When William Carey preached on Isaiah 54:2 in 1792 little did he know that his sermon application would catapult him from being a shoemaker in rural England to laying the groundwork for India’s national renaissance. Carey’s slogan was simple: Expect great things. Attempt great things.
His optimism was not merely self-help or the power of positive thinking. He knew that to “enlarge the tent, lengthen the chord and strengthen the stake” (cf. Isa 54:2) was to have an optimistic expectancy. Specifically, it was an expectation of great things from God, and attempting great things for God. Carey’s missionary philosophy expressed a very basic Christian view of expectation. The advent of Christ in the incarnation grounds all our godly expectancy. Christmas creates Christian optimism.
The trouble with optimism is that it can become escapist in a hurry. You see it happening with the expectation of Christmas. Some people get so excited for all things Christmas-y that it feels fake. When other people see that kind of over-enthusiasm, they can become grinchy, grouchy or otherwise depressed at Christmastime. Their hard lives don’t look very utopian compared to what some optimists might claim.
On the contrary, Christian expectancy is not escapist but realist. Take for example the incarnation of Christ. When God the Son assumed human nature, he entered into a hostile, fallen world where he was under threat of murder. His enemies’ wicked intentions even forced his family to flee the country. All did not seem optimistic at that point.
Nevertheless, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son came to fulfill the mission of God and discharge his office as “a high priest of the good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11 LSV). The advent of the messiah is brimming with optimism that announced the arrival of the seed of the woman sent to crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). Satan and his seed are still attempting to ban our joy at the arrival of Jesus even as we see governments banning Christmas celebrations. Nevertheless, Christians echo Luther’s line about the Enemy, “his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him.” The little word, is the Word incarnate. The virgin conception of Jesus was the little Word, who, “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
The expectancy of the first Advent seemed doomed when the Christ-child, namely the God-Man was nailed to the cross. That terrifying show trial which Jesus endured witnessed him voluntarily accept his own judicial murder. But it was not the end of history. Rather, he “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). The resurrection of Jesus on the third day, was his vindication. His expectancy endured because of “the joy set before him” (v.2).
Many Christians I meet are reconsidering their eschatological views. Some are wanting to be more optimistic, so they are reconsidering postmillennialism (William Carey’s view). Whether that is a Christian’s conclusion or not, the expectation of joy in Christ and the advance of his glorious kingdom ought to motivate us all to “attempt great things for God”. This optimism, grounded in the gospel of Christ, will prompt us to celebrate the first advent of Jesus, while living zealously anticipating his second advent.
As Charles Wesley wrote:
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Let us ask God for more optimism and expectancy as we pray, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus!”
