I’m writing this the first week of Advent – the week of hope. And I believe hope undergirds and leads us to the following weeks – the weeks of peace, joy, and love. Just think about it – don’t you hope you can have peace this Christmas season – in your personal or family or spiritual or professional life? And don’t you hope we can find peace in Ukraine and the Middle East and other places in our world?
And don’t you hope your life will be filled with joy during Advent 2025, as well as the lives of all those around you? Don’t you hope the love of God shown in the birth of Jesus will spill over into every person and every area of your life?
Yes, it is the Advent week or hope, and it’s also the Advent season of hope. In our casual English language, we’ve diluted the meaning of the word hope. We hope it will be good weather for our outdoor activities. We hope the poinsettias will last through Christmas. We hope our team will win the big game (they did not, by the way!).
But that’s more like wishing or dreaming. Wishing is kind of an optimistic view of life that is not always pegged to reality. It’s a good thing; it just doesn’t go far enough. Wishes aren’t always realized. All dreams don’t come true.
Wishing will not help those who see the holidays as painful reminders – and you may be one of those. Those who have experienced the loss of a family member or close friend since last Christmas. Or whose fond memories of family Christmases have been fractured by divorce or arguments or other circumstances. Or those who have no means to make even the smallest of their children’s dreams come true.
Wishful thinking or dreaming will not be the answer in those situations. Something much bigger and deeper and more meaningful is required. And that something is what we have to share with them during this Advent season – a word of hope.
The Dutch priest and professor Henri Nouwen said it well – “Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness. Hoping is knowing that there is love; it is trust in tomorrow; it is falling asleep and waking again when the sun rises.
As long as there is still hope, there will also be prayer. And God will be holding you in his hands.” (Henri Nouwen, With Open Hand, p. 85).
I love those phrases, Hope means ‘to keep humming in the darkness.’ Because ‘God will be holding you in his hands.’
That’s what the Psalmist said in chapter 146. “Joyful are those whose… hope is in the Lord their God… who keeps faith forever.” Then his description of who God is – and what God does – becomes our challenge to share our hope with those around us.
“God… carries out justice … gives food to the hungry … sets the prisoners free … opens the eyes of the blind … lifts up those who are broken down … loves the righteous … watches over the stranger … upholds the orphan and widow.’
Now it’s our turn. It begins with our own hope. Then we are called to speak a word of hope and promise in a world often filled with fear and uncertainty, even despair. And that hope expands and grows and explodes when we share it with those whose hope has been taken. away by some tragedy or circumstance.
Stop right now – and think of one person who needs you to bring hope to their Advent season this year … and pray for that person right now.
Hope. That’s what Advent offers. Real Hope. For peace and joy and love to fill our lives and our world.
by Rev. Richard Phillips, FPC Care Coordinator