Advent XII (The Kingdom Life)

When we read the prophets of the Old Testament, we see a culture gone awry and we hear God's words of judgement.  What we also find midst all the harsh words of the prophets who speak for God are words of comfort and hope.  God's judgement is not so severe as to exclude hope and deliverance.  Out of those times when the Hebrews went after idols and alliances, wealth and military power, there were always words which pointed toward a God who could never completely forsake and abandon His people.  When the Apostle Paul wrote "For whatever was written in former days was written for instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope,"  (Romans 15:4) he is speaking to our day.

This Word which serves the church as part of the Epistle Lesson on the Second Sunday of Advent is a word of hope which originates in the crucible of despair.  How many times have we known it to be true that there are moments when we have stood with hope and hope alone?  Even in those hard, dark, and difficult moments of life when hope makes no sense, we dare to claim it as the only way forward?  Hope is our life line to the future which is unseen and yet unfolding in God's time.  Though it might seem to some that we grasp at straws as we grasp for hope, we know differently.  

Hope is what keeps us moving when we stand midst the mire of hardship and suffering.  It is what enables us to see what is still not yet fully seen which is a life where every injustice will be righted, a life where there is no hunger and war, and a life where "God will wipe away every tear...death will be no more, mourning and crying will be no more."  (Revelation 21:4).  It is Advent's hope that shouts that this Kingdom of God life is coming.