#3 Hope Illumination I (15/12/01)

The Message

By Dr. Robert H. Schuller

Well we are starting a series of messages today entitled, "A Gift Worth Giving." I know that many of you have experience precious gifts and many of you are looking for precious gifts to give this Christmas. And what we want to do with you this next few weeks is share with you some gifts that truly are worth giving. And the four gifts we're going to recommend are these: "Hope that Illuminates," "Joy that Celebrates," "Love that Radiates," and "Faith that Penetrates." And so this Christmas season we're going to recommend these gifts. And today we're going to talk specifically about "Hope that Illuminates."

And this is a great time of the year to be alive and to realize that as we celebrate the Christmas spirit, that hope is illuminating our lives in many ways. You know the star came and showed the way and pointed the way for the Wisemen to find hope in Jesus Christ. And I want to read you a poem that was written by Richard Thomas from Grace Bible Church of Mission Bend, Houston, Texas. It says this:

We are the Wisemen come seeking. Over the miles we are seeking, seeking not wealth, for we lack not possessions. Seeking not fame, for we have veneration. Seeking not friends, for we are together. Seeking not honor, for we are exalted. We are the Wisemen come seeking. More than we know we are seeking. Seeking not only the King of the Jews, but the King of Creation. Seeking not a regal throne, but a peasant's cottage. Seeking not a king's court, but a humble household. Seeking not a mere human, but the God of the Ages wrapped in the flesh of a Child. We are the Wisemen come seeking. Deep in our hearts we are seeking. Seeking a Savior from sin. Seeking a King for our hearts. Seeking the One who gives meaning to life. Seeking the Lord to adore. We are the Wisemen come seeking. Will you come seeking?

Today I ask you to come with me and follow a star. Go on a star search, you might say. Because the meaning of Christmas is a meaning of hope. And this hope will illuminate your heart. Heart is the emotions. I believe if the message of Christmas is going to really penetrate to the depth of who we are, it has to happen emotionally. I can't tell you how often we receive letters here from people, and e-mails from other individuals, who say, "I was just started crying. I was listening to your message. I was watching the Hour of Power and tears just started flowing down my face." They're emotionally touched. And when those emotions are generated hope is born.

Ruth Tucker wrote a book entitled "Stories of Faith." In there she tells a story of a lady name Kana from Irian Jaya. She was addressing a large group of woman when she said, "when the gospel came to Isdanhi people we were told the gospel was for the men. The men said we women do not have souls. So we did not need the gospel. The men crowded around the speakers of the Good News and we women were told to sit out in the edges of the crowd and keep the children quiet so the men could get all of the profit from the message." She was convinced; Kana was totally convinced that she wasn't even human any more. So much so that one time the missionary took a picture of a group of people and Kana was in the group of people but the men told her that her face probably wouldn't appear in the photograph cause she didn't have a spirit. And she said she waited days and she heard that the photograph was available to be seen and she ran down to the missionaries' hut and she said, "Can I see the pictures?" And she looked in the picture and there she saw her face. For the first time she saw her face and hope was born. She was a person and her life was illuminated.

Hope illuminates the heart. And we find desires and we create once and we say, "I'm going to do this." Not until we have the self-realization and the self-esteem and the self-love can we say, "I want." It's very difficult for many people to say, "I want something." Something of value because the greatest gifts we give are not things of material possessions necessarily. My mother tells me about her mother. She was raised in a very poor farm and she said, "My mother used to always give me, I'd look forward to it every year for my birthday. She used to give me a crocheted handkerchief. And that was my birthday gift every year." I think one of the most precious gifts I ever received, I know the most precious gift I've received, I should say, as far as material possessions was from my great-uncle Henry. He was the one who was a missionary in China and he spent his last years here and he's buried in our cemetery here. And shortly before he passed away he invited me to come down to his office. He was rather short and to the point and he called me up and he said, "Robert, you got to come down to my office. I came down there and he spent about 30 seconds. He said, "I've drawn up my will and you're going to receive this library. I want you to take a look and see what you have here. This is it. When I pass it's yours. Good-bye." And when he passed I received his library. That library has helped me so immensely I can't begin to tell you the books that I have found in there that have changed my life, that have given me a hope, that have given me direction and guidance and understanding.

You know the gifts we give to people makes a difference in their lives and the greatest gift, the gift worth giving that you can give to somebody today is hope to illuminate their emotions, their heart. Hope illuminates the heart. Hope illuminates optimism. Suddenly we think and we see life differently when we have hope. We become optimistic people. I was watching The Today Show and guess who was being interviewed? Who wants to be a millionaire? Regis Philbin. Regis is being interviewed and he says, "You know, I'm basically a pessimist." I thought to myself, "He is?" And he went on telling about what a pessimist he is because all these bad things happened to him. But then he went on to say that this pessimism gives him great material. That he uses all these bad things that happened to him in a wonderful way to create humor and to tell stories. And what I discovered about Regis, he's an optimist in pessimist clothing. Even when bad things happen to him he says, "Oh, this is wonderful. I've got great material to use."

We become optimistic when hope is born because we realize that somehow, someway all things work together for good and our attitudes change. It starts emotionally. Hope begins by illuminating our emotions, giving us the ability to realize that we are human being, we are created in the image of God, we are human beings. We do have a soul. Once that is born, that spark is ignited, then it creates and begins to move in our attitudes and our actions because when you have faith in something you will do so much better and so much stronger. Why do you think we keep buying golf clubs? Do you think, really think, that a new golf club is going to make a difference in your swing? You haven't changed your swing. The way you hit the ball is going to be the same, but we go and we buy the golf clubs anyhow because it doesn't do anything physically but it does something here. It's called confidence. Suddenly you have a new golf club in your hand and you have your new confidence. I can do it. And all of a sudden, instead of slicing you hook. And next year you buy a new set of golf clubs and you'll re-ignite that new confidence. It's here.

Hope illuminates the heart, the emotions. Then it takes the next step and it illuminates our optimism, our attitudes. Then our attitudes starts to say, "You know, maybe it is possible to hit the ball straight. Maybe it isn't the golf clubs. Maybe it's the way I swing the club. Maybe if I got some lessons I could lower my score." And we start to think about the possibilities and start making a list of all the different ways we can make it happen as hope illuminates the darkness.

Think about photo processing. Have you ever thought about it? Photo-processing takes place all in the dark. The camera has to be in the dark. The shutter can only open for a certain amount of time allowing only certain amount of light in, in a certain amount of time. And that light is then captured on this film and if you open the back of the camera what happens? It's all ruined. You got to be very careful, you transport this film very delicately to a dark room and there in the dark room certain chemicals are added and these chemicals then add the necessary light to the picture, to the film, so that the negative receives its color and it's beautiful. But the chemicals turn the darkness into light and the pictures come to life. God does to you what the proper chemicals do to the photo negatives. He comes in with His hope and He opens up your life to be able to see all of the possibilities, the full colors of the rainbow. And you say, "It is possible. I can succeed. I can take the next steps.

Hope illuminates the heart and illuminates the optimism. It illuminates the possibilities. Finally, it illuminates the expectations. It creates action. We start doing what we know we need to do. We start taking the steps we know we need to take. And we start following the star. You know it took incredible hope for those Wisemen to travel those thousands of miles. Now to travel a thousand miles today isn't that big of a deal. You hop in the car, throw in the fuel, and you step on the gas. And what, 15 hours later you've traveled thousand miles. Guess what? When the Wisemen came out there, 15 hours later they'd traveled about 40 miles. And the extent that they went to, to find the Christ child has to be one of the most incredible stories of faith I've ever heard. And what for? They got there and when they reached the Christ child, what did they do? They gave Him their gifts. It's not like treasure hunters or it's not like most people, if you're going to go someplace you're going there to get something. But they went all that way simply to give something. And they gave Him gold, because He's the king. They gave Him frankincense, because He's the priest, it's the incense. They gave Him myrrh, because He would die for our sins. So they gave Him those gifts and those gifts share with us, throughout history to the present day. What's a gift worth giving? It is one that touches the heart; it is more money or gold. If you come and have the privilege of hearing the Glory of Christmas, one of the things you'll do is you'll get to hear the words of Christina Rosetti which are sung. "What can I give Him poor as I am. If I were a shepherd I'd give Him a lamb. If I were a Wiseman I'd do my part. But what can I give Him, poor as I am. I can give Him my heart."

Today I invite you to receive the gift that I offer you today. It is the gift of God's grace, through Jesus. Born in a manger 2000 years ago, giving you hope. Hope to illuminate your heart, your optimism, your possibilities, and your expectations. Accept this gift today and say yes to Jesus Christ.

Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for Your precious gift today. Your gift of Jesus Christ, the gift of hope to illuminate our hearts, our optimism, our possibilities and our expectations. Now we love You Lord for this most precious gift of all. So continue Lord to give as we give to others, and share this good news and this precious gift we have received today with others. Now we love You Lord and we praise Your name, Amen.

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord grant you His peace in your lying down and in your rising up, in your labor and in your leisure in your laughter and in your tears until you come to stand before Jesus in that day in which there is no sunset and no dawning. Amen.