Quote from Forum Archives on January 2, 2003, 2:23 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

FROM HUMBUG TO HALLELUJAH! #5/7

HOPELESS OR HOPEFUL?
December 22, 2002

Text: Matthew 2:13-18
When I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie last year, I told myself
that I was going to read Tolkien’s novels again before the next movie
came out. Well, a year had almost passed when the ads for this year’s
movie started popping up. Guess what I had not accomplished yet? So, I
drug out my old paperbacks and got started. I actually finished all three
of the books a few weeks ago, so I fulfilled the goal I set for myself.

Since it was probably fifteen years ago since I first read the Lord of
the Ring trilogy, I discovered a lot of detail that I had forgotten. The
basis for Tolkien’s novels is a fictional world he creates. Although the
stories are not what we would technically call Christian literature, a
lot of Tolkien’s understanding of the Christian faith comes through in
his works. In particular, his understanding of the age-old struggle
between good and evil shows through quite clearly. In a recent commentary
on the Lord of the Ring movies, Chuck Colson writes, “The good news is
that the connection between Tolkien’s faith and Lord of the Rings wasn’t
lost on director Peter Jackson and his co-writer Philippa Boyens. They
told columnist Terry Mattingly that while they didn’t set out to make a
religious film, they understood the role that Tolkien’s beliefs played in
his life and work. And knowing what he believed, they decided to honor
the things ‘that were important to Tolkien.’ Thus, they said, ‘some of
the messages and some of the themes’ in the films ‘are based on his
beliefs.’ Principal among these beliefs is the Christian idea that, as
Solzhenitsyn once put it, ‘the line between good and evil runs through
every human heart,’ and it oscillates back and forth. The cinematic
version of Lord of the Rings is more than a story about good versus evil.
It’s a story that, as Mattingly puts it, offers modern audiences ‘another
chance to understand the timeless roots of sin.’ Characters wrestle with
the evil within them. Even when they seek to do good they must guard
against the possibility of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons or
in the wrong way.” (Chuck Colson, “Preparatio Evangelica:
The Two Towers,” BreakPoint Commentary #021218, 12/18/2002)

One of the primary tools used by the evil characters in Tolkien’s novels
is hopelessness. The heroic characters of the stories combat this time
after time. The closer they get to their evil enemies, the stronger the
feelings of hopeless dread become. If evil were to have its own way, good
would be defeated simply by being overcome with a senseless, hopeless
dread and despondency.

So Tolkien’s works of fiction mirror real life. A favorite tool of satan
has been to fill men and women with a sense of hopelessness about our
circumstances and the future. Studies show a recent sharp decline in
hopefulness. According to a national poll taken by the University of
Michigan Institute for Social Research in 2001, only one in five report
they often feel hopeful about the future. This is a dramatic change from
a comparable national survey in 1990, when seven in ten reported they
often felt hopeful about the future. (Marilyn Elias, "Proud to be
American, even with the jitters," USA Today online, Oct. 8, 2001) When we
consider how many stories emerge of hopeless, despondent feelings that
emerge during even this “most joyous time of the year,” we can easily
perceive how satan continues to try to ensnare us in his deceitful
trickery. He Is always trying to convince that, since we can’t live up to
God’s standards, we might as well admit it and give in to the doom of our
failures. Small wonder that even the Christmas celebration of the birth
of Christ the King can turn into “humbug” experiences.

God’s Word gives us quite a different ending to our own stories filled
with feelings of hopelessness and defeat, however. I selected this
portion of Scripture from Matthew 2 this morning in order to make a
comparison between two different responses to God’s revelation of the
birth of Christ. God's purpose in calling us to face the truth is not to
discourage us - any more than a doctor intends to upset or insult us by
telling us the hard truth about our disease. He tells us the truth so we
can understand the possibilities for healing. We must hear the bad news
in order to receive the good news. The good news is that God's goal is
our redemption, our reconciliation, and our salvation. The Bible tells
the story of a God who loves us so much that he not only created us, but
also pursued us so that we could live forever with him. He has overcome
every obstacle that could keep us from him - every obstacle except our
unbelief.

In Matthew 2 we find the story of the wise men who inspire hope by
showing us the ever-reaching love of God. God uses heavenly signs to
point the way for those who were not Jewish. They may or may not have
known the specific promises concerning the coming of the Messiah, but God
spoke to them in a way they could understand. And their hope stirred them
to action. Ironically, their faith and hope stand in stark contrast to
the attitude of Herod, a Jew and king of Jews.

The wise men and Herod portray the radically different responses to the
revelation of God. The wise men write a good ending to their lives, but
Herod writes a horrid one. What do we learn from them? We learn that
writing a good ending to our "Christmas Carol" and to our life means that
we take control and interrupt the inevitable course of events. This
happens when the grace and power of God give us a new vision for life.
The only hope for breaking free from the “humbug” life is to capture the
vision for the life God means us to live.

Herod rejected God's invitation to a new way of life. He rejected the
news of a messiah - seeing him as a rival to be destroyed rather than a
savior to be worshipped. Herod's goal was to advance his own glory - no
matter what the price. And he paid a high price. He married multiple
times because he had many of his wives put to death when he perceived
them or their family to be a threat to his control. He had some of his
own children put to death for the same reason. He responded cruelly to
several threats, both real and perceived, to his kingdom. We learn from
Matthew’s account how he tried to deal with the birth of Jesus. The
slaughter of those male children must have been horrible. Because of
another threat to his power from within his own family, Herod ordered the
execution of Antipater, one of his own sons. Herod died five days later
from a lingering, incurable disease. (S. Sandmel, “Herod,” The
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962,
p. 590)

Herod represents those who cling to everything in spite of all that God
does to the contrary. What did Herod do? He ignored God, he brought the
greatest possible pain to others, and he lost his soul. I recognize that
all things are possible with God, but given the evil actions of Herod, I
think it is safe to say that he was completely outside the will of God
when he died.

The wise men responded much differently. Their vision was to respond to
the work and promise of God. In doing so they were actually used by God
to save the life of the Messiah! The wise men demonstrate principles that
can help us recover hope. In addition to accepting the truth about
ourselves, and learning the truth about God, we must learn to pay
attention to God.

The wise men paid attention to God. Unlike Herod, they followed the
Lord's leading. Their eyes were lifted from the mundane things of life.
They were also free from vainglory and personal ambition. They took the
risk of seeing what God was doing, and of going where God was working. As
a result, they had the unspeakable joy of meeting the Christ child.

Are you looking beyond the circumstances of this world to see the hand of
God at work in your midst? Have you taken time to read God's Word, so
that you can know his mind and heart? As followers of Christ, we are
instructed to look to God's Word for direction and for the interpretation
of life. We are to seek God in prayer for wisdom and guidance. As we do,
hope springs to life.

Hope remains real and alive when we are ready to respond to God’s
leading. The wise men responded to God by leaving their homes and
enduring a rigorous journey with an uncertain outcome. In the process,
they gave both themselves and their gifts. There is a story about a
missionary teaching in Africa. Before Christmas he had been telling his
native students how Christians, as an expression of their joy, gave each
other presents on Christ's birthday. On Christmas morning, one of the
natives brought the missionary a seashell of lustrous beauty. When asked
where he had discovered such an extraordinary shell, the native said he
had walked many miles to a certain bay, the only spot where such shells
could be found. "I think it was wonderful of you to travel so far to get
this lovely gift for me," the teacher exclaimed. His eyes brightening,
the native replied, "Long walk part of the gift." (Gerald H. Bath, quoted
in Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Rockville, MD:
Assurance Publishers, 1979, #6035)

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens writes of Scrooge’s final
visitation. Scrooge is transported to a future Christmas where he sees
the fate of little, sick, crippled Tiny Tim and where he sees new hope
kindled in the lives of those indebted to Scrooge when they learn of his
death. Imagine the rude awakening of learning that others rejoice in your
death because of the miserable way you have treated them in life.
Finally, Scrooge is shown his own tombstone. At that, he cries out,
"Spirit! Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must
have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this if I am past all
hope!... Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me,
by an altered life!" (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, New York:
Scholastic Book Services, 1962, p. 110)

Hopeless or hopeful? Humbug or hallelujah? Like Herod and the Magi, we
are confronted by the Christ-child - the baby Jesus. What will our life
reflect? Will we be like Herod who sees the miracle as nothing more than
another threat to our personal power, and thus try to put out the very
Spirit of God? Or will we be like the wise men who respond with gifts of
sacrifice and adoration and with an altered life? What is God saying to
you? What story are you writing? If things stay as they are now, how will
it end? If you could write a different ending, what would it be like?
Think of this short poem:

You write a gospel, a chapter a day
By the deeds that you do, and the words that you say,
And people judge that gospel whether faulty or true.
Say--what's the gospel according to you?
(Author unknown, quoted in Christensen, James L., The Complete Funeral
Manual, Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1967 p. 72)

The hope of Christmas is that God can change us. We can be different
people. By faith in Christ, we can write a new ending of hope to our
entire lives.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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