I’ve always done the New Testament passages during Advent. So, this past week, I told the Wednesday night crowd, and I continue to use that term loosely, that I’m going to preach the prophets this Advent – that means Old Testament, and that isn’t easy for me – I’m kind of a gospel guy.

So, we’re in for something of an adventure, you and me. Here’s the way I see it. You and I have heard the Christmas story so very many times – and we’ll hear it again this year – but this year, during Advent, let’s take a look at what it would have been like to wait for the Promised One for the first time. We’ll listen to the prophets – Jeremiah and Malachi and Zephaniah and Micah – ragged and edgy – ready to move us out of our comfort zones in order to find the comfort we so desperately seek. They speak of a promise – a promise that we need to remember. They speak of hope – something that our world is in short supply of. They speak to our future – we get there by looking at our past.

What do you hope for? That may seem like an odd question during the holiday season – we hope for so many things. So let me phrase the question a little differently – the things for which you hope – are they things for which you have hoped for a long time?

Israel was a nation perpetually troubled by her standing in the world community. Some things never change. They were a nation of promise – they weren’t sure of the exact point of the promise, but they were a nation promised greatness. Their greatness would come through a promised Son – the Messiah. He would come out of the lineage of David, who had been their greatest and most loved king.

When we look at our scripture for today, it contains several promises – start with me in verse 15 – (1) in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David. (2) and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (3) In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.

These sound like promises given to a nation who was the perpetual underdog – a nation who had taken its fair share of beatings at the hands of other nations. In fact, part of the time that Jeremiah prophesied was during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was eventually overthrown, and Israel was exiled to Babylon for more than a generation. Israel would long for generation after generation to see these promises fulfilled. In fact, they still wait . . .

If this passage of scripture sounds familiar, it should. Jeremiah is actually quoting something written earlier in his book – from back in chapter 23, verses 5 and 6 – which read, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord ‘When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’’”

It seems that the one thing that can always be said about Israel is that they were a nation of perpetual, permanent promise. Promise which was never fulfilled. As far as they are concerned, promise which still has yet to be fulfilled.

Did you ever have someone promise you something, and then they didn’t come through on their promise? I had a wonderful father. In retrospect, Dad did so many things for us and with us, that the vast, vast majority of my memories are good ones. Isn’t it funny how the bad memories stand out so vividly, though. When I was 12, Dad had promised to take my brother Tony and me fishing. This was a big deal, because Dad didn’t do a lot of fishing – no one ever really took the time to teach him how. So, he didn’t take us very often, I suspect partly because of personal embarrassment at not knowing how to fish successfully. But we were relentless sons, and he had promised us over and over that he would take us, and finally we pinned him down on the occasion. We were really looking forward to this particular trip – sort of a Dad/Son outing. On the morning that we were to go, Dad bent over to pick up Tracy, who was a small infant at the time, and he wrenched his back. Literally fell to the floor. I don’t remember Tony’s response, but I was mad. How could he do something like this to me? In my child’s mind, I was absolutely sure that he had conjured up this phony act just to get out of taking us fishing. My reaction was one of the things I had to apologize for to him in later years . . .

I started us a few minutes ago with verse 15. Back up one verse with me to verse 14. “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.’” It almost sounds as if Jeremiah is quoting God as saying, “Seriously, though – I really will come good on my promise – seriously. It’s getting closer, just you wait. It’s coming. Be patient. I’m good for it, don’t you know . . .” You and I have heard promises like that before, haven’t we? We’ve been promised things, only to listen to more empty promises.

And yet, like the fools that we are, we hold out hope.

Well, I feel like I’ve been grazing, and you’re wondering where I’m going with all of this. So, let me try to focus our thoughts on two or three points.

First, Hope is always focused on something which is in our future. We say, “I hope so . . .” and we are speaking of something that will come to us, in the future. Children hope for Christmas and presents they have been waiting for. Teenagers hope for a car, and to be loved by their beloved. Adults hope their children turn out okay, have good jobs, and are happy in their lives. Others of us hope we can just remember where we put the car keys. But hope is focused on us, and is focused on the future.

When it comes to our salvation, we are somewhat perplexed as Christians. We speak of both ends of the stick – we speak of confident expectation, and yet we know that there is something of a mystery surrounding our salvation – that it is wrapped up somehow in the choice of another – and so we speak of hope in two different voices.

Which leads us to the second point regarding hope – hope is either based on actions we will accomplish for ourselves, or it is based on actions that someone else will pull off. This is true in all of our worldly pursuits. It is true in our relationships – we hope for grace and honesty and realism in our relationships, and that hope is based partly on our doings, and partly on the actions of others. It is true in our work – we are rewarded internally by ourselves for the good work we do, and we are rewarded externally by others for the good work that we do – somewhat subject to the whims of that other person. It depends on us, and it depends on someone else.

When it comes to matters of our salvation, we realize that some of the same conditions exist. There is a sense in which our salvation is dependent on our own purposes and actions. We choose to accept that which has been done for us. God gives us the faith with which to accept His good work in our lives, but we act upon that faith all the same.

You and I realize, however, that most of the work of salvation is on the part of God. Jesus Christ came to this world – we are entering into the time of the year when we celebrate that fact – Christ came into this world to bring salvation to us. Christ lived a righteous and circumspect life in order to show us how to live. Christ died to purchase our redemption – in effect, accomplishing all that needed to be done for our salvation. And Jesus will come again to redeem us in a final, glorious act of salvation. So much of our hope of salvation rests on the actions of our God, who has chosen, in Christ, to redeem us.

So, the third point – our hope is secure because Christ has already come. If we’re counting on someone else for our salvation – in our case, our loving Jesus – how do we really know that we can count on them. I mean, if a part of the reality of hope is knowing that there is the possibility that what we hope for may not happen, what business then do we have putting our faith in a carpenter’s son from Nazareth.

For me – and I think for a lot of us – our hope in the return of Christ in order to complete our salvation is based on the fact of His first coming. Look around you – even the most cynical in our society can tell you that the real meaning of Christmas is that Christ was born. They may not be able to tell you very much more, but they can tell you that much. They may not know another thing about Jesus, but they know that Christmas is the celebration of His birth. Here’s the facts – God promised to send His Son. God did just that. Jesus came to this earth. Jesus promised that He would come back to reclaim us when the time is right. So the question is, can we trust what He has promised?

I’m banking on it. I’ve put all my eggs in His basket.

Just a quick side note to wind things up this morning. I want to ask you a question. I’ll play the part of the aloof prophet here for a moment. What are you, as a church, hoping for? It’s been a long time since we talked about our hopes and dreams for this ministry. Are things going about the way you had hoped? Are there missions and ministries you wish we would tackle, but know that we aren’t quite ready for it, and hope that we will be in the near future? What kind of things are you, as a church family, hoping for?

As we enter into Advent, we enter into hope. Faith started us out this morning with a reading about Hope. We have listened to scriptures and hymns and prayers which speak to our hopes. We can trust God to be the source for the answers to our hopes. We can trust our God, and His Son, Jesus. We hope, again, for Him.

Richard W. Dunn, Ph.D.