Advent Week 1: Hope

Advent Week 1: Hope

Hope. We are in dire need of hope this year. As we are still in the clutches of a pandemic, we need a hope to grab hold of. We feel hopeless when we can't see an end of our negative situation, like when we are experiencing an international pandemic. For this week's Scripture, let's take a look at what Paul had to say to the Romans about hope.

Scripture: Romans 8:18-27

Hope is used seven times in these ten verses. If we zero in on verses 24 & 25, it has six of those seven hopes. Do you have a hope like Paul's? When faced with suffering, can you say that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"? Creation hopes to "be liberated from its bondage to decay" as it wants to be "brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God". Creation has been groaning right up until now. We groan too as we "wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies". (24) "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? (25) But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." We aren't hoping for something that we already have. We are patiently hoping for something that we do not have. Furthermore, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." The Spirit searches our hearts and knows the mind of God, as it intercedes for us "in accordance with the will of God".

We have experienced suffering this year. Many of us know someone who has suffered from the virus, or even died as a result of it. This isn't something that we can make go away by "looking on the bright side" or "just pushing through it". Yet, even in the midst of suffering, pain, and lament, we can still hold fast to hope. We can recall God's character and remember how He has been faithful throughout our lives and more specifically in the past year. We can mourn and lament the brokenness of the world, even as we cling to the hope God offers.

Song: O Come Divine Messiah. 

This site has a recording and the lyrics, as well as a bit of the history of this song.

As the song states, we are waiting for hope to be triumphant. We are waiting for sadness to take off and leave. We are waiting for Christ to return. We are waiting for fetters to be broken. We are waiting for the lost to be redeemed. People back then were waiting for a conquering king to challenge Rome, but Jesus came in peace, meekness, and poverty. 

Many of us have experienced deep sadness this year, whether from the mounting number of infections and the rising death toll, or due to so many black deaths this year, or from a loss of normalcy. Yet, in the midst of all this, Advent calls us to hope. Perhaps this year, more than "normal" years, we can better resonate with the author of Lamentations (traditionally attributed to Jeremiah), because our world has been devastated this year. We normally like to rush to the hopeful message of Lamentations 3:21-24, but this is much to explore in the rest of Lamentations 3 if we sit with Mourning.

As we wait (more on waiting next week), we also hope to win the day. We hope for the end of things that cause sadness. We hope for the captives to be freed and the lost to be redeemed. Let us not just focus on a hope for us or those we love, but let us also hope for deliverance for the oppressed and let us work towards that hope. 

Questions to Consider:

-How can we work towards restoration, redemption, and reconciliation in our world today?

-How can the choices we make help captives to be freed? What can we do to help former captives recover and thrive?

-Are we sharing this hope with the world? Are we peaceful and meek, even when someone tells us "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? (because snarling back "IT'S MERRY CHRISTMAS" really doesn't illustrate that love that we claim to have as Christians)

Challenge: 

Take time to ponder this week: "What are you hoping for?" Go deeper than a Christmas wish list. What brokenness in our world breaks your heart? What steps can you take to carry hope to hopeless people? Ask yourself "What am I doing to work towards that hope?" If you are hoping for racial reconciliation, what are you doing to participate in addressing this wrong? If you are hoping for captives to be freed, what you doing to support organizations fighting modern-day slavery and supporting former prisoners so that they can successfully reintegrate into society? If you are hoping for people to come to faith in Christ, what are you doing to remember to faithfully pray for them and share the Good News? 

The angel visits Mary