advent 2024: hope

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. In our home, we read the first story of the New Testament in The Book of Belonging. It begins, “We are called Beloved, but we feel forgotten.” I love that the first story in the New Testament enters into the Advent season without being shy about the turmoil in the world.

All too often advent is erroneously paired with joy when it really is about longing and hope deferred. Christians have the audacity to hope while simultaneously lamenting the brokenness of the world. In the message at church today, I was informed that the Syrian conflict I recall praying for years ago had just been reignited. Ukraine war has been going on for a while now and is escalating. And while there has been movement recently in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, peace, and wholeness are still a distant reality.^[1]

In the midst of these realities, it seems as though God has forgotten his promises. But the story we read together this evening reminded us:

“Be still, little one. You belong with God.”

“Take heart, dearest. You are Delightful to God.”

“Sleep sweet, my child. You are Beloved of God.”

And the story reminded us that God’s people held onto this hope even when armies marched against them and surrounded them. They clung to their hope even when the government and powers sought to strip them of their identity. God’s love and name for them “became shelters, stones in the mire, lights to burn back the crouching dark.”

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On a personal note, this year feels very different than last. Last year I struggled to hold onto Beloved. I knew it to be true, but it didn’t feel like it. Everything was just so dark. I almost had to will myself to believe it. There were bright moments for sure;^[2] but overall everything felt so uncertain. I look forward to this advent season with renewed hope because the past year has slowly come to good. I can see how God had not forgotten me but allowed me to reset — even if that reset was really painful to go through.