Hope

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The first Sunday traditionally focuses us on the theme of Hope.

You may know that Advent means coming or arrival. So from now until December 24th, the Church around the world celebrates a time of waiting and anticipation together. This practice reminds us of the generations of the faithful who waited for the coming of Messiah. It can help us participate in the experience of the saints of history, waiting for the light to dawn even as the darkness deepens.

This is especially needful because even though we are recipients of the Grace they anticipated, we have our own waiting to do. Jesus inaugurated God’s Kingdom, but he didn’t bring it to fullness. In the Spirit, we have the first fruits, but we don’t have the full harvest. We live in the Already/Not Yet of God’s promises.

So Advent is a special time of looking back and looking forward.

As we consider the idea of Hope, that is, a confident expectation of a future reality, here’s a good question for us: What is sapping my hope right now? Is it a personal situation, loss, grief, frustration? Perhaps you’re more discouraged by the state of the world and the Church – anger, division, hatred, war, injustice…

Hope carries us through all these things.

Psalm 107 summarizes the experience of God’s people, suffering difficulty, injustice, and judgment for sin. In all of these valleys, they call out to God for help, and he responds with rescue. And we respond with Thanksgiving and testimony.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story.

Psalm 107:1-2

Whether we’re beleaguered by our own failures, the wrongdoings of others, or just the brokenness of the world, we continue to look up in Hope to the one who always rescues us and rewrites our story. Not the story of darkness unassailable, but of Light unstoppable.

The holiday busyness has already started and threatens to overrun the beauty of Christmas. We’ve found it immensely helpful for our family to to pause each day and bring the Biblical Story of Advent to the front of our minds. Over the next four weeks, even though our team is scattered, we’re walking though Russ Ramsey’s The Advent of the Lamb of God together. I recommend it for you if you’re looking for a guide through Advent. Order it today, and you might have it in time to start on December 1!

Key Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash