"Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down!"

This cry from Isaiah 64 expresses humanity's deep longing for hope. In this special Advent reflection, Professor Rolf Jacobson of Luther Seminary takes us on an unexpected journey from an 18th-century Hasidic tale to the prophet Isaiah's fierce prayer, revealing how true hope comes not from our own efforts, but from God's faithful promises.

Through engaging storytelling and biblical insight, Rolf shows us that hope isn't about what we deserve or create within ourselves—it's about recognizing God's Spirit already at work in our neighborhoods, bringing about God's preferred future. His message offers a fresh perspective on Advent hope that speaks directly to our current moment.

Watch this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Vo5BNwFUqJc.

Rolf Jacobson: Hi, this is Professor Rolf Jacobson from Luther Seminary. Uh, coming to you with a word of encouragement in advent. I want to start in a strange place, but, hey, I'm a little strange. So come on. This journey with me. And the strange place I want to start is on a book with the opening, with the portion of the opening story from Elie Wiesel's book called Souls on Fire Portraits and Legends of Hasidic Masters. And this book, if you're not familiar with it. Souls on fire is a book of stories about various Hasidic, um, Jewish that is Jewish, Hasidic, um, masters that were really started in the 18th century. Um, this the Hasidic movement in Eastern Europe. Um, and this is the opening story, or at least the first portion of it. And it is a story in the chapter about the founder of the Hasidic movement, Israel, Baal Shem Tov. That is the master of the good name. And it came to pass that the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, master of the good name, known for his powers in heaven as well as on earth, decided to try once more to force the creator's hand. He had tried many times before and failed. Burning with impatience, he wanted to end the ordeals of exile forcibly, and this time he was but one step away from success. The gates were ajar. The Messiah was about to appear and console the children and old men awaiting him, awaiting no one else but him. The diaspora had lasted long enough. Now men everywhere would gather and rejoice. The heavens were in an uproar. The angels were dancing red with anger, outrage! Satan demanded an audience with God brought before him. He protested, invoking laws and precedents, history and reason. Look at man's impudence, he said. How dare he take things into his own hands? Does the world deserve redemption? Are the conditions to warrant the Messiah's coming? Have they been met? God listened and had to recognize the validity of Satan's arguments. Low exaggerate. The rabbis gesture was judged premature. His generation was not ready for a miracle of such magnitude. Now the story goes on. But I think it's a great place to start because of course, the legend, this legend, This legend about the master of the good name is correct theologically based on history, law, precedent and reason. Humanity does not deserve to be redeemed. We don't deserve a Savior. We don't deserve the Messiah. No matter how fervently God's people have longed for the first coming of the Messiah. And now for the second coming of the Messiah. Remember, the season of advent is about both of those we don't deserve redemption, and God sent Jesus anyway to redeem us. I want to turn from that story because after all, God sent Jesus to redeem us in spite of the fact that we did not deserve redemption. That every generation, Jesus generation and every generation since has fallen short of the glory of God. The fierce longing for the Messiah is best in Scripture really felt, I think, in a passage that is often read in worship during advent and that is from Isaiah 64, starting with the first verse. It really captures this, this deep, fierce longing for the first coming of Jesus and that we have surrounded by brokenness in our world for the second coming. The prophet prays, oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would quake at your presence, as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence here. We feel in the prophet the rage, the desperate anticipation. Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down. Now, of course, God did tear open the heavens and come down in the form of the Holy Spirit and land on Jesus. Enter into Jesus at his baptism. When we're told the heavens were torn, and then again at his crucifixion, when we're told that the curtain in the temple was torn and God, ever since then is on the loose in the world. As one of my favorite teachers used to say. God's Holy Spirit is alive and present in your neighborhood, bringing about God's preferred future. And our job as easy as it is, as simple as it sounds, is to find where God is bringing about God's preferred future in our neighborhood, and hurry up to catch up to the Holy Spirit and participate in what God is doing. As the prophet continues and says, from ages past, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. And that could also be translated, who works for those who hope for him. Advent is a time of hope. Um, sometimes the advent candles have various names. I actually grew up. My mom's tradition was the four advent candles are the Prophet's Candle, the Bethlehem candle, the shepherd's candle, and the Angel's Candle. But another way of naming it is hope, love, joy and peace. And so hope is the first word in advent. And here's the thing about hope. We don't hope because it's us that we screw up our hope as if it's something inside us that we need to get out, that we need to live into as like if it's a strength we have. No. Hope comes from God. Our hope is the belief that the Holy Spirit is at work, in our neighborhood, in our world, at loose, bringing about God's preferred future. And so our hope comes not from within us, but from without us, that is, from outside of us. Because hope is our response to the promise, the promise that the future is assured that no matter the delay, as it may seem to us in Christ's second coming, that Christ will come, whether we deserve it or not, whether we have earned Christ's coming or not, whether the conditions for the coming of Christ have been met or not. Our hope is that the future of this world is assured. God has promised and said what God will do. God keeps promises, and God will bring about the future that God desires. And so let that word of hope lift you up during this advent season.

Faith+Lead voiceover: The Pivot Podcast is a production of Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead. Faith+Lead is an ecosystem of theological resources and training designed to equip Christian disciples and leaders to follow God into a faithful future. Learn more at faithlead.org.