Seeking Hope — the first in a series of Advent posts

Advent is defined as this season of ‘expectant waiting and preparation for Jesus’ birth’, for the coming of Christmas. Makes it sound holy, quiet and serene, doesn’t it? But really? Really, we are entering  a season of crazy, busy doing. Anybody with me? And I just can’t seem to break the spin cycle. So how about this? Each week as we light these candles and walk into this season, I will be sharing some scripture and words here on the blog and praying that it can help us pause and see Him with us —  even as we hustle and hurry to make it all happen. So come on in…

Can someone please remind me what month it is?  How have we already haphazardly decked the halls and lit the first crooked candle on the Advent wreath? Seriously?  I look out the window and see that there is still a pumpkin filled with BB holes on my deck, lopsided amidst the lights that boys have draped along the rails.  It’s only November, though, right?

It seems that this holiday season waits on no calendar flip anymore.  And that candle, its flame dancing in the falling shadows of a busy Sunday evening whispers something that I desperately need this time of year. And maybe you, too?

It whispers of Hope.

You see, we light this Hope Candle just days after gathering round the table and giving thanks. And we sing the first carol of the season as the light mingles with the voices in the echo of the beautiful sanctuary. The piano holds long to the cascading notes, and I wish for a way to reach out and slow it all down.

I  always begin leaning into the hope that the season brings. But so often I hope like this:

I hope that I can get it all done. I hope that we’ll make it ’til bedtime without any meltdowns. I hope that everyone will  get along, finish their homework and not break anything for a whole day. I hope that I will make the right choice.

As if the hope is something I can generate in the doing of it all. As if the hope is something that comes from me.

But this. “O Israel put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love.” (Psalm 130:7) and “The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations 3:24 emphasis mine).

Yeah, the hope that this first candle represents is different. It is holy and real in a way that much of what swirls around us this season is not.  The only problem is that we can miss it. We can spend the season hoping to get things done, hoping to buy the right presents, make the right memories, hang the right wreaths and serve the right food. We can hope our way right through this season and come out on the other side of it spent, exhausted and hope-less.

Ask me how I know this …

I don’t want to do that again. And I don’t want you to either.

My goal here on this blog is to help us see the holy that gets lost in the ordinary blur of our days. I want to slow down the shutter speed and unfurl the blur so we can get a clearer picture of how God works in our lives — our real, everyday, shuttle the kids, go to work, stop at Target, make it happen lives.

God is in this place, our place. And when we learn to see him, it changes everything.

And despite all the hustle and bustle and the decking of halls, there is no better season to practice this art of seeing than Advent; right here at the end of this month that’s ushering in our new season.

Let’s start with these sacred words buried deep in the recesses of the Old Testament. Simple words that somehow have the ability to pull the hurry right out from under my self-sufficient feet.

“Seek the Lord and live.” (Amos 5:6).

These ancient words were spoken by a shepherd prophet named Amos nearly 800 years before the birth of Christ. They were words given to him by God in an attempt to turn God’s people from their idols and their love of self. They hold in them God’s longing to draw his people to himself.

Read the words again. “Seek the Lord and live” (Amos 5:6).

“The Lord upholds”, that’s what Amos’ name means. That’s the hope God sent to his people. Because he just couldn’t let go of his own. The Israelites were worshipping their stuff, the good gifts that God had given them. They were bowing down to it all.  And God knew. He knew the emptiness and the exhaustion and the dryness of a soul that longs for stuff. And so he sent his words and his prophets to try and turn his people. “Seek the Lord and live” (Amos 5:6).

I look up, dizzy from my lists and my own stuff, and I hear God’s word fall on my heart like this:

Me, The Lord, your God. Worship only me. Find hope in only me. Because I know you and I love you and I created you to do this.  Quit bowing to all that is glittery and gold and seek your Creator. I am right here longing to save you from yourself.

“Seek the Lord and live.” Amos preached and foretold of what was to come. But the people didn’t listen. They continued to put their hope in idols made of gold and silver; in lifeless, worthless blocks of wood. They continued to run from their Creator.

But that’s not why we light this candle here as the season rushes in with the changing winds.

We light this candle because God had a plan. A plan that would put hope in the form of a baby in manger and proclaim it in the dark night sky to some other shepherds in a lonely field.

We light this candle because even when we refuse to seek God and live. He is always, always seeking us.

That’s where the hope is found. It’s found in a God who would come among a people who turned away from him and save them anyway. Hope lives in us because God came. And he still comes, right into our crazy busy seasons. 

Look up from what you are doing. Pause for just a second and let the words rest on you. Seek him. He is the only place where real hope is found.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The best gift of all, Immanuel, God with us. Happy Advent, friends.