Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
Four Promises that Can Change Lives: 1 – Hope
A Joke: A Barbie Doll:
One day a fella was driving home when he suddenly realized that it was his daughter’s birthday and *shock* he hadn’t bought her anything. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a shopping mall. Knowing that it was ‘now or never’, he pulls his car through three lanes of traffic, finds a parking spot and runs into the mall.
After a frantic search he finds a toy store, goes inside and attracts the attention of the shop assistant. When asked what he’d like, he simply says, “a Barbie Doll”.
The shop assistant looks at him in a condescending manner and asks, “So Sir, which Barbie would that be?”
The man looks surprised so the assistant continues, “We have ‘Barbie Goes To the Ball’ at $19.99, ‘Barbie Goes Shopping’ at $19.99, ‘Barbie Goes Clubbing’ at $19.99, ‘Barbie Goes To The Gym’ at $19.99, ‘Cyber Barbie’ at $19.99, and ‘Divorced Barbie’ at $249.99.”
The man couldn’t help himself and asked, “Why is ‘Divorced Barbie’ $249.99 when all those other Barbies are selling for $19.99???”
“Well Sir, that’s quite obvious,” says the assistant, “Divorced Barbie comes with her and Ken’s house, her and Ken’s car, her and Ken’s furniture…”
The ending of this story is both logical and at the same time unexpected. Why? Because it is a story about dolls, not people.
In the same way, the return of Christ will be both logical – because it was a promise made – and unexpected – because that promise was made 2,000 years ago and because, for a lot of people, the promise of Christ’s return carries about as much weight as a story about Barbie Dolls.
Prayer: Gracious God, as we consider the Scriptures, instill in us once again, or perhaps for the first time, the hope that turns myth into reality for us. Amen.
I have promoted the season of Advent as “Four Promises that Can Change Lives”. The first promise is that of hope.
So, what is hope? It’s that voice deep within that whispers, “you can do this”, even when it seems continuing on is an unreasonable thing to do. It’s that quiet calm assurance deep down inside that in spite of what we see, everything will be okay. This is particularly important when we are facing tragedy.
When we lose hope we find ourselves facing frustration, anger, resignation and apathy. But when hope is present, frustration is removed, anger disappears, resignation becomes acceptance and apathy, transforms into energy and commitment. Hope is vital to our everyday lives and to our faith life.
In the title “Four Promises that Can Change Lives” there is uncertainty. The word “can” suggests that while the possibility is there, there is no guarantee. Why? In order for our lives to be changed, we have to cooperate; we have to accept the promise given us.
The apostle Paul was sitting in prison in Ephesus. One day, a group from Corinth came for a visit. They brought with them a letter outlining several concerns that the people in Corinth wanted his opinion on. In addition this delegation raised questions of their own. Paul’s response to these questions and concerns are dealt with in the book that we call First Corinthians. In his opening remarks, he uses the backdrop of spiritual gifts, which were being used unwisely and one of his favourite topics the soon return of Christ to speak of the hope that God gives us while waiting for the return of Christ.
His letter is addressed to the church, not an individual. And so when Paul speaks of God’s gifts he is referring not only to the use of spiritual gifts that he will deal with later, but also the community itself. Part of the gifts that God has given us is that of the church. Now were not talking about strangers that come together on Sunday morning for worship, but a community of faith that lives out their calling in Christ by encouraging one another, supporting one another and demonstrating their love for one another. Paul also talks about being in partnership with Christ, that is, working together with Christ in his mission in Corinth. Essentially Paul’s argument goes this way, we have reason to be hopeful because God has given us others to walk the journey with, the gifts and talents necessary to live as Christ wants us and a partnership with Christ, a reminder of Christ’s presence in our midst.
In other words, our hope is constantly being renewed through those within our community, through the gifts and talents given by God to the community and by the ever present Christ – we are not alone. But how can our hope be renewed if we are not part of that community, if we do not exercise the gifts that God has given us and allow others to exercise the gifts that God has given them and if we forget that our life has meaning and purpose found in Christ and Christ’s mission.
God’s promise of hope can work miracles in our lives but it’s hard to have hope when we absent ourselves from the means by which God works to renew our hope each and every day.
Prayer: Stir up your power, 0 Lord, and come. Protect us by your strength and save us from the threatening dangers of our sins. Stir up our hearts to prepare the way for Your only Son. By His coming give us hope in the midst of the conflicts within us and about us – and shed light on our path to guide us through the darkness of this world. Stir up our minds to be ready for that which you will do and are doing amongst us. Help us to be prepared, to be awake, to be alert, to be willing to accept your gifts of community, of the gifts and talents you have placed within us and to remember that you are with us in this journey we call life and then to do those things you would have us do. Amen