Hi. I’m trying to get into the Christmas spirit a little sooner this year than I usually do. That’s a pretty low bar since it usually takes me until about, oh, December 21 or so. But yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, if you’re keeping score on those things, so here we go.
Is It Here Yet?
You know, there’s a lot of talk from Christians about building the kingdom of God, working in Christ’s kingdom, adding people to the kingdom, and such. Kingdom language is the kind of talk that is filled with all sorts of presuppositions that the speaker assumes the listener shares, but probably doesn’t. As a member of a church and a participant in other Christian activities, I’ve long ago given up expectations of a speaker clarifying what they mean by “kingdom” of God or Christ. I just try to figure it out from the rest of what they say.
I can only imagine how terrifying this kingdom language sounds these days to someone who is not a part of a Christian church. “You want to build a Christian kingdom? What?” “You’re trying to make me part of what kingdom now?” Don’t get me wrong, kingdom talk is biblical so it cannot really be avoided in church teaching and preaching. But I am concerned about some confusion—on the part of both non-Christians AND Christians—of the idea of the present spiritual kingdom of which Christians derive our values and purpose, with the idea of a future kingdom of Jesus, wherein he will make things right in the world. One of those is here, we believe, because of Jesus’ coming (literally, “advent”) in history. For the other, we must wait for another arrival. In the meantime, spreading the kingdom means trusting Jesus for forgiveness, living like Jesus in the world, making it a more blessed place if you can, and inviting others to find new life in him. To put it another way, I think Jesus would have us more concerned for the health of the present church than the establishment of a future kingdom. Again, for that we wait.
Belief That Waits
The end of Psalm 33 references the idea of hope as it connects to the experience of waiting. “The war horse is a false hope for salvation” (v. 17). “The eye of the Lord is on…those who hope in his steadfast love” (18). “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (22). In the midst of all this hope, another word, “wait,” is used to expand the idea. “Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield” (20). Hope and waiting go together. We can be convinced that God will bless as He has promised, but sometimes we have to wait.
That’s where hope comes in. Hope is belief that waits.
In the season of Advent, we often go to passages like Isaiah 9:6-7 to restore our hope, while we wait. The characteristics, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” do not sound like rulers of the world that I’ve ever seen or expect to see among those who are trying to get there. And, “with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” is another reminder that human government, even at its best, cannot make such guarantees. For all this we hope in Jesus. But we wait. The time will come but it is not here yet. This is what makes hope beautiful. It restores and elevates the soul while we long for that which we cannot have…yet.
Hope Deferred
Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Of course, this rings true in our personal experience. There’s probably something you have been waiting for, hoping for, in your life that you just can’t make happen on your own. It’s disheartening. The season of Advent is an annual hope check. When we say, “it’s going to be OK,” we’re not living in denial of reality but in acknowledgment of it. We’re living in acceptance of our limitations, awaiting the one who will make life in this world the way it ought to be.
Ultimately, the true anchor for our souls must be a hope that is both secure and worth waiting for. It cannot be taken from us, and it cannot let us down. It is the knowledge of one who goes directly to God the Father on our behalf, whom the Father will never turn away. Our hope is Jesus who came once as a baby at Christmas to provide salvation, and who is coming again to set the world right.
Merry Christmas!