Is hope hopeless?

Gracious God, as we draw nearer to Christmas, you call us to remember your message of hope brought to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to hear your call in our worship and in our lives. Amen.


Wait for the Lord, whose day is near. Wait for the Lord: be strong, take heart!

Hope is terrifying. … Just think about that for a moment. … Hope … is … terrifying!

Do you know why I say this?

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

This is a message of hope. Not because of the bad things that are going to happen or the bad things that are happening already, but because of the promise of a future that is different. Hope is terrifying because it is not about things being good right now. Hope is about a future where the evils of today are no more. Hope is a message about the Kingdom of God.

Hope is depressing.

Before this better time comes, we have to live through the bad times. First there is war. Isn’t there always? Then there are natural disasters. We certainly have enough of those. Next we have causes for great distress. Let’s see: famine, poverty, greed, financial collapse, overfishing …. Finally we have “Jerusalem” under siege. God’s church is being attacked from the outside and from within.

From the outside we are being attacked by a number of forces. The society we life in is getting more and more secular. God is being relegated to specific holy days if God is allowed into peoples lives at all. Society is getting more and more individualistic. We are being taught to isolate ourselves from one another. Human contact is being reduced to typing on a keyboard at one another. Spirituality is replacing religion.

From inside God’s people are being divided against each other. We are putting ourselves under siege. Extremists, both conservative and liberal, are trying to impose their views on the whole church. Many have the belief that if you don’t believe exactly what they believe you are wrong and that your belief is a danger to them. Extremists in other faiths are doing the same. Dividing their own faiths and going to war with others.

Hope is tiring.

Our Advent journey is very long. A number of times we have had the war to end all wars. We still have war. For a time, we thought that the whole world was Christian or soon would be. We were wrong. Natural disasters come in waves. Some years there are less than others, but they never truly stop. There always seems to be something that causes us distress.

Is hope hopeless?

No!

Jesus told the parable “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”

We see glimpses of what we hope for. There are times when people work together to bring some justice into the world. In this diocese, we support many refugees as they fight to find peaceful and productive lives for themselves and their families. Just this past week in the Diocese of New Westminster an Anglican Church and a United Church came together to provide sanctuary for a man who faces fourteen years in prison for being gay. Also in New Westminster, a secular authority, a supreme court judge, recognized and upheld church law in civil court. The governments of the world seem to be giving the environment and stewardship of the earth some real consideration.

Hope is a true gift. Hope means that we can get through our fear of what is happening now because of the promise of what is to come. Hope means that
we can live in anticipation of joy instead of the depression of despair. Hope gives us energy today as we look forward to tomorrow.


Could I have everyone 18 and under come forward?

Today we are going to light a candle on the advent wreath as a sign of hope. Can I get some help lighting it? … Thank you.

I need your help teaching everyone a song.

Wait for the Lord, Whose Day is Near.
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Wait for the Lord: be strong, take heart.
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