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We are heading into “the most wonderful time of the year” or so the song says.  But it really is the most wonderful time of year! Today’s episode is the first of 4 episodes that will explore Advent, and the stewardship lessons we can take away from this celebratory, anticipatory season. 

 

What is Advent?

Advent is a time where we steep our hearts in preparation of the Christmas season, the real reason, which is Emmanuel, God with us in the person of Christ. It is also a time where we think about how broken and how dark this world is, how dark our soul is, and our need for a way to make all things right again! 

God knew our need. He knew the broken, sinful nature of man, and in His extravagant love for us, sent His one and only Son into this world, Jesus. Fully God, and fully man, Jesus came into the world that first Christmas day as a baby. In His love for mankind, which was made in His image, Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life that we could never live, and He sacrificed His life on a cross for the punishment of our sin. We could add a lot more to this, but you know the truth of this from the Word of God. During this time of the year, what we call the advent season which are the weeks leading up to Christmas, believers in Christ from around the world reflect on our need for a Savior, remember what Christ has done for us, and wait in anticipation for Christ’s return.

 

The First Candle – HOPE

With this being the first week of Advent, many churches and families will celebrate by lighting a candle.  These candles are placed in what we call the “advent wreath.” There are 4 candles on the wreath (three for the Sundays leading up to Christmas, and one for Christmas day). Each of the three candles leading up represent a different word.  The first candle on their advent wreath to light this week is the one that represents “Hope”.

 

Historical Context for Hope

To get a little historical context, and why we call this first candle “hope”, we need to go back some years.  The Israelites’ had a very real, and firm hope that the promised Messiah would come as they understood from the Old Testament Scriptures. 

A blog post by The Gospel Coalition expresses it well…

“The fullest expression of this Davidic hope in the pre-exilic period comes in the book of Isaiah. Addressing the corruption of the Davidic monarchy during the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah in the final decades of the eighth century BC, Isaiah announces:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this (Isaiah 9:6-7).

The promise of this future righteous king stands in stark contrast to the corrupt Davidic kings who reigned in Isaiah’s day. In a separate oracle, Isaiah announces:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isaiah 11:1-5)

Isaiah’s reference to “a shoot from the stump of Jesse” signals a new start to a Davidic dynasty that has been chopped down (cf. Amos 9:11-13). Beyond punishment, Isaiah anticipates a radically different and better Davidic king. These prophetic oracles provide grounds for believing that in the future God would raise up a unique Davidic king.”

For centuries Israel had been waiting for the arrival of their unique Davidic king”, or better said, their Messiah.  During this “waiting” time they were wondering what he would look like, and they also processed what he would do when he arrived. At the time of Jesus’ birth, that long awaited hope was finally fulfilled as Deuteronomy 18:15 stated: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.”

But this is when the challenge came to the Jewish people, for how Jesus fit the prophecies that the Israelites had been reading about for centuries from the Old Testament would become the critical conflict of His ministry. The challenge for that day, and even for many today, is if Jesus really did fulfill the prophecies, and whether people had understood/read them correctly.

Now going back to this word, ”hope.” Hope is not wishful thinking.

Hope is a desire accompanied by a firm expectation that the desire will be obtained. 

You and I can have hope with regard to our life today because of our confidence in the future. Right alongside of that, You and I can ALSO have a firm expectation in our eternal reward/destiny.  This is not because of anything that we can, or could do, but as you know, it is because of the blessed assurance of our sin being forgiven by Christ through His shed blood on the cross

In taking a momentary stewardship look and application of “hope” it would be totally right to say that based on the Scriptures, and regarding our finances, we can be excited for the future.  Why?  It is because we know the fact that God will provide for your needs, especially as we see that many of us are facing some challenging or extreme financial difficulties in today’s economic times.

 

Why do we need Hope?

Let’s first take this and look at it on a global scale. Globally, we need hope because of crime, politics, injustice, and war. Our world is broken. Second, we need hope on a personal scale because of disease, death, division, pain (physically and emotionally) and ultimately, sin!

All of what we just mentioned, grieve the heart of God! You know it all too well, for it grieve’s our hearts too! To process all of the above, it devastates the heart and mind. And if you take into account the “news” of the day, which is almost always negative, destructive, which speaks to the decay, destruction and pain that our world, city and community is trying to deal with.

Personally, you could be in a hopeless financial situation. You could be dealing with crushing debt, poor health, and working a dead-end job. It could be so easy to feel utterly hopeless. So where is the hope?

 

The Danger of False Hopes

 A good example of a false hope would be something or someone that we trust/hope in that we KNOW will not last! Maybe we have a hope of having an amazing job that will last a lifetime, or building bigger barns so we can store all of our stuff that we THINK will make us happy.   But, the true, bedrock Biblical reality is that those things are a facade, and will collapse, leaving you completely shattered, physically, monetarily, and/or emotionally.

Health, wealth and prosperity theology is a great example of turning a true hope into an idol.

 

What is True Hope?

The true hope that awaits is life abundant!  In eternity, we will be healthy and made whole! We will also enjoy all the riches of Christ and His Kingdom. The problem with the Health and Wealth Gospel is that it pushes all those expectations into the here and now, and not where the Bible places them, in glory when we are with the Lord.

Today, true hope is when we eagerly await and look forward to Christ’s return, when He will make all things new.

  • Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
  • Isaiah 30:41: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint…”
  • Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.”

 

What does HOPE have to do with my finances?

Remember what we spoke about in the beginning of this episode?  We spoke about advent helping us in a reorientation toward hope. Hope is greatly needed, in many people’s lives today, specifically because of the financial challenges of double-digit inflation over the last few years (last I heard is about 17% increase in costs over the last 2.5 to 3 years). So if you feel depressed about your reality, your financial reality, the first, and best thing that you can do is to look towards the manger! Jesus came into this world of despair and brokenness. He took all of the struggles and pain of this life, and took it to the cross so that you can be made new. 

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, ESV)

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:31–32, NIV84)

Hope takes our dead-locked focus off of our finances, about US meeting OUR needs, and it puts our eyes on our God who WILL provide for us, not just for today, but the days to come and ultimately our future! That expectation of God providing, gives us the ability to walk through this broken reality called life, without becoming ultimately depressed and discouraged. When we operate with that blessed hope in the Lord, it will cause us to love God more, trust God more, and rely on Him even more for our needs of today, tomorrow, and for eternity.

 

Hope is active.

It is important to note that “Hope” is not just sitting down and praying only. It is ACTIVE! It involves taking movement of the heart, mind, and sometimes the body to make things come to pass.

  • It is trusting God, but still going out on job interviews. 
  • It is trusting God, but still working on your budget! 
  • It is trusting in God’s provisions, but also reaching out when you are in need. 

God is not expecting you to suffer in silence. Hope is active! We must trust God and take action.

 

Stewardship Application

Having a firm expectation that our desire for God’s ultimate resolution will be fulfilled, it allows us to face the uncertainty of diagnoses or financial insecurity, with the confidence that Jesus Christ came into this world and fed the 5,000, healed the sick, and demonstrated the downpayment of ALL that is coming to us. 

Don’t run from your context! But run with it to Christ! Bring it to Him, and allow his loving, providing hand to take care of you and your loved ones today!   

God is still the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10)!  He is still able to take care of your NEEDS today, just as he took care of the needs of Israel, the Disciples around Jesus…and YOU up to this day!

Remember what we said earlier? Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope, best defined, is a desire accompanied by a firm expectation that the desire will be obtained. 

Have hope in the Lord, a firm expectation that God will provide for your financial needs today, tomorrow, and that one day, He will lavish His glorious riches when you get to see Him face to face!  This hope is NOT wishful thinking, it is a firm desire that it WILL be obtained.

 

 

Next Steps

 

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