Holding On To Hope - Romans 8:24-25

When I was growing up, I remember this picture that I would see hanging in either my mom’s (or one of her coworker’s) office, it read, “when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”  It had a picture of a cute orange tabby kitten hanging on to the end of a rope by its front paws.  While it was cute, it also carried with it a message of encouragement.  That word to hang in there when things get rough is a word echoed throughout Scripture…from Jeremiah writing to the captives in Babylon (“for I know the plans I have for you…), to Daniel’s apocalyptic visions which were to offer encouragement during the rule of the Grecian empire to John’s similar apocalyptic vision to help the early Christians hang on during the threatening rule of Nero or Domitian of the Roman Empire.  The Biblical word for this concept of “when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on” is the one that Paul lifts up in today’s reading, “hope.”

Paul knew about being at the end of his rope.  During his tenure as a traveling evangelist for Jesus, he found himself flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry, thirsty, and without clothes, and on more than one occasion Paul found himself imprisoned.  Paul, though, knew that he wasn’t the only one that suffered.  He considered the world and the suffering...so much struggle and suffering that just a few verses prior Paul talks about all of Creation groaning in anticipation, in waiting, in hoping, for God to restore it all.

It is that hope that helps us tie a knot and hang on…it is that hope that carries us through the darkest of days…it is that hope that we can and need to hold on to…

We live in a world that operates too many days as if there is no hope.  It is brought on as families deal with addictions, job lay offs, break-ins, medical diagnoses, and the loss of a loved one.  It is brought on as communities see employers close up shop, natural disaster strikes, or young adults going off to college and not returning home.  It is brought on nationally as unjustified killings take place, as folks find themselves dissatisfied with the electoral process, terrorists attack, or when the economy tanks.  It is brought on worldwide as wars escalate, as weather and climate conditions shift, and famine hits.  All of this brings us to find that we live in a world that is marked by fear, desperation, and despair.  That sense of hopelessness is seen when we see mounting cases of depression or find folks withdrawing to themselves.  It is revealed in broken relationships and families.  It is found in the protests and marches.  It is displayed in looting and vandalism.  It is seen in displays of hate and bigotry.  It is seen see in those who turn to weapons and violence.  It is seen in shootings, bombings, and war.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be found in the people of God.  We cannot reflect the hopelessness of the world, even in the face of things that make us uneasy or unhappy.  We have the key to combat the hopelessness, we know the answer.  We are to be the people of hope in a world.  We are to be the ones who take on fear, desperation, and despair with the Name of the One Who is Hope.  To give up hope is to give up on Him.

We know that God has entered our word in its despair and brought light into the darkness.  That is what we celebrate at Christmas…God’s answer to hopeless, Jesus…Emmanuel…God with us.  During these weeks before Christmas, what the church calls and recognizes as Advent, not only prepare us to celebrate Christmas…but also calls us to anticipate Christ’s return.  This first Sunday of Advent reminds us that we are to be people of hope. 

We recognize that things aren’t what they should be…they aren’t what God designed them to be.  Yet we are to have hope because we know that Christ has promised to return and that in the meantime we can trust that nothing in all of creation…none of those things that the world allows to bring on the darkness…can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord.  We know that God will work all things out for the good of those who love Him and respond to His calling.  We know that Jesus will return and that at that time all of Creation will be restored to a place of wholeness just as God intended it from the beginning.

Until that time, my friends, we are to wait patiently.  We are to decorate with cedar to declare Christ’s royalty as King over all.  We are to turn on the lights to brighten the darkness to remember the Light of the World who dispels darkness, heals brokenness, and offers peace.  We are to offer signs and symbols of all that Christ is in the world.  We are to hang wreathes to declare Christ’s eternal presence in our lives.  We are to decorate with holly to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice that we might have hope.  We are to light our Advent candles as we move toward the celebration of Christ’s entrance into the world and anticipate His return.

We wait patiently and actively…being the hope of Jesus in the world to those who are hurting…feeding the hungry…clothing the naked…visiting the lonely…standing up for the bullied and abused…taking in the refugee….  We are to offer the hope that is Jesus to all…not just in Word, but in action.

We are to be people who don’t hang from the end of our rope, but people who hold on to the promise of God and place our Hope in our Savior.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.