First Sunday of Advent, Morning Worship, November 30, 2025
Sermon: In Days to Come…Hope
Accompanying Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5

In Days to Come…Hope

The nation of Judah needs good news, and they need it now. Wars and
uprisings surround them. Gloom and doom haunt their lives. They awaken
each day to another round of waiting for the next shoe to drop. Tension is
in the air. They don’t feel safe.
In fact, the entire first chapter of Isaiah is filled with bad news. It’s not
going to get any better, writes Isaiah. Gird your loins.
So thorough is Isaiah’s bad news that we’re ready to skip to the end to see if
there’s anything worthwhile left in the book. Or close it completely and go
find something easier to read. The birth stories of Jesus, for example. Or
the resurrection scenes in each of the four gospels.
But if you’re willing to continue, chapter 2 of Isaiah is filled with hope. Some
day… In days to come… There’s a day coming. And oh, what a day that will
be!
A day when God will establish God’s house on the highest mountain for all
to see. All will learn God’s ways and will be drawn to God’s teachings.
A day when we’ll finally decide that weapons of war aren’t as necessary as
tools of farming and community.
A day when we’ll be more focused on ways of peace than on methods of
battle.
Some day. We live for that, don’t we? We live for the day Christ will return,
and heaven will join earth in that great day. We live for a day when war isn’t
necessary, and we can speak a common truth among ourselves.

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But those days aren’t here. We wake up every day to bad news and tension.
Some people can barely speak a civil word to each other because there are
too many different “truths” at play.
At this time of year, we journey to see a baby born and raised in poverty.
We remember this child and his family escaping to a foreign nation for
safety. And then returning to settle in a backwater village on the edge of
Galilee. This child grew to show us the way of peace. This child taught us a
better way to live, peacefully and honorably. He is our hope.
Choose to live into that hope. Take Paul’s advice to the Roman Church to
wake up to the times. He reminds us to be absorbed with the right things.
Be up and awake to what God is doing. Live honorably in the light of Christ.
God hasn’t given up on the world. God is keeping God’s promises.
Yield to hope. Choose to believe that weapons of destruction may someday
be turned into tools of community. Allow the Christ child to be born again
in your hearts. It’s the promise of God to Isaiah. It’s the promise fulfilled in
Jesus.
And it’s the promise of God who doesn’t let us down.
All glory and honor be to God.
Amen