Thought for Today
Psalm 33:18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
Lamentations 3:24 "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
Matthew 12:21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope."
Romans 5:4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
The theme in These Days this week has been “The Hope of Advent.” Tomorrow during worship, we will light the first Advent candle, the candle of Hope. The word ‘hope’ appears more than 140 times in the Bible.
The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines Christian hope as, “The Christian anticipation of the future as the fulfillment of God’s purposes based on God’s covenant faithfulness and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as known by the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.”
Throughout much of human history hope has been a rare commodity. For the majority of people, there has often been little or no hope in life. Even today, large elements of our modern society live with little or no hope. The same was true 2024 years ago.
Our ancestors-in-the-faith did understand that the only real hope for all of us rests within our relationship with the Creator of Creation, with God. The psalmist wrote of “those who fear him.” In our modern world, we generally understand fear in terms of terror and dread. While the Greek and Hebrew words used in scripture encompass terror and dread, those words also an encompass another emotion more relevant in their use in scripture.
We, like our ancestors-in-the-faith stand in utter awe and amazement before our God. Like them, when we think about God, creation, life and all its complexity, we are overwhelmed. “Psalm 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” We are mortals. God is the Creator. Yet, God has crowned us with glory and honor.
We also read in Psalms, “121: 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” God was their hope. God is our hope. God’s hope was incarnate in Jesus, the Christ.
Recently, we conducted a worship service oriented around choral music. One of the songs sung was How Can I Keep From Singing. I particularly love the refrain: “My life flows on in endless sing, how can I keep from singing? No storm can shake my inmost calm, how can I keep from singing?”
As Christians, how can we keep from singing? Especially as we approach Advent, as we ponder on the wonder of the Incarnation how can we keep from singing? How can we possibly not be filled with wonder and awe at the mighty act of our Creator God? How can we possibly not be filled with hope for the future? A future where the fulfillment of God’s promises is assured. A future where the Kingdom of God is fully realized. The hope for which we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Tomorrow, wherever and however you worship, as you do, let your heart be filled with the wonder of this Advent season, with the hope it brings for the future and the Kingdom. Let your heart sing and your voice soar in worship of our loving God.
To paraphrase the psalmist, remember, “Our hope comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” The promise and affirmation of God’s love and our hope is Jesus, the Christ. How can we keep from singing?
Stay safe, sing hymns of praise, trust God,
Pastor Ray