A Word from Pastor Lisa: On the Hunt for Hope
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
—Romans 5:1-5 (NRSV)
As we munch on Thanksgiving leftovers, we turn our attention to Advent, which means “arrival.” During Advent, we prepare for the first coming of Jesus as a baby and look forward to his return in glory. We live in the between-time, the place of tension, and we do so as people of hope.
Hope is not unique to followers of Jesus, but our hope is peculiar – that God put on flesh in Jesus of Nazareth and dwelt among us. He lived, died, and rose again on the third day to bring us abundant new life. So when the apostle Paul writes to the Romans that “hope doesn’t disappoint us,” he’s talking about a very specific type of hope that’s grounded in God’s love, the Spirit’s presence, and Christ’s abundant life. This is a hope that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord – not a pandemic, not a holiday spent apart, not the grief, anxiety, or exhaustion we feel right now (Romans 8). This hope means that since Christ has triumphed over the grave, not even death will have a final say. We have hope in eternal life with the saints who’ve gone before us. This hope means that even in the chaos and division of our world right now, Baby Jesus will be born among us again this year. Our task is to wait in hope and prepare for his arrival.
To get ready this year, we’ll be exploring the Advent devotional book Preparing for Jesus by Walt Wangerin. You can obtain a copy of this beautiful book here, and you can join us for the Bible breakout room on the Journey at 11:15 a.m. every Sunday in Advent. We will reflect on the book and the Scripture of the week together. We’ll also have a daily social media Advent calendar that will encourage us through Scripture and songs of the season. In addition to spending daily time in prayer and Scripture reading, I pray you’ll also join me on the hunt for hope.
Hope has been difficult to come by this year, even harder than toilet paper or hand sanitizer. That’s why it’s important as followers of Jesus for us to be intentional in cultivating hope. Children’s author Kate DiCamillo recently shared a story about how she became more attentive to hope. She was at a book signing when a boy came through the line. As she signed his copy of Desperaux, he said to her, “My teacher says fifth grade is a year for asking questions.”
“Really?” Ms. DiCamillo responded.
“Yes,” he replied. He opened up a notebook. “Every day we’re supposed to ask someone different a good question and then listen really good and write down the answer when they’re done talking.”
“Oh,” Ms. DiCamillo said. “I’m someone different. What question do you have for me?”
“My question is, how do you get all that hope into your stories?” the boy asked.
“That’s a good question,” Ms. DiCamillo replied. “I guess writing the story is an act of hope, so even when I don’t feel hopeful, writing the story can lead me to hope. Does that make sense?”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s kind of a long answer. But I can write it all out. Thanks.” Then he picked up the copy of the book and walked away, still writing in his notebook.
This happened years ago, but recently Ms. DiCamillo woke up thinking about her interaction with this boy. She suggests that maybe now is the time to start asking good questions, to write down the answers, a time to listen to each other really well. A time to listen and hope. She’s going to get herself a little spiral bound notebook.
Perhaps this Advent season, you will be intentional about recording signs of hope. If you’re a writer, jot them down in a notebook or journal. If you’re a photographer, take some photos. If you’re an artist or crafter, be creative. If you’re a contemplative, meditate on them. And if you’re willing to share your signs of hope, please post them to social media with the hashtag #PreparingforJesus.
May the hope of Christ be with us, through the love of God poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that’s been given to us.