The Gift of Hope

Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it... God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. (Hebrews 6:16–19, NLT)

Christmas is the advent of hope—a confident certainty grounded in the faithful promises of God that anchors the soul through every storm.

Our God Loves to Give Good Gifts

This is our final message in our Christmas series, and as I've shared over the last several weeks, I really do feel this is the most wonderful time of year—though it comes and goes far too quickly. Throughout this series we've been looking at the gifts of Christmas, specifically the gifts God gives to us, and we've seen that our God loves to give good gifts.

We see it throughout Scripture. In Numbers 24, the prophet Balaam—hired to curse Israel but unable to do so—stands on a hilltop and sees that it pleased the Lord to bless His people. Jesus reaffirms this in Luke 12:32: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3 that God "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places," and a couple of verses later says He did this "according to the good pleasure of His will."

This is why Jesus taught, as Paul recounts in Acts 20:35, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Our Father in heaven loves to give good gifts—and He gives them for us to enjoy. In 1 Timothy 6:17, Paul says God "gives us richly all things to enjoy."

Enjoying Gifts, Glorifying God, Sharing with Others

Our enjoyment of these gifts brings God glory and praise. The Westminster Shorter Catechism opens with the question, "What is the chief end of man?" and answers, "To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." One of the ways we glorify God is by enjoying the gifts He has given us.

And God gives us these gifts not so we would hoard them but so we would share them. Part of the enjoyment of these things is sharing them with others. One of the values of our church is that everything be done with joy, because we have an optimistic vision of the future. If you read the last chapters of the Bible, you see it clearly: we look forward to a new heaven and new earth where the King of Kings reigns forever, where there are no more tears, no more sorrow, sickness, or death. Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10, "As each one of you has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

We've already looked at the gifts of gratitude and love. We could speak of the gift of rest—rest from striving to live up to a list of rules we can never keep—and the gift of peace that, as Paul says in Philippians 4, "surpasses understanding" and guards our hearts and minds. But today we zero in on another gift: the gift of hope.

The Gift of Hope Is Essential for Life

Hope is not only a good thing; it is an essential thing. I've often mentioned Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychologist who lived in Austria in the 1940s and survived the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. In his book Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl observed that the prisoners who gave up on life were the first to lose hope—and they were inevitably the first to die. Hope is necessary for life.

Modern psychology has discovered this too. Psychology Today describes hope as "not just a feel-good emotion but a dynamic cognitive motivational system." In plain terms, hope motivates us to move forward. When we lose hope, our heart becomes sick. Three thousand years ago, King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick."

We are witnessing heart sickness on an astronomical level. Even with so many practical blessings, hopelessness in our culture is leading to increased substance abuse and suicide—to the point that life expectancy in the United States has steadily declined in recent years. When we celebrate the advent of Jesus Christ—"advent" meaning "the coming forth"—we are celebrating the advent of hope. The gift of hope is essential for life.

This point is nearly identical to last week's: the gift of love is essential for life. Both are true. One sobering evidence comes from the Cold War, particularly in Ukraine, where babies in orphanages were left in cribs with food and water but no physical contact and no hope of any loving engagement. The vast majority not only failed to thrive—many died before age three. Love, hope, and joy are gifts from our Father that we need to survive, just as we need food, air, and water.

Jesus Brings Hope to a Hopeless World

Jesus's entrance into the world 2,000 years ago is the entrance of hope into a hopeless world. The Bible tells this story from Genesis 3, where brokenness and hopelessness enter creation. One of my favorite Christmas songs captures it: "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices." Jesus's coming is that thrill of hope coming to a hopeless world.

Paul describes this in Ephesians 2. Writing to a predominantly Gentile church, he says in verse 11, "Remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh... at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."

Remember—some of you remember vividly—there was a time when you were without God in this world. You may have had many things provided for you, yet deep down there was despair, a feeling of hopelessness. For some of you, that very hopelessness compelled you to start looking for hope. There may be someone here today, perhaps because you were invited or just drove by, who would acknowledge that you are hopeless. I want you to know that Jesus's coming is the coming of true hope to the hopeless. As verse 13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Jesus brings hope to a hopeless and broken world.

What Biblical Hope Is Not

It's worth explaining the biblical concept of hope, because we all carry a different dictionary in our minds for that word. One way people experience hope is blind optimism—a feeling that everything will simply turn out well. Once upon a time there was a football team called the Chargers, now dead to us. Sometimes they'd be up by three touchdowns at halftime, and you'd turn to your friend and say, "I really hope they do well in the second half." That's blind optimism, and the Bible does not mean that.

Another kind is wishful thinking. Every spring in San Diego people say, "I really hope the Padres have a good season." It's the same hope as "I hope I win the lottery." The odds, frankly, are about the same. That's not biblical hope either.

Hope for an Absolutely Certain Future

When the Bible speaks of hope, it is not optimistic feelings or wishful thinking. Christmas brings hope for an absolutely certain future.

Twenty-five hundred years ago, in a seemingly hopeless situation, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to his countrymen who had been taken as prisoners of war to Babylon. Through Jeremiah, God said in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts I think toward you... thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Another translation reads, "to bring you to an expected end." God says, "I have a plan and a purpose, and I will accomplish it. You can be certain in your hope, because I promised it, and I am faithful."

That is how the Bible uses the word hope—not blind optimism, not wishful thinking, but "I said I will do this, and you can hope in it with absolute certainty." As Hebrews 6 says, this hope is "a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls." As we go through the storms of life, the immaterial part of you—your soul, where you experience emotion—can be troubled with anxiety, fear, and restlessness. But hope in God is like an anchor holding your soul in place. Paul says in Romans 5 that this kind of hope does not disappoint, though wishful thinking and blind optimism consistently let you down. The gift of hope in Christ is a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls.

When I talk with people who are skeptical—agnostic or atheistic—I find they are doubtful that such steadfast hope can be real, even though they want it. You have to taste and see that the hope God gives is good. Many of you sitting here have a testimony of how God's hope carried you through trying circumstances every person experiences.

How Should We Respond to This Hope?

Having received this precious gift, how should we respond? Hebrews 10:22–25 gives us three responses: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith... Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

First, draw near to God. We who were once far off, aliens separated from God by sin and brokenness, are brought near because Jesus deals with that brokenness. Under the old covenant, only one priest could enter the Holy of Holies one day a year. But when Jesus died and said, "It is finished," the veil was torn, and we now draw near to God in full assurance of hope.

Second, hold fast to your faith. Hold on to your trust in God, because every promise in Christ is "yes and amen to the glory of God." We can hold fast because we have hope in Him.

Third, encourage others to persevere through fellowship in the body of Christ. We gather because it is essential to exhort one another to press on. If you're not in a connect group, get plugged in. When you gather, it's highly likely someone is going through trial or difficulty. I spoke with a family member last night whose new baby spent a long time in the NICU while they lived across the country with no support system—no one to drive them to the hospital, no one to help. That connection matters. We live this life in Christ together.

The Day That Is Approaching

The author says, "and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." What day? The gift of certain hope in the resurrection motivates our faith and faithfulness. That is the day approaching. We have hope that we will one day see Christ face to face, when all old things become new, when "this corruption will put on incorruption, this mortality will put on immortality." In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be with the Lord, and He shall wipe away every tear. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand pleasures forevermore. That absolute certainty motivates our continued faith and faithfulness.

Like every gift we've considered—gratitude, love, hope, peace, rest, joy, and every spiritual blessing in heavenly places—each was given by our good God because He loves to give good gifts. He gives them that we would enjoy them and glorify Him, but most importantly at this time of year, that we would share them: the gift of the gospel, the gift of Jesus Christ, who brings us hope, peace, joy, rest, and love.

Over the next 96 hours, you will have interactions with family members and friends who do not know Jesus—and so do not know hope. Don't miss that opportunity. In that moment your heart rate may increase, you may feel flustered and unsure what to say, but God has promised to give you the words.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for these spiritual blessings You have given us in abundance—love, joy, peace, hope, rest, gratitude, and so much more. Lord, over the next 96 hours we will interact with people who are without hope in this world because they don't know You. I pray that the hope and joy we have would be evident in us. When we are with a loved one who shares about a challenge they've faced this year or a storm they're going through, I pray You would remind every person standing here of this very prayer, so they would recognize, "This is that opportunity Pastor Miles prayed for." Stir us to speak; give us the words to share the good news of Your grace. You did not give us these gifts that we would hoard them—freely we have received, freely we are to give. Even if we feel embarrassed or tongue-tied, would You stir our hearts and move our tongues to share Your grace, Your goodness, the gifts You've given. We praise You for them, and we ask that we would enjoy them and share them. In Jesus's name, and all those who agreed said, amen.