Advent 2023

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

(2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

 

The thing I love most of all about the Christian faith is that it is centred on a redemption story.  No other faith can claim such a message of hope at its very core.  It is impossible to imagine a more hopeful story than the resurrection story. 

The birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ teach that even death cannot stop love.  They turn malice and hatred upside down.  Not only was death powerless to stop love, but the power of love turns murder into salvation.  In no earthly way does such a transformation make sense.  It is a holy mystery. 

Lately, I have felt smothered by the awareness of how “not okay” everything is.  People are weary; moreover, people are angry.  Never in my lifetime has there been a more palpable sense of being pressed on all sides, squeezed from every direction.  I am reminded of one of my favorite movie scenes from childhood. 

It is from Star Wars: A New Hope.  Luke, Han Solo and Chewy have just come to rescue Princess Leia from the clutches of Darth Vader.  Instead, they find themselves in a pit of garbage with the walls closing in on them.  Their deaths appear imminent.  In the final moment, C3PO and R2D2 are able to shut down the trash compactor, saving them.  They are rescued, alive, but covered in filth and with numerous threats and obstacles still in the way of their ultimate escape. 

If that is not a timely metaphor, I don’t know what is.  

 

The weight of this past year, of these past years, is crushing.  Relationships are being crushed, spirits are being crushed.  Hope itself is being crushed.  We have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for an end to the pressure.  

Here is the hard truth that my soul does not want to accept.  Hope, by its nature, remains unfulfilled.  Hope always exists somewhere between the now and the not yet.  Hope that is fulfilled is no longer hope.  It is certainty.  And in certainty, we do not need hope any longer… 

In Advent, this period of waiting, of longing, of preparation, I am reminded how fitting it is to begin with hope.  In the first week of Advent, we purposely and intentionally place hope in our hearts as a light, because we need it to carry us through this season of darkness.  The longest night is yet to come. 

The thing we have been waiting for, hoping for, will never come as we expected.  More often than not, it arrives unassuming, and we are unaware.  Whilst we keep watch for the king/conqueror riding in on a white steed, dressed in full regalia and accompanied by his army court, a poor baby boy is born in a filthy stable, wrapped in rags and laid in a feeding trough, His exhausted teen mom lies bleeding and crying on the cold hard ground. And we miss our salvation, entirely, in the moment. 

Only in retrospect do we understand that we were looking for the wrong thing. 

Prayer

Lord, we confess that hope does not come easily to us in these dark times.  Place 

your light in our hearts, that we would not lose our way.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

Today’s devotional was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.