HOPE:
(Read Isaiah 9:2; Eph. 2:12,13 cf. 1Peter1:3-5).
On this first Sunday of Advent, one of three purple candles on the Advent wreath, is lit as a symbol of hope. Some years ago, I encountered words that have stayed with me…”Hope is Faith standing on tiptoe” – go figure! The lunacy that parades as leadership in many parts of the world, increasingly bizarre, demonic acts of criminality and a Church (not just the leader class) at odds to define let alone proclaim the Gospel, all challenge the reality of hope, in shattered dreams that never make it to daylight! Yet, it is in this pitch-darkness, that both Isaiah and Paul challenge us to perceive that without God, we are hopelessly stranded; for as Peter noted, it is God in Jesus+ who enables hope-filled lives. Hope then, is not wishful longing, it is accepting/applying the balm of God for the healing of our brokenness; it is allowing faith to vault us into the divine presence, where we are assured that all is well…and all manner of things will be well.
Canon “Grace” Jervis