Advent Hope

Written by Lawrence Yoo

In the past year I’ve thought a lot more about death and dying. It started with my father’s passing in February, then Me-Yin Turner in March, Jim Greenlee in August, and Stanley Hurlston in September. As I’ve mourned the loss of these beloved saints, I’ve processed death in a new way, and I can’t imagine experiencing these sobering losses like this without hope.

Poet Emily Dickenson writes, “Hope is the thing with feathers -that perches in the soul,”Without hope perching on my soul, I would be scared to think about tomorrow and I wouldn’t know how to live well today. As we enter this Christmas season, the idea of hope fulfilled keeps coming back to me. The Israelites had hope in a coming Savior and Jesus was faithful to fulfill that hope. Because he was faithful then, he will be faithful as we await his future return.  

The Bible tells us over and over again to remember. We are to remember both what God has done and remember his character. Hope in the past helps us have hope in the present. The Bible also tells us that Christ will come again and call his people to himself, he will renew the earth, and death and dying will be no more. Hope in the future also helps me have hope in the present.  

One of the saddest existences in my mind is hopelessness. I thank God this advent season that we have reason for hope. Advent means “coming” and as we contemplate the past and future coming of Christ we will focus on the hope, peace, joy, and love he brings. We will be talking about these themes in our sermon series, in blog posts, on our podcast, and in our Bible reading plan. This will culminate in a celebration together on Christmas Eve. I look forward to finding and celebrating hope in this season together!