First Sunday of Advent: Hope (in the Kingdom)

It's the season of Advent, anticipating the remembrance of Jesus' earth birth. To be honest, I'm pretty obtuse when it comes to traditional seasonal observations like this. I know there are symbolic candles involved, but what they symbolize always escapes me. As it turns out, this first one represents "hope".

There is a song written by Jon Foreman about hope as "the anthem of my soul". A few poignant lyrics go:

Hope's a seed you have to sow When you let it go it comes to life So you stretch your arrows on the bow And you pull them back and watch them fly My heartbeat, my oxygen My banner, my home My future, my song Your hope is the anthem of my soul Hope... a seed... the anthem of my soul. Jesus had a thing or two to say about seeds as well. In the Parable of the Growing Seed, Jesus explains that the Kingdom of Heaven (or as I like to say, God's Way) is like a seed. When you plant a seed, it's a necessary part of growing a plant, but its growth depends on a lot of other factors outside your control: sunshine, rain, soil content, pollination, etc.

Simultaneously, implementing God's Way in a given situation is essential for a restorative outcome, although not a guarantee in itself. We have to hope that when we do our part, God will orchestrate the rest of God's good purpose to blossom at the time of God's choosing. Don't lose heart because you can't be in control of everything! Do your part with hope that God will use you as a credit to God's purposes. To continue the seed metaphor, that hopeful anticipation germinates in us the fruits of the Spirit known as patience and self-control. When you consider what hope is, you come to realize that it's dependent on an awareness of the future. Adults tend to have a greater awareness of the future than kids (thanks to a more fully developed prefrontal cortex—it's science). So, we have the opportunity to frame how we introduce the future to our kids.

Do we show fear?

Are we apathetic?

Or can we approach the future with hope, confident in the promise of Jesus—who, having come once, assured us that he would come again in the same way he left, bringing his Kingdom in full to restore the world? Hope for Jesus' Kingdom to set all things right is the best gift you can give your child—and the good news is you can start opening it now!