Rachel Sanders - November 27, 2022
Hope in the midst of despair
What is Advent? Formed from a Latin word meaning “coming” or “arrival”. Advent is the traditional celebration of the first advent of Jesus (the Christmas story) and the anxious awaiting of His second advent in glory. “The year opens with Advent, the season that teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious. It trains us to see what is behind the apparent. Advent makes us look for God in all those places we have, until now, ignored.” Joan Chittister Hope as we see in scripture is the confident expectation of coming good based on the person and promises of God, and it's strength is in HIS faithfulness to see it through to the end. "Hope is not about the future, hope is about the present. It obviously has to do with the future, but it is a virtue which is cultivated in the present. It fills the present with energy, it connects the two comings of Jesus so that we are now a participant in them. We are not just remembering the one and believing in the other, we are participating in the continuity of the comings.” Eugene Peterson Advent Trajectory: A Celebration in Three Dimensions The Past - God's initiative toward the world in Christ The Future: God's coming victory in Christ The present: a cruciform (cross-shaped) life of love for the world in the present time Flemming Rutledge Our hope is that Jesus initiated His love as Emmanuel, God with us. (Past) Jesus will come again & make all things new (Future) Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” "Religious systems that ignore the dark side of life are fundamentally dishonest. In Advent, we don't pretend, as I once thought, that we are in the darkness before the birth of Christ. Rather, we take a good hard look at the darkness we are now facing and define it honestly so that we will understand with utmost clarity that our great and only hope is in Jesus final and victorious coming." Flemming Rutledge The hope that doesn't look over the horizon and into the future to come isn't Christian hope at all. Jesus will bring forth good from the Kingdom to come into the mess of this world. (Present) Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows, You have collected all my tears in your bottle, you keep track of each one in your book.
From Series: "Longing"
Deep inside each of us there is a longing for things to be made right. A longing in our hearts to experience true peace, unconditional love, and deep, residing joy. In the season of Advent, we join with the Old Testament prophets and the people of God who are waiting with anticipation for God to act and make things right. In a season where many are asking "what do you want," instead, we are asking "what do you long for?" During this time of Advent, what is it you long for that only God can fill?
