Encounter Jesus: Hope for the Hopeless

The transcript of the message that follows is part of our Advent Season at Grace Community Church. It is not too long, if you are interested!

Encounter Jesus:
Hope for the Hopeless

Have you ever felt hopeless? I am not talking about getting to the mall and realizing that every store is sold out of the one item you just had to buy for your loved one. I am talking about the kind of hopelessness that finds you three months behind on your mortgage with the bank warning you to either pay your bills or get out of the house. Or, maybe someone you loved very dearly began to change – and then, walked out. Somewhere in the world today there are people who have not eaten in two days and prospects for sufficient nourishment are dim. Somewhere else, a young teenager wanders aimlessly after having watched from a hiding place as her parents and siblings were hacked to death by crazed men. What made the horror even worse is that the men were family friends only a few years ago before war broke out between two tribes.

After that cheery introduction, let’s sing a Christmas Carol. Hey, while pain is relative, it is much more intense for some than for others. Why? Who knows? But, I do know that there are times when we feel hopeless. And the joy of Christmas seems to amplify the hopelessness we feel. Maybe that’s why the suicide rate is higher at Christmas than at other times of the year, right? Well, actually that’s not true. You may have always thought that, but it isn’t true. Suicides actually go down in the winter – the highest rate of suicide is in the spring.

Christmas usually does brighten my spirits. One of my favorite secular Christmas songs is a Dave Koz number that is sung by Kenny Loggins – December Makes Me Feel This Way. The chorus goes like this:

The world is new and precious as a baby,
Life is sweet as children at play.
Love is truly there in every heart.
December makes me feel this way.

You know what? Even though that is a secular song, there is something about the spirit of Christmas that caught Dave Koz’s attention. He may not know that it is Jesus that causes hope to stir in our hearts, but he recognizes that there is something about this time of year that brings hope in spite of our circumstances.

I know that some of you feel as down as you have ever felt in your lives. I am sorry this is such a difficult time for you. My heart’s desire is that you will find a measure of hope this morning that will lift your spirits considerably. The shepherds were some of the most hopeless people in all of Israel. They were despised by most, not allowed to participate in polite society, banned even from giving testimony in a court of law because they were so distrusted – their word was considered unreliable. If ever there were losers in the first century, it was them – yet, lowly, common, hopeless shepherds were the first to be told about Jesus’ birth. And they were told by the angel of the Lord! Hope for the hopeless!

Jesus’ appearance on the scene and His profound ministry to the hopeless had been foretold some 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah. Let’s read those words of hope in the 61st chapter of the book that bears the prophet’s name. Isaiah 61:1-3. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together?

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

During Linda’s illness, there were a few books that ministered deeply to me. One was a book by Mark Buchanan titled Things Unseen. In this excellent book, Buchanan reminds us that nobody anticipated the coming of Jesus more than John the Baptist! In fact, before John was even born, he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary, who was bearing Jesus, came to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Years later when John was quite popular as a preacher, the instant he spotted Jesus he said with a loud voice, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” When Jesus came to have John baptize Him, John told Him, “I need You to baptize me, and do You come to me?” John had already told his disciples that he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes. When some of John’s disciples got jealous because people were beginning to follow Jesus instead of John, the prophet put everything in perspective for them. “This was the plan all along,” John said. “In fact, He must increase from this point forward and I must decrease.”

John got it! Jesus was the hope of the nation – He was, in fact, hope for the hopeless. But, just like the Pharisees we talked about last week, John the Baptist expected Jesus to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish a world-wide Kingdom that would be centered in Jerusalem. Hey, the disciples thought the same thing even after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, so don’t chide John for thinking otherwise.

What a shock it must have been to John the Baptist when he was arrested by Herod for preaching things Herod didn’t want to hear. John was not in prison because of His stand for Jesus, but the way John preached had everything to do with Who Jesus was. Yet, John was in prison. And, his faith wavered. He was on the verge of losing hope when he decided to send some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah, or had John somehow been confused and gotten the wrong guy – because circumstances argued against Jesus being the One.

After his messengers left, John waited. Waiting is often the most difficult thing, isn’t it? The doctor says the tests will not be back until next month. The calendar cannot move fast enough when your loved one is with the Army in Afghanistan. The job search goes on and on and – nothing. Does God even care anymore? What must it have been like for John in Herod’s prison cell, waiting for his disciples to get back and report from Jesus? Listen to Buchanan’s speculation about those difficult days and see if you identify. Quote:

“They (John’s disciples) leave. He waits. The waiting is terrible. A waiting like that is an unfortified city, begging for vandals, plunderers, ghosts. John tries to sleep, but he is too anxious and too weary for it. So he waits.”

Matthew 11:4-6 records Jesus’ answer.

4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see;
5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”

Do you recognize those verses? Jesus was sending the message that He was, indeed, the Messiah, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah 61, the text we read at the first of the message. That should do it. That would be all that John needed to hear, right? I suppose it could be that John said, “Well then, that settles that!” But then, Jesus did not tell John that He would get Him out of prison. In fact, all indicators would now point toward John’s execution. I have all ideas, though, that Jesus’ words comforted John and helped Him to rest in spite of his circumstances.

That’s our need, isn’t it? Rest in Jesus. Some of you may as well be in prison with John, emotionally, awaiting the executioner. And, all that Jesus says to you in your pain is, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Hope of the hopeless? Really? Yes! Because what we see in this world is not all there is to life. But in order for Jesus’ words to mean anything to you, you are going to have to believe Jesus. You are going to have to rest in Him.

You may feel like you are miles away from that right now. You may feel angry – or, you may feel guilty for not resting. We did not finish the story in Matthew 11. After John’s disciples left to take Jesus’ message back to John, the Savior talked to those around Him about John. Instead of rebuking John, Jesus’ praised him. In fact, when John made his worst remarks about Jesus, Jesus made His finest remarks about John. “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (v 11)

Just because you doubt does not mean you are not deeply loved by Jesus. Do not despair, no matter your current situation. Jesus loves you and has not abandoned you. His response to your struggle may not be what you want, but do you really base your relationship with Him on what happens to you? Rest in Jesus. He is, if you will believe, hope for the hopeless.

One last time, let’s look at Isaiah 61:

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.