God of Hope, God of Peace
Pastor Tan Thai · Dec 25, 2011
This 2011 Christmas Eve sermon, based on Isaiah 9:5-6 and Romans 15:13, explores the true meaning of hope in God amid life's difficulties. The sermon argues that genuine hope is not superficial optimism or escapism, but faith in the Wonderful Counselor — Jesus Christ himself.
The sermon opens with the inscription above the gates of hell in Dante's The Inferno: 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.' From this the preacher draws the conclusion that without hope, life itself becomes hell. The story of the submarine S-4 (1927) is used to illustrate the desperate cry of human beings trapped in hopelessness — sailors tapping out Morse code from the ocean floor: 'Is there any hope?'
The prophet Isaiah wrote his prophecy about the Wonderful Counselor in the context of Judah being threatened by three hostile nations — Syria, Israel, and Assyria. The people at the time responded by either ignoring the danger like Jonah sleeping through the storm, or by looking back nostalgically to the past like Israel longing for the food of Egypt, or by consulting fortune-tellers. The preacher argues that Isaiah 9:5-6 does not describe a military deliverer for the immediate crisis, but points forward to Jesus Christ — born in a manger at Christmas, and destined to return a second time to reign with righteousness and justice forever on the throne of David.
The sermon emphasizes that earthly hope is only short-term and temporary. Although God protected Judah from Assyria, Judah was eventually conquered by Babylon. The life cycle — birth, growth, aging, sickness, death — demonstrates that no hope placed in this world is permanent. Biblical figures such as Naomi, Jeremiah, and Moses all went through moments of bitterness and despair, yet they maintained their faith in God.
The preacher distinguishes Christian hope from the self-confidence of Olympic athletes, who mentally exclude all possibility of failure. Hope in God does not require denying the painful realities of life; rather it rests on daily strength from God, on relationship with Him, and on the community of faith. The sermon cites Christ's promise 'I am with you always, to the end of the age,' Jeremiah 29:11 on God's plans for a future and a hope, and Romans 8:37-39 on the love of God from which nothing can separate us.
The sermon concludes with Paul's prayer in Romans 15:13 — asking the God of hope to fill believers with all joy and peace as they trust in Him, so that they overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. True hope does not detach us from the realities of this life; rather it is the energy that enables us to live wholeheartedly, serve faithfully, and engage society redemptively — just as William Wilberforce devoted his life to abolishing the slave trade.