Yesterday, we witnessed the lighting of the first candle of Advent, representing hope. This candle is traditionally known as the Prophecy Candle and it is meant to remind us of how the prophets called Israel to hope for the coming of God's promised king who would shine light into their darkness and put all wrong things to right (Isa 9:1-7). In the same way, we are invited during the Advent season to hope – to wait expectantly – for the coming of Jesus and how he will right the wrongs we experience in our world.
But hope is hard. All of us have areas in our lives where things feel like they're so deeply broken and will never change – relationships with family members, recurring struggles with a particular sin, a hole in our heart that never seems to feel full. And when these things go on for so long, it's far easier to "expect disappointment so we will never be disappointed" than it is to hold out hope. And so some of us have learned to give up on hope and to bury our longings in order to avoid feeling pain.
This past Sunday, we practiced something very different from the cynical stance that our culture teaches us to adopt toward the brokenness in our lives. Instead of repressing our deepest longings for justice, wholeness, and peace, we joined together in bringing these longings to God, by putting them to paper and crying out to him:
O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appear
O come thou dayspring come and cheer
Our spirits by thine Advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight
O come desire of nations bind
Our spirits in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill all the earth with heaven's peace
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
In the face of darkness, death, and disunity, this song teaches us to cry out for Emmanuel, God with us, to come, and then to wait for him, trusting his promise to one day cause everything sad to come untrue (Rev 21:1-4). Are you crying out for Jesus to come into those areas that feel most broken in your life? This is by no means an easy thing to do. Because crying out to God does not mean we will see the change we are longing for. But what it does mean is that instead of becoming cynical and bitter, we learn to cling to Jesus in the midst of our pain, to look for the ways he is shining his light into our brokenness here and now, and to long for his presence in our lives above all else.
This is what real hope looks like, and this is what we want to practice together as a church family during this first week of Advent. To that end, we've put together a small list of invitations for you to create small spaces in your work week where you can shift your gaze toward God wherever you are, even if just for a moment, to glimpse his goodness and take comfort in his presence with you. Since our focus this week is on hope, this week's invitations centre on SUPPLICATION, which simply means coming to Jesus earnestly with our real needs and asking for his help.
- If you haven't already, consider writing out a small list of the areas in your life where you are longing to see change. Spend some focused time bringing these things to God and telling him how you feel about these areas of your life and how you want him to respond.
- Spend time with your list each day this week, either in the morning or the evening. Perhaps just focus on one item and say as much or as little as you want to about it to God. Now spend some time in silence, seeing if you can still your thoughts and listen for God's voice. How does Jesus want to be with you in this area of your life?
- Consider sharing your list with some of the people who are closest to you – your community group, your spouse, your best friend, maybe even your children. How can they join you in praying for Jesus to come?
- Sometime this week, read and pray through a lament psalm (eg. Psalm 13) letting the words draw you into pouring out your heart before God (your frustrations, sadness, etc.).
- Throughout the week, notice where you feel tempted to become impatient or cynical (to think thoughts like "this person/situation/habit is just never going to change"). Can you catch yourself and, without shaming yourself for it, bring that thought to God and tell him how you feel about it.
For many of us, these practices will feel unnatural and even uncomfortable, and they're supposed to! Learning to follow Jesus out of cynicism and into hope involves taking steps we wouldn't usually take, which may cause us to feel disoriented and discouraged. But the story of Christmas reminds us that we can take heart. Because we know that even as we cry and feel like there is no answer, even as we wait in suspense for Emmanuel to come and make all things right, Emmanuel is also waiting with us.
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