First Advent: Hope

 Today is the first Sunday of Advent, which means that today is the first day of the new liturgical year. Happy New Year!

The song that is often associated with this day is "O Come O Come Emmanuel." I was looking at the lyrics and was struck by this line:

"That mourns in lonely exile here."

That basically sums up the last nine months, doesn't it? 9 months of staying home. 9 months of wondering when and where it is safe to gather. 9 months of lonely exile.

And yet, we still have hope. I feel like I have much more hope now than I did two months ago. I have hope for a vaccine. I have hope that the country will stay united -- at least, more united than I imagined it might a few months ago. I have hope for normalcy again.

It feels good to have hope.

And yet, I've learned this year that I can't place hope in human institutions, no matter how good they are. Sometimes science will come to the wrong conclusion if the data is incomplete. Sometimes government will fail at governing. Sometimes the free market won't provide everything we need.

I remember reading about the dedication of Solomon's temple about two and a half years ago. I remember thinking, "Wow, they're praying a lot for protection against the elements and their enemies! I'm so glad I live here and now where I don't have to worry about those things!" But then I thought, "Well, with the way things are going, maybe I do have to worry about these." We might not have rival nations at our doorstep ready to wreak havoc and spread fear, and we might not have the constant fear of famine hanging over us, but for the first time this year I felt how precarious our position was. Well-stocked grocery stores are not guaranteed. Liberal democracy and due process are not inevitable. As we know, as much of the world knows far too well, things can go wrong.

So, we hope that our institutions last, and we choose to trust our institutions to help them last, but we know that our hope cannot end there. We must place our hope in Christ. 

We hope that His promises are sure. We hope that He will remember us even in the midst of our greatest trials. We hope for a better world in the next life and have hope that we can create a better world here and now.

I believe it is that hope that propels us to action. It is hope in science that led to the outstanding medical advancements the past few months. It is hope in democracy that lets low-level bureaucrats stand up to powerful executives. It is hope in our Savior that brings us to our knees day after day.

And it is this hope that allows us, even amidst captivity, lonely exile, and Satan's tyranny, to sing

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."