What? God’s Right-Side-Up Kingdom? Did you really read that?
Yes, you did!
Last Advent, we wrote about God’s Upside-Down Kingdom, focusing on how God turns everything upside down from our usual way of living and of seeing things. This Advent, having spent the year trying to “live” Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we have come to see Reality differently; the real is not what we see and experience in our culture—that is upside down to God’s intent for us: the Real is how God has invited us to live with a different perspective. Life in God’s Kingdom invites us into a different realm. Reality is in Christ who has begun to renew all things; but it also involves paradox. We must accept that there is mystery in God and His ways.
What does living in this reality mean for us?
The first Sunday in Advent focuses on HOPE. Do you find it difficult to define hope? I know I do; it seems somewhat intangible. Stay with me as I explore what it means in the Bible and thus what God is inviting us into in our present lives.
Paul at the conclusion of his unfolding the “excellent way” of love, made this statement: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) So the Real contains these three. Faith, we understand to be firm conviction, trust in Who God is and what He has revealed. Love, as the greatest, is practical relationship with God and others. Both appear to be present reality, defining how we are to live day by day.
But hope? Hope seems more to do with expectation, with the unseen and with the future. Hope seems intangible, but true hope is tangible because Christ has already begun to fulfil all things! How do we anchor ourselves in this knowledge of God’s faithfulness?
Yesterday, my husband and I visited our friend who is dying. Although leaving his beloved family and the friends he loves so well is difficult, he is looking forward with hope to what lies ahead for him, eternity embraced in the love of God. This is the Christian hope which we all look to in the future. But what about the present?
Does hope have reality for us in our everyday lives?
Hope is not wishful thinking, as in “we hope it won’t rain this week when we are at the beach.” Hope in our world tends to be related to fleeting optimism, with little to do with reality, sometimes even an escape from reality. Hope is not expecting from God what we want; hope is our trusting God to do what is best for us and those whom we love.
Biblical hope is based in Who God is, His faithfulness. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
What has this hope to do with Kingdom living?
Let’s return for a moment to Advent. The promise to the Israelites, recorded both in Isaiah and in
Malachi, pointed to a coming King who would restore Israel to its former glory.
Instead, they got a baby.
Hope was born in this helpless baby, a baby who grew through thirty long years before He began His ministry, which even then didn’t look like what they expected.
I wonder if God’s invitation for us today is to realize that life is a journey, and hope is to be our companion on the way—not just hope in heaven in the future but hope that sustains us through each day as we seek to be Kingdom subjects.
I woke this morning in the dark. But gradually as I watched, the sky began to lighten; slowly, almost imperceptibly, color began to appear, and eventually pale yellow light spread across the horizon. A new day was being born and offered to me. Each day comes as a gift. Each day comes with the opportunity for a new beginning; that to me is the offer of hope—that I can walk faithfully with my faithful God and reach out and bless others with His love.
Who/what are you looking to for hope?
Looking to Jesus opens for you the possibility of everything having a redemptive hopeful lens. Yes, everything. You can have confidence in the promises of God; that He will never leave you nor forsake you.
If we are fully convinced that the gospel is true, how then is hope to be embodied? How do we live hopefully? What would that look like for us today? We must be willing to see differently, to act differently—back to Sermon on the Mount thinking!
“We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
For me, last night when I couldn’t get to sleep, which is a constant challenge for me, it was a choice not to despair, but to focus on thinking about something positive. I chose hope and had some great ideas for this blog which of course I had forgotten by morning!. It was the choice not to get frustrated when the bucket we had put the newly cut Christmas tree into tipped and spilled water all over the garage floor. It was the choice to answer the phone and talk when I was so exhausted I just wanted to hide away from people for the day!
How will you respond to God's invitation is to renew your hope this Advent.
Hope is believing that how we respond to the people and the situations of the day does make a difference. It is living purposefully, knowing that our choices can touch others with God’s love. It is living blessed, recognizing those moments when we recognize our poverty in spirit, when we need to show mercy, when we can show up as a peacemaker…
Dietrich Bonhoeffer has said that the celebration of Advent is only possible to those who know themselves to be poor and imperfect. Hope is only really hope to those who understand lack and need.
Let us celebrate these weeks leading up to Christmas day with the hope that we can make a difference in our world as we spread love in every situation that we face!
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