Advent: Week One

Advent is the Latin word for coming it is the season of the year that proceeds Christmas and is the waiting and longing for the birth of Jesus. It is the period that represents the tension in our lives between being saved by grace and waiting for the fulfillment of all promises. 

Last night we had the first Advent gathering. The first week is hope and it was exactly what my heart needed. I have been longing this year, but often without hope. My longing lacked Christ at the center. Without Christ providing hope for longing it can be very painful and destructive to the soul. Last night was what I needed to realign my focus on the Saviour. When longing is focused on Christ I find it produces abundant hope, but when Christ is absent from the equation it only produces despair.   

My favorite piece of scripture from the night was from Isaiah 61:1-4: 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners, 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

This to me this is the picture of hope. Not only the hope in the gospel message but our ability to be the hope bringings to this lost generation. The hope that we have in the Saviour that has come, but who will come again to the fulfilment of all promises is not only our message but our own hope. This seasons of longing reminds us that things are not yet perfect, but that perfection in the form of Jesus was sent, has redeemed the people of God, and will, in time, wipe away every tear. 

In part from the realization that I have spent much of this year longing without hope and in part from the reflection portion of last nights Advent gathering, my desire to bring hope to the hurting has returned. I have spent a good deal of time focused on myself and returning hope from depression. This was a healthy period of inward focus, but the fear of focusing outwards again has been painfully overwhelming. I have wanted to focus outward in the new work environment that God has placed me in and this Advent season feels like the push I need. 

The directed reflection for last night's gathering was to think of three people that need hope and how can you share hope with them in a way that points them to Jesus. I knew the instant that it was read that the three people who need hope in my life the most are my three coworkers. They do not know Jesus and I can be the vessel that God uses to bring it to them. I am still not certain how to do this, but they have been placed on my heart and God will show me the how. 

We often forget that this is a season of longing and hope for the Savior that is coming and has come. I pray that all of you are filled with this longing and hope as Christmas approaches. I also pray that God will lead you to three people that you can share this hope with who are in desperate need of it.