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A reflection for the first Sunday of Advent

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There was time when the rhythm of my life was largely determined by the expectations and seasons of the ecclesial calendar. While I now enjoy the freedom that retirement from church-based ministry offers, I do miss some of the rhythms, and even the disciplines, that pastoral engagement entails. That is particularly so in the ‘high’ seasons of the church year, like Easter and Advent and Christmas. So, this year I thought that over the four weeks leading up to Christmas I would revisit the ‘discipline’ of Advent with its traditional themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Maybe you’ll enjoy tagging along for the journey – I hope so.

Advent 1: HOPE

Every year, the gospel reading on the first Sunday in Advent carries an eschatological flavour. Eschatology is that branch of theology that deals with the future realisation of the kin-dom of God (sometimes referred to as the ‘end times’). This year we are pointed to Luke 21:25-36 with its call to read the ‘signs’, to ‘be on guard’ and ‘be alert’. It reads like a dire prediction of the end of the world, and such passages are often used in that way – to contrast the fate of the ‘unbeliever’ with the fate of the ‘believer’ who will be rescued at the last minute by the ‘return’ of Jesus. But eschatology is not about a triumphalist future rescue, it’s about a fragile hope for present redemption. A hope that, while tenuous and fragile, is also resilient and persistent. And that’s the hope I want to discuss in this article.

Before I do, can I invite you to listen to this gentle rendition of the song Fragile by Sting, accompanied by YoYo Ma, Chris Botti and Dominic Miller. Its acknowledgement of the fragility of life comes with a tender note of hope as it sounds the refrain:

On and on the rain will fall

Like tears from a star, like tears from a star

On and on the rain will say

How fragile we are, how fragile we are.

The hope that is proclaimed on the first Sunday of Advent is not a hope that some future miraculous event will save us from the impending doom we sense and fear. Rather, the hope that is proclaimed as we begin our journey toward Christmas is a hope that, having glimpsed a better future, having glimpsed a present redemption, having glimpsed that for which we yearn, reaches out to drag a little of that future back into the present! It’s a hope that is not focussed on some future miraculous rescue but is focussed on present action to give effect to that which is hoped for. To live with eschatological hope is to live as though the desired future is a present reality. It is a realised hope that doesn’t just yearn for things to be different but seeks to change the present.

Do you hope for justice?  Then live justly!

Do you hope for peace?  Then live peacefully!

Do you hope for kindness?  Then practise kindness!

Do you hope for open, accepting and inclusive communities?  

Then practise acceptance!

When we mark this first Sunday in Advent with the theme of Hope we are not sitting passively, waiting for Jesus to come again so that all will magically be put right. Rather we are proclaiming our willingness to live with an eschatological hope and be an active part of bringing the longed-for future into being. It is fragile and tenuous because it depends largely upon human intention and action. But it is resilient and persistent because in all places and at all times there are people of goodwill who hold to such a hope.

The hope we proclaim challenges us to assess how we live, to evaluate our attitudes, to be mindful of our words, to be intentional about how we act, so that all we do and say will contribute actively and tangibly to the eschatological hope for a world that is just and peaceful and accepting and harmonious.

If that’s what we hope for, then that’s how we must live!

David Brooker (6^th December 2024)