Hope in Time for Christmas

What is hope? Understanding hope is essential to our faith. “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For by this our ancestors were approved” (Hebrews 11:1, CSB). If faith is linked to hope, what is hope? Hope is expressed and experienced as pursuing a strong desire that may not be obtained. Hope is more than a feeling. Hope that positively impacts our well-being requires agency or personal participation in fulfilling our hope. We hope for what is not yet. Yet true hope, instead of wishful thinking, requires us to get involved. We can best understand hope as involving three elements: the object of our hope, the absence of our hope, and our engagement in our hope.

In Philippians chapter 3, the object of Paul’s (and our) hope is knowing and being present with Jesus. 

“My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead” (Philippians 3:10-14, CSB). 

Christian hope is caught up in the now-but-not-yet tension of our new life in Jesus. Paul describes his hope in Christ as being certain that he belongs to Jesus, that he will be made perfect, that he is honest and aware that he is not perfect (v. 12), and engaged in the pursuit (v. 14).  

“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus as my goal.” (Philippians 3:12-14, CBS).

In the week leading up to Christmas, I invite you to explore seven different hopes from the hymn O Come Emmanuel that are significant for us personally and in our world today. When all seven hopes come together, they culminate in one great hope—the great hope of all humanity, Jesus. The seven hopes are derived from the ancient Christian advent tradition and include the hope of freedom for the oppressed, truth, justice, love, peace, rescue, light, and a new beginning. Each of these hopes culminates in the hope of love realized in the now-but-not-yet tension of Christian hope. Now, love is realized individually and in the community of the church through a relationship with Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and will, in the future, be fully realized by living in the very presence of God.

Journey with me through the Seven Hopes of Advent beginning December 17th. You can find my blog at: www.movementmatters.church

You can find a great redition of the O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Chris Tomlin here: https://youtu.be/UH7asSGxAxA.

-Pastor Jim