Coming on a Cloud of Hope

Coming on a Cloud of Hope

Good Morning Friends,

Mark 14:62 (NIV)

⁴⁴At the seventh time he said, ‘Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.’ Then he said, ‘Go and say to Ahab, “Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”

1 Kings 18:44 (NRSV)

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

Revelation 1:7 (NIV)

¹⁷Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp.

Numbers 9:17 (NRSV)

24’But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,²⁵ and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. ²⁷Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.28 

Mark 13: 24-27 (NRSV)

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Acts 2:1-4 (NRSV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Message: Clarity about God can get a little cloudy. In fact some mystics believed that it was when we acknowledged our unknowing that we actually encounter God. The meaning of cloud for example is not very clear either. Is it like a pillar that guided the Israel nation on the way to the Promised Land or perhaps the hint of the coming raining down or the Spirit of witnesses through history? Then again today we hear a lot about everything being in the cloud…. storing data in the cloud….updating and computing a reality that has an answer for just about everything. It is amazing that this is not the first time that people depended upon the cloud. It says in the verse above from Numbers that Israel was to move whenever the cloud moved. God used a cloud to guide the children of Israel through the wilderness. Whenever the cloud stopped, they were to halt their movement, but whenever the cloud lifted they knew that God was moving them. They literally followed the cloud. Now let us put that in the context of Advent and the wise men following a star and how the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is very much like the account of the birth of our Lord. How the prophets were right about Jesus’ first coming and how they might just be spot on regarding his second. Friends, just as the ministry of Jesus is the outflow of His birth (His incarnation), so too the ministry of our Lord born at Pentecost is an outflow of the descent of the Spirit in us. It comes on a cloud. And the hope of Jesus’ return on a cloud is something we are to be expectant about like the coming birth of Jesus. But it is a sad hope for it will end the need for hope and healing as we know it, even as it prompts us to act with healing and hope now for others. Consider today’s teachings of Jesus from Mark that come while Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and the cross. The disciples were confused. Everything was turning upside down. The way of wealth and success in the world becomes the way of eternal destruction and eternal loss. In the midst of all this rethinking, Jesus brings up the second coming. Here we realize that the message is not about when, but about the importance in our lives of consistently living in the knowledge that God has given mankind a task in this world, a task that is not meant to be done in isolation.  We are expected to carry out a mission here on earth until He returns to us or we return to Him. We are to live as if He was coming tomorrow…on guard least we are led away from our post. We are to be ready to meet our maker when we do it unto the least of theses. We are to be ready to meet our maker as He comes for all to see in His glory. Friends, the great Christian hope is that Jesus will come again. There is an urgency to be about God’s work. Each day we are to recall that He gave us a task, a commission, to seek His Kingdom…to love one another…to be as one in mind and spirit, motivated in the purpose of the cloud of Christ.

Pray that we live the Christian life today. Pray that we are fruitful in providing for those who hunger. Pray that we live in the spirit of Advent… expectantly… each day with generosity and kindness. Pray that we would be comfortable doing exactly what we are doing if He returned today. Pray we keep a watchful eye out for the coming Messiah. Pray we develop a cloud Christianity. Pray this perspective brings us and others hope.

Blessings,

John Lawson