Hope Is Born

It happened several years ago (March 5, 1994). Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott was teaching a class for police officers in the Salt Lake City Library. As he stepped into the hallway, he noticed a gunman herding 18 hostages into the next room. With a flash of insight, Prescott—dressed in street clothes—joined the group as the nineteenth hostage, followed them into the room, and shut the door. But when the gunman announced the order in which hostages would be executed, Prescott identified himself as a cop. In the scuffle that followed, Prescott, in self-defense, fatally shot the armed man, and the hostages were released unharmed.

Lloyd Prescott willingly went into a dangerous situation. He put his own life on the line and confronted the hostage taker. By volunteering to become a hostage, he brought hope to the other hostages. When the gunman announced the first to be executed first, I'm sure they all felt fear. But can you imagine what they thought when Prescott announced that he was an officer? Suddenly their fear didn't have the same power as before. Fear began to melt away. In its place, they began to feel some hope—just maybe they'd get out of this predicament after all. When they knew a cop was with them, they dared to hope they'd be rescued.

When Jesus came into this world, he brought hope to us. Jesus came into this world—dressed himself in street clothes, so to speak—and joined with us who are held hostage to sin. Jesus announced that he'd come to rescue sinners ("to give his life as a ransom" Mark 10:45; "to seek and to save what was lost" Luke 19:10), and the world dared to hope things would be different. Jesus came into this world and put his life on the line—literally, he put his life on the cross. He defeated sin and set us free from its power. [Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3]

2 Cor 1:8 ...We were under great pressure, [the Apostle Paul writes] far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us... [rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing (Message)]

We're looking ahead (in just 18 days) to Christmas. So over the next three weeks, we're going to look at a few of the things that happen because Jesus came to this world. When Jesus comes, hearts are changed (next week); when Jesus comes, peace has a chance (in two weeks); when Jesus comes, hope is born (today).

Hope. Whenever a baby is born, hope is born with it. Every newborn baby represents hope—hope for better days ahead. Hope that the baby will be healthy and grow strong. Hope that the future will be filled with opportunities. Hope that the child will grow to become be good-looking and smart and successful.

Parents hope for the best for their baby—and they start off by counting all the fingers and toes to make sure they're all there. Nobody wants their baby to be short-changed or disadvantaged. Sadly, sometimes hope is dashed almost immediately. There is something physically wrong with the baby—a malfunction, a deformity, a defect—and the parents grieve.

If everything seems to be okay, though, parents usually raise their hopes even more. Some parents transfer their own personal dreams to their children. They hope their kids will succeed where they didn't: I couldn't be a professional hockey player, but maybe my kid has a chance. They may even push their children in a certain direction, hoping they will achieve more than they ever did themselves.

Hope is a good thing. It motivates us. Inspires us. Keeps us going when we feel like quitting.

However, there can be a problem, because hope in the things of this world inevitably leads to disappointment. Dreams fall short. Plans unravel. Accidents happen. Hope fails.

Why? Because we live in a broken world. Our world has been broken by sin. Humanity is flawed with a sinful nature. Theologians call this the "Fall."

God created this world and put Adam and Eve into the Garden. But sin ruined all the potential. Hopes were dashed when humanity "fell" from God's original plan. Hope fails because of sin and evil in this world.

As a result of sin and the Fall, we still pay a price today. The world doesn't work the way we wish it would. Things don't always go according to plan. That beautiful, bright-eyed baby that seemed so perfect, isn't perfect after all.

We know what it is to be disappointed, don't we? In this room we could list dozens of disappointments we've felt as parents or as individuals—sickness, injuries, disabilities, missed opportunities, bad timing, failed jobs, financial losses, bad choices, friends or family or spouse who let us down.

Even the "poster child" for hope can run into problems. A beautiful, talented young girl who finds success singing, becomes a household name, earns millions of dollars before she's twenty, has her children taken from her because her life has spun out of control.

Years ago when Mrs. Hitler looked at her darling new baby, little Adolph, she could not have imagined the evil and suffering he would cause. She could not have imagined how his life would end. So much promise. So much hope. All gone because of sin.

Hope in this world isn't really hope at all, because it's placed in something that will ultimately fail. But because Jesus came, we can go...

1. From NO hope to NEW hope.

Eph 2:12-13 [Paul writes that we were] 12...without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Though we were without hope, God did not leave us that way. God did not abandon us after the Fall. He didn't leave us hopeless. He didn't say, Well, they messed up. They had their chance. They didn't appreciate what I did for them, so I'm going to let them try to muddle through on their own.

God didn't say that. Instead, when Adam and Eve ruined the Garden, when sin and rebellion caused humanity to fall, God had a plan to save us. He sent his son into the world to give us another chance and to restore hope.

More than a baby was born that day in a Bethlehem stable. When the promised Messiah was born, hope was also born!

2. From being WITHOUT God to being WITH God. Immanuel means "God with us."

Do you know what is so amazing? It's amazing to think that the Almighty God, the Creator of the world (and all the universe), would come in human flesh, confining himself in a physical human form, as an ordinary man. It's even more astounding to think that God would empty himself of all his glory and stoop down to be born into the lowest kind of place, into the most humble of circumstances.

Just think, Jesus could have been born in a palace. He could have been born into great wealth and power. He could have been born into high-class society.

But he wasn't. Instead, he chose to be born low-class—he didn't even go middle-class. Jesus chose to humble himself. The Bible says that Christ Jesus:

Phil 2:6 ...being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Jesus humbled himself and was born in a stable. And when Jesus came into the world, hope came into the world.

Joseph and Mary had traveled many miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem (some say 90 miles on mountain trails; others say even farther since Jews detoured around Samaria). They were completely worn out, but there was no place to stay. I'm guessing Mary had already started labor. The baby was coming at any moment. When they had come to the end of their resources and had exhausted every other possibility, someone finally let them stay with the animals in a small shelter, in a barn!

Like Jesus, hope was born in a barn, in the most unlikely of circumstances! It wasn't announced with great fanfare! Hope didn't come with all sorts of flash and excitement. Hope was born in a humble place. Hope often comes like that.

3. From DARKNESS to LIGHT.

It's often when things look their worst that God lifts us up, encourages us, and renews hope in our hearts!

It's when we find ourselves at the end of our rope with no possible solution, that we need supernatural hope to be born within.

It's when we find ourselves in hopeless situations, at our darkest hour—that's when we need God to bring hope to us.

A while back our friend, Karl Kaufman, found himself lying on his back in a Canadian bog. He had two broken legs, a sprained wrist and thumb, and was pretty banged up. As he lay there, cold Canadian water seeped into his clothing. He should have been miserable, but instead, he was exhilarated! He was alive! He'd just survived a plane crash! He was given new hope.

The worst of circumstances become opportunities for God to bring new hope.

During the 2008 presidential race, John McCain was asked by Time magazine to share his "personal journey of faith." In his article McCain shared a story of something that occurred during perhaps the darkest time of his life: When he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam...his captors would tie his arms behind his back and then loop the rope around his neck and ankles so that his head was pulled down between his knees. He was often left like that for hours throughout the night. One night a guard came into McCain's cell. The guard put his finger to his lips signaling for McCain to be quiet and then loosened his ropes to relieve his pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard silently returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to him.

A month or so later, because it was a holiday, the POWs were permitted to stand outside their cells for some fresh air on Christmas Day. McCain was standing in the dirt courtyard of the prison when he saw that same guard approach him. The guard walked up and stood silently next to him, not looking or smiling at him. Then, with his sandaled foot, the guard drew a cross in the dirt.

The two of them stood wordlessly looking at the cross, one a prisoner and the other a guard. Citizens of two different nations, but both citizens of heaven. And in those terrible circumstances, the two of them silently worshiped God together, both remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp. [John McCain, "A Light amid the Darkness," Time (8-18-08), p. 40]

The worst of circumstances become opportunities for God to bring new hope.

The OT promised that the coming Messiah would bring hope to the world—that he would bring light into a dark place.

Isa 9:1 ...there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress... 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned... 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Sometimes we don't notice the light until we're in the dark. Sometimes we have to go through tough times in order to discover something better. Song: There's not a victory without a fight / There's not a sunrise without a night / There's not a purchase without a cost / There's not a crown without a cross.

Tough times: it's when the house has been foreclosed; it's when the plant starts laying off workers; it's when the doctors say there's nothing they can do; it's when our own decisions have ruined our future or undermined our marriage or destroyed our family; it's when we're at our lowest that God wants to give us hope.

Hope is born in the most unlikely of circumstances—even in a barn! Hope is born when things look their worst—in a stable, surrounded by livestock, dirt, and manure.

Because Jesus was born in a stable, hope can be born in us—no matter how bad things may seem. In Bethlehem, hope came with Jesus into the world. And in your life, when you open your heart to Jesus, you open your heart to hope.

Dr. Gardner Taylor was a pastor in New York City, but one time when he was a young preacher, just starting out, he was preaching in Louisiana during the Depression. Electricity was just coming into that part of the country, and he was out in a rural, black church that had just one little light bulb hanging down from the ceiling to light up the whole sanctuary. He was preaching away, and in the middle of his sermon, all of a sudden, the electricity went out. The building went pitch black, and Dr. Taylor didn't know what to say, inexperienced as he was. He stammered around until one of the elderly deacons sitting in the back of the church cried out, "Preach on, preacher! We can still see Jesus in the dark!"

Sometimes that's the best way to see Jesus—in the dark. But the hope of the gospel is even better than that. The hope of the gospel reassures us that even if we can't see him in the dark, he can see us! Even when we stumble around or fall, even when we mess up or fail, even then—especially then—Jesus wants to take away the gloom and show us a great light. [Timothy George, "Unseen Footprints," PreachingToday Audio(Issue 290)]

Rom 15:12 [Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah] "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him." [And then goes on to say] 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus comes into the troubling or difficult circumstances of your life—it doesn't matter what holds you hostage, what struggles you face, what disappointments or failures you've had to deal with—when Jesus comes with you into that place or despair or discouragement, hope comes in as well!

Let hope be born in you! Let Jesus do his work in your life. May you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!