Hope

 

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.  John 1:5

 

The four Sundays prior to Christmas are part of the church season called, "Advent".  It is a time to prepare for the birth of Jesus.  But how exactly do you do that?  What kind of game plan or plotting would you come up with to prepare to welcome Jesus?  Do you need a banner for that?  Maybe a band?  Or is this just some kind of intellectual exercise?

 

During Advent we use words in church like, "awake", "alert" and "aware".  It sounds like we are being hyper-vigilant or overly anxious about all of this.  Especially when we think about all the other items on our to-do list like: shopping, sending cards, making cookies, attending parties, listening to and singing carols.  And that is just what I hope to do this week!

 

Do those activities help you prepare?  Do you dread some of those tasks?  Maybe the company Christmas party causes you to have a pit in your stomach that isn't just about the food that will be served.  Do you sometimes find yourself wondering why?

 

While those moments when we question why don't always make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside (like we sometimes have lead ourselves to believe we should during the month of December),  why is a very important Advent question.

 

Why does God choose to come to us in the form of a vulnerable infant?  Why do we try to cram so much into the last four weeks of the year?  And especially, why would the church light one Advent candle and call it, "Hope"?

 

Those are good questions.  And I certainly do not have definitive answers for them.  I have some guesses and hunches.  I think God's ways are not our ways.  God says "no" to power systems both at Christmas time and Easter time.  God says that love is often seen in our world as weaker than might and military force but we have to make choices about where we will place our trust, which way will we travel?  I think we tend to over extend ourselves this time of year, because like those late nights before a test/project was due in college, we don't want to enter a new year with regrets or "should haves".  Plus, the frenzied pace of December has become such a cultural force that it actually takes more energy to resist getting caught up in the hoopla than to just go with the flow.  I think the church lights one candle, calls it "Hope", because it is a beautiful action that might actually cause us to stop in our tracks!

 

We call the first Sunday of Advent, "Hope" because in Jesus the hopes and fears of all the years are met in him.  We have hopes for our lives...for our families...for our churches...for our community.  In fact, one of our fears might be that our hopes will go unrealized or unfulfilled.  That certainly makes my stomach churn like I just ate too much of the bacon wrapped sausages at a party! 

 

Can we be honest in this the last month of 2013 about our hopes and our fears?  Can we take prayerful time, light one candle, and sit in silence with God who hears those hopes and fears?  I hope you can.  I pray you will.  And I pray you will sense a trace of God's grace in that.

 

Blessings ~