Advent in Hope

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
-Psalm 33:20-22

As we begin the season of Advent, we live in anticipation, waiting, and preparation for the arrival.  That dreaded word… waiting.  We don’t like to wait.  But HOPE and WAIT are closely intertwined.  The theme of waiting in hope is woven throughout the Psalms.  The psalmists do a lot of self-talk, coaching themselves to wait.

Frederick Buechner wrote this about hope: “For Christians, hope is ultimately hope in Christ. The hope that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming he is. The hope that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them. The hope that in him and through him all of us stand a chance of somehow conquering them too. The hope that at some unforeseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in his wings.”

This is what we wait in hope for during Advent.  We celebrate that Christ has come and we anticipate, waiting in hope, that Christ will return.  Please join us in worship this Advent season as we wait in hope together.

Immanuel, God-with-us, Incarnate, taking-on-flesh right here, right now.  Light in the shadows, flickering yet strong, leading us in the way. We light a candle of hope, that we might better see our Good Shepherd, our with-us God who sits down in our midst to share our humanity.  Amen.