Hope
Hope perhaps is best understood by its absence. “Hopeless” is a condition we wish to avoid if possible. Why go on if all hope is lost?
In romantic comedies we often see a moment when all hope is lost. Here we were, hoping that the Boy and Girl will get together, fall in love, and be happy ever after, only to have our hopes dashed. In fact the phrase, “happily ever after” implies hope. In the 1995 film While You Were Sleeping, Lucy (played by Sandra Bullock) at one point says dejectedly, “He didn’t want me.” So sorrowful, the darkest moment of the film—only to be reversed by the movie’s happy ending!
The Christmas story is a story of hope emerging from despair. The unexpected pregnancy, the Roman occupation of Israel, no room even in the inn. And then we hear the angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
God sent his Son to us humans in our despair, pain, and hopelessness. “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3). In Christ, hope is born of suffering and pain. God builds our character so, ultimately, we can be people of hope.
I wonder if, absent the presence of Jesus, other religions breed despair and desperation, even leading to violence.
Some of the most beautiful stories include moments of despair, only to be reversed by hope. “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel,” said the Jesus followers on the road to Emmaus. “And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place” (Luke 24:19-21). Can you hear the despair in the comment? Dashed hopes, despair, even cynicism. Little did they know!
Faith in Jesus—knowing him—is an experience in hope. The Apostle Paul said it so beautifully: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). Suffering and even death itself is not a source of despair for Jesus followers, but a source of hope: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
If we know Christ, we have hope, no matter the circumstances. No wonder the first candle of Advent is “Hope!”
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