hope: what-is

this year, Christmas is exactly four weeks from Thanksgiving Day. 28 days.

28 days to get your tree up and decorated. (unless it has already been up for a month)
28 days to put those moving fake deer in your front yard.
28 days to finish crocheting your stocking.
28 days to figure out how to thank your aunt for that sweater....again.
28 days to memorize every line of Elf or A Christmas Story.
28 days to shop.
28 days to worry about if he will like what you got him or wondering if she is even worth that much money.
28 days.

four weeks.

the "anticipation" in the air at this time of year is quite noticable....maybe "anxiety" is really more appropriate.
what would it take to get back to a spirit of anticipation and excitement?
what will it take to put things in perspective?

advent.
it is a latin word which means arrival.
it is an old tradition which is built upon the expectation of a coming Messiah..
the restoration of all things.
it is a period of...

four weeks.

each week has a different focus or theme:
hope
love
joy
peace.

this week, the first of four weeks, the theme is hope.

we, often, do not anticipate well because we do not hope well. we are anxious, nervous, dreadful perhaps because we have a lack or a misconception of hope. we miss the glory of the buildup, of the tension, because of that same lack or misconception of hope.

we view hope as something that comes from the outside of our circumstance.
from beyond the here and now.
from the what-could-be.

maybe hope actually springs up from the inside of our circumstance.
from the actual here and now.
from the what-is.

we want to be rescued from a situation and we, therefore, view hope as the expectation of that evacuation. we want hope to sweep in and save the day. what if hope actually saves the day from the midst of the storm rather than as a wind from beyond it?

the Jews for generations looked for a Messiah, Hope, to come in and save the day. they wanted Hope to be a source of political strength, an overthrow of the Roman government. others wanted Hope to cleanse the world of its unrighteousness through the destruction of all that was unrighteous. they all wanted Hope to come from the outside. they looked for Hope to come radiantly from beyond the mess.

but Hope came from within.

Hope was born into a family with a geneology that included great leaders and faithful men and women.
Hope was born into a family with a geneology that included prostitutes and liars and outcasts.

Hope was born into the world as the child of a pure woman.
Hope was born into the world as the child of an unwed mother.

Hope was born into the world as the child of a just man.
Hope was born into the world as the child of a man who wanted to do good, but could not figure out what good was in the midst of a bad situation.
Hope was born into the world as the child of a man who thought the answer was in a quiet divorce.

Hope was born in a stable.
Hope was placed in a feeding trough to sleep.
Hope was rejected because it was too late for a room.

Hope was proclaimed by many men and women and children.
Hope was proclaimed by these men and women and children who were known as liars and storytellers.
Hope was proclaimed by people whose testimonies were inadmissable in a court of law.

Hope came from within.
from within the messiness of relationships.
from within the struggle to do right.
from within the busyness.
from within the dirt and filth.

Hope has come.
not like we wanted it to come.

but like we needed it to come.