Advent: Weary Hope

Jesus did not call us to sit around, crippled with fear. He sent us out into Anamesa, that space between now and then, to love God, love others, and serve both.

​Love is the antidote to the things that are destroying this world.

an Advent story of hope in the apocalypse
Luke 21:5-19

This is the first Sunday of advent. This year, we have selected a series from Sanctified Art that asks the question, “How does a weary world rejoice?”

​From today until Christmas Eve our goal will be to find hope, peace, joy and love in our world that has taken a good bit of abuse from us.

There have been days when we want to throw in the towel…give up because what’s the point. Everything seems pointless and hopeless.

But scripture reminds us that we can face and endure the difficulties that arise, and even celebrate all of life despite our weariness, because God doesn’t leave us on our own.

Instead, God has chosen to be with us.

That’s what we’re celebrating at Christmas, right? God, enfleshed in our humanity, comes to us in our weariness, to redeem us - to change the way we think, which in turn changes the way we act. We can acknowledge and embrace the weariness of our world rejoicing with hope knowing and believing that God in Christ Jesus has come to us.

We can rejoice with hope knowing and believing God knows the shape and form of our weariness. We can rejoice because God doesn’t just expect us to just survive and exist. God wants us to have joy and delight. And will turn the world upside down to ensure that happens.
And so it is here in God’s house, we can be joyful. We can be grateful. We can be hopeful. We can be weary. We can be anxious. We can be grieving.

In God’s house, we can be honest—inspired or tired; delighted or doubtful; connected or curious, and everything in between. This is God’s house. You are welcome exactly as you are. So come as you are and let us worship our loving God together.

 ...“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify....You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.                                         Read all Luke 21:5-19 here

I find it a bit weird and troubling that the church calendar begins and ends with a similar theme. Not with a baby being born in Bethlehem, but with apocalyptic pronouncements like this chaotic stuff that could easily be found scrolling across our new feeds today.

But by paying careful attention, we can see how Jesus offers words of hope and encouragement in this passage.
 
It may seem like Jesus is speaking of what many like to call “The End Times.” Personally, I don’t read it as the end but beginning of something new.

You might see the conflict in Israel and Palestine as biblical proof that the end is near. Many thought that about the pandemic. And Y2K. And World War I. And the crusades. And the fall of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire.
 
But again, scripture tells a different story. It tells us that Jesus did not come to destroy us but to build us up - redeem us and save us. And so, he tells us to “keep awake,” not with worry but with readiness.

Remain active in your faith and “Not a single hair on your head will parish. By your endurance you will gain your soul.” Despite how horrific the world seems, despite however tired and worn out you feel, Jesus gives us hope in this promise.
 
Of course, Jesus is not saying these things won’t cause you to suffer or grieve or feel a sense of dread. In fact, he said some of us will be killed for our faith. What he promises isn’t a good life, but life everlasting. 

If we live out our faith, testifying in his name, then we will not parish but gain our souls. If you ask me, this is where our focus ought to be preparing for his arrival by living out his gospel.
 
How do we do this? If you’ve ever taken the opportunity to watch Rev. Bob’s Bible Study, you’d know that he sends us off each week with the same charge: Go and be a light in a dark world.
 
This seems juxtaposed to those Christians hoping and praying for the Israel-Palestine war to ignite God into action. As if we can control God’s will to trigger the second coming of Christ. Even Jesus himself confessed he doesn’t know when that will happen.
 
In this passage he seems to be saying, whatever you see happening out there is not to bring about the end of time. They are simply opportunities for us to proclaim the good news. In fact, he goes so far to warns us not listen to the false prophets crying for war. Instead, go be a light shining in the darkness. Go proclaim the glory of God by being God’s glory. 
 
After all, Christ did not come to inaugurate an apocalyptic cleansing. He did not come to make more suffering, but to eliminate it for good, by revealing the power of the powerless in his self-giving sacrifice on the cross.
 
The birth in Bethlehem is just the beginning of the story. The way I see it, Christmas is just a gift God gives us. A gift we have to wait until Easter morning to unwrap.
 
Melissa Bills reminds us that even the most apocalyptic scripture teaches us that “God’s final word will be one of resurrection, not of destruction. Beyond all other endings that we experience in history, God promises us a stunning bonus scene, a celestial final chord. We persevere through this world’s beginnings and endings because we have faith that God’s final ending will be a decisive victory for all that is good, beautiful, and true.” ​

 
Christmas is merely the preface for what’s to come. When the world looks bleak, we find hope knowing restoration is coming because we have already seen what God has done - not just in the manger but in the grave.
 
So, what does all this mean for us today? It means we can rejoice in a weary world because we are Easter people. But it also means we will have to wait.

Advent is a season of waiting. This is not passive waiting, like waiting for a bus that is late, but active waiting like Jesus who saw the messiness of life as fertile soil to testify to God’s glory.
 
Henri Nouwen wrote, “We are always waiting, but it is a waiting in the conviction that we have already seen God’s footsteps.”

What we are waiting for has already been planted. Like a seed buried in the ground at winter… we can get through these tough times knowing that seed will produce fruit in the spring.
 
Jesus tells us to keep awake. And he taught us how to do that. By being fully present in this moment, in good times and bad. If we truly believe God is up to something good, then we must be ready if we want to be a part of it.
 
We must keep awake. And the best way to do that is by remaining present and active - proclaiming and participating in God’s divine glory. We can do this through the many ways we welcome God’s love in us. And allow that love to move through us.
 
We only get one chance to live this life of love. Therefore, we must take every moment of our precious and short life as an opportunity for God’s love to become incarnate in us. To quote St. Teresa of Avila, “We are the only hands and feet, the only eyes and ears that Jesus has.” 
 
Jesus did not call us to sit around, crippled with fear. He sent us out into Anamesa, that space between now and then, to love God, love others, and serve both. Love is the antidote to the things that are destroying this world.
 
So, “How does a weary world rejoice with hope?” By being the light that illuminates God’s love in the darkness. A light that brings hope to those who are tired, worn down and bedraggled.
 
In the same way, if we want to rejoice in peace, we must be the light of peace. If we want joy to fill the world, then we must find ways to rejoice when others cannot. If we want Christ to come again, then we must let Christ come alive through us.
 
To quote Meister Eckhart, “We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.” The moment you step outside yourself and love a neighbor, feed the hungry, or welcome a stranger, Christ is born again.
 
We are God’s hope for a weary world, because we are Christ’s body.
 
Easter people crafted from the promises of God’s eternal love.
 
Like the Apostles witnessed and Paul professed, “Not even death can keep us from God’s love which is Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:38-39).

Tired as we might be, that alone is reason enough to rejoice.
 
Work Cited:
David L. Bartlett, and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word: Advent Companion. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2014).
Bills, Melissa. The Christian Century newsletter November 28, 2023 (accessed on December 1, 2023).
Nouwen, Henri. Bread for the Journey. New York:HarperOne, 2006).