Sunday was the Hope candle (or in our case Hope lamp) in our advent wreath. I spoke briefly about Christian Hope being an invasion of the future into our present. Thus I really like this quote from Dr. Moltmann.
“Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope, p. 21.
We get our English word “advent” from the Latin “adventus” which means “arrival”. We prepare to remember the Lord’s arrival and a large part of that preparation is hope, because hope leads to action. Wishing may be passive, but hope is active.
Hope welcomes the stranger in because we know that when Jesus arrived another world was made possible. Hope takes care of the widows and the orphans because as followers of the incarnate Messiah we can’t live in a world that doesn’t. Hope pushes for justice in this world because we are “goaded” to by a God Who is just. Hope is active.
SIDE NOTE – When Pamela says “I need to grade tonight so watch something I won’t be interested in”, it means it is time to watch “The Outlaw Josey Wales” once again. This is going to be a good night. 🙂